“A little birdie of ours has managed to snap a page from an internal AppleCare manual detailing OS X Lion’s brand new recovery system, invoked by holding down Command-R during startup,” Christian Zibreg reports for 9to5Mac.
Advertisement: Students, Parents and Faculty save up to $200 on a new Mac.
“Upon entering the new recovery mode, you can restore your system to any point in time from a Time Machine backup and run Disk Utility to check, repair, erase or partition volumes,” Zibreg reports. “In addition – and this is obviously your key takeaway – users can ‘reinstall Lion over the Internet from Apple’s servers.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
That’s kind of nice, but really pretty useless
the only reason you would want that is if your somewhere (probably not at home) without your thumb drive, in which case you’d have to sit in the cafe or whatever for hours downloading a 4gb disk image, it’s not like ios, which is one 8th the size. I really hope apple supports a better way of doing this.
A 4GB download won’t take more than about 30 minutes on a common high-speed internet connection.
I wish I had your Internet. Here in Tampa/St Pete it’s takes about an hour a gig on roadrunner. Usually 2-3 hours for a 2-3 gig movie. (legal movie download btw)
Do you sleep? Start it before you go to bed.
Another inane suggestion from an obviously fawning Apple apologist. The last time I had to re-install I was on vacation. Internet access was so patchy (broken, on&off) that loading a mere webpage could take 5-10 minutes. A disk is imperative.
So, you’re saying you carry your operating system disc with you at all times? If you’re that paranoid why not carry a backup on a bootable portable hard drive? That would make more sense than a re-install. Or did you just want an excuse to mouth off to the previous comment.
No I don’t sleep….. Do you exaggerate? I’m not complaining about having to download it. Just saying I wish I could Download 4gb’s of ANYTHING in 30 mins.
Sucks to be you.
On the other hand, you are probably not carrying around your Snow Leopard Mac OS X installation DVD either. Therefore, booting into Lion’s Recovery Mode makes it possible to do things like “Repair Disk” (and other Disk Utility tasks), and if necessary, a reinstall. It may take time to download the installation data, but at least it IS possible to do the installation.
But you could make a disk image of the Snow Leopard installer and burn one if you really needed it.
So, how does one do CLEAN install of Lion without a DVD installer disk?
The last time I did a clean install was with Leopard. I’m due to gut it out again and purge those nasty little gremlins.
Google for instructions on creating a bootable installer volume (DVD or flash drive, for example) from the Lion download.
You CAN do a clean install without a DVD installer disc, because the Lion Installer creates a small hidden bootable partition called Recovery HD, which is used in “Recovery Mode.” Here are the steps, which I believe will work.
(1) Start with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 installed on internal HD, which you will need to back up with Time Machine or clone to preserve your data. (2) Upgrade it to Lion. (3) Restart with the Option key held down to get Startup Manager, or use Cmd-R, to start up using Recovery HD. (4) At this point, it’s like booting from the DVD installation disc, except much faster because it’s not an optical drive. Run Disk Utility to erase the main startup volume. (5) Run Installer to install Lion on the volume you just erased. This is the step that downloads from Apple’s server. Clean install done… restart into Lion and do the data migration steps as desired.
Of course, after step (2), you can use the Lion installation for a while. If everything is working to your satisfaction, there is no need to do the clean install.
After you and about a dozen of your friends have done this process, please let me know so that I can follow (at a distance) in your footsteps.
Thanks.
I plan to make a clone (to an external drive) of my internal 10.6.8 startup volume AS A BACKUP (just before downloading Lion Installer from Mac App Store), in addition to my ongoing Time Machine backup. So I have a better way to do a clean install (if I want to do it instead of just upgrading).
After cloning to external drive, boot from clone. It should feel just like booting from internal drive. Download Lion Installer from Mac App Store. Run Disk Utility and erase internal drive volume. Run Lion Installer and target just erased internal drive volume. After starting up from Lion, use either clone backup or Time Machine backup as source for your user data migration.
In my previous post, I was pointing out that Apple DOES provide a way to do a clean install of Lion (which does not involve burning a DVD). However, I did not say it was the easiest way to do a clean install of Lion, IF already making a clone of the 10.6.8 system for backup purposes.
EVERYONE – Please DO make a backup before doing something major such as upgrading Snow Leopard to Lion. Time Machine backup is fine; it’s not bootable like a clone, but it can be used to do a full volume restore (or as your source for user data after a clean install). Usually, there won’t be any problems with the Mac OS X upgrade, but “bad things” CAN happen, even random stuff such as a power outage occurring in the middle of your Lion installation (or maybe your cat stepping on the switch of your Mac’s power strip).
I have personally done this and it works just fine. When you boot into the recovery, just delete the partition with Snow Leopard on it, then exit out of disk recover and click on the “Reinstall OS X Lion” link and it will ask you where to install. Choose the previously formatted partition and sit back for 30 minutes or so while it downloads and installs. After that, use Migration Assistant to transfer your files back over. That was the first thing I did this morning after the release!
Brilliant!! Re-installing over the internet will clearly save enormous amounts of time compared to using a DVD. Imagine how quickly these crises will resolve themselves.
Nothing like waiting for a 3.8 gig download to get your crashed computer up and running.
When has OS X ever crashed to the point of needing a reinstall? Never.
RE:”When has OS X ever crashed to the point of needing a reinstall? Never.”
You are kidding, right? I make my living off of the Mac. This happens often if you support many machines…
sounds like the support needs to be fired and someone competent brought in.
Damn straight! Apple’s OSes are PERFECT, they can NEVER have any issues at all! If your OS X install goes south, it’s YOUR fault! LEAVE STEVE JOBS ALONE!!!
Sounds like your mom did too many whip its when you were in her belly.
Um, hard drives fail. Every. Day. To the end-user, the Mac crashed. And he’s right–it crashed.
Don’t let fanboy fever blind you. Apple uses thousands of the same crappy Western Digital hard drives that other vendors use. They fail.
10,000 Macs? You will have more than one re-install per day with that many machines. Guaranteed.
So, if you support, say, 10,000 Macs, in a year, how many get screwed up to the point that a re-install needs to be done?
Often, to me, would mean at least one per working day or over 250 per year. There is no way you have as many as a 2.5% failure rate per year.
Anyone managing more than a few dozen machines will probably not install an OS anyway. They will use a disc image and restore – takes about 10 minutes from blank HD to ready to go system with OS and all apps, serialized and ready for use.
Kevin is right – this doesn’t look so good to me if NO DVD or USB boot option is provided. That won’t fly in the academic setting unless I can at least netboot. Also, enterprise Macs and Macs in schools usually have their firmware locked down to prevent booting from external media, Target Disk mode, or Single-User mode, so if this Lion restore cannot be booted with a firmware password, it’ll be next to useless in this environment. In any case, with a late summer release, there’s no way Lion is going on any of our school’s student Macs until at least Christmas break, but probably until next year. I’m need to start image creation, testing, and re-imaging now in order to be ready for late August.
I’ve never had to re-install OSX in 10 years. Why should the future be any different?
This is NOT just about doing a reinstall. This new Recovery Mode allows all the other things previously done by booting the optical drive with the Mac OS X installation disc, such as running Disk Utility, doing a complete startup volume restore from Time Machine backup, etc. Those tools are already there (no downloading required).
Also, because it is booting off a hidden partition on the hard drive, it will be MUCH faster and more reliable than booting from an optical drive.
Oh… and no need to carry around a DVD. Plus, we have to prepare for the day (coming sooner rather than later) when new Macs will not have built-in optical drives.
I think the last time I used my iMac’s optical drive was when I installed iLife 11 (before Mac App Store). Before that, I used it to instal Snow Leopard. I can’t think of any other time I needed to use the optical drive. I should try it periodically, just to make sure it still works. 🙂
I strongly disagree that optical drives are rarely used and not needed by most users. And I predict mass gnashing of teeth when owners of DVD-less Macs start having to carry around a portable optical drive.
Especially when, worst case, the find out that they could have just carried a flash drive with the installer on it to do the same thing.
Which is what I’ve had for a backstop on this SSD-only MBA since it was new.
Some people said the same thing when the first iMac had no floppy disk drive… If there was a future for built-in optical drives in Macs (beyond the next two years), Apple would have already upgraded them to be Blu-ray capable.
Surely you’re not suggesting that your experience is typical? It most definitely isn’t.
Just burn the DVD from the lion image and get over it already.
A-flippin-men
Or burned to a flash drive if your particular Mac doesn’t have an optical drive installed.
Thank God somebody said it. I swear to God that I’m as much of a fanboy as the next guy, but some of you are just plain catty. You just can’t wait to make somebody else feel bad… or stupid.
…and I’ve never witnessed so many hypothetical situations arising before the OS actually even got here….
Chill out, take a breath, and have some dip.
From Cult of Mac:
“OS X Lion Can Be Clean Installed At Boot-Up, No Snow Leopard Required”
[Quote]
According to an internal AppleCare manual leaked to 9to5 Mac, Lion boasts a number of recovery options that can be initiated by holding Command-R on startup. Users will then have the option to restore their system from a Time Machine backup, run Disk Utility to check, repair or erase partitions on your hard drives, and “reinstall Lion over the Internet from Apple’s servers.”
This should give users the ability to install Lion straight onto their machine without having to access the Mac App Store first, and will make the whole process of recovering your machine a lot easier than originally anticipated.
That sounds a lot better, doesn’t it?
[Unquote]
This is fantastic.
I’ve heard a rumour that Lion will also be available on 2,845 1¼” floppy disks which will be boxed in a Limited Edition case, designed by Jonathan Ive.
I’m guessing you meant 3 1/4″.
Ah, the good ol’ days. Loud, slow drives whose disks often gave out when you least expected…. 🙂
3 1/2″…
it was a 5 1/4, and then 3 1/2 you have flipped your floppies.
No this is something new, trust me 1¼” floppies have been worked on for the last 10 years by Apple and you won’t believe the speed!
I can’t understand peeps getting excited about this. For several years, when I’ve bought a new Mac I’ve re-partitoned the drive to create a small utility disk on which I install a clean system plus a range of repair utilities. In the rare event my main partition has problems all I need to do is boot into the utility drive and run a fix.
Simples.
Wouldn’t it be easier (if not more prudent) to use an external HD. Alternatively, you could’ve also used your DVD disc but that’s going dodo.
However, I understand that if you are on the road, carrying an external HD can be a hassle.
This cloud shit isn’t going to seem so neat after it gets exploited.
Assuming the Recovery Partition is on the boot disk, what do you do with a blank disk (e.g., you replace your drive with a new one) ?
Bootable Recovery Disk?
That’s why you burn the installer image to DVD or flash drive as a secondary backstop.
This really isn’t rocket science.
While it’s okay to allow people to download and install, continue to offer customers the option to purchase the actual DVD. Especially for those in environments where they have a large # of Macs to update (academia, for example) as well as those who have slower internet connections.
Interesting to see so many opinions and, separately, facts.
I switched to mac in 2007 since when so have all my family (six users).
I live some distance (300 km +) from an Apple Centre, its a day trip there and back.
This weekend (Feb 2012) I bought a new Macbook Pro.
It would not update (10.7.3).
Apple help desk was professional but talking me through the OS X Lion reinstall I did not get the same messages as expected (in my case, the choice of language options).
Their advice = to go back to the Apple Centre and ask them to fix it.
That’s a day lost and the cost of travel.
And, lets face it Apple Macs are not cheap (compared to PC laptops).
Apple is good, I wouldn’t use it otherwise. But its not perfect. But this is technology, things go wrong.
Clearly its an unusual case insofar as I am not aware of any similar problem elsewhere and how many new Lion based MacBooks have ben shipped ?!
Of course, I only hope they can fix it once and for all – using a local OS X install – as the standard Apple server option at the base of this thread does not work in this particular case.
On the opinion side. My old Macbook still works so I am not stuffed. But although under guarantee my personal view is they should test/upgrade all machines before or at the point/time of sale.
Mind you, a RAM upgrade would be a nice thought.