Copy Mavericks Recovery Partition

Question

Level 1

4 points

Copy Mavericks Recovery Partition

Just bought a new macbook pro and am trying to create a copy of the Recovery Partition on a CD using commands found on several internet searches:

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1

Problem is that it doesn't work - meaning it doesn't enable a new "Debug" Menu option in DiskUtility. I found a couple other forum posts that indicated you could complete this same function by going through Finder (/Library/Preferences/com.apple.DiskUtility).

When I open /Library/Preferences/ there is no file named "com.apple.DiskUtility"

I suspect this is why the defaults command isn't working...

Any thoughts as to what is going on?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Apr 9, 2014 5:25 PM

Reply

Answer 1

BobRz

Level 5

6,138 points

Apr 9, 2014 5:39 PM in response to CheeseyRider

No, but here's how you can do it.

http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/ss/Create-Your-Own-Os-X-Lion-Recovery-Hd-O n-Any-Drive_3.htm

It'd be easier to just clone the drive with Carbon Copy Cloner though. That way you get a bootable backup as well as the Recovery partition.

Reply

Answer 2

CheeseyRider Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 9, 2014 5:48 PM in response to BobRz

The link you provide only works after you enalble the Debug menu (which is the thing that isn't working for me).

I wanted to do this using native feature since it supposedly is avaiable - would like to understand why it's not working before going out an buying 3rd party app such as Carbon Copy Cloner.

Since this is my first mac and it's still under warantee, I'd like to find out why it's not working - if it's supposed to work and it isn't, then I'll want Apple to fix it while still under warrantee.

Thanks for the suggestion about Carbon Copy Cloner, but I'd like to see if anybody know why this isn't working as it is supposed to work.

Reply

Answer 3

steve359

Level 6

17,169 points

Apr 9, 2014 5:53 PM in response to CheeseyRider

CCC also mkes incremental backups. The first is full, but the later ones are smaller. And CCC leaves you with a complete mirror image of the internal drive that can be used in case of complete failure of the internal drive. And CCC is smart enough to see that a Recovery Partition exists and copy it.

So a bit more than "a 3rd party app", but worth the $40 in my opinion.

Good luck with your issue.

Reply

Answer 4

Apr 9, 2014 7:19 PM in response to CheeseyRider

After you use defaults write to change the setting for debug menu, Quit and re-launch Disk Utility.

Your new Mac has the ability to go direct to the Internet for recovery (and Utilities) if the Recovery_HD on the drive is ever lost.

Apple also provided a "canned" way to make a copy of your Recovery_HD on a 1GB or larger USB drive such as a thumb drive [NOT a CD]

Mac OS X: about Recovery Disk Assistant

Reply

Answer 5

CheeseyRider Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 10, 2014 4:19 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant. Rebooting doesn't work either. I guess I'll have to settle for the USB drive backup using Recovery Disk Assistant. Just bugs me that the command doesn't work.

Question for you or Bob: If you open Finder -> Go To Folder -> /Library/Preferences do you see a file named "com.apple.DiskUtility"? I don't, and am wondering if this is why the command doesn't work...

Reply

Answer 6

Apr 10, 2014 5:43 PM in response to CheeseyRider

Mac OS X is inherently a Multi-User System. Most preferences are stored on a per-User basis. The plist you seek is not in THAT Library, it is in this one:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.DiskUtility

.

Reply

Answer 7

CheeseyRider Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 11, 2014 9:17 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you for the help. What application are you viewing the folder with in the screenshot? Is it possible to modify the entry for the debug menu from that application?

Been a Microsoft user since the first versions of DOS, but this is first exposure to mac - Man it's hard to be a "stupid user", but frankly that's where I'm at right now...

🙂

Reply

Answer 8

Apr 11, 2014 9:36 PM in response to CheeseyRider

That is Property List Editor, available as part of the X-Code developer package. I like it much better than using a text editor on config files. I am always afraid I will do something to mess up a config file, but not with Property List Editor.app

What is being viewed is the inside of that plist file. Everything is organized and database-like. If there are several valid values for a field, they are enumerated for you and you choose between them, not just put in something and hope it don't crash.

The X-Code tools is a large but free download on the Mac App Store.

If you don't want to leave the whole about 10GB Developer package installed, it can be taken out of the developer package, but relies on about six other Library frameworks that you need to drag-and-drop into place to support it:

DevToolsCore.farmework

DevToolsCParsing.framework

DevToolsFoundation.framework

DevToolsSupport.framework

JavaKit.framework

PlistEdit.framework

Reply

Answer 9

CheeseyRider Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2014 9:06 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I found a free Property List editor. It shows that the DuDebugMenuEnabled value is 1, but the Debug menu still doesn't show up.

Any other ideas?

I've got a day off Friday - I might just sit on the phone with Apple to see if they can figure this out. I would really rather dedicate a CD or DVD to a backup copy of my OS Recovery than a USB drive (CD's are cheap), and recovering from Internet doesn't seem like a good plan - internet things tend to change over time...

Reply

Answer 10

Apr 13, 2014 9:13 AM in response to CheeseyRider

I have created an Installer DVD (requires a Dual-Layer DVD) for most Mac OS X Installers.

It also seems to contain a Recovery_HD. Some Writers dismiss DVD as too slow to install, but it can still be faster than the Internet.

Reply