dahlia29
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: OS X Lion reinstallation - Missing recovery system

Hello,

 

I'm trying to reformat a late 2011 MBP to it's original settings with a fresh install of OS X Lion. The reformatting of the Macintosh HD has already been done and that wasn't an issue, it's the installation of the OS that's the problem. For the record, this computer has had issues in the past and has been "repaired" by the people at the genius bar, but has had previous problems of not working properly.

 

Every time I've tried to install OS X Lion, I've gotten the error message that it couldn't create a recovery system. In Internet Recovery mode, I went to Disk Utility and it seems to have this odd extra volume on the computer called: Mac OS X Base System. My Macintosh HD cannot be partitioned because the entire drive of 500GB seems to have been converted into CoreStorage. I've done some research so I don't know much about how any of this works.

 

I've tried booting from Mac OS X Base System (from my readings, it seems that this is just Recovery HD renamed), but got an error message asking to shutdown and restart my computer. There was an error with the Installer.dmg (sorry I can't take a screenshot of it). Thus I can only boot in Internet Recovery Mode.

 

I've looked through the Terminal and typed in diskutil cs list as well as diskutil list.

 

For some reason it lists like 13 different disks, though only the first 3 are used.

 

I don't have detailed info but here's the gist of what I thought was most important:

 

Disk 0: GUID 500GB

Disk 1: EFI 209MB

Disk 2: CoreStorage 499 GB

Disk 3: Apple_Boot 650MB

 

Disks 4-13: Untitled, varies in size from 524KB to 6.3MB

 

Disk 1  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 498.9GB

Disk 2  Apple_HFS Mac OS X Base System 1.4GB

 

I don't know what to do to fix this issue, eventually the computer prompts me to restart the installation and I have to boot it back into Internet Recovery Mode.

 

Any ideas on how I can fix this? I'm not a huge techie and technical jargon as why it doesn't work won't get me very far. I just need instructions on how I can get a recovery system back so that I can install OS X Lion, so that I can donate this computer!

 

Any help would be great, thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), null

Posted on Sep 12, 2016 2:11 PM

by Kappy,Solvedanswer
Kappy Kappy
Level 10 (271,096 points)
Desktops
A:

According to Disk Utility, the partitions on your drive are encrypted. So, I would either turn off the encryption using Security & Privacy preferences or re-partition and reformat your drive. That is the reason for the use of Network Restore. Just be sure you select the out-dented disk entry, not an indented volume entry.

 

It's difficult for me to provide the correct guidance without an image of what your are seeing in Disk Utility. If you could take a snapshot and post it here that would be a big help. The only ones I have are from El Capitan. The network one is an older version and looks different.

 

Changes in Disk Utility in El Capitan.

 

Disk Utility is somewhat different in usage if you need to partition, re-partition, or format a disk for use with your Mac. Please read these instructions if you are using El Capitan.

 

  1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
  2. After Disk Utility loads select the indented volume you wish to partition and/or erase from the left side list. Click on the Partition or Erase icon in the Disk Utility toolbar. The Partition icon may be grayed out if the device has never been partitioned for the Mac. If this is the case, then you need to select the out-dented physical disk entry in the sidebar.
  3. If the Partition icon is not active, then select the out-dented entry as mentioned above. Click on the Erase icon in the toolbar. A panel will dropdown in which you can select the partition scheme - GUID - and the Format type - Mac OS Extended, Journaled - from two dropdown menus. If the disk has been partitioned, then you can erase it by just selecting the Erase icon in the toolbar. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the panel’s dropdown menu. In either case once configured you can click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.

 

As you can see in the image below what the out-dented and indented entries are in the sidebar. At the top is the toolbar. In this image, the Partition icon is active because the selected disk is already partitioned. The Erase icon is now inactive because no volume is selected to erase.

 

Disk Utility in El Capitan.png

 

For more help with the new Disk Utility please see: Hands-on with Disk Utility in El Capitan.

Posted on Sep 14, 2016 1:00 PM

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dahlia29

Q: OS X Lion reinstallation - Missing recovery system

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 12, 2016 2:08 PM in response to dahlia29
    Level 10 (271,096 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 12, 2016 2:08 PM in response to dahlia29

    Network Install of Lion Through Yosemite

     

         Be sure you backup your files.

     

    1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears. Wait patiently - 5-15 minutes - until the Utility Menu appears.
    2. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.
    3. After Disk Utility loads select the drive (usually, this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the side list. Click on the Partition tab in Disk Utility’s main window.
    4. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions to one volume. 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 Partition button and wait for the process to finish. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
    5. Select Reinstall OS X from the Utility Menu and click on the Install button.

  • by dahlia29,

    dahlia29 dahlia29 Sep 14, 2016 9:14 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2016 9:14 AM in response to Kappy

    Unfortunately I cannot select anything in the Partition tab, it is grayed out.


    "Disk Utility cannot modify this disk because it contains CoreStorage physical volumes. Use command line diskutil instead.     This partition can't be modified because it contains encrypted partitions."

     

    I have found this issue on another thread, but the thread ended with the person saying that they need unencrypt their FileVault, but my HD is not encrypted, so now I'm stuck.

  • by Kappy,Solvedanswer

    Kappy Kappy Sep 14, 2016 1:00 PM in response to dahlia29
    Level 10 (271,096 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 14, 2016 1:00 PM in response to dahlia29

    According to Disk Utility, the partitions on your drive are encrypted. So, I would either turn off the encryption using Security & Privacy preferences or re-partition and reformat your drive. That is the reason for the use of Network Restore. Just be sure you select the out-dented disk entry, not an indented volume entry.

     

    It's difficult for me to provide the correct guidance without an image of what your are seeing in Disk Utility. If you could take a snapshot and post it here that would be a big help. The only ones I have are from El Capitan. The network one is an older version and looks different.

     

    Changes in Disk Utility in El Capitan.

     

    Disk Utility is somewhat different in usage if you need to partition, re-partition, or format a disk for use with your Mac. Please read these instructions if you are using El Capitan.

     

    1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
    2. After Disk Utility loads select the indented volume you wish to partition and/or erase from the left side list. Click on the Partition or Erase icon in the Disk Utility toolbar. The Partition icon may be grayed out if the device has never been partitioned for the Mac. If this is the case, then you need to select the out-dented physical disk entry in the sidebar.
    3. If the Partition icon is not active, then select the out-dented entry as mentioned above. Click on the Erase icon in the toolbar. A panel will dropdown in which you can select the partition scheme - GUID - and the Format type - Mac OS Extended, Journaled - from two dropdown menus. If the disk has been partitioned, then you can erase it by just selecting the Erase icon in the toolbar. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the panel’s dropdown menu. In either case once configured you can click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.

     

    As you can see in the image below what the out-dented and indented entries are in the sidebar. At the top is the toolbar. In this image, the Partition icon is active because the selected disk is already partitioned. The Erase icon is now inactive because no volume is selected to erase.

     

    Disk Utility in El Capitan.png

     

    For more help with the new Disk Utility please see: Hands-on with Disk Utility in El Capitan.

  • by dahlia29,

    dahlia29 dahlia29 Sep 14, 2016 2:46 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2016 2:46 PM in response to Kappy

    Ah! I didn't realize I had to reformat the actual disk, I was trying to reformat just the indented drive. But this worked and I was able to run the full installation. Thank you!