Backup from within recovery mode

Question

Level 1

11 points

Backup from within recovery mode

Is there a way to backup to time machine within recovery mode? My machine is really hosed and will not stay up for more then a minute or so before the beach ball of death takes over.

I was going to do a reinstall, but it will not unless I wipe the disk. My existing TM backup is corrupt, so I can't use that after the reinstall.

My (apparent) only option is to backup from within the recovery mode, but it (apparently) only gives the option to restore.

Any advice?

Thanks much,

Take care,

-Jim

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Apr 29, 2012 8:43 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Feb 1, 2016 9:38 AM in response to OfficialJADJr

Try copying individual file via Terminal in Recovery

Copying Files to External Hard Drive via Terminal When booted to Recovery?

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Apr 29, 2012 12:30 PM in response to DGtlRift

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.

1. Boot from your recovery partition (10.7 or later), a local Time Machine backup volume (10.7.2 or later), or your installation disc (10.6.8 or earlier.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”

How to back up and restore your files

2. If you have a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive.

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode

3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

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Answer 3

Feb 1, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hi, I'm stuck at step 9 to backup by writing a DMG to my external harddrive. I don't see my external harddrive when I want to save the DMG backup file. Can you please help me with this? I'm desperate to make this backup! Big thanx in advance!

<E-mail Edited by Host>

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Answer 4

Feb 1, 2016 9:32 AM in response to DGtlRift

I'm having the same issue, but when I try to back it up through disk utility or repair it, it fails every time.

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