Q: Am I missing something installing Mavericks?

You don't need to do that since you already have an external backup you are using to boot the computer. You can only get a Recovery HD when you install the OS from scratch.

CCC may actually be able to install a Recovery HD from their files. Give it a try and see. If not:

You may not find this up your alley:

Update - Create Lion RecoveryHD Partition Quickly Without Reinstalling | brunerd

It's a bit complicated, but it does work. I've used it successfully once.

harryajh wrote:

 

I have a theory on me CMD R problem, I restored a full superduper backup straight to my SSD (after creating a "partitiion" via OS X Utils.

 

If I'm right, this wouldn't have created a Recovery Partition and therefore the reason why CMD+R does nothing?

SuperDuper! doesn't clone the Recovery HD partition, so your theory is correct. However, you should have a hidden recovery utility (it isn't exactly a partition) on your Time Machine backup that you can access by starting up with the Startup Manager (by holding down the Option key on restart).

And, assuming the Time Machine backup was made using 10.8.3 or later.

Before you do anything else (especially erasing the drive!) I strongly recommend that you verify that you still have a copy of the "Install OS X Mavericks" application file you downloaded in your Applications folder & if so, that you copy it to another location on some other drive for safekeeping.

Kappy wrote:

And, assuming the Time Machine backup was made using 10.8.3 or later.

No assumptions needed here. The OP already said he is running 10.8.5.

harryajh wrote:

Under "Cloning Apple's Recovery HD partition" - I can use CCC to create a Recovery partition on my SSD as it stands now WTHOUT having to install/reinstall etc...

CCC cannot create a Recovery HD partition unless you already have one somewhere. Note step 5 from the linked article:

Clone a suitable Recovery HD volume from another disk (such as the startup disk) or an archive of the Recovery HD volume onto the newly-created Recovery HD volume

IOW, since the contents of the Recovery HD partition are all copyrighted Apple software (a 'mini' version of OS X, Disk Utility, Terminal, & the other Apple Utilities) CCC cannot distribute them as part of the application, it must have a preexisting source for that, like an existing Recovery HD partition on your startup drive or an archive CCC has previously made from a similar preexisting source.

Since it seems that you do not have a Recovery HD partition on your SSD now (because command + R doesn't work), I don't think CCC can create one on it.

IF this is the case, does this sound like a plan - after creating the recovery partition I should be able to once again access OS X utilities and finally fix any wrong permissions which should allow me to install mavericks?

Whatever is preventing you from installing Mavericks, it is not a permissions issue. Regardless, it is perfectly normal to see recurring permissions issues that Disk Utility can't "fix" (because they aren't really problems to begin with). As long as you see "Repair complete" in green at the end of a permissions repair, it has done all it can (& should) do & there is no benefit to be gained by running it again. (See for example Apple's Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore article for some of the many messages you might get.)

The benefit of having a bootable Recovery HD partition with its own copy of Disk Utility on it is that to do a disk repair (not the same thing as a permissions repair) DU must be able to unmount the disk that needs repair. Since the startup disk can't be unmounted (because that is where the OS comes from) that means you can't do a disk repair on the startup volume (ever) & you must start up from some other disk with its own copy of the OS & of DU. The Recovery HD partition provides that. (Note that this is not true for a permissions repair -- you can do that just as well or better from the startup disk's copy of Disk Utility as from one on another disk.)

You can try creating a Recovery HD partition using this tool and following the instructions, then you can try repairing the drive from the disk utility in the recovery partition.

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