Create a bootable OS X Mavericks DVD

Those who demand use of of flash drives are not technically competent.

The optical disc remains the most reliable solution to long term data storage. (mine are over 30 years old with zero failures)

I have had drive failures of ALL kinds, "all" means ALL.

The CD, DVD, and Blu Ray have saved me time, money, and heartbreak.

ALL versions of OSX that I use have Bootable DVD installers including High Sierra.

(OSX 10.4 to 10.13)

Mavericks is a unique story because it had a unique flaw.

The story is….

There is a Terminal method for creating an installer DVD for Mavericks and it works, but only works 99%.

The 1% ***failure is, the DVD installer would not create a Recovery Partition and no solution was ever found.

This much simpler method IS the solution to that 1% failure.

***(failure does not occur on usb or drive partition installers, only DVD and only with Mavericks)

1. Install OS X Mavericks.app must be located in your Applications folder.

2. Create an 8 GB GUID partition with Disk Utility on any hard drive and name it Untitled. (Name is Very Important, creating a partition is very simple just click the + (plus) at lower left in the Partition window)

3. Launch Terminal from the Utilities Folder.

4. Paste the following into Terminal followed by the Return key.

(you will need to type in an admin password, simply follow the instructions)

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app

This will create an Installer Drive and name it “Install OS X Mavericks” when finished.

5. Quit Terminal and Open Disk Utility.

6. Click on the Install OS X Mavericks drive that appeared in the drive list on left in Disk Utility.

7. Click on File from Menu and choose New Disk Image from Install OS X Mavericks”.

8. Options are:

Image Format: DVD/CD master

Encryption: none

You are creating a disc image from the installer HD partition and…. making the type of disc image bootable.

You may place this disc image where you please. (suggest Documents Folder)

9. Once the disc image has been created (Install OS X Mavericks.cdr) click on the disc image from inside of (still running) Disk Utility. (select it from the list on left)

10. Click Burn and follow the instructions. (you will need a blank DVD R DL disc)

Poof!

You just created a bootable Mavericks installer DVD.

NOTES:

Do Not burn the .cdr image from Finder.

You can now remove the partition you created just as easily as it was created by clicking the - (minus) in the partition window.

You cannot use DVD, capacity is not enough.

Click blue "Reader" button at the end of URL/Address bar of Safari for easy viewing.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/how-to-make-your-own-bootable-os-x-10-9-mav ericks-usb-install-drive/

Best.

Better with a 8GB memory stick, otherwise you will need a dual layer DVD as the installer is 5GB+

Why do you want to create an install DVD? If all you need to do is upgrade, just run the installer.

Matt

Link is updated. Try the instructions, use a memory stick.

Fair enough. I do second (third?) the recommendation of using a Flash drive - much faster to create and boot from, less susceptible to errors, and you can always wipe it once you're done.

Matt

You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program.

Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X