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Lion Recovery Disk Assistant Error On Launch

Just downloaded the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, and upon launch, I get the error:


"The Recovery HD on this computer is damaged or not present. Recovery Disk Assistant requires a functioning Lion Recovery HD to create an external Lion Recovery."


This is a Lion install from the App Store -- no mods. What now???

3.2GHz 8-Core Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.6), 16GB RAM, 4TB Storage

Posted on Aug 8, 2011 5:44 PM

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32 replies

Aug 9, 2011 2:30 AM in response to Maury Mccown

Same problem here, tried to search for a solution, but no use.

Actually I DO know that Finder/DU does NOT show the Recovery HD partition, this is no problem.

However when I press ALT/OPTN when booting, Recovery HD does NOT show up.


Reason: if you manipulate paritions and/or do a clean install from a bootable external media the Recovery HD gets deleted and/or does not get created at all.


So I am in the same camp as others, seeking a way to create a Recovery HD parition on my one and only, built in HD (not on an external media!), the same one as Lion installer created or should have created in the first place.


Thanks to everyone who may help or at least provide some guidence.


Georgio

Aug 9, 2011 6:51 AM in response to Prince Wang

I'm talking about the recovery partition that was supposed to be created when installing Lion. I hsould be able to startup THIS computer into the Recovery partition, but the Recovery HD on THIS Mac is mysteriously gone.


I know I can create a bootable 10.7 DVD and install from there -- but I want to fix my Lion install so that the Recovery HD is active like it's supposed to be.

Aug 9, 2011 6:58 AM in response to Maury Mccown

Hmm...


Tech Note HT4649 says:


"Summary

During installation, OS X Lion may display the message:

"Some features of Mac OS X Lion are not supported for the disk (volume name)".

Products Affected

OS X Lion

Why does this message appear?

This message means the installer cannot create the Recovery HD partition on your hard disk. Recovery HD offers on-disk recovery tools, allows you to restore from Time Machine backups, reinstall OS X Lion over the Internet, or set a firmware password. Recovery HD is not needed to install and run OS X Lion, nor to access most of its capabilities and new features.

Usually, this message appears in one of two scenarios:

The disk you are installing Lion on is a RAID volume"



My main startup volume is a mirrored RAID, so maybe that's wht I don't have the Recovery option...?

Aug 9, 2011 9:41 AM in response to Maury Mccown

I just called Apple on this same problem. They advised that you cannot create a new Recovery HD without doing a fresh install of Lion. My new iMac does not have the Recovery HD and it came with 10.6 media. If I want to create an external Recovery HD my options are:


1. Wipe the computer, install 10.6, and upgrade to 10.7

2. Install Lion on an external drive and use that as the source for the external Recovery HD

3. Run Recovery Disk Assistant on a computer with a working Recovery HD


I'm going to use option 3 and take my USB thumb drive to the Apple store and have them create a Recovery HD on my drive.

Aug 9, 2011 7:59 PM in response to Maury Mccown

Maury,


Simply reinstall Lion on top of itself. This will recreate the Recovery HD partition. It has always worked for me. And it's the only way I know of to get it back.


Since my MBP has a Recovery HD, the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant worked nicely. I partitioned a 4GB USB SanDisk flash drive with 1 partition 700mb and the other partition for the rest of the space. Used the assistant and it created the Lion Recovery HD on the 1st partition of the USB SanDisk. So, if you're using a USB flash drive larger than 1GB, you might want to partition it so you don't waste the whole drive. Otherwise, the assistant will use the entire drive.

Aug 9, 2011 8:31 PM in response to keg55

keg55,


How did you reinstall Lion on top of itself? I tried using the option key to launch the app store and reinstall but it came back with a message about my current version being newer.


To get my recovery usb created I installed my copy of 10.6 on an external drive and booted to that. Then, I downloaded Lion from the app store. I upgraded my 10.6 install on my external drive then used the Recovery Disk Assistant to make my usb drive. I also used the Lion package to make an install dvd since I had the file handy.


It was faster than driving to the Apple store, but it sounds like I'm missing something and a reinstall of Lion would have worked too.

Aug 9, 2011 8:45 PM in response to jconnolly

jconnolly,


I used a Lion install DVD that I created from the InstallESD.dmg file found in the downloaded OS X Lion Application. Rebooted then pressed C when I heard the boot chime. The system rebooted from the Lion install DVD and I started the install. You can also reinstall on top of itself by clicking on the saved InstallESD.dmg file while in Lion instead of rebooting from the install DVD. You can execute the Install Mac OS X Lion.app file.

Lion Recovery Disk Assistant Error On Launch

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