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User profile for user: E. Kennedy
E. Kennedy Author
User level: Level 2
213 points

No recovery partition macOS 10.15.7

Recently, I purchased a used Mac Mini 2012 running macOS 10.15.7 (Catalina). This Mac had a 500 GB HDD that I wished to replace with a 1TB SSD. I also wish to keep all the apps, etc., that are currently on the HD and saw that this could be done by "cloning" the new SSD using Disk Utility Restore and the recovery/restore partition on the HD. However, after initializing the new SSD, I attempted to restart the Mac in recovery mode using the Command+R key combination. But, after the restart, no recovery partition appeared. I then sought more information online and downloaded and re-installed macOS, followed the same recovery procedure, but same result. Also tried to reset the PRAM and to use Internet Recovery. No luck. The Mac seems to just restart as usual even when the correct key combinations are used during restart. (The keyboard is working since I am able to login - it is an Apple Magic Keyboard from 2017 and Bluetooth shows it is connected and charged.) I am attaching a photo that shows the Disk Utility window in normal mode which indicates the presence of a "Mac HD" and "Mac HD Data" - I tried using the Mac HD Data as the source to restore but it did not show up in the drop-down menu and could not be dragged and dropped into the area where the restore source would be located. Also, while the Mac HD icon had a small Finder icon in the corner, as can be seen in the photo, the Mac HD Data icon had a small "Home" icon in the corner...don't know what that means...)


If anyone has any suggestions as to how to accomplish what I want to do, they would be most appreciated.


Posted on Aug 23, 2021 1:40 PM

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User profile for user: E. Kennedy
E. Kennedy Author
User level: Level 2
213 points

Posted on Aug 24, 2021 1:00 PM

Thanks for your reply. I did as you suggested and attached an older Apple keyboard via USB then, when starting up, followed your instructions about the timing of the key combination being pressed and IT WORKED! I'm not sure if it was the keyboard or the timing, but what ever it was, when it restarted I got the restore screen and, in the Disk Utility window, the restore volume, "MacOS Base System" appeared and I was able to clone the 1 TB SSD I purchased to replace the 500 GB HDD that came with the Mac Mini.


Thanks, again!!!

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User profile for user: E. Kennedy
E. Kennedy Author
User level: Level 2
213 points

Aug 24, 2021 1:00 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thanks for your reply. I did as you suggested and attached an older Apple keyboard via USB then, when starting up, followed your instructions about the timing of the key combination being pressed and IT WORKED! I'm not sure if it was the keyboard or the timing, but what ever it was, when it restarted I got the restore screen and, in the Disk Utility window, the restore volume, "MacOS Base System" appeared and I was able to clone the 1 TB SSD I purchased to replace the 500 GB HDD that came with the Mac Mini.


Thanks, again!!!

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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
23,729 points

Aug 23, 2021 4:35 PM in response to E. Kennedy

Sometimes it's in the timing of the key presses at startup that is the problem.

Press the power button to restart the Mac. Don't press the Command-R keys until your hear the startup chime. Then press and hold them until the Apple logo and progress bar appear.


If this still doesn't work, borrow a wired USB keyboard from another computer or a friend. Even a pc keyboard will work, but know that the Windows key will be the ⌘-key equivalent.


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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
23,729 points

Aug 23, 2021 6:11 PM in response to E. Kennedy

E. Kennedy wrote:

[...] Also, while the Mac HD icon had a small Finder icon in the corner, as can be seen in the photo, the Mac HD Data icon had a small "Home" icon in the corner...don't know what that means...)


These icons displayed in Disk Utility indicate the startup APFS volume "Mac HD" (with the Finder icon) and the APFS volume where the Users folder is located "Mac HD - Data" (with the Home icon.)


These APFS volumes are critical components of the startup drive and should not be altered in Disk Utility.

They also do not contain the data that would be used to restore another volume.

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User profile for user: E. Kennedy
E. Kennedy Author
User level: Level 2
213 points

Aug 24, 2021 1:08 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thanks for your reply. I was concerned that APFS would not act the same way as the older MacOS Extended Journaled file system, and thought that may have been the problem with the restore partition not showing up. But, if you read my other reply to D.I. Johnson, the problem may have actually been either the Apple Magic Keyboard, or my pressing the key combination at the wrong time. Either way, I was able to restart in Restore mode and complete the cloning of the new SSD. But I'm glad that I read your reply or else I may have done something regrettable .


Thanks, again.


Btw, AFTER I had followed the instructions from D.I. Johnson and started the process of cloning the drive based on this YT video - https://youtu.be/oB4FlLduMd0 - I went down and read the comments and the first one explained the difference between APFS and MacOS Extended Journaled when doing this procedure. So, if anyone else is confused by the difference in APFS, reading the comment may help. Good luck!

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User profile for user: woodmeister50
woodmeister50
User level: Level 7
20,479 points

Aug 24, 2021 1:26 PM in response to E. Kennedy

Sorry about that, in Bug Sur, the Disk Utility GUI hides all that now.


For future reference, if you want to see all volumes on all devices, use the command line in Terminal:

diskutil list


It will list a full detailed view of all disk volumes and partitions, physical and synthesized (some OSes call them logical). example:


/dev/disk0 (internal):

   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                         500.3 GB   disk0

   1:             Apple_APFS_ISC ⁨⁩                        524.3 MB   disk0s1

   2:                 Apple_APFS ⁨Container disk3⁩         494.4 GB   disk0s2

   3:        Apple_APFS_Recovery ⁨⁩                        5.4 GB     disk0s3


/dev/disk3 (synthesized):

   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +494.4 GB   disk3

                                 Physical Store disk0s2

   1:                APFS Volume ⁨Macintosh HD⁩            15.3 GB    disk3s1

   2:              APFS Snapshot ⁨com.apple.os.update-...⁩ 15.3 GB    disk3s1s1

   3:                APFS Volume ⁨Preboot⁩                 838.2 MB   disk3s2

   4:                APFS Volume ⁨Recovery⁩                1.8 GB     disk3s3

   5:                APFS Volume ⁨Data⁩                    158.2 GB   disk3s5

   6:                APFS Volume ⁨VM⁩                      3.2 GB     disk3s6

   7:                APFS Volume ⁨XXXX   22.6 GB    disk3s7

   8:                APFS Volume ⁨YYYY           15.4 GB    disk3s8



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No recovery partition macOS 10.15.7

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