Level 1

17 points

accidentally made entire hd os x base system

I had some problems with El Capitan on my iMac to the point of it becoming unusable, where it was fine before the updated. Attempted a clean install, but in the midst of reformatting my hard drive, I seem to have made the entire thing the OS X Base System drive. Now I can't reinstall El Capitan because the hard drive is locked. I can't partition the drive in order to fix it either. It keeps telling me to "enable journaling" but is not actually giving me the option to do so.

Posted on Oct 17, 2015 4:12 PM

Top-ranking reply

winnway

Level 1

10 points

Posted on Apr 7, 2017 10:54 AM

I found a solution....but the chosen "answer" to this question is broadly described and gets you no where, so needless to say this has been driving me insane (Kappy's passive-aggressive follow up comment didn't exactly make me happy either....so on top of being wrong this person is also not keen on life in general).

Here's EXACTLY what I did, whether the most direct solution or not:

1. Hooked the Mac to an Ethernet connection (wifi will work fine as well)

2. Started in internet recovery (held down Command + Option + R) after hearing the chime

3. Let it do its thing (if you don't have Ethernet plugged in its going to prompt you for wifi creds)

4. When the recovery screen finally came on, I selected "reinstall Mac OS X"

5. Clicked through the junk written by lawyers

6. Brick wall....could not install on the single partition because it was locked/etc etc.

7. Went up to the file menu and quit the installer

8. We're back to the main recovery screen.

9. Open disk utility

10. Now I have something different: the main, locked hard drive and an ejectable disk with the same OS X Base System name (hope has been briefly restored, but vicious skepticism remains very high)

11. I select the very TOP item (the main disk, not the sub, which for me was a Toshiba something or other) and clicked "partition"

12. I changed the name to "Macintosh HD" (Put whatever you want here. Doesn't matter).

13. Change the vol. to journaled, and I did not choose the encrypted option because I was so screwed already the last thing I needed was to create myself more headaches....without this you're back to square 1

14. Partitioned it (don't worry, it won't bite....remember, you're already at rock bottom so it can't get any worse).

15. Quit disk utility

16. Go back and select "reinstall Mac OS X"

17. Junk by lawyers...click click click

18. Oh what's this? I can install on this disk now? Fantastic!

19. Run that baby

20. Voila......now you can freely look at cat / video game gifs, or reply to incorrect, passive aggressive comments on the Apple discussion boards. The choice is yours.

As for any other issues, I don't know. It works. Do I sound like an expert?

I hope it works for you. Enjoy.

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31 replies

microcn

Level 1

8 points

Jul 1, 2017 7:02 PM in response to microcn

I used following steps as suggested by Sara,

"Plug your Time Machine backup disk to your computer and boot your computer with the option key held in. Besides your HD and Time Machine backup you should see an additional Recovery disk option. Select the Recovery disk. In this mode the OSX Base System drive was no longer ‘locked’ and I could use my Time Machine backup to restore it."

It helped. This helped my recovery of Macintosh HD. this was followed by recovery through time machine.

Thank you.

🙂😍

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Oct 17, 2015 7:54 PM in response to Sara Griffin

Install OS X Using Network Recovery

Be sure you have backed up your files because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

Boot to the Network Recovery Server:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.

Partition and Format the hard drive:

Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.

Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.

Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

Nov 2, 2015 1:57 AM in response to Kappy

Thanks! This has been driving me mad for days now. Perfect solution.

Oct 22, 2016 10:33 AM in response to Kappy

I need help but i cant fix it as you say. Can you help me please ?

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Oct 22, 2016 10:53 AM in response to Goldeking55

Please post a separate topic complete with full details of your problem. Read Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question.

Oct 22, 2016 10:57 AM in response to Kappy

Right after posting this i fixed problem thx anyway 🙂

Vibse75

Level 1

4 points

Nov 16, 2016 1:49 PM in response to Goldeking55

Hello.

How did you fix your problem.

My harddisk is lock also..

Nov 16, 2016 1:51 PM in response to Vibse75

at the openning press Command (⌘) – Option (⌥) – R combination than you will go to internet recovery at that place you can delete whatever you want

saolhere

Level 1

4 points

Dec 3, 2016 5:47 AM in response to Sara Griffin

I also had this problem and this is how I finally solved it:

Plug your Time Machine backup disk to your computer and boot your computer with the option key held in. Besides your HD and Time Machine backup you should see an additional Recovery disk option. Select the Recovery disk. In this mode the OSX Base System drive was no longer ‘locked’ and I could use my Time Machine backup to restore it.

MrDWtW

Level 1

4 points

Jan 27, 2017 8:08 AM in response to Goldeking55

What did you do to solve the problem ? I'm in the same boat with no paddle

Amiadul

Level 1

4 points

Mar 18, 2017 9:54 AM in response to Sara Griffin

Im having the same problem how did you manage to get your mac up and running again

Apr 12, 2017 1:27 AM in response to Kappy

You are brilliant! Thank you so much for this fix!!🙂✅

Apr 15, 2017 1:55 PM in response to Purple Genuis

Thx, trying same fix now...just wanted to comment on the post before the one above mine, had me cracking up lol. Cycnicism is a mainstay in this world, I tell ya ;-)

May 31, 2017 5:28 PM in response to Kappy

Thank you.

bfour20

Level 1

4 points

Jun 28, 2017 5:39 AM in response to Sara Griffin

what if its pre 2011?

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accidentally made entire hd os x base system