I need to restore my system from my Time Machine. I have a wired keyboard. I cannot get the Command-R or even Command-option-R key combination to be recognised by the Mac. I've tried it at various times after the restart but nothing. It keeps booting into Mavericks (which has its keychain corrupted).
Have you tried your Option key so you can select your Recovery HD if it's in the Startup Manager list?
Yes but I have no Recovery HD in the Startup Manager list.
If your Time Machine back up is plugged into your Mac locally, it should show up in your Startup Manager list and should be bootable. If it's there, select it and you should see the same OS X Utilities Menu like you would with the Recovery HD.
What year is your Mac? It might be too old to have Internet Recovery (Command+Option+R) functionality. And is the wired keyboard an Apple keyboard or a PC keyboard?
It's a 24 inch - early 2009. My Time Capsule is currently remote at the end of a long bit of Ethernet (which gives me physical remoteness of my backup). I could bring it indoors and connect directly to the iMac if you think that would help (which interface would you recommend?).
Keyboard is Apple.
Ok. Your iMac is too old to have Internet Recovery (command+option+r) and somehow your Recovery HD may have been deleted or never created.
Since you're using a Time Capsule I don't think you can just plug your iMac directly into it and boot from it.
If you have another Mac that can download OS X Mavericks from the App Store, you could use that Mac to create a USB thumb drive (8GB) installer from the Install OS X Mavericks.app file. Then boot from that installer to get to the OS X Utilities menu to be able to restore. Otherwise hopefully, you have an Apple Store nearby so they can help get you going.
At some point you will want to reinstall OS X Mavericks on top of itself so it creates a Recovery HD for you.
That's really helpful, thanks. It's a great pity that all the talk of Command-R etc never refers to elderly Macs! One tends to assume that if one has the relevant version of OS then any reference to it should be applicable across all models.
I will do what you have suggested.
One supplementary, if I may. Am i right in saying that the Restore/Recovery only reinstalls the OS and that things like keychain are left alone?
TIA
A restore from your Time Machine backup will restore everything (OS, apps, user accounts, data). Reinstalling the OS just installs the OS over itself leaving your apps, user accounts and data alone.
As far as Recovery Mode (Command+R) and Internet Recovery (Command+Option+R), I think it was when OS X Lion was released that Apple provided a firmware update to some Mac models. I had a 2010 MBP (came with Snow Leopard installed) that this firmware update applied to and I had the ability to use Internet Recovery (IR). However, it was no good if I never bought OS X Lion from the App Store because I had to enter my AppleID/pswd whenever I used IR to reinstall OS X Lion. As far as the Recovery HD, that is relevant to all models of Macs that meet the OS minimum requirements for OS X beginning with OS X Lion (10.7). Somehow your Recovery HD is missing or corrupt which is why you can't use Recovery Mode. Once you reinstall OS X Mavericks, a Recovery HD will be written again.
I strongly suggest once you get back up and running that you create the USB thumb drive installer after you download OS X Mavericks from the App Store. This way you always have a way to get to the OS X Utilities Menu like the Recovery HD.
Excellent explanation, thanks.
Thanks for that suggestion, Eric. I downloaded it but I get an AppleEvents timeout message. I'll contact the author.
You are welcome. Reinstalling should work also.
command-r not recognised
