Create Install Media Yosemite

Create Mac OS X bootable USB installation media. Before you can use TransMac, you first need to partition your USB flash drive with a GPT partition, as a normal MBR partition may not work. To do this, you’ll need to use the Diskpart command-line utility on Windows 10. Setting up GPT partition. Use these steps to set up a USB drive with a GPT. Hold down the Option key during boot to bring up the startup disk menu. Select the Install OS X Mavericks media to boot from the installer volume, if it’s a USB drive it will have an orange icon. This will boot directly into the Mavericks installer where you can upgrade or reinstall OS X.

Create Install Media YosemiteIt was 2009 when Apple last released a new operating system on physical media. Things have proceeded remarkably smoothly since version 10.7 switched to download-only installers, but there are still good reasons to want an old, reliable USB stick. For instance, if you find yourself doing multiple installs, a USB drive may be faster than multiple downloads (especially if you use a USB 3.0 drive). Or maybe you need a recovery disk for older Macs that don't support the Internet Recovery feature. Whatever the reason, you're in luck, because it's not hard to make one.

As with last year, there are two ways to get it done. There's the super easy way with the graphical user interface and the only slightly less easy way that requires some light Terminal use. Here's what you need to get started.

  • A Mac, duh. We've created Yosemite USB from both Mavericks and Yosemite, but your experience with other versions may vary.
  • An 8GB or larger USB flash drive or an 8GB or larger partition on some other kind of external drive. For newer Macs, use a USB 3.0 drive—it makes things significantly faster.
  • The OS X 10.10 Yosemite installer from the Mac App Store in your Applications folder. The installer will delete itself when you install the operating system, but it can be re-downloaded if necessary.
  • If you want a GUI, you need the latest version of Diskmaker X app—we wrote this article based on version 4 beta 2, but if a 'final' version is released alongside Yosemite we'll update the article. This app is free to download, but the creator accepts donations if you want to support his efforts.
  • An administrator account on the Mac you're using to create the disk.

The easy way

Once you've obtained all of the necessary materials, connect the USB drive to your Mac and run the Diskmaker X app. The app will offer to make installers for OS X 10.8, 10.9, and 10.10, but we're only interested in Yosemite today.

Advertisement

Diskmaker X has actually been around since the days of OS X 10.7 (it was previously known as Lion Diskmaker), but it's more important now because Apple has made alterations to the installer that prevent easy USB drive creation using the built-in Disk Utility app. It's still possible to create a disk manually using a Terminal command (which we'll go into momentarily), but Diskmaker X presents an easy GUI-based way to do it that is less intimidating to most people.

Install Yosemite From Usb

Select OS X 10.10 in Diskmaker X, and the app should automatically find the copy you've downloaded to your Applications folder. If it doesn't detect the installer (or if you click 'Use another copy'), you can navigate to the specific installer you want to use. It will then ask you where you want to copy the files—click 'An 8GB USB thumb drive' if you have a single drive to use or 'Another kind of disk' to use a partition on a larger drive or some other kind of external drive. Choose your disk (or partition) from the list that appears, verify that you'd like to have the disk (or partition) erased, and then wait for the files to copy over. The process is outlined in screenshots below.

The only-slightly-less-easy way

If you don't want to use Diskmaker X, Apple has actually included a terminal command that can create an install disk for you. Assuming that you have the OS X Yosemite installer in your Applications folder and you have a Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)-formatted USB drive named 'Untitled' mounted on the system, you can create a Yosemite install drive by typing the following command into the Terminal.

sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app --nointeraction

The command will erase the disk and copy the install files over. Give it some time, and your volume will soon be loaded up with not just the OS X installer but also an external recovery partition that may come in handy if your hard drive dies and you're away from an Internet connection.

Media

Whichever method you use, you should be able to boot from your new USB drive either by changing the default Startup Disk in System Preferences or by holding down the Option key at boot and selecting the drive. Once booted, you'll be able to install or upgrade Yosemite as you normally would.

When making a Hackintosh or a HackBook, one of the things that you need to learn to do is how to create install media for macOS. If not, you will have to rely on someone else to make one for you with the bootloader baked in if you do not have access to Apple hardware.

If that is your only option, when setting up and in post-installation, do not sign into any online account. Instead, make the drive bootable and then restart into the Recovery and wipe the OS partition and reinstall macOS using the Internet recovery feature so that you get a clean version directly from Apple and when that is done, use the below invocations to create a malware-free USB for a local reinstall. Since Apple assigns SSL Certificates on the installers, you will need to use the release date fix to install.

Note: “–applicationpath” will be deprecated in macOS 10.14 and greater.

sudo /Applications/Install macOS Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB /Applications/Install macOS Beta.app

Create Install Media Yosemite City

sudo /Applications/Install macOS Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB /Applications/Install macOS Beta.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app
Install
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app
sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app
sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app

Mac Yosemite Install

sudo /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app

Last login: Fri Jun 21 21:44:33 on console
HackBook-Pro:~ admin$ sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/GixxerUSB –applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app
Password:
Ready to start.
To continue we need to erase the disk at /Volumes/GixxerUSB.
If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return: Yes
Erasing Disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 30%…100%…
Copying installer files to disk…
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable…
Copying boot files…
Copy complete.
Done.
HackBook-Pro:~ admin$

The following two tabs change content below.

Create Install Media Yosemite Download

About The Author: Stephan Pringle is an Information Technology Specialist. He covers hardware and software and provides tips for you to troubleshoot and repair issues on your own. In his spare time, he writes articles about the State of New York on his Hackintosh and HackBook and that has helped him to become the top contributor of the New York City section of Yahoo! Answers.
  • Unsupported HP Scanner on Windows - Friday, August 27, 2021

Related posts: