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So, I lost my Recovery HD
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I've used this method before and it works great: http://musings.silvertooth.us/2012/03/restoring-a-lost-recovery-partition-in-lion/
Boot into recovery, I believe it is holding command and R on boot. Then you can install lion with the online recovery. This method was built into all Macbooks that came with lion.
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when i first purchased my SSD i had to go to Disk utility in the recovery menu and do a complete format on the SSD. Until i did that i was not able to install lion on it due to the recovery partition being on the HDD that came with my Macbook
Suit yourself. It works like a charm and saves you from having to do another OS reinstall. I figured since you were asking you were looking for something other than the obvious textbook solution.
Besides, the script isn't important; the commands inside it are. If you're paranoid about running the script, then follow the link in the Musings article to see the commands the script executes. Heck, you can manually enter them yourself if it makes you feel better.----------
Yeah, exactly like my suggestion that was roundly rejected.
Boot into internet recovery and let it install.
Once into the first boot of lion, migrate from Time Capsule backup when it asks.
Once into the first boot of lion, migrate from Time Capsule backup when it asks.
I have to agree with kfscoll. The script here - http://musings.silvertooth.us/2012/0...ition-in-lion/ - works very well. The only downside is that the recovery partition it installs is the most recent currently available from Apple. That one will not support the most recent hardware from Apple, like the new MacBook Pro Retina Display. If your MacBook Pro is more than a month old though, the script works perfectly.
I might also suggest you use a tool like Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/) for backup and for swapping out your boot disk. It's donationware and is the one Mac disk utility you shouldn't be without. The current version will clone your boot volume AND your recovery partition. Very slick.
Edit –*I see aplhaod also suggested CCC. I couldn't agree more. It has saved my bacon a bunch of times and Mike Bombich, the guy behind it, won't leave well enough alone. He just keeps making it better.
I might also suggest you use a tool like Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/) for backup and for swapping out your boot disk. It's donationware and is the one Mac disk utility you shouldn't be without. The current version will clone your boot volume AND your recovery partition. Very slick.
Edit –*I see aplhaod also suggested CCC. I couldn't agree more. It has saved my bacon a bunch of times and Mike Bombich, the guy behind it, won't leave well enough alone. He just keeps making it better.
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That's exactly what I did before.
I even formatted the SSD correctly. Why would doing the same thing add the Recovery HD all of a sudden?
I have a lot of drives. And use CCC and Time Machine.
But, wouldn't using CCC just copy the current image without that Recovery HD?
Suit yourself. It works like a charm and saves you from having to do another OS reinstall. I figured since you were asking you were looking for something other than the obvious textbook solution.
Yeah, exactly like my suggestion that was roundly rejected.
I meant no offense. I'm just not keen on using scripts that I don't know what they do, and that are only posted on that one site.
Thanks, I do use CCC. But, with my current image there doesn't seem to be a Recovery HD - like suggested above, wouldn't I need to do a fresh install, use Time Machine, and then make a CCC image?
Thanks for all the input everyone - seems like I'll be doing a fresh install.
By "fresh install" I assume you plan to erase the drive and reinstall Lion then your data. You don't need to do this. Just do a command-r to boot to the recovery firmware and reinstall Lion. It will install over your data without erasing it and in the reinstall process it will create the recovery partition on the drive.
No... that is what I was trying to save from having to repeat. If you already did a Time Machine restore and all your data is there and everything is working fine except you have no recovery partition, just leave it alone and install Lion on top of the existing install without erasing/deleting/restoring anything. The Lion installer will just reinstall while leaving your data in place and in the process create a recovery partition.
Honestly, the script will do exactly what you want in about five minutes. I wouldn't do a reinstall at this point. I used it myself yesterday. It worked perfectly, except for the fact that the recovery partition available from Apple for the script to install doesn't support a MBPr.
Did you try to run the script on a rMBP? If so, where did you get the correct recovery partition that the script uses?
Hmmmm.... thought I was clear about this. Perhaps not.
Yes. I did run the script on the MBPr. Yes it did reallocate the size of the boot partition and built the recovery partition as expected. But the version of the downloadable recovery partition currently available from Apple is not one that the MBPr can boot from. To test it I WAS able to boot my 17" MBP from that recovery partition if I set the MBPr to target disk mode. So the script works great for everything except the MBPr (and perhaps other Macs released on June 11.)
Yes. I did run the script on the MBPr. Yes it did reallocate the size of the boot partition and built the recovery partition as expected. But the version of the downloadable recovery partition currently available from Apple is not one that the MBPr can boot from. To test it I WAS able to boot my 17" MBP from that recovery partition if I set the MBPr to target disk mode. So the script works great for everything except the MBPr (and perhaps other Macs released on June 11.)
Oops, missed your first post. Got it now. I guess we need to wait to post a newer version of the downloadable recovery partition for this process to work on the rMBP.
That's exactly what I did before.
I even formatted the SSD correctly. Why would doing the same thing add the Recovery HD all of a sudden?
I've just completely wiped my SSD (I was having an issue so figured its a good chance to test), then performed an Internet recovery, followed by a restore of my files from my time capsule. I erased the drive, and set it up for one partition during the Internet recovery boot, let it download and install, then used the migration assistant for my files.
This DOES create a recovery partition on the SSD, at least on my 13" 2012. I presume it would be the same on all Internet recovery capable models.