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csrutil not working in Recovery OS

Hello all, I was recently trying to disable the SIP on my Mac, and therefore went to recovery mode. Then I opened Terminal, and typed "csrutil disable", but the result was "csrutil: command not found". I tried multiple times typing csrutil, but it simply wouldn't work. How can I solve this problem? I am currently using a MacBook Pro 13-inch, Early 2011, and my OS version is 10.12.6. Thanks.

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.6), 13-inch, Early 2011

Posted on May 25, 2018 7:20 PM

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Posted on May 27, 2018 6:57 AM

As Kappy posted, you have a defective Recovery Partition.


Try running the combo update. It installs all previous updates plus the new one, which can replace any files that may have become corrupted.



macOS Sierra 10.12.6 Combo


7 replies

May 28, 2018 2:13 AM in response to Maker Space X

Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) - Rootless In OS X El Capitan - How To

Turning Off Rootless System Integrity Protection in OS X El Capitan 10.11.x or Later


Again, the vast majority of Mac users should not disable rootless. Disabling rootless is aimed exclusively at advanced Mac users. Do so at your own risk, this is not specifically recommended.


  1. Reboot the Mac and hold down Command + R keys after the startup chime, this will boot OS X into Recovery HD.
  2. When the Utility Menu appears, select the Terminal from the Utilities' menu in the menubar.
  3. Paste the following command into the terminal then hit return: csrutil disable; reboot
  4. You’ll see a message saying that System Integrity Protection has been disabled, and the Mac needs to restart for changes to take effect. The Mac will then reboot itself automatically.
  5. You can also issue the command by itself without the automatic reboot like so: csrutil disable


Once the Mac boots up again, System Integrity Protection will be disabled entirely in OS X.


Checking the Status of Rootless / System Integrity Protection in OS X


If you want to know the status of rootless before rebooting or without rebooting the Mac from the Recovery HD, just paste the following command into the Terminal: csrutil status


You’ll either see one of two messages:


$ csrutil status

$ System Integrity Protection status: enabled.


or


$ csrutil status

$ System Integrity Protection status: disabled


If at any time you want to change the status of rootless, another reboot from the Recovery HD is required.


How to Re-Enable Rootless System Integrity Protection in OS X


Simply reboot the Mac again from the Recovery HD as directed above, but at the command line use the following syntax instead: csrutil enable


Just as before, a reboot of the Mac is required for changes to take effect.

May 26, 2018 10:02 PM in response to Maker Space X

What version of OS X do you have installed? I believe you need 10.12.n or later. If the command isn't available then I have to ask: After you open the Terminal from the Utilities' menu of the screen's menubar what do you do after the Terminal window opens? You should enter the csrutil command from the Terminal window's prompt. Try entering, csrutil, then press RETURN. You should see the command's usage displayed. If you still get, command not found, then you have a defective Recovery Drive.

May 27, 2018 12:06 AM in response to Kappy

I have macOS Sierra installed, with the version of 10.12.6. I tried typing csrutil after opening Terminal from the Utilities menu, but all it gives me in return is "command not found".


The odd thing about this issue is that when I type the command csrutil in Macintosh HD, it gives me the usages of the command, but when I type it in Recovery HD, then the command doesn't work.


I was wondering if my Mac being old have to do anything with this problem. It's now nearing 7 years, as it was purchased in early 2011.

csrutil not working in Recovery OS

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