unblessed or otherwise boogered Recovery HD - migration struggle

Sumleilmus · 02-21-2013, 12:08 PM

I need education. In the old days, it was important to keep track of one's OS Install optical disks that came with a new Mac. They were localized to that hardware, and had the AHT on them.

Nowadays (on my new MBP 13 inch "9,2") there is only "Recovery HD." I find this a bit stressful, as hard drives at times cease to function.

Question 1: Is this a special Recovery HD for my machine, or is it a generic Recovery HD for OS X 10.8.2?

Question 2: Is an internet connection required if I need to use AHT? (I travel at times to places where such access is difficult or too public for working on an expensive possession.)

Question 3: I used Carbon Copy Cloner to do a simple clone of Recovery HD, which I had made visible by activating the Debug menu in Disk Utility to a volume on the external SSD I had just cloned my OS to. I did it this way in case there was anything special or localized about the Recovery HD that shipped with the computer. I swapped the internal hard drive with the external HD. It won't boot to the Recovery partitition, and

Code:

diskutil list

shows the original to be Apple_Boot and the clone to be Apple_HFS. It seems that it might need to be blessed. Does it also need to be changed to Apple_Boot? Gulp, if it does, what I have read about how to do that looks complicated.

Question 4: If it has no unique or localized files on it, can I not just delete it and install a new one? Alas, I recklessly erased the hard drive that came with my machine.

Sumleilmus · 02-22-2013, 07:04 PM

I took silence to mean I was being punished by forum members for asking obvious questions. I had searched for answers, but not effectively. What I have learned from additional searches follows.

Q1: it was probably a special Recovery HD for my machine, in the sense that it probably included an AHT specific for my hardware. Because I reformatted my drive, I can no longer easily test this myself.

Q2: It would not have been needed if I had known the AHT was there (if it was). I could have copied it out, and inserted it back into a generic Recovery HD partition, perhaps. With a USB or SD card OS installer (which I have) I could restore without internet access.

Q3: I could never get the cloned Recovery HD, which probably had the AHT on it, but was not bootable, to work. I doubt if I have any way to recover it.

Q4: I did delete it and install a new one using Carbon Copy Cloner.

Alas, if I have computer trouble and internet access is lacking, I lack options now.

Apple has a download page for images of AHT but the ones there are all about 10 to 13 years old, and not for Intel Macs.

If a friend or neighbor buys a brand new MacBook Pro 9,2 just like mine, and permits to to, I might be able to extract the AHT for my machine.

Sigh.

benwiggy · 02-23-2013, 05:38 AM

Installing Lion or MLion will add a Recovery Partition to the system drive. If you lack a Recovery Partition on the drive, then Macs built since Lion came out have a Firmware version of the same Partition. This may have the AHT, I don't know.

If you're without Internet, it still needs to download files for installing, so that's tricky.

There are often described instructions for creating a bootable complete installer onto a flash drive from the OS Installer app that comes from the Mac App Store. Even if your Mac came with MLion, the $19.99 is worth it to provide the modern equivalent of an installer disk.
This doesn't include Hardware Tests, though (AFAIK).

Do you think you have a hardware problem?

Sumleilmus · 02-23-2013, 11:05 AM

To install without internet:

Quote:


	a USB or SD card OS installer (which I have)

I made each in the usual way (many many instructions all over the internet), using the latest Mountain Lion installer (v. 1319) downloaded from the App Store. The relevant file in the contents of the installer is called InstallESD.dmg. ASR (Apple Software Restore, in Disk Utility.app) will restore that to properly partitioned & formatted media, no problem.

Quote:


	Do you think you have a hardware problem?

Ha, ha. I know I will have a computer problem, probably at the most inconvenient time and in the most inconvenient place. That's why I'm wishing I had learned about that AHT probably being on my HD before I reconfigured it.

02-21-2013, 12:08 PM	#1
Sumleilmus MVP Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: / Posts: 1,044	unblessed or otherwise boogered Recovery HD - migration struggle I need education. In the old days, it was important to keep track of one's OS Install optical disks that came with a new Mac. They were localized to that hardware, and had the AHT on them. Nowadays (on my new MBP 13 inch "9,2") there is only "Recovery HD." I find this a bit stressful, as hard drives at times cease to function. Question 1: Is this a special Recovery HD for my machine, or is it a generic Recovery HD for OS X 10.8.2? Question 2: Is an internet connection required if I need to use AHT? (I travel at times to places where such access is difficult or too public for working on an expensive possession.) Question 3: I used Carbon Copy Cloner to do a simple clone of Recovery HD, which I had made visible by activating the Debug menu in Disk Utility to a volume on the external SSD I had just cloned my OS to. I did it this way in case there was anything special or localized about the Recovery HD that shipped with the computer. I swapped the internal hard drive with the external HD. It won't boot to the Recovery partitition, and Code: diskutil list shows the original to be Apple_Boot and the clone to be Apple_HFS. It seems that it might need to be blessed. Does it also need to be changed to Apple_Boot? Gulp, if it does, what I have read about how to do that looks complicated. Question 4: If it has no unique or localized files on it, can I not just delete it and install a new one? Alas, I recklessly erased the hard drive that came with my machine. __________________ Sumleilmus ________ 10.8.3 MacBook Pro 9,2, 10.8.3 Mac Pro 3,1, iMac 9,1, 10.8.3 hemisphere Motorola iMac, & iOS 5.1.1 iPhone 4S…not to mention SheepShaver

02-22-2013, 07:04 PM	#2
Sumleilmus MVP Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: / Posts: 1,044	silence can mean punishment I took silence to mean I was being punished by forum members for asking obvious questions. I had searched for answers, but not effectively. What I have learned from additional searches follows. Q1: it was probably a special Recovery HD for my machine, in the sense that it probably included an AHT specific for my hardware. Because I reformatted my drive, I can no longer easily test this myself. Q2: It would not have been needed if I had known the AHT was there (if it was). I could have copied it out, and inserted it back into a generic Recovery HD partition, perhaps. With a USB or SD card OS installer (which I have) I could restore without internet access. Q3: I could never get the cloned Recovery HD, which probably had the AHT on it, but was not bootable, to work. I doubt if I have any way to recover it. Q4: I did delete it and install a new one using Carbon Copy Cloner. Alas, if I have computer trouble and internet access is lacking, I lack options now. Apple has a download page for images of AHT but the ones there are all about 10 to 13 years old, and not for Intel Macs. If a friend or neighbor buys a brand new MacBook Pro 9,2 just like mine, and permits to to, I might be able to extract the AHT for my machine. Sigh. __________________ Sumleilmus ________ 10.8.3 MacBook Pro 9,2, 10.8.3 Mac Pro 3,1, iMac 9,1, 10.8.3 hemisphere Motorola iMac, & iOS 5.1.1 iPhone 4S…not to mention SheepShaver

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02-23-2013, 05:38 AM	#3
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,039	Installing Lion or MLion will add a Recovery Partition to the system drive. If you lack a Recovery Partition on the drive, then Macs built since Lion came out have a Firmware version of the same Partition. This may have the AHT, I don't know. If you're without Internet, it still needs to download files for installing, so that's tricky. There are often described instructions for creating a bootable complete installer onto a flash drive from the OS Installer app that comes from the Mac App Store. Even if your Mac came with MLion, the $19.99 is worth it to provide the modern equivalent of an installer disk. This doesn't include Hardware Tests, though (AFAIK). Do you think you have a hardware problem?