upgrade from 10.8.5 to 10.9.1

[mitstoshi]

I didn't upgrade to 10.9 when it was first available and have waited until now that 10.9.1 is available. How do I do it? Do I need to upgrade to 10.9 first then to 10.9.1? In App Store, 10.9 file is no longer available (?) How should I do it?
Any help is appreciated!

 

[Duff-Man]

Duff-Man says...the full installer from the app store is the latest version - just download and install that and you should be good to go (though I'd run an update check afterwards for any other apps that may have 10.9.x specific updates)....oh yeah!

 

[Gochugogi]

I didn't upgrade to 10.9 when it was first available and have waited until now that 10.9.1 is available. How do I do it? Do I need to upgrade to 10.9 first then to 10.9.1? In App Store, 10.9 file is no longer available (?) How should I do it?
Any help is appreciated!

If you depend on Firewire drives you might want to hold off. My MOTU Ultralite (audio interface) works fine but none of my FW drives will sleep even if ejected. They all slept fine under 10.85. 10.85 was super stable for me and, while Mavericks 10.91 is 90% there, it still has little bothersome bugs...

 

[ssls6]

FW drives sleeping is a known issue. In fact, it's best to pull the cables on all external drives during the upgrade.

Have a good clone of your 10.8.5 before the upgrade. Don't be one of the posts that says "Mavericks sucks, how do I go back".

 

[mitstoshi]

I have late 2012 iMac with USB and Thunderbold pores and an external HD with both FW and USB. I only use USB connection. So is it OK?

Also after upgrade to 10.9.1, will there be a hidden recover partition in the HD like Mountain Lion? Thanks again for the prompt responses!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I have late 2012 iMac with USB and Thunderbold pores and an external HD with both FW and USB. I only use USB connection. So is it OK?

Also after upgrade to 10.9.1, will there be a hidden recover partition in the HD like Mountain Lion? Thanks again for the prompt responses!

My understanding is that the FireWire issue only affects devices connected via FireWire. Since your drive isn't using that interface, you should be just fine.

... and like Lion before it, yes there's a hidden recovery partition. Just out of curiosity, any particular reason you'd think it would NOT be that way?

 

[Gochugogi]

The odd thing is 10.9 and 10.91 work fast and smooth in my 2009 Mac Pro. On my 2 month old i7 Mini 10.91 works but is too buggy (really slow startups & Mail hangs) I'm restoring 10.9 from Time machine at this very moment. 10.9 only suffered the FW issue for me but after many PRAM resets, reinstalls, permissions repairs I'm tossing in the towel. Should have keep 10.85 but I had to reformat Time Machine after going to 10.9.

 

[mitstoshi]

wrldwzrd89, the file size of hidden recovery partition for Mountain Lion is around 640 MB and just wonder what would be the partition size for Mavericks ? I understand the installer file from App Store is 5.29 GB. That is why I was wondering.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

wrldwzrd89, the file size of hidden recovery partition for Mountain Lion is around 640 MB and just wonder what would be the partition size for Mavericks ? I understand the installer file from App Store is 5.29 GB. That is why I was wondering.

650 MB recovery partition for me on 10.9.1.

 

[Weaselboy]

wrldwzrd89, the file size of hidden recovery partition for Mountain Lion is around 640 MB and just wonder what would be the partition size for Mavericks ? I understand the installer file from App Store is 5.29 GB. That is why I was wondering.

The hidden Recovery HD partition on Mavs is 650MB and works just like the one on Mountain Lion. I thick what might be confusing you is the OS is not on the recovery partition like on some Windows machines. The 650MB partition just allows you to boot to some troubleshooting tools and a utility that downloads the 5GB OS over the Internet from Apple's servers.

Does that clear it up for you?

 

[mitstoshi]

Weaselboy, So everything is just like Mountain Lion that I need to get a USB stick for the hidden Recovery HD partition for Mavericks.

 

[Weaselboy]

Weaselboy, So everything is just like Mountain Lion that I need to get a USB stick for the hidden Recovery HD partition for Mavericks.

The Mavs install will put a Mavs recovery partition on your drive for you. If you want a emergency recovery USB key yes you will need to make another one after the Mavs install.

 

[tywebb13]

The Mavs install will put a Mavs recovery partition on your drive for you. If you want a emergency recovery USB key yes you will need to make another one after the Mavs install.

I'd be more inclined to make the bootable USB BEFORE installing it.

OS X installers delete themselves if you install from the app.

 

[Weaselboy]

I'd be more inclined to make the bootable USB BEFORE installing it.

OS X installers delete themselves if you install from the app.

I am not taking about making an installer. I am referring to a USB recovery key that is made with a utility from Apple. The utility uses the recovery partition to make the recovery USB key. No installer is needed.

 

[tywebb13]

You mean the OS X Recovery Disk Assistant?

That will just copy your Recovery partition to the USB.

That's OK. But a bootable USB installer is better because if you have to ever reinstall the system, you will have the installer on the USB and so it won't have to be downloaded again.

With a recovery partition or recovery USB made with OS X Recovery Disk Assistant, it has the same functions as a bootable USB installer, except that if the system has to be reinstalled, it will have to be downloaded again making the whole process slower.

 

[Weaselboy]

You mean the OS X Recovery Disk Assistant?

That will just copy your Recovery partition to the USB.

Yes, and I realize that.

That's OK. But a bootable USB installer is better because if you have to ever reinstall the system, you will have the installer on the USB and so it won't have to be downloaded again.

With a recovery partition or recovery USB made with OS X Recovery Disk Assistant, it has the same functions as a bootable USB installer, except that if the system has to be reinstalled, it will have to be downloaded again making the whole process slower.

I disagree. There is no need to reinstall OS X unless you have a failure that results in a drive replacement. If that happens, you can just option key boot from a Time Machine disk and restore the OS and your data to a new drive without downloading anything at all.

The only time a reinstall is beneficial is if one is selling the machine, and by then the USB installer you made is a version or two old anyway. I just don't see the big benefit, plus having to fuss around updating the installer key each time there is a new point release.

If that is your preference, I won't criticize you for it, but I just don't see the need myself.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I disagree. There is no need to reinstall OS X unless you have a failure that results in a drive replacement. If that happens, you can just option key boot from a Time Machine disk and restore the OS and your data to a new drive without downloading anything at all.

The only time a reinstall is beneficial is if one is selling the machine, and by then the USB installer you made is a version or two old anyway. I just don't see the big benefit, plus having to fuss around updating the installer key each time there is a new point release.

If that is your preference, I won't criticize you for it, but I just don't see the need myself.

I disagree with you on the reinstalling OS X point. The reason: Some software programs I've used in the past (Google Chrome and NetBeans IDE, I'm looking at you) make uninstalling way harder than it needs to be.

 

[tywebb13]

I just don't see the need myself.

Well I bet you'd see it if you had to install it onto several macs. Do you want to download it every time? I sure don't.

And how do you go about doing a clean install? Download again? No thanks. I'll just use the USB installer to format the drive and then install.

Or dual boot? I have mountain lion and mavericks on one of my macs. And how did I make the partitions and install? Downloads? No way! I used bootable USBs of course.

I think bootable USBs are a much better way to do things.

 

[Weaselboy]

Well I bet you'd see it if you had to install it onto several macs. Do you want to download it every time? I sure don't.

And how do you go about doing a clean install? Download again? No thanks. I'll just use the USB installer to format the drive and then install.

Or dual boot? I have mountain lion and mavericks on one of my macs. And how did I make the partitions and install? Downloads? No way! I used bootable USBs of course.

I think bootable USBs are a much better way to do things.

It appears the OP owns one Mac and just wants to update. I don't see the benefit of him making a USB installer for the reasons I mentioned. Sure, if you have to update six machines in your house, the USB installer makes sense, but that is not what we are talking about here.

 

[tywebb13]

Call me old fashioned, but I like to have a full installer. I've got them for all Mac OS X versions back to 10.0 and a few of Mac OS 9 and 8 as well.

I've had to reinstall a few times and if I had to wait for some big download it would have been much more frustrating.

And some of these reinstalls were back at a time when I only had 1 mac.

 

[Weaselboy]

Call me old fashioned, but I like to have a full installer. I've got them for all Mac OS X versions back to 10.0 and a few of Mac OS 9 and 8 as well.

I've had to reinstall a few times and if I had to wait for some big download it would have been much more frustrating.

And some of these reinstalls were back at a time when I only had 1 mac.

Okay... you are old fashioned.

 

[mitstoshi]

From you guys talking, I learned a lot and would like to make the following points:

1) Recovery Partition Installer: Use Recovery Disk Assistant to copy the partition in the HD created after the OS is upgraded from the Mavericks Installer DMG file. The DMG file is then deleted.

2) Bootable USB Installer: Use Diskmaker X to create a USB installer from the Mavericks Installer DMG. This is equivalent to recover DVD that came with the Mac when purchased in the past.

3) Bootable full HD Clone: Use cloning software.

Can you guys confirm and or correct the above points

Thanks!!

 

[Weaselboy]

From you guys talking, I learned a lot and would like to make the following points:

1) Recovery Partition Installer: Use Recovery Disk Assistant to copy the partition in the HD created after the OS is upgraded from the Mavericks Installer DMG file. The DMG file is then deleted.

2) Bootable USB Installer: Use Diskmaker X to create a USB installer from the Mavericks Installer DMG. This is equivalent to recover DVD that came with the Mac when purchased in the past.

3) Bootable full HD Clone: Use cloning software.

Can you guys confirm and or correct the above points

Thanks!!

1) Just a clarification. The Recovery Disk Assistant makes the recovery key using the Recovery HD partition that is placed on your drive during the install of Mavericks. When you install Mavs, the installer DMG gets deleted, but that does not matter since the utility does not need it.

2) Exactly

3) Yup

Another clarification, if you make a Time Machine backup to a locally attached external after your Mavs install, it places a copy of that Recovery HD partition on the Time Machine disk also. So you could use that as a either a recovery tool if you want, or use that to option key boot to and restore the OS and your data from a Time Machine disk. So if you are using Time Machine with an external disk like this the recovery key is even a bit redundant.

 

[mitstoshi]

Weaselboy, Two things:
(1) I should make a copy of Mavericks Installer DMG before upgrade to create bootable installer.
(2) " you make a Time Machine backup to a locally attached external after your Mavs install, it places a copy of that Recovery HD partition on the Time Machine disk also." Does this work with Mountain Lion install? Or this is just one of the new features with Maveicks.

 

[tywebb13]

To make the bootable USB, you could do it this way:

Your 8 GB USB drive should be called Untitled and formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The installer should be called Install OS X Mavericks.app and should be in your Applications folder.

Run this in terminal and wait about 20 minutes:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction

You should see something like this:

Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 100%...
Copying installer files to disk...
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable...
Copying boot files...
Copy complete.
Done.

You can then boot up from the USB by holding down the option key, then install Mavericks from the USB.