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PST MD Author

Level 1

11 points

Installing Mavericks but disk damaged, no recovery or safe modes

So I have a 2009 Mac book. I downloaded OS X Mavericks successfully this afternoon. But when I try to install it, it tells me: "The OS X upgrade couldn't be started because disk is damaged and can't be repaired. After your computer restarts, back up your data, erase your disk, and try installing again. Click restart to restart your computer and try installing again." Okay, fine, but annoying. So I hit restart and end up at this exact same error message. And when I open disk utility, the repair button is greyed out. When I try and open in recovery mode (holding down command - r) it just takes me back to the OS X installer and the error message. When I try to restart in safe mode, my entire computer just shuts off.

When am I supposed to do now? Luckily I backed up my computer last night. But I'm a grad student and a teacher. I need my computer to work. Help?

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 9:45 PM

36 replies

Jun 16, 2014 12:45 AM in response to PST MD

I'm no expert! I'd say that the only hope is using some disk recovery program; something that I know nothing about.

My (broken?) disk allowed me to drag all my data across to the new disk, and I fitted this new system disk to my laptop. It was really cheap as I replaced like with like.

I have a Lindy Superspeed 3.0 so everything that I set up on this new external drive using the Lindy, became my new internal drive.

If your old disk can't be 'seen' then you possibly have a different set of problems.

It's easy to say that you should backup important data. I didn't, and I was lucky. I do use Time Machine now!

Hope I've explained that Ok. like I said; I'm no expert!

Good luck with it.

Jun 25, 2014 9:28 AM in response to PST MD

Same problem, but I got lucky by making a mistake. Mavericks wouldn't load. I repaired my HD using the utility, but Mavericks still wouldn’t load. I kept getting that “locked disk” message. Then, by mistake, I turned off my computer. I waited a few minutes and upon restart, the Mavericks began to load. Everything seems to be working. Phew.

smwaley

Level 1

0 points

Jul 8, 2014 1:51 PM in response to medenius

I got to step three but when I restart (holding option) my external doesn't show up as an option. I only have "EFI Boot" and "Recovery-10.9.2" Any suggestions?

Jul 9, 2014 2:08 AM in response to smwaley

Sorry.. that's beyond me. Maybe if you started a new thread more specific to your problems? Someone might pick up on that with a solution.

Hope you get sorted.

Aug 23, 2014 1:28 PM in response to rickmusik

Friends,

I inadvertently attempted to install an interrupted version of OS X on my iMac. The result was that the install would fail, and I would get an error message saying my HD was damaged. Disk Utilities was unable to fix the problem. I knew that my HD was fine. The problem was with the install. Unbeknownst to me, my spouse had stopped and started the OS X download when I had left the room, causing the root problem. My core mistake was not backing up the iMac before the install. Careless of me, I know. It's a machine that I don't use. I'm religious with Time Machine on my Air. But, I digress.

These two pages, followed to the letter, solved my problem.

Part 1:

http://recovertextsms.com/imac-recovery.html

Part 2:

http://mashable.com/2013/10/23/clean-install-os-x-mavericks/(I used Option 2 - Manual)

I hope this helps. The entire process took 6 hours to fix.

Sincerely,

ChiefSoon

Dec 30, 2014 1:41 PM in response to sd.jacobs

I have been having the same problem installing Yosemite that people were having with Mavericks, and I have read MANY threads over the last few hours and tried every piece of advice. I was just preparing (reluctantly) to reformat my harddrive when I read of your accidental success. I thought, "What the heck, why not?!" and gave it a try. And it worked! Chalk another one up for the KISS principle! Thanks for posting. 🙂

Installing Mavericks but disk damaged, no recovery or safe modes