rcpfaff
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: How can I create a recovery partition to use Find my Mac?

I want to activate Find my Mac on my MBP.  The iCloud system preference says I don't have a recovery partition that's required for it.  It apparently didn't install when I upgraded to Mountain Lion.

 

How can I retroactively create a recovery partition?  There are no other partitions on the drive (other than the Macintosh HD, of course).

 

Thanks.

 

Rob

MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 8GB RAM, 750GB HD

Posted on Apr 14, 2013 6:57 AM

by atomant7,Solvedanswer
atomant7 atomant7
Level 1 (10 points)
A:

This script worked like a charm. I was happy not to have to do a reinstall to gain a recovery partition. Thanks!

 

Message was edited by: atomant7 http://musings.silvertooth.us/2013/05/recovery-partition-creator-3-0/

Posted on Jan 12, 2014 1:19 PM

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rcpfaff

Q: How can I create a recovery partition to use Find my Mac?

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  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Apr 14, 2013 7:06 AM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 9 (53,919 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 14, 2013 7:06 AM in response to rcpfaff

    Try http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433    

     

    Allan

  • by rcpfaff,

    rcpfaff rcpfaff Apr 14, 2013 9:41 AM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 14, 2013 9:41 AM in response to Allan Eckert

    Allan-

     

    This doesn't help, if I'm reading it correctly.  I do not have a recovery partition on my internal hard drive and that's what I want to create.  Recovery Disk Assistant seems to make recovery partitions on external drives and requires that the internal recovery already exist.

     

    Or am I missing something between the lines about Recovery Disk Assistant?

     

    Rob

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Apr 14, 2013 9:49 AM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 8 (49,834 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2013 9:49 AM in response to rcpfaff

    Confirm that you really do not have a recovery partition. Launch Terminal - it is in your Utilities folder.

     

    Type the following at the prompt, followed by the Return key:

     

    diskutil list

     

    Copy and paste its output in a reply.

  • by rcpfaff,

    rcpfaff rcpfaff Apr 14, 2013 12:05 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 14, 2013 12:05 PM in response to John Galt

    John-

     

    Here is what that gives:

     

    /dev/disk0

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *750.2 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            749.3 GB   disk0s2

     

    My presumption is that the partition isn't there because the iCloud preference pane says "Find My Mac requires a recovery partition" in a "more" box that is there; and it won't allow me to select the service.

     

    Rob

  • by Gino Cerullo,

    Gino Cerullo Gino Cerullo Apr 14, 2013 12:28 PM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 4 (1,456 points)
    Apr 14, 2013 12:28 PM in response to rcpfaff

    See if the information in the CNet article link below helps otherwise you will probably need to backup your computer, re-install the system and applications and then restore your files from the backup.

     

    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57366205-263/how-to-restore-a-missing-recov ery-hd-partition-in-lion/

  • by rcpfaff,

    rcpfaff rcpfaff Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM in response to Gino Cerullo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 14, 2013 2:35 PM in response to Gino Cerullo

    I'll give the reinstall a try.  But that will take a while...

     

    Thanks.

     

    Rob

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Apr 14, 2013 3:35 PM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 8 (49,834 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2013 3:35 PM in response to rcpfaff

    You have no recovery partition.

     

    Can you boot OS X Recovery? I doubt that will do anything. If not, hold option ⌘ R (three fingers) to force OS X Internet Recovery. Reinstall Mountain Lion.

     

    This will not destroy your user accounts or data, but be sure to back up your Mac first.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Apr 14, 2013 4:00 PM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 9 (50,488 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2013 4:00 PM in response to rcpfaff

    I'll give the reinstall a try.

    That is the only way I know of to add a recovery HD; however, if it didn't install one on initial upgrade, the odds of it being able to do it now are not good.  Looking at your disk list, I don't see a reason why it wasn't created in the first place.

  • by Citybird,

    Citybird Citybird Jul 24, 2013 9:52 PM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 9:52 PM in response to rcpfaff

    I have just tested it by re-installing Mac OSx, which worked like a charm. Here are the steps

    if you have existing Mac partition with data, please create a backup or image of that partition (becaue that will be erased)

     

    1. I used a Mt Lion dvd and booted the mac from it and started the disk utility

    2. I created 2 partitions -> one with 1 GB  space and named "Recovery HD" and second with all the remaining space and   named " Macintosh HD", applied the changes, run disk repair on both partition (to be safe)

    3. then back to disk utility and re-installed OSx from DVD to Macintosh HD partition.

    4. after finish and reboot with Option key, you will get your recovery partition working

    5. now if you wana restore your old HD image just go to disk util and restore image

     

    Ref: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718

     

     

    sanjay

  • by iW00,

    iW00 iW00 Jul 25, 2013 3:10 AM in response to Citybird
    Level 4 (1,349 points)
    Jul 25, 2013 3:10 AM in response to Citybird

    You need to boot your computer from Internet Recovery (ALT+CMD+R). Once it's loaded, go to disk utility and select your physical drive (not Macintosh HD partition) and then slect ERASE tab, select correct format and give a name (Macintosh HD) and click "Erase...". That will prepair your disk automatically - no need to manully create 2nd partition.

     

    This proceedure will erase your all data from the HDD so backup is crucial - run Time Machine Backup so after installation, you can run Migration Assistant to restore your data.

  • by Davalaus,

    Davalaus Davalaus Sep 7, 2013 10:25 PM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 7, 2013 10:25 PM in response to rcpfaff

    this script helps nicely with creating a recovery partition

    enjoy

     

    http://musings.silvertooth.us/2012/03/restoring-a-lost-recovery-partition-in-lio n/

  • by Duhkha,

    Duhkha Duhkha Nov 7, 2013 9:45 AM in response to rcpfaff
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2013 9:45 AM in response to rcpfaff

    FIRST, assuming you do not have another Mac of the same model with a working restore, I would suggest using your Lion, mountaint lion or Maverick install to create a bootable system on a flash drive.  You will need a DMG image created with Disk Utility from that stick to recreate the restore partition on your mac.

     

    Once you create the bootable USB stick, Use it to log in and follow the below process to back up the restore partition.  Then, save the DMG back up anywhere and finish the walk through on your normal operating partition.

     

     

    Close Disk Utility if it is open.

    Open Terminal

    Enter the command below

    defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled -bool true

    Now open Disk Utility and pull down the Debug menu

    Click Show Every Partition

    Now, select the Recovery Partition and create a new image.

    NOTE: The Recovery Partition will need to be made in Read Only format if you wish to restore the image normally with disk utility or by software such as Deploy Studio.  If you take an image with Deploy Studio and want it to restore the Recovery Drive normally, you will need to adjust the Work Flow for Image Capture to use the Read Only format.  It will slow things down.  If you dont use the read only format, the .dmg will not scan properly. This is most likely because the recovery drive already hosts compressed files. That said, this guide WILL restore from even a compressed .dmg image.  HERE IS THE WALK THROUGH FOR RESTORING A SCANNED READ ONLY FORMATTED .DMG.

    Copy the Recover HD.DMG image to a flash drive

    The following must be on an Administrator account

    Next, Log on to the admin account of the computer you wish to restore the MLTI Recovery Partition.

    Copy the Recovery HD.DMG from your Flash drive to the HD

     

    Enter the following command in terminal


    diskutil list


    If there is no partition for the restore drive listed, then use Disk Utility to create a GUID Partition keeping in mind the size of the original restore partition. (19 gigs for the MLTI Version of the restore drive)

    Open Terminal and enter the following command

    sudo asr -noverify -source (PATH FOR DMG IMAGE HERE) -target (PATH FOR RECOVERY HD PARTITION HERE) -erase -noprompt

    NOTES: You must replace the () and everything in between with the respective path. You can simple drag and drop the source (your .dmg) and your target (the drive to be restored) while you are typing in terminal.

    Enter admin password

    In terminal Type the following command

    diskutil list

    note which disk and slice is the restore partition. It should be /dev/disk0s3, but it could vary a bit.

    Now, run the following in terminal

    sudo asr adjust --target /dev/disk0s3 --settype "Apple_Boot"

    REMEMBER: you may need to replace /dev/disk0s3 with your new restore partition's designation.

    Enter Admin Password when prompted

    Restart.

    Don't forget to enter the following terminal command into the machine you took the Recovery HD image from.

    defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled -bool false

  • by west.danielj,

    west.danielj west.danielj Dec 3, 2013 11:04 AM in response to Duhkha
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2013 11:04 AM in response to Duhkha

    You completely blew my mind with the Debug menu in Disk Utility.  I have been doing this using "dd" and "gpt" for the past year and it was a pain.  Now I can use Disk Utility for the entire process.  Thank you for saving me loads of time.

     

    One thing to note, make sure you create the "Recovery HD" partition right after the "Macintosh HD".  If you are using FileVault2 or "Back to my Mac", it will look for the "Recovery HD" in the next partition.  Keep this in mind if you maintain separate paritions for your Users directories.

  • by gajdab,

    gajdab gajdab Dec 6, 2013 4:01 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 6, 2013 4:01 PM in response to John Galt

    Hi John,


    I am having the same issue. I just put a Time Machine backup from my former MacBook Pro onto this MacBook Pro yesterday. Find My iPhone telling me it won't work. Here is what I got when I did what you asked:

     

     

      #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *750.2 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS MacOS                   749.8 GB   disk0s2

    /dev/disk2

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *750.2 GB   disk2

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Time Machine            749.8 GB   disk2s2

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