Q: Trying to restore to Mavericks factory settings, it downloads Yosemite

colombolele wrote:

 

Standard Recovery uses the OSX version that was on the machine, so if you installed Yosemite it will restore Yosemite.

I currently have Mavericks installed on my Macbook, if I do the Standard Recovery it reinstall Yosemite. Why?

Is it because I installed Yosemite to test it, then went back to Mavericks with time machine?

This is a screenshot I have just don to prove that I currently have Mavericks installed, the screenshot I posted some hour ago proves that when I try the Standard recovery, it reinstall OSX 10.10 (Yosemite)

Yes, but the Recovery partition was created on Yosemite and you don’t have a Mavericks Recovery partition which you should, even if you installed Yosemite.

How you got it to that point I have no idea. In normal Recovery, it will install the version that is set by the Recovery partition.

I assume you tried Internet Recovery and it didn’t work.

In that case, you need to boot into Internet Recovery and Partition the disk prior to reinstalling.

In Recover, open Disk Utility.

Select your hard drive (not the Volume). It will be named with a serial/model number, not Macintosh HD.

Select the Partition tab.

From the partition menu choose 1 partition (don’t use current).

Set the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and give it a Name.

Click Apply.

After it is done, exit Disk Utility and Reinstall OS X.

Hey all.... Colombolele is correct... Comm R takes you directly to internet recovery and i also have the same issue. I HAVE NOT registered /installed yosemite beta, yet have the same issue....

SOmething strange in in this neighborhood.... Who to call? 

I Still love my Mac!

peace,

Justice

A recovery mode startup downloads Yosemite because that's what the hidden recovery partition is. It became that when you installed Yosemite. Restoring Mavericks via Time Machine only restored the visible partition back to Mavericks. So at the moment, anytime you do a recovery mode startup, it's going to download the same OS as what the hidden recovery partition is.

To get around that, and has been mentioned above, you need to do an Internet Recovery startup by restarting the Mac and holding down Command+Option+R. That will allow you to completely erase the drive, and the OS installed will be the one it shipped with.

I haven't tested such a scenario, but even an Internet Recovery may try to download Yosemite, since that's what the hidden recovery partition is. If it does do that, start over with a Command+Option+R startup and use Disk Utility to repartition the drive, which will wipe out everything on the drive, including the hidden partition. Then it will be forced to download what the Mac shipped with since it will have no other reference as to what to install.

Justice7 wrote:

 

... Who to call?

GHOSTBUSTERS.

I think this thread was resurrected out of the slime.

You can install CCC and use the disk center to remove, create or change the Recovery Partition.

Yes, killing the Recovery partition is another way to get Internet Recovery to install the correct OS. You can also use Disk Utility to remove the Recovery partition.

1) Make the Recovery partition visible in Disk Utility by enabling the debug menu. Close DU if you have it open. Launch Terminal and copy/paste this text into it:

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1

Press Enter. Close Terminal.

2) Launch Disk Utility. Go to the top menu bar and choose Debug > Show every partition. Highlight the Recovery partition, right click on it and select Mount the partition. Or highlight the partition and click the Mount icon at the top of Disk Utility's pane.

3) With the Recovery partition highlighted in Disk Utility, erase the partition. You may get an error message, ignore it.

4) In the left column, highlight the physical drive the Recovery partition is on. Then select the Partition tab at the right.

5) Highlight the Recovery partition and press the minus sign to remove it. The open space it creates should automatically be given back to the adjacent partition. It not, click and hold on the bottom right corner of the partition above and drag it to the bottom to fill the space, then press Apply.

To the OP. Don't worry about manually removing the recovery partition. When you reinstall the OS, a new one that is the same version OS you're installing will be created.

You will need to go the the MAS and download Mavericks to your desktop. You will then need to create a bootable thumb drive and get the Mavericks installer on it. (You could try a piece of free ware called Disk Maker X) or you can follow any of the recent online instructions. You will then need to boot from the newly created thumb drive and from there you can reinstall Mavericks. Apple sort of indicated this in the FAQ's for beta testers. Best of luck. :-) You can also call AppleCare for assistance.

Csound1, not to disagree with a level 8, but I can confirm that both CMD-R and CMD-Option-R will in fact get you Yosemite if you had installed Yosemite. But, we should probably not be discussing this. :-)

You will need to go the the MAS and download Mavericks to your desktop.

You can't do that with a Mac you are trying to return to the factory state for either of two reasons.

1) Any Mac that shipped with Mavericks is using a machine specific version that includes the hardware drivers for that model. The App Store version does not include those drivers and will refuse to install on that Mac.

2) If the intent is to put the Mac back to the factory state because you intend to sell it, and it came with Mountain Lion or older, that's what you must install. The original OS. Otherwise, the newer OS is tied to your App Store account, and if the new owner at any time needs to reinstall the OS, they won't be able to without knowing your App Store ID and password.

That is not at all normal, (and I can't duplicate it either, it still gives me Mavericks) internet Recovery should give you the OS that the Mac originally shipped with, I have no idea what is going on with yours.

I agree. My suggestion was a general solution not knowing what the OP machine detail is.

My machine originally shipped with 10.6.3. Perhaps that would explain this behavior?

I agree. My suggestion was a general solution not knowing what the OP machine detail is.

I kind of figured you did, but wanted to clarify for the same reason you just mentioned here. The OP hasn't stated how old the Mac is, or what OS it came with.

Is your machine in Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery list?

10.6.3 is around mid-2010 from Mac OS X versions (builds) for computers.