maxfromchippenham
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: How to restore a Time machine backup and get a recovery partition?

Hi,

 

I'm quite confused!

 

I restored from a Time Machine backup and then setup boot camp (and removed that partition a while back) and now I don't have a recovery partition. (Can't enable File Vault and

bash-3.2# diskutil list /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

/dev/disk0

   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *120.0 GB   disk0

   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1

   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            87.4 GB    disk0s2

 

)

 

 

My new MacBook Pro didn't come with any CDs.

Apparently I need the recovery partition to reinstall Lion from the internet.

"Recovery HD offers on-disk recovery tools, allows you to restore from Time Machine backups, reinstall OS X Lion over the Internet..."

The recommended solution from Apple seems to be reinstall with your OSX 10.6 CD (which I don't have) and then upgrade to Lion (which seems like a PITA).

Info from : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4649

 

What process should I follow to restore my recovery partition and apply the current state of the machine from a backup?

(the process should not involve anything I don't have, like USB memory sticks, Lion CDs, etc....)

 

Supplementary questions which are only relevant if the answer is "you can't" (which would seem to be a major bug!) :

Or is there a clever method to install a recovery partition onto an existing disk (which clearly has space for it)? I have searched for it but all the results I found have either not mentioned that it works without reinstalling but look like it's needed, or do say "reinstall".

 

If I install Lion to an external disk, can I boot from that and use the recovery disk assistant tool to restore the partition to my internal disk? (Which I assume I'll need to do to get FileVault to work) ?

 

 

Thanks,

Max

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on May 11, 2012 3:22 AM

Close
maxfromchippenham

Q: How to restore a Time machine backup and get a recovery partition?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by softwater,

    softwater softwater May 11, 2012 3:52 AM in response to maxfromchippenham
    Level 5 (5,392 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 11, 2012 3:52 AM in response to maxfromchippenham

    Please post the output of running the command

     

    disktutil list

     

    without adding the volume path afterwards.

  • by Shootist007,

    Shootist007 Shootist007 May 11, 2012 4:22 AM in response to maxfromchippenham
    Level 6 (16,660 points)
    May 11, 2012 4:22 AM in response to maxfromchippenham

    No you don't need the recovery HD partition on your computer to re-install Lion. All new MBPs have a feature called Internet Recovery.

    At boot hold down the Command+Option+r keys, have the computer connect to your router with Ethernet cable, and that will boot the computer from over the internet and load the internet Lion Recovery HD system. From there you can use Disk Utility and Re-Install Lion.

  • by maxfromchippenham,

    maxfromchippenham maxfromchippenham May 11, 2012 4:44 AM in response to softwater
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 11, 2012 4:44 AM in response to softwater

    Maxs-MacBook-Pro:Applications max$ diskutil list

    /dev/disk0

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *120.0 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            87.4 GB    disk0s2

    /dev/disk2

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        *136.2 MB   disk2

       1:        Apple_partition_map                         30.7 KB    disk2s1

       2:         Apple_Driver_ATAPI                         2.0 KB     disk2s2

       3:                  Apple_HFS Recovery Disk Assistant 136.2 MB   disk2s3

  • by Shootist007,Helpful

    Shootist007 Shootist007 May 11, 2012 4:53 AM in response to maxfromchippenham
    Level 6 (16,660 points)
    May 11, 2012 4:53 AM in response to maxfromchippenham

    You can try this.

     

    Removing and rebuilding a malfunctioning Recovery HD partition « Der Flounder

  • by maxfromchippenham,

    maxfromchippenham maxfromchippenham May 11, 2012 4:54 AM in response to Shootist007
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 11, 2012 4:54 AM in response to Shootist007

    So, the only way to recover a machine with the HD recovery partition (to use FileVault) is to ignore the backup that you have locally, download & install Lion from Apple.

     

    But then how do you tell Time Machine to use your local backup?

    Or do you use the whole install process for installing Lion just to get the recovery partition and then have to restore the backup over the top of Lion to get your data & apps?

  • by maxfromchippenham,

    maxfromchippenham maxfromchippenham May 11, 2012 4:58 AM in response to Shootist007
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 11, 2012 4:58 AM in response to Shootist007

    Removing and rebuilding a malfunctioning Recovery HD partition « Der Flounder

     

    Looks like EXACTLY what I was trying to find! Let's hope it works!

     

    Next time I feel like restoring from Time Machine, I know not to!