In a previous post I went through the lengthy method of creating a bootable USB Flash drive that could be used to install OS X Mavericks as well as a really simple solution that involves using an application called DiskMaker X.
This post will go through another method that utilizes a single Terminal Command.
#1 – Download OS X Mavericks
First things first, you need to download OS X Mavericks. This is a FREE download from Apple. Here’s link to it: OS X Mavericks
#2 – Prepare your USB Flash Drive
Creating a bootable USB drive for Mavericks requires a USB drive with at least 8GB of available space.
Before we can restore Mavericks onto the USB Flash drive, the drive has to be properly formatted.
To format the USB drive open Disk Utility (located in Applications/Utilities). Plug the drive in into your Mac.
- Select the USB Flash drive from the sidebar in Disk Utility.
- Select the “Erase” tab.
- Make sure the Format is set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
- As for the name, leave it as “Untitled”.
- Finally click the Erase tab.
One important note about Step 5, this will erase everything that is currently on your USB drive.
#3 – Terminal Command
Now that the USB drive is properly formatted we can run the Terminal command that will take care of the rest. Terminal can be found in the Applications/Utilities folder.
Simply copy and paste this into Terminal and press the Enter key on your keyboard:
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app --nointeraction
Since the above command uses the sudo atritubute you will be required to enter your password to start the process.
Once the process starts you will see this in Terminal:
Erasing Disk: 0%… 10%… 20%…100%…
Copying installer files to disk…
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable…
Copying boot files…
Copy complete.
Done.
This process can take a while since it’s coping gigabytes of data over. Leave it alone and let it do its things.
Congratulations you just created a working Mavericks install USB drive!
Now there are two ways of booting into the USB.
Choose one method:
1. Open System Preferences -> Startup Disk -> Select the USB drive -> Click the “Restart” button.
OR
2. While your Mac is restarting hold down the “alt” key on the keyboard and select the USB drive.
Worked great! Thanks. You can also split it into more than one partition on the drive if you intend to use it as more than a boot drive. That’s the way I did it.
-Drew
November 23, 2013 at 4:42 pmWow! Thank you!!
November 28, 2013 at 5:35 pmDoesn’t work. createinstallmedia is missing from
/Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/
December 1, 2013 at 7:23 amHey there Khürt, that’s strange it’s not working for you. It’s working fine for me, as well as the the people who commented before you. I just tried it again on my USB to make sure, and as I write this, the Mavericks USB is being created.
Did you properly format your USB and leave the name of it as “Untitled”?
There are also 2 other methods listed in the article that you may have better success with. Good luck.
December 1, 2013 at 10:46 amBe sure you’re downloading the install file from the App Store. If you’ve installed it initially, that install file disappears. It should appear under the applications folder as OS X Mavericks install.
-Drew
December 1, 2013 at 11:01 amAre you using all “/’ and not mixing with the opposite “”? that is the only problem I see in you post.
Regards
January 17, 2014 at 7:57 amThe different slashes are for different functions – one way is part of the path, the other is escaping the spaces in the name.
:-)
he miss \ at install\ os\ x\
April 13, 2016 at 10:57 pmIt worked perfectly! Thank you very very much Damien!
December 2, 2013 at 10:10 amGlad to hear it worked for you Adrian, and you are most welcome.
December 2, 2013 at 10:18 amThank you very much! This was the simplest method I’ve seen.
December 4, 2013 at 12:02 amonce i create the bootable drive and install Mavericks will my data b wiped?
December 6, 2013 at 11:23 pmI followed the steps for creating a bootable drive. After copying and pasting the Terminal command (# 3) I got the following:
/Volumes/Untitled is not a valid volume mount point.
Can you help? I am attempting a clean install on a MacBook Pro that has silted up and needs a good spring clean. Already running Mavericks, but want a clean install.
December 8, 2013 at 2:54 amThat error message indicates that the USB stick is not called “Untitled”. Change the Terminal command to support the name of the USB or erase the USB in Disk Utility and leave it as Untitled.
December 9, 2013 at 12:15 amThis method allows me to install Mavericks in my Mac, but it doesn’t format my whole computer which is what I want because of the amount of viruses I’ve got in my laptop. any recommendations please?
December 23, 2013 at 12:57 amHey there Isaias, to reformat, restart your computer and boot into the Mavericks install USB. Before installing it, open Disk Utility from “Utilities” in the menu bar. From there, reformat the drive and once completed, go through the Mavericks setup process.
December 23, 2013 at 1:17 amit works perfectly.
the simplest way to make bootable usb mavericks by this far.
thanks a lot
December 24, 2013 at 2:31 amhi, i have os x mavericks.dmg file from other sources not from apple cause apple servers are not able to download me from server i lost connection between download how can i install .dmg file on my iMac
December 28, 2013 at 7:10 am