Hyperion Proteus
Level 1 (19 points)
Notebooks

Q: Reinstall Mac OS X Without Recovery Mode | Mac Doesn't Boot Normally

Can I reinstall it with Target Disk Mode?

And also erase the disk?

MacBook Pro, null

Posted on Jul 21, 2016 3:37 AM

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Hyperion Proteus

Q: Reinstall Mac OS X Without Recovery Mode | Mac Doesn't Boot Normally

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  • by Esquared,Helpful

    Esquared Esquared Jul 21, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,442 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    Yes, that should be possible. Here are two examples – these will or will not work, depending on the version of OS X you are trying to install.

    https://www.engadget.com/2009/04/27/tuaw-tip-clean-your-hard-drive-with-target-d isk-mode/

    http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/13/install-mac-os-x-lion-target-disk-mode/

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 4:00 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 4:00 AM in response to Esquared

    Mac OS X Lion is exactly what I'm gonna reinstall.. was gonna state the version but can't edit it.

    So can I just do this without/instead of taking out my HDD and putting it on an External HDD Enclosure?

     

    Thank you for your existence, Esquared.

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Jul 21, 2016 3:57 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,442 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 3:57 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    Yes, that is exactly the point of Target Mode. Have never tried it this way myself though, so I'm curious about your results. Good luck!

     

    (I'm thankful of my existence too! )

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 6:00 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 6:00 AM in response to Esquared

    The results might be delayed because the only friend I trust and has a Mac is currently away from here and will be back in two weeks.

    So I guess I won't be able to use my Mac for two weeks.

  • by keg55,Helpful

    keg55 keg55 Jul 21, 2016 6:42 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,429 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 6:42 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    I have used Target Mode several times to install OS X on a Mac Mini. Specifically OS X 10.8.5.

     

    I connected my Macbook Pro Retina running 10.8.5 to the Mac Mini with a Thunderbolt cable.

    Then, I booted the Mac Mini into Target Mode by pressing/holding the T key at start up. From the Macbook Pro Retina in Finder, the Mac Mini's Macintosh HD showed up and I used Disk Utility to erase it then install OS X Mountain Lion.

     

    Make sure the Source Mac has a version of OS X equal to or earlier than what you want to install on the Destination Mac (Target Mode). For example, if you try to install OS X Yosemite from a Source Mac running OS X El Capitan, you may get an error saying you can't install an earlier version of OS X.

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 7:05 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 7:05 AM in response to keg55

    Does that mean your MacBook Pro Retina (Your source Mac) was running OS X Mountain Lion when you installed the same/earlier version of OS X Mountain Lion to your Mac Mini?

     

    So the other Mac, which will be the Source Mac, should be OS X Lion if I want to install OS X Lion to my Mac?

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Jul 21, 2016 7:22 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,429 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 7:22 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    Hyperion Proteus wrote:

     

    So the other Mac, which will be the Source Mac, should be OS X Lion if I want to install OS X Lion to my Mac?

    The SOURCE Mac is the one you're going to use to install OS X to the Target Mode Mac (DESTINATION).

     

    So, your Source Mac needs to be running OS X Lion or earlier (e.g. OS X Snow Leopard) to be able to install OS X Lion on your Destination Mac (Target Mode Mac). Hope this makes sense.

     

    But remember, you need to connect the two Macs with a cable. In my case, I used a Thunderbolt cable.

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 7:43 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 7:43 AM in response to keg55

    That is exactly what I'm trying to tell you.

    Maybe you were just confused at how I wrote it.

    Or you're not confused at all.

    I tried to rephrase the sentences but can't edit.

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Jul 21, 2016 9:07 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,429 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 9:07 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    As long as you understand, which it appears you do, then it's cool.

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 10:26 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 10:26 AM in response to keg55

    How can I back up/clone the HDD with Target Disk Mode?

    Can I just reinstall the OS X and not erase the HDD?

     

    My biggest problem is my Mac doesn't boot normally.

    • So will just and only reinstalling the OS X fix it?
    • Or can erasing the disk and also reinstalling the OS X fix it?

    Or both options will work either what I choose?

     

    Recovery Mode does work and I can enable it..

    But the disk is locked and I can't reinstall the OS X.

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Jul 21, 2016 10:36 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,429 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 10:36 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    In Target Mode, that Mac looks like an external hard drive on the other Mac.

     

    You can also clone the Mac using 3rd party apps like Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper!.

     

    You can reinstall OS X on the Mac without erasing it and this will only affect the OS and not harm your user accounts, data or apps. Reinstalling OS X over itself has been known to fix issues. You might even try Disk Utility from the good Mac to repair the bad Mac if after a Verify, you're seeing errors. You can also erase the bad Mac and reinstall OS X which can also fix it.

     

    You should be able to unlock the Mac's drive via Disk Utility from the good Mac. I assume it's locked because it's encrypted from enabling FileVault.

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 10:41 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 10:41 AM in response to keg55

    Continuation:

     

    Recovery Mode does work and I can enable it..

    But the disk is locked and I can't reinstall the OS X.

    I cannot also use Restore From Time Machine Backup because I haven't done a backup yet.

    So Target Disk Mode is my only option.

     

    I hope you won't be confused reading it..

    I am though...

     

    It says I can't update this content...

  • by Hyperion Proteus,

    Hyperion Proteus Hyperion Proteus Jul 21, 2016 10:56 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 10:56 AM in response to keg55

    Is cloning the HDD different from creating a backup?

    If so, how can I back it up while in Target Disk Mode without cloning and using those third party apps.

     

    If I did clone the disk, then what do I do after?

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Jul 21, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus
    Level 6 (8,429 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Hyperion Proteus

    Cloning creates an exact image of a drive and makes it bootable so you can boot from it.

     

    If I understand your situation, you have a Mac that you can't boot from the internal hard drive for some reason.

     

    Do you have a USB thumb drive with the OS X Lion installer? If your answer is no, can you create a USB thumb drive Recovery HD from your other (good) Mac that has OS X Lion by using the OS X Disk Assistant?

     

    The only way I know how to clone an internal hard drive to an external drive without a 3rd party app is by booting a Mac into a Recovery HD then use Disk Utility's Restore feature. Restore does a block-copy (clone) from a Source drive to a Destination drive.

     

    Since you have no Recovery HD on the bad Mac and IF you can create an OS X Lion Recovery HD on a thumb drive from the OS X Disk Assistant, then you can plug that into your bad Mac, restart while holding down the Option key and select the thumb drive to boot from. We can go from there if you're able to do this.

     

    If you're able to boot your bad Mac using an external source then you should be able to use Disk Utility to try to repair your bad Mac's drive before you resort to reinstalling OS X  or erasing and reinstalling.

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