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Level 1

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Internal (Apple SSD) Hard drive issue

I´m having terrible issues with my mac since I tried to restore the entire mac system from a time machine backup, which ended up showing a "an error occurred while adding a recovery system to the destination disk" message. I restarted and held cmd+R and internet recovery started downloading (instead of recovery partition...). After the download, the menu of os x utilities appeared and I selected Disk Utilities and then I erased the macintosh HD.

Tried to restore from TM again but same problem. I even tried to reinstall os x: after downloading OS X Mavericks, I got "an error occurred while preparing installation".

Here you can see the results of diskutil cs list and diskutil list commands:

As you can see, I have no corestorage logical volume groups and I don't see the Recovery HD partition in disk0.

I would really appreciate some help. Thanks a lot.

Posted on Feb 12, 2016 7:20 AM

27 replies

RedaApple Author

Level 1

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Feb 12, 2016 9:59 AM in response to leroydouglas

Hi leroydouglas, the internet recovery mode tells me to reinstall it indeed, but I've already tried with no success, the os x mavericks is downloaded and when the installation starts, I get "an error occurred while preparing installation" message

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 12, 2016 10:00 AM in response to RedaApple

Do you think I can do it? Thanks a lot for helping.

Personally, I would not keep trying to figure out how to save time. I would bite the bullet and take as long as needed to get my system back.

It's your Mac and you certainly can do what you want, but I would reinstall OS X Mavericks from Internet Recovery and restore my user accounts, data and apps during Setup using migration. And once I knew my system was working correctly, I would clone my Macintosh HD to an external USB drive so I have a bootable system in case something like this happens again. And continue using Time Machine. This way you have TWO back ups! The cloning software that most use are SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner. I believe both have Trial versions that you can use for XX days before the trial expires. Then YOU can decide if you want to purchase it.

Feb 12, 2016 10:03 AM in response to RedaApple

RedaApple wrote:

Hi leroydouglas, the internet recovery mode tells me to reinstall it indeed, but I've already tried with no success, the os x mavericks is downloaded and when the installation starts, I get "an error occurred while preparing installation" message

I suspect your HD is failing. Yes even though DU show no errors.

RedaApple Author

Level 1

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Feb 12, 2016 10:24 AM in response to keg55

THing is, I'm afraid to reinstall because I,ve already tried it and it gave the error message I talked about in the original post. I.m going to reinstall it. Can I start from partitioning the disk and not doing the PVRAm thing all again?

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 12, 2016 4:52 PM in response to RedaApple

Yes, you don't need to keep doing the PRAM. And also remember, you have not tried an OS X reinstall SINCE the PRAM reset. So, without trying the install from Internet Recovery now AFTER the PRAM reset, you're not going to know if it still fails like your 1st attempt. BUT if it DOES fail, then your drive is failing or has failed.

RedaApple Author

Level 1

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Feb 12, 2016 11:46 AM in response to keg55

THanks again for your help. Another question: if the reinstall works and I get the mavericks os running, how will I be able to restore my data and even os x el capitan?

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 12, 2016 11:57 AM in response to RedaApple

I believe I've answered that multiple times. So, please scroll up to know what to do during Setup after install. I even mentioned after you check your system and things are fine, to use software to clone your system.

RedaApple Author

Level 1

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Feb 12, 2016 12:03 PM in response to keg55

Sorry, but what I meant was: will I have to download os x el capitan from the app store again or can I retrieve, beside data, the newest os from time machine, i.e does the Migration Assistant handles tjis also?

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 12, 2016 12:11 PM in response to RedaApple

Unless you originally downloaded Mavericks from the App Store, it won't be there for you to download. If your machine came preinstalled with Mavericks, then a clone is the only way I know of to keep from having to download/install it.

Migration assistant will only help you restoring data, user accounts, settings and apps. You can't restore the OS from it.

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 12, 2016 2:35 PM in response to RedaApple

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. Yes, you will have to download and reinstall OS X El Capitan after you reinstall Mavericks and restore data and apps. It should still be in the Purchases tab in the App Store.

RedaApple Author

Level 1

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Feb 12, 2016 4:52 PM in response to keg55

Hello Keg55!

I'm so happy to say that it worked perfectly! Thank so much! So here´s ALL what I did (besides the instructions you gave me above):

I actually didn't use the reinstall option properly saying. I downloaded an OS X El Capitan dmg file from a windows PC ( see, they can serve sometimes 😀) and used TransMac to copy it to a usb stick which format is os x compatible.
Then, from the internet recovery mode, I selected Disk Utility and then plugged my usb stick and another external HD to clone the dmg file of the installer into it (it's not mandatory to use an external HD, a 16 gb usb key would make it. Not an 8 gb one though, the cause being that the unmounted image of the dmg file is about 15 gb).
I added the disk image of the os x installer using the file menu, then selected it and clicked on the restore tab. I dragged the volume of the external HD in destination field and clicked on restore, a message appeared and told me that an analysis was required, I did it. I then re-dragged the external HD into the destination field and clicked on restore. The operation took about 10 minutes.
I unplugged my usb key and left only the external HD, then I restarted the mac holding the option (alt) key. I selected the os x installer and followed the steps for the installation.
Concerning the migration, I did it during the install process when it was suggested. Now I guess I'll only have to re-download the os x el capitain latest update and update the 10.11 version that I've installed.

That's it! I am now so relived to finally get my baby mac running like it was yesterday! Again, thanks to keg55 and leroydouglas for their replies.

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 12, 2016 6:25 PM in response to RedaApple

Good for you!! Glad you got it all sorted out.

Internal (Apple SSD) Hard drive issue