How to create Yosemite OS X Bootable DVD

[bawalker]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a method I've borrowed (and tweaked) from other sites in regards to making a bootable Yosemite installation DVD that works.

Before going any further, I fully know and agree that DVD installation media is old and being phased out and replaced by bootable USB installer media. That's fine. This guide however is for those computer/network technicians who still need AND use optical media for our own systems or customer systems. PLUS it's more economical to have a small CD booklet with each OS X version readily available for quick use.

So if you want to make issue over why I created a DVD guide vs USB, just don't waste your time.

So far this is confirmed with Developer Preview 1. Will edit as I confirm with other previews/betas.

Simply open up terminal (Hard Drive - Applications - Utilities - Terminal) and copy and paste each command. Then burn the *.iso file created on the desktop. I had issues burning on the MacBook Pro 13, so I copied it to my Windows PC and used imgburn which works just fine.

I've included comments detailing what each command does... in case anyone is interested.



Mount the InstallESD image to 'install_app' without verifying or opening Finder

hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ 10.10\ Developer\ Preview.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_app

Convert the BaseSystem image to grow with content (UDSP)

hdiutil convert /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg -format UDSP -o /tmp/Yosemite

Resize the SparseImage to 8GB / DVD DL size

hdiutil resize -size 8g /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage

Mount the SparseImage to 'install_build' w/o verification or using Finder

hdiutil attach /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_build

Remove Packages Shortcut from temp mounted image

rm /Volumes/install_build/System/Installation/Packages

Copy full Packages folder to location of Packages Shortcut

cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/Packages /Volumes/install_build/System/Installation/

Copy BaseSystem.chunklist and .dmg from /install_app to /install_build

cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/install_build
cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/install_build

Unmount temp mounted images

hdiutil detach /Volumes/install_app
hdiutil detach /Volumes/install_build

Determine size of SparseImage file and Shrink to min file size allowed

hdiutil resize -size `hdiutil resize -limits /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage | tail -n 1 | awk '{ print $1 }'`b /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage

Convert the SparseImage File to DVD/CD master (*.cdr type) for export (UDTO)

hdiutil convert /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage -format UDTO -o /tmp/Yosemite

Delete the SparseImage file

rm /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage

Move CDR to desktop and rename to ISO

mv /tmp/Yosemite.cdr ~/Desktop/Yosemite.iso

Now you will have "Yosemite.iso" on your desktop. You can try using Disk Utility, Toast, or even a Windows PC to burn this image. My experience created too many coasters burning this with Disk Utility or Disco. But was flawless on IMGBURN on Windows. Go figure.


I would like to thank and give credit to the two following sites. I took my method from the terminal commands posted by "tywebb13" for creating bootable Mavericks discs, and similar terminal commands by Dan Frakes over on MacWorld aimed at specific Yosemite changes.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/23575424

http://www.macworld.com/article/236...otable-os-x-10-10-yosemite-install-drive.html

 

[tywebb13]

.

 

[chrfr]

Why not use the Apple sanctioned createinstallmedia command, with the destination as the sparseimage?

 

[tywebb13]

Not sure if that will work with yosemite. I'm not curious enough to waste a DL DVD to test it yet. I'm still going to wait for public release of yosemite.

However I will say that when mavericks was publicly released experiments were made with that and attempts to make a bootable dvd with createinstallmedia did not work properly. It did actually make a bootable dvd, but when one attempted to use it to actually do an installation, it did not work. Hence the terminal method instead.

Also, the mavericks dvd did not make a recovery partition. I don't know yet if the yosemite dvd will create a recovery partition. If it doesn't, you can make one by doing the following.

Firstly, if the yosemite dvd makes a core storage logical volume, revert it to get partitions back to normal by running these 2 commands in terminal.

diskutil cs list

and then

diskutil coreStorage revert lvUUID

where lvUUID is the last lvUUID reported by the previous Terminal command.

Then restart for everything to get back to normal after you have run these commands in Terminal.

Next, you create the recovery partition by following these steps:

1. Download the Lion Recovery Update from http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1464 . Make sure it is in your downloads folder. If you still happen to have the yosemite installer app somewhere, right click on it and click Show Package Contents. Go to Contents/SharedSupport/. Copy the InstallESD.dmg file into your Downloads folder. If you don't still have the installer, you can get it again by redownloading from your purchases tab in your mac app store.

2. Download and decompress the file recovery.sh.zip from http://4unitmaths.com/recovery.sh.zip and move recovery.sh into your Downloads folder if it's not there already.

3. Open Terminal and type the following commands:

chmod +x ~/Downloads/recovery.sh
sudo ~/Downloads/recovery.sh

4. Wait a few minutes for it to finish and return back to a prompt. Reboot with holding down the option key to test your 10.10 recovery partition.

 

[dhlizard]

My experience with the bootable DVD's is they error out during the install as the transfer rate is too slow.

Use a USB drive for guaranteed results.

 

[tywebb13]

.

 

[Fox8J]

Making a bootable Yosemite installer DVD

For bawalker or tywebb13: Since Yosemite has been out for 2 weeks, have either of you come up with a final version of your fine Terminal commands for creating a bootable Yosemite installer DVD? I made/used a USB installer but I would prefer to have and installer on DVD as well.

Thank you in advance...Fox8J.

 

[tywebb13]

.

 

[macizcool]

Hi there,

I just wanted to post and let everyone know that this method DOES work. I created the boot DVD using the steps above and it successfully created an install DVD. I did a lot of research and found this to be the only method that works. I have some nice DL coasters now after attempting other methods to create a Yosemite install DVD. The installer also created a recovery partition for me on my Mac mini.

Keep in mind, it takes a LONG time to install with this method. It was about 30 to 45 minutes just to boot from the DVD, and then about an hour to install Yosemite. I'm not really sure why Yosemite has such a long boot time compared to other OSes (I don't recall Mavericks taking this long).

I do want to give a big thanks to everyone who helped create this method, and to those who did a lot of trial and error trying to get it to work. It truly saved me many more hours of research and DL DVD coasters. Thanks again!!!

 

[MikeLiteToo]

How to create a complete YOSEMITE install DVD

Superseeded by post #14

Hi there bawalker, hello to all,

thanks a lot for sharing your method with us! I see only one drawback. It will not create a recovery partition.

Yesterday I was curious to find out if I would manage to create a complete install DVD of YOSEMITE. That is an install DVD that would also create a recovery partition. And eventually I did!

My first guess was to use the createInstallMedia tool together with an image file. I could create that image file and burn it to a double layer DVD. I could also boot from that DVD but in the end it told me I cannot start the installation from readonly media.

My second guess was to create an install USB key with the createInstallMedia tool and copy it to a DVD. That turned out the same as the first try.

I noticed some time ago that when you install from an USB key dialogs differ between the first time you use an USB key and the subsequent times. So I concluded there must be some change on the USB key. So my third try was to copy the USB key to DVD after I made an installation with the USB key. And here we go ... it worked!

But now I was eager to find out what had changed on the USB key. I run a diff command and found out there is just one difference, a file that is created on the USB key while installing for the first time!

And here is the solution how to create a complete install DVD that would also create a recovery HD with just a few shell commands:

0. Download the latest YOSEMITE installer from the app store. Grab a double layer DVD. Open a terminal window.

1. Create the image file you will copy the installer to:

hdiutil create -type UDIF -size 7g -fs HFS+J -volname YOSEMITE ~/Desktop/DVD
​

2. Mount the image file:

hdiutil attach ~/Desktop/DVD.dmg
​

3. Copy the installer to the image file:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/ --volume /Volumes/YOSEMITE/
​

4. Download the attached missing xml file to your desktop folder.

5. Copy the downloaded file to the right location:

cp ~/Desktop/IAProductInfo.txt /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/.IAProductInfo
​

6. Unmount the image file

hdiutil detach /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/
​

7. Burn the image file to the double layer DVD:

hdiutil burn ~/Desktop/DVD.dmg
​

In case it complains about "still being used" unmount all images with hard disk utility.

And now enjoy your complete YOSEMITE install DVD that will also create recovery HDs!

My thanks go out to bawalker, Wolf Paulus and the folks at apple forums who inspired me with their solutions to create Mac OS X install DVDs!

Regards Mike Lite

 

[crjackson2134]

Good work Mike!

 

[tywebb13]

.

 

[MikeLiteToo]

That's weird.

When I installed Yosemite from the DVD it made a recovery partition.

That's odd... I tried it several times and it didn't create a recovery partition.
I made a new DVD right now and it creates a recovery partition 0-:

Obviously I made a mistake the last time, so I apologize for the confusion!

Now we have two methods to make a complete install DVD for Yosemite ;-)

Regards, Mike Lite

 

[MikeLiteToo]

How to create a YOSEMITE install and recovery DVD

Superseeded by post #17

Hi there,

As there is still enough free space left on a double layer DVD when you copy the installer to it, I decided to additionally create a recovery partition on the DVD. So you have the choice to install from DVD with the installer or to download the setup from the internet and install that with the recovery.

0. Download the latest YOSEMITE setup from the app store, get a double layer DVD and open a terminal window.

1. Create an empty image of a double layer DVD:

hdiutil create -size 16674816b -layout NONE -type UDTO ~/Desktop/DVD​

16674816b is the size of a double layer DVD in blocks (512 Bytes each) That's 8537505792 Bytes, approx. 8.5 GB.

2. Attach the image:

hdiutil attach -nomount ~/Desktop/DVD.cdr​

You need the -nomout parameter because there is no partition layout on the image. So there are no volumes to mount. Take note of the output: You need to replace /dev/diskX in the following commands with the actual output!

In my case it was /dev/disk1, but that depends on several things. Could be something else on your Mac.

3. Create a partition layout on the image:

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/diskX 2 MBR HFS+ INSTALL_YOSEMITE 6936723456B HFS+ RECOVERY_YOSEMITE 1067188224B​

We will create two partitions, one for the installer (87.5 % of the total size, approx. 7 GB) and one for the recovery (12.5 %, approx. 1 GB)

4. Copy the installer to the first partition.

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/ --volume /Volumes/INSTALL_YOSEMITE/​

5. Create and copy xml file

Open Textedit and copy the following lines to the file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Product URL</key>
<string>x-osproduct://F7BF3CA0-AD69-3667-892B-403EACDF7B85/OS%20X%20Install%20Data</string>
</dict>
</plist>​

Save the file as IAProductInfo.rtf on your desktop. Copy the file to the disk image:

cp ~/Desktop/IAProductInfo.rtf /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/.IAProductInfo​

6. Mount the image with the actual setup:

hdiutil attach -nobrowse /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg​

7. Copy the recovery to the second partition on the disk image:

asr restore --source /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg --target /Volumes/RECOVERY_YOSEMITE --erase​

8. Detach the disk image:

hdiutil detach /dev/diskX​

9. Burn the double layer DVD:

hdiutil burn ~/Desktop/DVD.cdr​

Hope this helps.
Thanks go to Dalton63841 and Schwabbel.

Regards, Michael

BTW: If you want to manually create a recovery partition on your harddisk, you may use the number 7. command. Create a partition on your harddisk with the hard disk utility, minimum size 1 GB. Replace /Volumes/RECOVERY_YOSEMITE in 7. with the mount point of you newly created partition and run.

 

[Sumleilmus]

enter the frugalitron

Also, let's credit bawalker for frugality. Even double-layer or dual-layer (not the same thing) DVD media cost much less than 8GB USB or SD media.

 

[jedikeeper]

Oh! Thank you very much, just what I was looking for!!

 

[MikeLiteToo]

Create Yosemite Install and Recovery DVD

Superseeded by post #49

Hi there,

finally I managed to create the recovery partition with Apple's dmtest tool So here is the (mostly) complete guide:

0. What you need:

• the Yosemite installer from the app store, it's version 10.10.3 on 20150409 or later, leave it in the /Application folder
• Lion Recovery Update v1.0 from the Apple website, leave it in the ~/Downloads folder
• the text file attached to this post, matching your version of the Yosemite installer, leave it in the ~/Downloads folder
  • View attachment IAProductInfo_10_10_2.txt
  • View attachment IAProductInfo_10_10_3.txt

1. Create an empty disk image:

hdiutil create -size 16674816b ~/Desktop/DVD
hdiutil attach -nomount ~/Desktop/DVD.dmg​

Take note of the output, you will need it in the following commands, in my case '/dev/disk1'

2. Partition disk image and create one volume for the installer:

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/diskX 2 GPT HFS+ INSTALL_YOSEMITE 6936723456B "Free Space" "Free Space" R​

Replace '/dev/diskX' with the actual output from 1., in my case '/dev/disk1'

3. Create the installer partition:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/ --volume /Volumes/INSTALL_YOSEMITE/​

4. Copy the missing text file to the installer partition:

cp ~/Downloads/IAProductInfo_10_10_3.txt /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/.IAProductInfo​

If you don't use the latest installer for Yosemite, replace ..._10_10_3_... with the matching version

5. Unpack the Lion Recovery Update v1.0

hdiutil attach -nobrowse ~/Downloads/RecoveryHDUpdate.dmg
pkgutil --expand /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Lion\ Recovery\ HD\ Update/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg ~/Desktop/RecoveryHDUpdate/
hdiutil detach /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Lion\ Recovery\ HD\ Update/​

6. Create a recovery partition on the disk image right behind the installer partition:

hdiutil attach -nobrowse /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg
~/Desktop/RecoveryHDUpdate/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg/Scripts/Tools/dmtest ensureRecoveryPartition /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/ /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg 0 0 /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist
hdiutil detach /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/​

7. Make recovery partition visible

diskutil list /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/​

Look for the enumeration of the recovery partition 'Recovery HD', you will need it in the next command, in my case 3

asr adjust --target /dev/diskXsY -settype Apple_HFS
diskutil mount /dev/diskXsY​

Look at 1. for the actual value of X, in my case '/dev/disk1'
Look at the previous command for the actual value of Y, in my case '3' so together its '/dev/disk1s3'

8. Finish work?

Actually we should burn the image at this point and we would be done. But there's one glitch: We had to use GPT for the dmtest tool. Unfortunately I've not been able to burn a DVD with GPT AND two partitions. The partitions are always missing on the DVD (not on the disk image, just on the physical DVD). So as a workaround we have to move stuff to a second disk image with MBR or APM...

9. Workaround the GPT DVD glitch.

hdiutil create -size 16674816b ~/Desktop/DVD-fix
hdiutil attach -nomount ~/Desktop/DVD-fix.dmg​

Take note of the output, you will need it in the following commands, in my case '/dev/disk2'

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/diskZ 2 APM HFS+ fix_INSTALL_YOSEMITE 6936723456B HFS+ fix_RECOVERY_YOSEMITE R​

Replace '/dev/diskZ' with the actual output from the previous command, in my case '/dev/disk2'

asr restore --source /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite --target /Volumes/fix_INSTALL_YOSEMITE --erase
asr restore --source /Volumes/Recovery\ HD --target /Volumes/fix_RECOVERY_YOSEMITE --erase​

hdiutil detach /dev/diskZ​

Look above for the actual value of Z, in my case '/dev/disk2'

10. Finish work!

hdiutil detach /dev/diskX​

Look at 1. for the actual value of X, in my case '/dev/disk1'

hdiutil burn ~/Desktop/DVD-fix.dmg​

I hope this helps! In case you see some optimization, just let me know. I think it would be nice to minimize user interaction, but I'm not going into sed or awk now ... and of course would be much better without the workaround for GPT ... so if you know how to burn GPT with two partitions to DVD ...

Thanks go to a lot of people who helped me with bits and pieces of their knowledge:

• The guys in THIS thread, especially bawalker and tywebb13
• The guys in this thread over at apple forums
• Wolf Paulus
• Jacob Salmela
• Automatica
• The Instructional
• Dalton63841
• Schwabbel
• And some more I don't remember right now ...
• ... and Children of Bodom and Iced Earth for musical support

Regards, Mike

 

[Sumleilmus]

great thread

This is a great thread, and I thank all contributors.

I have burned two coasters.

I read on, and prepare new disks for the sacrifice.

Remember, guys, some of us need more details (and clarity, clarity of exposition) than others.

How does one indeed burn a GPT partition table disk image with two partitions to DVD?

Ha ha, I was going to post my edit of the method, but my method, however clearly explained and easy to understand… just burned another coaster.

Excelsior! (Onward, upward!)

 

[doynton]

How does one indeed burn a GPT partition table disk image with two partitions to DVD?

You don't.

 

[baldric]

Still no luck...

First of all, just want to say excellent write up, and I love the creativity involved in hacking together a bootable DVD. It's been a loooong time since my command line days.

But I've not been successful with this.
Yes the DVD boots, and yes, the recovery partition shows up when it is inserted, but I still get this message:

The Install OS X Yosemite application can't be used from this disk.
Copy this application to a writable Mac OS Extended formatted disk and reopen it to continue installation.

I did include the command to add the file IAProductinfo_10_10_3.txt

cp ~/Downloads/IAProductInfo_10_10_3.txt /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/.IAProductInfo

And it does show up correctly on the DVD volume as .IAProductinfo

Could there be something I'm missing?

 

[ABC5S]

First of all, just want to say excellent write up, and I love the creativity involved in hacking together a bootable DVD. It's been a loooong time since my command line days.

But I've not been successful with this.
Yes the DVD boots, and yes, the recovery partition shows up when it is inserted, but I still get this message:

The Install OS X Yosemite application can't be used from this disk.
Copy this application to a writable Mac OS Extended formatted disk and reopen it to continue installation.

I did include the command to add the file IAProductinfo_10_10_3.txt

cp ~/Downloads/IAProductInfo_10_10_3.txt /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite/.IAProductInfo

And it does show up correctly on the DVD volume as .IAProductinfo

Could there be something I'm missing?

Why don't you use a USB instead. Easy

CLEAN Install of OS X > this one is better



http://osxdaily.com/2014/10/16/make-os-x-yosemite-boot-install-drive/

 

[baldric]

I understand that the USB option is preferable to many, but to me the optical drive installation method is preferable.

The convenience, cost, and durability of optical discs are the way I always prefer, and since they can't be altered once burned they always have a reliable source of data.

 

[tywebb13]

.

 

[xsquid]

I used diskmakerx, a free app, to make a bootable mavericks and then yosemite usb drive quick and easy. It works perfectly. Couldn't you then just burn the contents to a dvd? You could even make a dmg with image maker and then burn it if desired.

 

[tywebb13]

.