Instructions to clean install Yosemite to a fusion drive

Hi everyone this is Chris. I have recently purchased a new i mac 27 inch with a 1tb fusion drive. When i tried clean installing yosemite to the fusion drive i noticed that only the 1tb mechanical hard drive appeared. The 128gb ssd portion was missing and yes i checked in diskutil list but it is non existent. Also i noticed that logical volume partition was missing in disk utility so it looks like the yosemite install didnt also set up the ssd as i thought it would. I am attaching a screen shot of disk utility and diskutil list for reference. Could some one please help me with step by step instructions from booting the usb installer till the final installation. I am a new mac user and as such have little experience with the way the os and systems work. The reason i tried to clean install is because i like having control over everything running on my computer and i like to keep a clean system from the beginning. I am willing to learn just how mac osx functions so please help me learn how all these various software works on the i mac so i can use it as much as i did my old windows pc. Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance.
Disk Utility screenshot 1
Disk Utility screenshot 2
Terminal window

I concur with Kappy, you do not have a Fusion Drive in that Mac.
You said; "The reason i tried to clean install is because i like having control over everything running on my computer and i like to keep a clean system from the beginning."
Personally I disagree with your reasoning for a so called "clean" install. Unlike Windows, if you install OS X just doing an upgrade, it does not have to same habit as the Windows installer which can load a PC with tons of crap.
My suggestion is to find out why your 128 GB SSD is not appearing rather then worrying about any "clean" installs.

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How to clean-install Mavericks to a fusion drive?

Because I cannot find a complete answer here or anywhere else, I seek information about reinstalling Mavericks on a 1TB fusion drive on my late 2013 iMac. I see discussions about reinstalling, backing up data, Boot Camp issues, rebuilding a fusion drive, making a fusion drive from scratch, and the like; but I do not find the level of detail I am seeking about starting over with a fusion drive. I upgraded to Mavericks from Mtn Lion and now see hints that I needed to do something special to take advantage of the properties of this drive.
That said, here are my questions:
(1) When I "Command-R" reboot to Recovery and get to the Disk Utility, I see a separate 1TB HD as an extended partition as well as a 125GB drive that is root (/), which I presume is the SSD. To accomplish the clean installation, do I format BOTH? Or will formatting only the 1TB HD suffice? Does formatting only the 1TB HD also take care of formatting the SSD? Maybe it's not advisable to format the SSD ...?
(2) Does the downloaded Mavericks installer loaded onto a USB stick using DiskMakerX have the capability to do this clean install properly? or is it necessary, in order to take advantage of the fusion drive properties (SSD+HD), to download Mavericks Installer after wiping the HD so that support for the fusion drive is maintained?
(3) Because I am curious, where does OS X (I mean the OS, not data) reside after the installation is done? on the SSD? on the HD? I ask this because I have read that "the OS remains on the SSD," but, seemingly in conflict, that the SSD is for quick access to frequently used programs and data. Both could be correct.
Sorry for the length of this. And thanks.

The screenshot of DU within the booted Mavericks, not Recovery.
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         121.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         999.3 GB   disk1s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk1s3
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *1.1 TB     disk2
/dev/disk3
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk3
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS LaCie                   499.1 GB   disk3s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             784.2 MB   disk3s3
And you know what this is, per your request. It shows the OS on the SSD portion, the Recovery partition on the HD, etc. It's a little confusing because the disk reference numbers do not agree with those in the screenshot below, but that probably is because the shot below results from booting from a USB stick.
Now to your comments/answers/thoughts:
(1) Issue of number of drives. This is a fuzzy iPhone screenshot of DU after booting from a USB Mavericks installation stick:
Looks like I cannot format the SSD directly, if that is what disk5 really is. Below I mention another possibility for getting it formatted (third paragraph from the end).
(2) Which source for new installation of Mavericks
I agree that it's probably best not to use the USB stick I have but to use the Recovery method to download a fresh copy. I'm not sure about the reliability of the USB vs downloading, either, but there is some evidence out there (somewhere -- I've seen it but I don't recall where) suggesting it.
(3) Where OS X is installed -- fusion drive portion or HD portion of the Macintosh HD:
From the information given with "disk5" in the screen shot just above, it does appear that after a USB boot, DU sees items separately, including the main storage (Macintosh HD), the Recovery partition (disk4-used also for creating the USB stick installer), and OS (disk5). Some of this layout may hold true with a "Command-R" boot from the Recovery partition, and I know I've looked at it but for the moment cannot recall the information.
Further, it appears the OS is on the SSD. It also appears it cannot be formatted UNLESS such formatting occurs when the target for the formatting process is "Macintosh HD." I am inclined to believe now that when I make this clean reinstallation, the new copy of OS X will be put on the SSD portion, as you state. I am aware that the moving of data back and forth from SSD to HD is outside user control.
Lowluster, thank you for answering my questions in such an organized fashion (that I can follow!). I feel confident now about proceeding even though not all questions are answered definitively.
Allan, I'm glad to know about fusing separately an SSD with an HD. It will be useful should I run into another user's desire to create a fusion drive. Thank you again.
David

HT201475 clean install yosemite

Hello, I am looking for instructions on how to clean install Yosemite as the reviews on the apple store all say there are problems simply downloading the upgrade. I have 10.8.5 and need to know how to reformat disk and do a clean install. I have a time machine.
Thanks,

I had no problems with the Upgrade. People who have problems with just upgrading usually have system modifications installed that don't work with Yosemite.
If you install anything with an installer, you need to check for updates prior to upgrading your OS. If there aren't any updates available, you need to be prepared to uninstall that system mod if you run into problems.
Depending on how much junk you install on your Mac, erasing and installing might just be the best solution over updating the system mods.
To erase and install, you will need to boot into Recovery and erase the hard drive using Disk Utility. Then, Quit DU and reinstall the OS.
That will install Mavericks (10.8.5).
Note that things like iPhoto, iMovie, etc. are not part of the OS. You will need to either re-download them from the App Store or install from the DVDs that came with your Mac.
When the Setup Assistant runs during first boot, choose to Migrate from your Time Machine backup. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

How to get iPhoto and iTunes to a clean installed Yosemite from Time Machine

I wiped the Hard Drive and clean installed to OS X Yosemite. For Some reason, some of my Time Machine back ups disappeared or got deleted and it wasn't even full. I had back ups from 2011 and now it only starts from 2013 of June.
Next....when I try to restore my other apps(like iPhoto and my iTunes) I doesn't give that warp space effect in the background. It gives me the window layer effect but I just see the same mountain background on the desktop as the default Yosemite(unless thats how its suppose to look like that?) I can't restore using Time Machine because the little lines at the right are red (see screen shot) and it won't let me restore, and if i go back by using the arrows, if freezes. So,
I don't know how to install the old iTunes and iPhoto on my existing clean installed Yosemite from my Time Machine.
Can someone help me?

@ LarryHN Thank you ver much for you help I understand now that you just can't copy over the old library(got it)
I had the latest version of iPhoto before I cleaned installed.
The link you gave me was most informative and I want to thank you. But still problems arrive.
This came up and I don't know which one to pick

Issues While Attempting to Clean Install Yosemite onto 2010 iMac 27"

Having a number of issues trying to clean install Yosemite onto a 2010 iMac 27.
The original 1TB HDD was about to die so I upgraded the hard drive to a Crucial SSD, via an Apple Authorized shop
Memory was also upgraded to 16GB (from the original 4GB)
The install process won't finish, as I get a disk error message from the computer
Since there's no fan control cable attached to the HDD anymore, the fan is on constantly (but I know this is a known / common issue so I will be fixing it via an app like HDD Fan Control)
The installation process keeps starting over
What is causing this installation issue? How can I fix and move forward?
Thanks in advance for help anyone can provide.

I've also tried an alternate method of installing - installing Yosemite onto an external hard drive then cloning this drive onto the SSD installed on the iMac. The computer keeps rebooting. This is the message that pops up. Growing increasingly frustrated. Is this a hardware issue related to the new SSD?

Clean Install Yosemite onto new SSD (Also, what is TRIM?)

Hi,
I've been researching how to replace the Hard Drive on my Late 2011 13inch Macbook Pro (MacBookPro8,1 / 2.4 GHz / Intel Core i5 / SATA III) with a new SSD (maybe a Samsung 840 EVO) and clean install Yosemite onto it. I've found a few ways to do this on the support forums and the macrumors forum, but I want to confirm if I can do it this way:
1. Plug new SSD into the Macbook via a USB cable
2. Download Yosemite onto current Macbook Hard Drive. When I'm prompted to install, chose the new SSD from the list. Complete Installation.
3. Remove old Hard Drive from Macbook and plug new SSD in it's place (and not in the optical bay).
Would this work? I have another external hard drive with all of my documents, pictures and music on which I'm just going to manually remove over, and have no problem doing. I can also download the iLife programs directly from the App Store so I wouldn't be missing out on those either (I do have the iLife '09 discs too). I've also read about creating a bootable USB using DiskMaker X, but I feel the route I outlined would be easier.
Am I missing anything? I do have the EFI Firmware v2.7, so the problems the 2011 MacBooks were having with SATA shouldn't be an issue during this. Also, during my research, I found a references to something called TRIM. Can someone explain TRIM to me?
Thanks,
Steve

Thanks for the response and confirming I can clean install Yosemite onto a new SSD using the process I listed in my initial post.
I have a 13'' MacBook Pro with Yosemite already installed onto it so my graphics card should be set. After almost a month of using it, I haven't noticed any issues on that end.
I guess this TRIM thing is a totally separate subject from this thread. I read Apple is no longer supporting third-party SSD for TRIM support. If you turn it on, but keep a security feature on, you risk your computer not booting correctly. It looks like the only way to have TRIM enabled on a SSD using Yosemite is to have an Apple supplied SSD, or an SSD that can trick Yosemite into thinking it's Apple supplied (like the Angelbird Wrk for Mac SSD).
I've also done a good amount of research that TRIM is only necessary if you're saving a lot of items to the hard drive in one sitting (like photoshop). I primarily use my Mac for Pages (which saves my documents into the cloud now), iTunes and Safari. I guess this would fit me into the "casual user' criteria? I've also read that if you don't use TRIM, your SSD uses "Garbage Collection" (which actually sounds terrible) to keep the SSD informed on what data can be overwritten since it's been deleted by the user. I read that most modern SSD hard drives have a pretty decent Garbage Collection function, so if you leave your computer idle, keep "Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible" unchecked, the SSD will run Garbage Collection on it's own and that should be sufficient enough to keep the SSD in good working order.

Clean install yosemite, couldn´t install aperture afterwards

clean install yosemite, couldn´t install aperture afterwards

Hi, 2teddy3.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
I would need more information regarding any errors received and clarification on exactly what is happening to provide a better answer. However, here is a troubleshooting article that may help. .
Troubleshooting the Mac App Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3624
Cheers,
Jason H

How to clean install Yosemite

How to clean install Yosemite on imac 10.9.5

Why?
Doing an erase and install of OS X is usually just a waste of time.
I recommend that you just upgrade and test it first.

Can you clean install Yosemite?

My iMac is becoming a bit sluggish so I would like to take the opportunity for a clean install with Yosemite. Can I clean install Yosemite as you could with Mavericks by using ctrl -R, erasing the hard drive, reformatting and then using internet recovery?
Late 2012 iMac
Currently on latest OSX Mavericks - OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)

Rather than an unnecessary clean install answer some questions about the slowness to see if we can determine what is causing the problem. What exactly is slowing down, booting, a application or applications, which ones, etd.?
Download and run Etrecheck. Copy and paste the results into your reply. It's a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC to help identify the more obvious culprits.

Clean install Yosemite stuck at terms and conditions on MacBook Pro

Hello,
I'm clean installing Yosemite on my MacBook Pro, which I downloaded from the app store and booted from the recovery partition
The install has gone fine, but it is now stuck at the 'Terms and Conditions' window - it looks like it's trying to load the terms and conditions, but all I have is the spinning disk and 'agree' and 'back' are greyed out
It's been that way for over twenty minutes
Anyone got any ideas? Is it safe to hard-reset and see if it clears it next time?
Thanks,
Wes

Try the enter key.

Windows 7 Clean Install won't detect SATA Drive

I'm trying to install Windows 7 on my desktop that is currently running Vista and XP on a dual boot. I want to eliminate the dual boot and do a clean install with Windows 7. I have a Western Digital SATA drive WD2500KS. If I try to install "custom" it will not detect the drive and wants to load drivers. If I try to upgrade it shows the drive and both partitions and want's to know which partition. I ran the Windows 7 compatibility program and it shows the drive and no issues pertaining to installation. How do I get a clean install to recognize the hard drive? Processor is Intel Core2 Quad CPU 2.4 Ghz.

What machine is this? homebuilt or OEM?
Do you have a Dell computer? It appears that the built-in Dell SATA drivers aren't recognized during the Windows 7 extraction portion of setup (when your BIOS is set with RAID Autodetect / AHCI). Might also work for a non-Dell PC:
note: you should install the latest BIOS update from Dell's support.dell.com website first, or your manufacturers website for a non-Dell computer.
1. Boot into the BIOS (press F2 while the Dell splash screen is showing, will be different for a non-Dell).
2. Go to Drives > SATA Operation. (will be different for a non-Dell)
3. Change from "RAID Autodetect / AHCI" to "RAID Autodetect / ATA".
4. Press escape, choose Save / Exit.
Also, play it safe, shut down your PC and disconnect all USB devices (except the keyboard / mouse, they do not need to be disconnected) before trying to reinstall.
Also check this thread for help http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-CA/w7itproinstall/thread/41e2fec7-b214-486b-9f29-89a3ecc7520f
MCSE, MCSA, MCDST
[If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

Clean install Mavericks on new hard drive

Hello,
I have a Early 2009 Mac Pro that is currently running Mavericks (10.9.1). There are currently three hard drives in it:
2-1 TB Hitachi HDE721010SLA330 (1 as Boot drive & 1 as secondary storage, both from factory)
1-3 TB Seagate ST3000DM001-1CH16 (being used as a Time Machine Drive)
I want to replace the boot 1 TB drive with a second 3 TB Seagate ST3000DM001. I understand the process for clean installing Mavericks. I know that I'll have to reinstall all my apps and such. Will the cleanly installed Mavericks on the new drive be able to recognize the 2nd 1 TB storage drive as-is? Also, will Time Machine restore my iMovie projects back in place as they are now? And also, not exactly a huge issue if it would arise, but would my VirtualBox VMs be restored to where they are (I know I'll have to re-add them back into VB, that's not a big deal.
I just want to do this as "cleanly" as possible (even though though i know that probably won't be the case, never is with computers).
If I need to provide any more information I would be glad to. Thank you for any help in advance!

Make A Bootable OS X Mavericks USB Install Drive With DiskMaker X
Monday, December 23rd, 2013 | Author: OWC Jarrod and OWC Joseph
Last week, Apple released its Mavericks update with the 10.9.1 version of the operating system – which we hope fixes a few bugs that we saw in the first iteration released Oct. 22.
And if the latest update has you finally looking to upgrade your Mac to the new version of the operating system, it’s worth noting that like its predecessors – beginning with OS X 10.7 – Mavericks is only available for install via download from the Mac App Store.
This means those who previously relied on DVD installs will be unable to do so with this version. Luckily, DiskMaker X helps fill the void by allowing you to make a bootable OS X 10.9 Mavericks USB install drive.
What’s really great about this software is like OS X Mavericks, the DiskMaker X software won’t cost you a thing (however, donations are accepted). All you need is an 8 GB (minimum) USB thumb drive, a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt drive or an SD-Card, the OS X 10.9 Mavericks Installer from the App Store, and the DiskMaker X application.
DiskMaker X is fairly straightforward and will guide you through the process of making your install drive. It should be noted that DiskMaker X erases the volume or the drive you chose, according to the options you chose. So don’t forget to backup your data first!
http://blog.macsales.com/21911-make-a-bootable-os-x-mavericks-usb-install-drive- with-diskmaker-x?APC=XLR8YourMac13

Can't clean install Yosemite to 3rd party SSD in 2008 MBP

Hi all.
I'm a longtime lurker, first time poster. I seem to have really stymied myself with trying to upgrade my ol' reliable MBP.
My machine:
Late 2008 15" MacBook Pro
2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM (3rd party Crucial, 2 matching 2GB sticks - it originally shipped with 2 1GB sticks, I upgraded it around 2 years ago)
120GB SSD (3rd party OCZ Agility III, it originally shipped with a 500GB Hitachi HDD - I've just installed this and am trying to use it)
No optical drive (it broke years ago)
Here is what I've done so far:
Removed the 500GB HDD and inserted the 120GB SSD
Created a bootable USB stick with the Yosemite installer on it
Booted from said USB stick and used Disk Utility to format the SSD with a GUID partition table, with 1 HFS+ (Journaled) formatted partition
Begun the Yosemite installer
The progress bar crawled for about 3 hours until it got about halfway, then it failed out with an error. Unfortunately I stupidly don't have a copy of the error logs
Booted from the USB stick again
Now the SSD does not show up at all in Disk Utility and I am not given the option of it when attempting to install Yosemite - so I can't reformat the drive or attempt another install
I have tried to run the Apple Hardware Test (to see if there are any problems with the RAM that might have triggered the error installing Yosemite), but unfortunately this does not seem possible on my machine. Since it is a late 2008 model with no optical drive, from the research I've done there seems to be no way I can run it. It can't do an Internet Hardware Test, and the 'trick' of holding F2 during bootup won't work because apparently you need to have the original shipping OS installed. From memory this machine shipped with Leopard - the OS on my old 500GB HDD is Snow Leopard however.
Does anyone have any ideas for what I can do next here? My goal is simply to do a clean install of Yosemite onto my SSD. I'm at a bit of a loss, especially since the SSD isn't even showing up in Disk Utility now.
An additional detail: There isn't anything in the slot where the optical drive should be. 2 years ago I opened my machine and removed it, replacing it with a 2.5" 'optibay' drive caddy. Unfortunately it was a pretty cheap caddy and it never functioned properly, so I removed it before beginning the above process. There is just an empty space now inside the machine, since I threw away my old broken optical drive years ago. I don't know if this may also be causing problems.
Many thanks for any and all assistance!

Thanks for responding Leopardus.
I tried holding Cmd+R at startup last night, but unfortunately all I got is a flashing folder with a question mark on it, presumably indicating that it can't find any files.
Internet Recovery is unfortunately not possible on my computer, I believe this feature was only included with Macs that shipped with Lion or later versions of OS X (mine shipped with Leopard).
The problem in the thread that you linked seems a bit different to mine - I think the core issue for me is that the SSD is now not recognised at all by Disk Utility, meaning I cannot even format it to try installing again.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can access this 'invisible' SSD? I am considering buying a USB to SATA cable and connecting it to a friend's Mac.

Clean install (Yosemite). Recover mail from Time Machine (Mavericks)?

Hi,
I did a clean install of Yosemite on a 2010 MBP. It had Mavericks on it before. I want to restore Mail. I performed a Time Machine backup of the entire system before and manually backed up my mailboxes via Mailbox >Export Mailbox... for each.
My three mailboxes didn't import correctly. I imported them via Mail> Import Mailboxes >Apple Mail for each. I am missing emails and my folder structure within Mail is gone. I can't seem to access it via Time Machine. I Enter Time Machine with Mail open and cannot go back at all.
What am I doing incorrectly?

The edit button disappeared.
I've manually copied the contents of my latest time machine backup from the location below.
Backups.backupdb > Computer Name > Latest > Macintosh HD > Users > Your User > Library > Mail >
I've also copied over the backed up com.apple.mail.plist file.
To the same location on the laptop. Nothing shows up in mail. Are there other locations I need to copy data from?

Clean install Yosemite - can't transfer Lightroom to new system - Creative Cloud says I have it, other progs fine.

Hi Everyone
I've done a clean install of Yosemite on another hardrive - (Creative Cloud member) re-loading of all other software has worked fine.
Creative Cloud loader says I have Lightroom and it's uptodate - I haven't downloaded it onto the new system yet (clicking icon goes through basic install) - it wants a a serial number, I have checked on the Mavericks system and the last 4 digits are blanked.
I have signed out of Creative Cloud on Mavericks - returning to Yosemite, no change to Lightroom status.
Can anyone help with this situation - can't Uninstall Lightroom on old system, same in Yosemite, if I try to boot it from other drive/system (Mavericks) from Yosemite Trial version or serial number request, stuck with software I've rented and can't use.
Adrian CB

Hello Rikk
Many thanks for your reply.
Just to make it clear - I have not installed Lightroom 5 on the Yosemite system, it is only on the other hardrive and Mavericks. I have checked what is on Yosemite releating to Lightroom - there are 2 files for L5, one is in System - Library - App Support - Adobe, this file is a serial no. reference, the other is in User - Library - App Support - Adobe, these are a set of Folders for Presets, Sets & galleries etc..
From the CCloud loader Lightroom 5 will not allow Uninstall, there is nothing (program) to uninstall - it has occurred to remove the files I have mentioned to another drive and see if CCloud loader finally acknowledges it is not on the Yosemite system.
It does seem that these files are indicating to the CC loader prog that it is on Yosemite - so, if I removed the files - more particularly the serial number file - logged out of CCloud, logged back in and hope Lightroom is available to download. Do I continue if the download is for trial/serial number version - and then put back the serial number file to have it usable?
Regards Adrian CB

Instructions to clean install Yosemite to a fusion drive

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