There are times when you may want to avoid using App Store or the built-in recovery mode to install OS X 10.10 Yosemite. So, Apple continues to give you the option of creating a bootable USB drive.
The process of installing OS X or macOS on a Mac hasn't changed a great deal since OS X Lion altered the delivery of the OS from optical disks to electronic downloads, using the Mac App Store.
You can use it anytime and anywhere to get the operating system running, quickly, on any compatible Mac. An Internet connection is not even required as everything you need is already on it. Creating a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive is very easy. All you need is a Mac, as the tools provided for the process are only available in OS X, and a USB drive with a capacity of 8 GB (or more, depending on what you have lying around), as the setup file is rather large. I will also explain how to use a dedicated third-party tool, in case you decide that this option suits you better. But, first, you have to download the setup file from App Store. Use to take you right to its landing page, or search for it manually in the app.
After the download is complete, Install OS X Yosemite will be available in your Applications folder. Also, a setup wizard for OS X 10.10 Yosemite should have appeared by now; you can close (quit) it as it is not required for this process.
Also, you should backup the contents of the USB drive that you are using for the process, as everything that is stored on it will be removed. And, of course, make sure that you read the instructions carefully before starting. Apple's Way, All the Way Apple offers a dedicated tool in OS X specifically for the purpose of creating a bootable USB drive. Unlike most tools that ship with the OS, it is not available from Launchpad.
There is a, however, but the instructions are pretty confusing and they are only meant for OS X 10.9 Mavericks (at the time of writing this article). To use this tool, Apple indicates that the Mac that you use it on must be running OS X 10.10 Yosemite. It may allow you to create a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive using prior iterations of the operating system, but I have not yet tested this and, therefore, there are zero guarantees that it will work. (The third-party tool will work, however.) Now, let's move on to the actual process. Here is what you need to do:. Connect the USB drive to your Mac. Using Disk Utility (it is found in Other under Launchpad), format the USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and name it Yosemite.
![How To Create A Usb Boot Disk For Mac Os X Yosemite How To Create A Usb Boot Disk For Mac Os X Yosemite](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125643281/715066477.png)
This can be done from the Erase tab within the app; make sure that there are no multiple partitions (turn to the Partition tab to verify and correct this). Open Terminal (it is found in the same folder as the Disk Utility app). Use (paste) the following command: sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/create installmedia -volume /Volumes/Yosemite -applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app -nointeraction. Type in your user password, when required, to start the process. Based on my experience, this is the best method of creating a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive. It is virtually bulletproof, gives consistent results, and works without problems. But, because it is basically barebones, the tool does not provide any indication as to how much time is left until the process completes.
Rest assured that it will, usually in less than half an hour (the time element mostly depends on the speed of the USB drive that you are using - the faster it is the better). The More User-Friendly (Third-Party) Tool is the more user-friendly tool for the job.
It automates the process of creating a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive, but it still requires you to know which options to select. Like I mentioned earlier, it works with previous incarnations of the operating system; the version of DiskMaker X that is compatible with OS X 10.10 Yosemite also works with OS X 10.9 Mavericks and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, according to the official page.
At the time of writing this article, however, it is still in beta, which means that there is a chance that you may run into bugs. If you wish to use DiskMaker X to create the bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive, here is what you need to do:. Connect the USB drive to your Mac. Open DiskMaker X and select Yosemite (10.10). (You may get a warning due to its beta status.). Select Use this copy to use the Install OS X Yosemite app from the Applications folder.
(Select Use another copy. If the setup file is in another folder.). Select An 8 GB USB thumb drive. (Select Another kind of disk if you want to use something else).
If requested, from the given list, select the USB drive you are using for the process, and then select Choose this disk. Select Erase then create the disk. Select Continue. Type in your user password when requested.
Unlike the official tool baked in OS X 10.10 Yosemite, DiskMaker X lets you know how long the process takes. Like I mentioned before, this depends largely on the speed of the USB drive that you have, so, ideally, you should use the fastest one available, in case time is of the essence. Now that you have a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive, you may want to install the operating system on your Mac. To do that, you need to restart the Mac, and, right after that, press the Option key, and choose to boot from this drive. Afterwards, you can use the step-by-step setup as you normally would to install and setup OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Once you install Yosemite, the file will automatically erase itself, so it's important to make a bootable drive first. If you want to install first and then make a bootable drive, make a copy of the installer app in another location so you can access it later. Worst case scenario is downloading the large file again from the Mac App Store, but then why make a bootable drive? The Easiest Way: Use DiskMaker X By far the easiest way to create a bootable drive is to use the DiskMaker X application, which automates the entire process in the next method.
To start out, download the newest version of DiskMaker X from. Currently, that's the. (Update: the public Yosemite version is out now, and you can download it from, or.) Once download, open it up and select 'Yosemite Beta' or 'Yosemite 10.10' (depending on the version you're using) to start the process.
Then just follow the rest of the prompts to start the disk-making process. It could take anywhere from 15 minutes to to 45 minutes to finish, depending on your USB flash drive. If it's more toward the latter, you might get a ' error, but it should still work, (it worked for me). The Less Easy Way: Format & Use Terminal If you're more comfortable with Terminal commands, this is the method for you. Just make sure your USB drive is already formatted correctly before proceeding.
To see how to correctly format your USB drive, please see Step #1 below in the 'The Hardest Way' section. With your USB drive ready to go, open up Terminal and type (or copy/paste) the following command.
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/Yosemite -applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app -nointeraction Note that you should replace the 'Yosemite' in 'Volumes/Yosemite' with whatever you named your USB drive. This should all be one line.
After you get it in there, just hit the Enter key. Type in your admin password to continue and the Enter again. (You won't visibly see your password typing, but it's happening—believe me.) Now just wait. This could be fairly quickly or very long, depending on your system and USB drive. The Hardest Way: Do Everything Manually If you don't want to use DiskMaker X or Terminal commands, this is another option for you.
It's a lot more complicated, but gets the job done. Step 1: Reformat Your USB Drive First, make sure you have a USB flash drive that's at least 8 GBs in size, then mount it. Open up Disk Utility and do the following. Select the USB drive (not the partition). Go to the Partition tab. Change the 'Partition Layout' to 1 Partition. Rename it Yosemite (or whatever you want).
Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the 'Format'. Click the Options.
After your Finder reloads, the hidden files you once saw before should now be gone. Go ahead and close all of your windows, exit Terminal and Disk Utility, and eject your mounted disks to clean up your mess. Installing Yosemite on Your Computer Now, it's time to test out your new drive. Restart your computer while holding the Option (Alt) key on your keyboard.
![Usb boot disk iso Usb boot disk iso](http://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/os-x-yosemite-bootable-install-drive-in-finder-610x409.jpg)
Wait until the Startup Manager pops up, then select your new OS X Base System volume (or whatever your bootable drive is called). Alternatively, you can just hold down the C button while starting up to boot directly into the USB drive. Troubleshooting Tips If the installation of Yosemite freezes, it's probably because your USB drive is corrupted in some way.
This happened to me on the first couple tries, where it would freeze at 5 minutes left. The third USB stick I used was successful, and it took less than 15 minutes for Yosemite to boot up. If you're getting an Undefined error: 0 warning when trying to install, this more than likely means that you forgot to perform Step 6 above, so make sure to copy over those two BaseSystem files. If you got the 'AppleEvent timed out' error using DiskMaker X, more than likely it'll still work. Just eject the new drive and use it. If it doesn't work, try one of the other methods out to start over.
If you're not sure if you're going to like Yosemite over Mavericks, I would suggest and installing Yosemite there, that way if anything goes wrong, your Mavericks installation will still be untouched. Cover image via Related. Talk about the long way of achieving this! Very thorough tutorial but unnecessary. Assuming you have downloaded the BETA version of Yosemite, open up the installer from the Application folder, but do not proceed with the installer, just leave it open.
Then follow step 1 as per this tutorial. Once your USB drive has been formatted add copy and paste the following into Terminal: sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/UNTITLED -applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite Beta.app -nointeraction Where UNTITLED is the name of your formatted volums/USB drive e.g.
Wait (a while, no really, you'll be waiting quite some time if you're not using USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt) and then you'll be ready to boot and clean install Yosemite BETA from your USB drive. Carry on from Step 8.
No need for lengthy process of hiding.unhiding files.folders nor is there a need to drag and drop files/folders. Don't forget to backup! Great tutorial and thanks for your hard work and for your generosity! I did the usb installation, i installed on the hard drive and when i tried to boot from hdd the boot process stops and the computer reboots. I used the flags: -s -x -f -v kext-dev-mode=1 KernelCache=No. I have a emachines E725, dual core T4400, 3 GB Ram, 320GB HDD, integrated graphic card Intel GM45, i don't know the type of the motherboard of this machines with windows 7, xubuntu 14.04 and mavericks 10.9.5 on it. Please help me!
I NEED HELP!! I know I'm a few years late but I JUST came into possession of a 2007 macbook (A1181) and I'm upgrading the RAM (to 4GB) and hard drive (to 500 GB). I was hoping to make myself a bootable installer of Yosemite but I cannot manage to find anywhere to download it. That is the only thing hanging up my adventure. I'd be open to any other macOS as long as it can run the newest iTunes.
I'm wary of going too high since this laptop is so old and I'm pretty new to doing my own upgrades. THANKS!!:) Reply.