Restore Yosemite Disk Utility on El Capitan

[InsaneCultist]

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The following guide is a culmination of various sources across the internet and results in a way to run the classic, Yosemite Disk Utility app under El Capitan. I did not come up with this method, but I figured I would share it here, as it has done wonders for me. You can read the original article HERE, and I will post an abridged version below for everyone. Thanks to Justus Beyer who posted this fix initially.

There are two ways to do this:

The Easy Way - [Original]

Use the "Disk Utility (10.10).sh" script provided by "geoff-codes" on GitHub. This script downloads the 10.10 Recovery Update and copies the Disk Utility app from the update, patches it on the fly, and replaces the existing Disk Utility app.

Please note - this will leave you without an official El Capitan Disk Utility app, something not recommended. There is no reason to believe that the "old" app will stop working, but if you do not want to replace the app, please use the below method to patch the app manually.

The Manual Way - [Original]
(Note - It is recommended you follow the "Original" instructions. The below instructions are a shorter, summarized version.)

You will need:

- A Time Machine back up of your system from OS X Yosemite 10.10.5.
- The App "Hex Fiend" which can be found HERE.
- Confidence and patience.

1. Recover a copy of the Yosemite Disk Utility from a Time Machine backup and copy it to your Desktop. The Disk Utility app will be in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Enter your password when asked.

2. Right click your restored 10.10 Disk Utility app and select "Show Package Contents." Navigate into "Contents" and then "MacOS." You will see a binary file called "Disk Utility." Right click the file and open it with Hex Editor.

3. Scroll down to line 25056 and find the block that reads, "D584C00F 85440100" and change the "85" in the second line to read "84". Save the file.

4. Grant "root:wheel" control over the app. You can do this with a terminal command:

sudo chown -R 0:0 ~/Desktop/Disk\ Utility.app

5. (optional) Copy your new Disk Utility app to your Applications folder.

No Time Machine Backup?

Method posted below by Flyinace2000:

Extract the "Disk Utility" app from a Combo Update using a combination of both methods:

Code:
# See: https://github.com/wdas/reposadocurl -ORL http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...n2agnf5kiz9eed134n7y3q4c/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg


xar -xf RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg


hdiutil attach -nobrowse RecoveryHDMeta.dmg
hdiutil attach -nobrowse "/Volumes/Recovery HD Update/BaseSystem.dmg"


cp -Rp "/Volumes/OS X Base System/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app" .
1. curl -ORL http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downl...ryHDUpdate.pkg

This downloads the restore image to your home folder's directory.

2. Mount the DMG that just downloaded (RecoveryHDUpdate)
3. Mount the DMG in that DMG (BaseSystem)
4. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities/
5. Copy Disk Utility to Desktop.

Proceed w/ hex edit and permissions.

Notes -

Please note that in the "Manual Way," my instructions here are a very short, abridged version. I recommend reading the source article and following those instructions if you have any questions. The steps outlined in the original article are thorough and well-written.

Again, I did not come up with these solutions or write any of the code cited here. These instructions were posted by Justis Beyer at http://justis.berlin and geoff-codes's GitHub. If these instructions were useful to you, please let them know on their respective sites. They have certainly helped me.

 

[tonymacx86]

Wow thanks for posting- i really don't like what they've done with Disk Utility on El Capitan.

 

[Burninator]

I resorted to using diskutil on the command line to set up a mirrored RAID set. Pretty ridiculous for them to remove those features.

 

[Flyinace2000]

If you don't have a backed up file you can do the COMBO METHOD!

I took a look at the script and following these steps manually

# See: https://github.com/wdas/reposadocurl -ORL http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/21/09/031-20634/8d84o1ky5gn2agnf5kiz9eed134n7y3q4c/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg


xar -xf RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg


hdiutil attach -nobrowse RecoveryHDMeta.dmg
hdiutil attach -nobrowse "/Volumes/Recovery HD Update/BaseSystem.dmg"


cp -Rp "/Volumes/OS X Base System/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app" .

1. curl -ORL http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...n2agnf5kiz9eed134n7y3q4c/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg

This downloads the restore image to your home folder's directory.

2. Mount the DMG that just downloaded (RecoveryHDUpdate)
3. Mount the DMG in that DMG (BaseSystem)
4. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities/
5. Copy Disk Utility to Desktop.

Proceed w/ hex edit and permissions.

 

[InsaneCultist]

If you don't have a backed up file you can do the COMBO METHOD!

I took a look at the script and following these steps manually...

Awesome - I have added your method to the original post. I'm sure many people have long since overwritten their Yosemite backups. Thanks!

 

[neilhart]

Awesome - I have added your method to the original post. I'm sure many people have long since overwritten their Yosemite backups. Thanks!

No no no... most of my systems have both Mavericks and Yosemite bootable partitions and all have El Capitan... now with a modded-Disk Utility app.

Thank you for sharing a good hack.

My OS X of choice is still Mavericks.

Good modding,
neil

 

[gorg]

This is a great post, thanks InsaneCultist. DiskUtility.app in El Capitan is too basic to be useful.

 

[iUserosx]

Thanks for the post....will try it today....I hate the new Disk Utility very much....this could be a life saver.


Thank you very much......it's working.....one great annoyance of El Capitan is finally got an workaround.



Anyway I am attaching the modified Disk Utility from Yosemite 10.10.5 for those who are having trouble to do it by their self, just download it, extract it with some 7zip extractor(I've used Keka), copy it to Applications folder or somewhere else.

 

[Flexigem]

Awesome. This guide comes to rescue. I was so dazzled to see how awful they changed the good old DiskUtility to something unuseful. Even creating a USB Stick with GUID is not possible anymore. Only harddisks allowed. I was forced to go the terminal route to accomplish this.

They should stop smoking weed at Cupertino.

 

[bmwandy123]

Hi All

i copied the El capitan disk util to a different drive, then ran the script to auto down load and patch, this way you have both versions. Easy!!