hey guys,
im pretty sure i know this answer however i wanted to double check before proceeding.
if i make an exact, bootable clone of my system drive on an external drive, then upgrade to ML, would i be able to clone that bootable copy back to my MBP if i dont like the functionality of ML? or is there a better way to downgrade? thanks 🙂
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 2.2 GHz quad (late 2011), 16GB RAM
That is by far the quickest and safest approach to testing Mountain Lion. I don't think there's an easier or more reliable way to check out an upgrade.
As for Mountain Lion:
Make Your Own Mountain/Lion Installer
1. After downloading Mountain/Lion you must first save the Install Mac OS X Mountain/
Lion application. After Mountain/Lion downloads DO NOT click on the Install button.
Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the Mountain/Lion installer. Move
the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You
must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes
installing.
2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
a. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
b. After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left
side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
c. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the
partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until
the process has completed.
d. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side
list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
e. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the
button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
f. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash
drive size.
3. Use Lion DiskMaker 2.0 to put your installer clone onto the USB flash drive.
Note: The term Mountain/Lion used above means Lion or Mountain Lion.
thats what i figured. do you have any preference how to do the cloning? i have superduper, however ive also used disk utility and it seemed to work fine before. just exploring options....
edit: just saw everything else in your post. thanks 🙂
I never use anything but Disk Utility for cloning. Do not use SuperDuper!. DU not only clones your OS X volume, it also clones the Recovery HD volume automatically.
Clone Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
button.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
For cloning, I use and prefer Carbon Copy CLoner - it will clone the Recovery partition on your Lion drive whereas SuperDuper will not.
Clinton
cool, thats what i figured would be best. thanks much for the response 🙂 im gonna ponder some more on whether i want ot upgrade to ML or wait for Mavericks to come out and upgrade then.
At this point in time wait for Maverick.
downgrade os
