Resolved Looking to clean install Mountain Lion

[Tyler23]

Hey everyone, I know there are tons of threads on this but each one has different peculiarities so figured this would be most beneficial to me.

Before my developer terms ran out I downloaded ML GM after using the previous DPs. Since then, I've had major problems with wifi connections, losing the ability to quit apps, put computer to sleep, restart or shutdown forcing manual shutdown and also generally sluggishness I had experienced since Lion. Figured a clean install would be a good idea since I've had the computer since Leopard.

Last night I backed up everything to my external using CCC. Downloaded ML from AppStore and I've separated the installesd.dmg. Attempted to burn this to DVD-R with 4.7GB but said t wasn't enough space so I'll probably get a flash drive. Now, I've never done a clean install so what process should I follow to do this over the current GM? And after this, what's the process for re-adding all my apps, photos, music, etc?

Thanks very much in advance if anyone can help. Love this forum because everyone is so helpful and it's fun for me to help others when I can

 

[iDunc]

ive just clean installed ML on my mac (had one or two issues after launch day upgrade) i just backed everything up and formatted Macintosh HD then proceeded to install ML.
All has worked well and I couldn't be happier, its like a new mac

I think if you install over existing ML all apps will still be there, but hey im no expert!

 

[Tyler23]

ive just clean installed ML on my mac (had one or two issues after launch day upgrade) i just backed everything up and formatted Macintosh HD then proceeded to install ML.
All has worked well and I couldn't be happier, its like a new mac

I think if you install over existing ML all apps will still be there, but hey im no expert!

I'm not sure this is the same? Forgive me if i don't completely understand what you're saying. I don't want to install over existing ML, I want to start completely fresh with a clean install, don't want to carry over any existing files or anything. Start fresh and re-add things as needed afterwards

 

[iDunc]

so yeah you have a copy of ML on CD/USB, boot into that (option key on startup chime) once its loaded go into Disk Utility and Erase Hard Drive (make sure its the right one) then proceed with install, it will restart once or twice then you will be on Startup screen when you set location, add user account, iCloud etc and your done

Also see here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1404860/

 

[Tyler23]

so yeah you have a copy of ML on CD/USB, boot into that (option key on startup chime) once its loaded go into Disk Utility and Erase Hard Drive (make sure its the right one) then proceed with install, it will restart once or twice then you will be on Startup screen when you set location, add user account, iCloud etc and your done

Also see here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1404860/

Sounds great, thanks a lot! Once I sign in with my apple ID and iCloud, can I just drag my folders, files and apps from my backup onto my clean HD?

 

[robgendreau]

Sounds great, thanks a lot! Once I sign in with my apple ID and iCloud, can I just drag my folders, files and apps from my backup onto my clean HD?

Nooo, read the post preceding again and follow to that point. You'll be in Setup Assistant by default. It will at some point ask if you wanna migrate, and you point it to your backup and it will use Migration Ass't to move stuff over.

You have made sure your backup is good, right?

The idea is that by migrating you'll let the system move over stuff it needs. You don't want to restore or clone back because you might just restore or clone something that is already guilty of screwing up your installation. If the migration doesn't work you've still got your backup, and you may have to resort to manually installation applications if your backup is truly hosed. Some applications can just be copied across (losing their prefs in the process, of course); others won't be happily installed unless you use their installer. Just depends on what you have.

Good luck.

 

[Tyler23]

Urgent help needed!:

I'm attempting to do this now, following the directions in the pdf file at the top of this page. However, I'm attempting step 9, and after clicking erase and restore, I am getting the error "Restore failure - Could not restore - resource busy."

I have attached a screenshot of where I'm at..please help if possible!

 

[Nermal]

Unmount the image and restore the DMG directly. I don't know whether it'll make a difference, but it's worth a shot

 

[Tyler23]

Unmount the image and restore the DMG directly. I don't know whether it'll make a difference, but it's worth a shot

Any chance you could spell that out a little more specifically for a tired man?

What I've tried so far was right clicking the Mac OS X Install ESD and selecting "unmount Mac OS X Install ESD," then I attempted to erase and restore again but again the same message..

If what you're suggesting is different from that I will gladly try it once I understand what you're suggesting

 

[dba415]

FYI you can put ML on a single-layer DVD, it just takes a few extra steps but all in all it's pretty simple to do.

search google for it, it involves going into the terminal but it's really easy

 

[Tyler23]

FYI you can put ML on a single-layer DVD, it just takes a few extra steps but all in all it's pretty simple to do.

search google for it, it involves going into the terminal but it's really easy

I tried burning the InstallESD.dmg to my dvd-R, but the DVD-R is 4.7 GB and it said that was not enough space..this is my only option

 

[Tyler23]

Restarted my computer, attempted the same process, same result..

Please help, it will be incredibly appreciated

 

[Nermal]

Any chance you could spell that out a little more specifically for a tired man?

What I've tried so far was right clicking the Mac OS X Install ESD and selecting "unmount Mac OS X Install ESD," then I attempted to erase and restore again but again the same message..

If what you're suggesting is different from that I will gladly try it once I understand what you're suggesting

If I understood your explanation then that is what I was suggesting. Shame to hear that it didn't work.

 

[Tyler23]

If I understood your explanation then that is what I was suggesting. Shame to hear that it didn't work.

Agreed but I really appreciate you trying to help.

If anyone has any other ideas/suggestions, please let me know. Is there any other possible way to do this? I have no idea why it is saying that the resource is busy. What is the "resource" anyway?

This is so incredibly frustrating

 

[major77]

Looking at your screenshot, it looks like you've set the "Source" to the Mountain Lion disk image (good), and the "Destination" to the same flash drive containing that disk image (not good). The "resource" is the drive, and it's busy because you're trying to install from the same disk you're trying to install to.

Set your "Destination" to your hard drive and let 'er rip!

(Assuming you've backed it up of course)

 

[Tyler23]

Looking at your screenshot, it looks like you've set the "Source" to the Mountain Lion disk image (good), and the "Destination" to the same flash drive containing that disk image (not good). The "resource" is the drive, and it's busy because you're trying to install from the same disk you're trying to install to.

Set your "Destination" to your hard drive and let 'er rip!

(Assuming you've backed it up of course)

There is nothing on my USB drive, I thought my goal was to put the ML installer on the flash drive, then boot from that to clean install? As of now there's nothing on the flash drive so what would be the point of it?

Also, I tried booting while holding option out of boredom and only my HD and recovery drive showed up, the USB didn't register? This is with nothing on it though..so confuseddd

 

[Paradoxally]

You're doing it wrong.

You have to restore like this.

Choose the InstallESD.dmg (it's in the .app you download from the MAStore) as SOURCE, not the Mac OS X Install ESD.

Then choose your 'Untitled' partition, NOT your flash drive itself ('Sandisk...') as DESTINATION (mine had a different name). Then it will erase and restore and it will work.

Like this:

 

[Tyler23]

New error. Tried unmounting the partition "untitled" per recommendation to my post on another thread, operation finally began but right at the end gave me the error "could not restore - invalid argument"

 

[Tyler23]

Clean install has completed properly Now, I'm weary of using migration assistant as there is probably a lot of junk I don't want copies over an I'd rather redo all of my settings myself. Would it be ok to manually drag my applications, documents, iTunes and iPhoto folders from my external hard drive directly through finder? How can I go about doing this?

 

[Paradoxally]

Clean install has completed properly Now, I'm weary of using migration assistant as there is probably a lot of junk I don't want copies over an I'd rather redo all of my settings myself. Would it be ok to manually drag my applications, documents, iTunes and iPhoto folders from my external hard drive directly through finder? How can I go about doing this?

Yes, that's what I do.

 

[major77]

There is nothing on my USB drive, I thought my goal was to put the ML installer on the flash drive, then boot from that to clean install? As of now there's nothing on the flash drive so what would be the point of it?

Also, I tried booting while holding option out of boredom and only my HD and recovery drive showed up, the USB didn't register? This is with nothing on it though..so confuseddd

Whoops right argh...well I knew something was wrong anyway! Glad you got it sorted.

 

[mmomega]

The sticky under this topic covers what everyone is going over. With pictures even.

Lion Diskmaker makes creating a bootable flash drive even easier, try that.

 

[dba415]

I tried burning the InstallESD.dmg to my dvd-R, but the DVD-R is 4.7 GB and it said that was not enough space..this is my only option

did you even read my post?

 

[Tyler23]

did you even read my post?

I did but missed what you were really saying in my tired state got it sorted but I'll check this out for future reference.