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Help! Missing Recovery Partition, unable to Reset PRAM

K

krishnaM

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 26, 2014
210
12
I was unable to get startup manager to choose startup disk at restart by pressing Option button, couldn't reset PRAM by command+option+P+R. I am able to select startup disk in System preferences but then noticed that there is no Recovery partition in the menu and unable to get it by command+R at startup either. I reinstalled osx (Mavericks) but that didn't help anything. Then I thought that may be I am missing Recovery partition as I tried to clone bootable image on SM951 last year and I need to recreate it. So I made a clean install of Mavericks on an empty drive and booted from that drive but again noticed missing Recovery room partition and other problems continue to exist. I came across this article https://www.lifewire.com/create-os-x-recovery-hd-on-any-drive-2260909 on google search and tried to enable Debug menu on Disk Utility as mentioned here https://www.lifewire.com/enable-disk-utilities-debug-menu-2260807. But that didn't work either. I think it is time for experts to jump in as I am not a computer geek. I'll really appreciate if you all can guide me what to do.
 
Last edited:
Open terminal, type

Code: 
sudo nvram boot-args="-p -r"

Enter your password and reboot the computer will reset PRAM

For recovery partition, try Carbon Copy Cloner, it has free trial period, and able to create recovery partition.
 
I tried that terminal command to reset PRAM earlier before reinstalling the Mavericks but that didn't help. I use SuperDuper to make clones, is CCC better?
[doublepost=1506277374][/doublepost]Why didn't the Mavericks installer failed to create Recovery Partition even with Fresh install on a clean empty drive?
[doublepost=1506280051][/doublepost]....please....
 
Ok, I was able to enable Debug menu on Disk Utility and I can see the Recovery partition on both drives running mavericks (although they are greyed out) and still not able to access it using command+R at startup
 
I mean only use CCC to create recovery partition, not making clones. Not sure if SuperDuper has this function as well. If yes, than please ignore this suggestion.

Anyway, you root problem seems is that you can't use any start up key combo at all. Nothing to do with if the recovery partition is there or not.

Are you using a wireless keyboard? Do you have a wired keyboard (prefer the Apple keyboard).
 
I am using wired Apple keyboard, plugged in directly to macpro (i.e NO usb hub)
 
Just want to confirm that you have this problem for almost 2 years now, and you can never fix it, right?

Did you ever try to use another keyboard?
 
I had issue with my permissions two years ago (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/help-unable-to-reset-nvram-on-macpro-2009.1936737/) as I deleted the 'wheel' privileges by mistake and fixed it by reinstalling the Mavericks. After that I made a clean installation of osx and manually transferred all my data files and reinstalled all my applications and when everything was working fine, cloned the drive to SM951 and was stable for long time. I even upgraded firmware to 5-1 and installed X5690 cpu. Today I was trying to install osx Sierra to use the my new MSI RX580 gpu. I made a fresh backup of my system using SuperDuper and wanted to boot into that drive to check if it was working fine before I install Sierra on my Macintosh drive (SM591). I haven't tried to change startup drive using option menu for long time (may be a year ago). So I don't know when did it stopped working. Then I wanted to boot into Recovery Partition to reinstall osx and failed. As I mentioned, I was able to enable Debug menu in Disk utility and I can see Recovery partition on my boot drive. I reinstalled Mavericks on boot drive but that didn't help.
 
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My 2 cents worth...
Of all the Macs I've owned, including the 4 I have here in front of me now, the Recovery Partition does not nor has ever shown up in "System Preferences-Startup Disk".
If you cannot get to a Startup HDD selection window when powering up while pressing the "Alt" key then it is most likely a USB port issue or maybe a keyboard problem, not being seen during the power on sequence.
Try a different USB port "back to front" or another keyboard.
 
jbarley said:
My 2 cents worth...

Try a different USB port "back to front" or another keyboard.
Click to expand...

Well, your two cents were worth more than a million for me, I plugged the keyboard usb cable into front port and it worked perfectly. I can sleep peacefully now. I still don't understand what was the problem, I never had any issue with using keyboard plugged in the back. Thanks a million :)
 
h9826790 said:
That's exactly what I suggested 2 year ago :eek:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...m-on-macpro-2009.1936737/page-2#post-22228259
Click to expand...
The keyboard was actually plugged in the pcie usb 3.0 port. It is usually plugged in the rear usb 2.0 port and I might have switched it some time in the past year and forgot about it. I felt stupid after realizing the issue. Of course it was a different problem 2 years ago as I mentioned earlier. Anyway thanks for your help. I'll let you know after completing installation of Sierra and my new MSI RX580 gpu.
 
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