Apple MacBook Pro 2013 with 512Gb SSD cannot install OS X I had an issue running an App and the vendor suggested I should revert to the earlier OS X 10.10.3.

I located on Time Machine the backup version I needed, waited for the format and restore. I then needed to repeat the process of restoring from Time Machine, but now the MacBook is in a stupid state.

The system starts with OS X Utilities. Restore from Time Machine backup gets me to the point where it wants to know the destination drive, but my SSD doesn't show up.

Same thing if I choose Reinstall OS X.

If I select Disk Utility, I can see the SSD as "Macintosh HD" and I can see "First Aid" and "Partition" but no "Erase". If I select "Verify Disk" or "Repair Disk", the log shows that everything is working fine....it is 499.42Gb in size. The OS X Base System volume is also there....

So without seeing "Macintosh HD", I cannot recover from Time Machine or Reinstall OS X.

I am stuck, any ideas folks?



Follow-up:

Thanks for your kind reply.  To explain again:


I restored a Time Machine version of OS X 10.10.3, then I did some work and then decided to recover the same version of Time Machine backup a 2nd time.
The second restore of OS X 10.10.3 failed.
Using Disk Utility, I can see the "Macintosh HD" volume, but only the tags "First Aid" and "Partition" are shown.


I followed your procedure described above to create a USB boot system.  The following happened:


A 4Gb USB stick was declared by the system as being too small.
I eventually found a 16Gb USB stick and the download proceeded, but when the system was in "Setting up...." mode, I got a warning that the memory was too small and that memory was nearly full.  A short while later I got a "Memory Full" error!!! and nothing further other than the spinning wheel and a waste of time.
Next day I went to the store and bought a 64Gb USB stick.  When I started the system copy process, the Internet was having issues it I received a notice that the process would take around 738hrs!!!!
Eventually I got to a 2hrs15min download and the process completed, except the notice that my system would restart in 10secs never happened....I clicked the "Restart" soft key and off we went.  10hrs later I was still seeing the "Setting up...." message and the occasional flicker of the USB LED.
I then found a bootable OS X 10.8.2 and restarted my Macbook Pro.
Using the Disk Utility, I can see the "Macintosh HD", but again only the "First Aid" and "Partition" tabs are shown.
This time when I do a "Repair Disk" I get the messages:
"disk0s2 has CoreStorage features not supported by this fsck_cs version"
"Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map"
"Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk."
Clicking "Repair Disk" just brings me to the same messages.


If I could just "Erase" my "Macintosh HD" volume, I would be good to go.....frustrating!
Usually you shouldn't be urged to restore the backup twice. Probably something went wrong in the first and/or the second run.

To quickly resolve your problem boot to Internet Recovery Mode or an external drive/thumb drive containing a Recovery HD or full OS X, erase/reformat your internal drive and restore the 10.10.3 backup. If you boot to IRM or a second drive you may manipulate the internal disk without any restrictions.  

Just erasing a volume is not recommended because it might not recover any faulty or wrong partition table. So better repartition the drive.


Boot to Internet Recovery Mode by pressing altcmdR. The prerequisites for an Internet Recovery are listed here: Recovery/Internet Recovery.
In a few words you need the latest firmware update installed, either ethernet or WLAN (WPA/WPA2) and a router with DHCP activated for a successful internet recovery.
On a 50 Mbps-line it takes about 4 min (presenting a small animated globe) to boot into the Recovery Netboot image which is loaded from an Apple server.  

(Alternatively you may boot to an external drive containing a Recovery HD or a full OS X system or an OS X thumb drive.)
open Terminal and enter:

    diskutil cs list

copy the UUID of the Logical Volume Group (it's the first one listed) and enter:

    diskutil cs delete UUID


The content of the main volume will be lost doing that. A backup is required.
Quit Terminal and open "Disk Utility" and partition your internal disk: GUID partition scheme (use the "Options..." button at the bottom of the main pane for this), one partition, journaled HFS+.  
Close "Disk Utility".  
Attach your Time Machine backup drive.  
Open "Restore from Time Machine Backup" and restore your main drive if you have booted from a Recovery drive.
If you've booted from a full OS X external drive just open Time Machine and restore your internal drive.