Mark808

Q: Clean install Yosemite

Since upgrading my late 2013 MacBook pro to Yosemite it has become an unstable mess, kernel panics, distnoted maxing out the processors, wifi & Bluetooth issues. Reminiscent of windows upgrades (note to apple, please can you go back to quality over quantity!!!!).

 

I Have applied the latest patch and contacted apple support, we reset the NVRAM & SMC and performing diskrepair & fix permissions from the system partition. There were some files that are listed as repaired but after a reboot and rerunning fix permissions from the system partition still come up as having permission errors, and I still get kernel panics and distnoted issues.

 

I am now thinking that a clean install may be the only option to get a stable notebook again. However I am not technical and after reading a number of clean install instructions I am more confused. I need to restore mail data, iPhoto, iTunes and keychain, I can download program files and my files.

Are there any reliable instructions  for the non technical how to perform a clean Yosemite install?

 

any assistance will be greatly appreciated

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 30, 2014 4:07 AM

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Q: Clean install Yosemite

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,Helpful

    Eric Root Eric Root Nov 30, 2014 2:17 PM in response to Mark808
    Level 9 (70,061 points)
    iTunes
    Nov 30, 2014 2:17 PM in response to Mark808

    Do a backup before doing anything, preferable 2.


    If you want to make a clean install of Mountain Lion, boot into the Recovery Volume (command - R) on a restart, use Disk Utility to Verify/Repair  the disk and run Repair Permissions. Then erase the hard drive using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format using the Options button. Reinstall Yosemite. Restart normally and test. Use Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant to import what you want.

     

     

     

    Clean Install

  • by Mark808,

    Mark808 Mark808 Nov 30, 2014 4:05 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2014 4:05 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thank you Eric for your reply

     

    I have a couple of questions still

     

    Your link goes to a Mountain Lion clean install, is it the same process for Yosemite (I have Yosemite installed)?

     

    To clarify, will setup assistant/migration assistant restore what I need from my time machine backup

  • by Eric Root,Solvedanswer

    Eric Root Eric Root Nov 30, 2014 4:16 PM in response to Mark808
    Level 9 (70,061 points)
    iTunes
    Nov 30, 2014 4:16 PM in response to Mark808

    You are welcome.

     

    Yes, the clean install is the same for Mountain Lion and Yosemite. I meant to mention that, but obviously forgot. Setup Assistant/Migration Assistant will restore from Time Machine normally, barring an oops. I would use Setup Assistant as people seem to have better success with it. I recently did this on a computer in the house and had no problems. The restore from Time Machine takes awhile, so schedule it when you won't need the computer for a while.

  • by Mark808,

    Mark808 Mark808 Nov 30, 2014 4:23 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2014 4:23 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thank you Eric for your assistance, I'll do a clean install later in the week when I have plenty of time

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Nov 30, 2014 4:25 PM in response to Mark808
    Level 9 (70,061 points)
    iTunes
    Nov 30, 2014 4:25 PM in response to Mark808

    You are welcome. I hope all goes smoothly for you.

  • by Mark808,

    Mark808 Mark808 Dec 2, 2014 11:34 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2014 11:34 PM in response to Eric Root

    Hi Eric

    I managed to do a clean install but when I run migration assistant it does not allow me to select individual files or settings and applications.

    I am concern that this will transfer the issues I had with the old Yosemite installation

  • by Mark808,Helpful

    Mark808 Mark808 Dec 23, 2014 11:23 PM in response to Mark808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2014 11:23 PM in response to Mark808

    Finally worked it out,

    Performing a clean install fixed the distnoted issue but not the intermittent wifi issues but I believe this is an ongoing issue according to other discussions.

     

    However after using the migration assistant to restore my system the distnoted issue returned. Also the time machine would not restore individual files after performing another clean install with previous backups greyed out on the 3 backups I did on 3 separate external USB hard disc drives.

     

    So, I did another clean install and manually reloaded my software and manually restored my user files from a forth backup where I just copied my most important files. I was also able to manually find my iPhoto and iTunes libraries by going through finder on the time machine backup.

     

    After all this my trust in Apple has been lost unfortunately. How can a system that is supposed to be user friendly and reliable be so difficult to fix and restore!!

  • by David Knecht,

    David Knecht David Knecht Jan 26, 2015 6:37 AM in response to Mark808
    Level 2 (221 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 26, 2015 6:37 AM in response to Mark808

    I am planning to do a clean install of Yosemite and then restore from a Time Machine backup.  I don't want to restore all the junk that has accumulated in the system over the years of upgrades.  Is there a way to get my user data restored without copying all that junk back into the system folders?  What options do I want to choose in the Migration Assistant to avoid the problem?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jan 26, 2015 2:47 PM in response to David Knecht
    Level 9 (70,061 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 26, 2015 2:47 PM in response to David Knecht
  • by David Knecht,

    David Knecht David Knecht Jan 27, 2015 5:58 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 2 (221 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 27, 2015 5:58 AM in response to Eric Root

    Hi Eric- Thanks for the reply.  However, much of that information is out of date.  From what I have read, the Yosemite Migration Assistant behaves somewhat differently than earlier ones in terms of accounts.  But none of it addresses the details that I was after.  If you have lots of accumulated junk in the System folder from apps that are no longer functional or from old installs of software that is functional, under some circumstances, Migration Assistant will put them back into the new System folder.  The whole reason for the clean install is to get rid of that junk.  What I was trying to find out is whether they come along when selects to restore Applications, or Other Files and Folders or somewhere else.  Also there is the issue of the Library in the Home folder vs. the rest of the system.  I have not found anything that explains the details of preventing restoring the junk. 

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 27, 2015 6:07 AM in response to David Knecht
    Level 9 (50,245 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 27, 2015 6:07 AM in response to David Knecht

    If you intend to migrate an account clean it up for migration first, transferring apps and utilities that are not compatible with a new OS is a total waste of time at all stages.

     

    Don't migrate your junk with your account.

  • by David Knecht,

    David Knecht David Knecht Jan 27, 2015 6:26 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 2 (221 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 27, 2015 6:26 AM in response to Csound1

    Dear Csound1- I am not worried about the incompatible apps in the Application folders in the old setup.  They simply won't work.  It is all the stuff in the System, System Library and User Library folder I am trying to eliminate.  It would be impossible to go through that and figure out what is needed and what is not.  You would hope that the Migration Assistant would not put anything into those folders, but my experience is that it does.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 27, 2015 8:14 AM in response to David Knecht
    Level 9 (50,245 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 27, 2015 8:14 AM in response to David Knecht

    So?

     

    Identify them, then remove them, and don't make assumptions. Use etrecheck (post the report here) to help identify what is really running on your Mac, verify their compatibility, remove or update the ones that need it, then upgrade OS X.