EdisonW

Q: Cannot create bootable El Capitan USB media using "createinstallmedia" or Diskmaker X

Hello all,

 

So far (knock on wood) El Capitan has been fantastic on my 2011 MBP 13" i7, and has actually improved everything, especially performance. Some minor glitches here and there but I was expecting it.

 

However, one BIG thing I've come across is this... Whenever I go to try and create a bootable USB installer using either the embedded "createinstallmedia" command found within the El Capitan package, or using Diskmaker X v5.0, both methods successfully create the USB installer, but neither method generates a USB device that I can select as a Source Disk in System Preferences, nor will it recognize as a bootable device when I hold down the Option key starting my Mac.

 

I've tried using 4 different, reputable brands of USB sticks, ranging in size from 8GB USB 2.0's to 32GB USB 3.0's, no effect, and I've tried them on 4 different models of Mac's, all on the certified El Capitan compatibility list. Each machine won't recognize it as a bootable source.

 

My first attempts at making the USB's were actually while the Mac was still on Yosemite, so I don't think this is a El Capitan bug. It almost seems like the image created from the package doesn't contain the boot components.

 

Has anyone else here experienced this issue, or possibly found a way to fix this and make it work? I have three Mac's with blank drives I'd like to put onto El Capitan, but can't until I manage to create a bootable USB.

 

Thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), 16GB RAM / Samsung 840 Pro SSD

Posted on Oct 2, 2015 11:00 AM

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Q: Cannot create bootable El Capitan USB media using "createinstallmedia" or Diskmaker X

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 4, 2015 10:04 AM in response to leroydouglas
    Level 10 (271,052 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 4, 2015 10:04 AM in response to leroydouglas

    No, it merely tells you the device is properly formatted and partitioned. To be bootable requires the installation of a bootable OS X system. The system installed determines if the device is bootable.

     

    If you want a proper list then use 'diskutil cs list' because the drive is setup using CoreStorage.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 4, 2015 10:05 AM in response to leroydouglas
    Level 10 (271,052 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 4, 2015 10:05 AM in response to leroydouglas

    Booting from media other than the CD/DVD requires using OPTION boot:

     

    Boot Using OPTION key:

     

      1. Restart the computer.

      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

          "OPTION" key.

      3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.

      4. Select the desired disk icon from which you want to boot.

      5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.

  • by leroydouglas,

    leroydouglas leroydouglas Oct 4, 2015 2:19 PM in response to EdisonW
    Level 7 (23,520 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 4, 2015 2:19 PM in response to EdisonW

     

    but neither method generates a USB device that I can select as a Source Disk in System Preferences,

     

     

    I did not see this option in the System Preferences>StartUp Disk either,  if that is what you are referring to, however when I reboot my machine with the option key held down it is present.

     

    I did not seem to have a problem using the /createinstallmedia command to make a  bootable Back-Up  Installer.

     

    IMG_5747.jpg

  • by EdisonW,

    EdisonW EdisonW Oct 4, 2015 2:19 PM in response to EdisonW
    Level 1 (20 points)
    iPad
    Oct 4, 2015 2:19 PM in response to EdisonW

    So after more testing, I've discovered the following...

     

    I still can't get El Capitan USB media to recognize as bootable sources under Source Disks in System Preferences no matter what I try.

     

    I have, however, been finally able to get Macs to recognize the media at boot up... The trick is to boot the Mac holding the Option button, but NOT having the USB stick in the machine at startup. Instead, when the Mac boots to the volume selector screen, then insert the USB stick, and within a few seconds it WILL show up as a bootable external device. I have managed to get all my remaining Macs upgraded to El Capitan directly from the USB stick.

     

    This shows the created media is bootable, but for some reason won't recognize from within the OS, nor if intserted at startup.

     

    I am curious to see if this will work for the others here that have chimed in with the same problem I had, and if it will finally get them going...

     

    Cheers

  • by leroydouglas,

    leroydouglas leroydouglas Oct 4, 2015 2:24 PM in response to EdisonW
    Level 7 (23,520 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 4, 2015 2:24 PM in response to EdisonW

    EdisonW wrote:

     

    nor if intserted at startup.

     

    I did not have this problem.

     

    You can always send feedback to Apple or if you believe it is a bug- file a report.

     

    Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback/

     

    Bug Reporter https://bugreport.apple.com/

  • by Dave Lang (the other one),

    Dave Lang (the other one) Dave Lang (the other one) Oct 4, 2015 2:34 PM in response to leroydouglas
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2015 2:34 PM in response to leroydouglas

    Hi Leroy - couple questions:

     

    - did you create the backup installer from a machine that had El Capitan installed on it already?

     

    - did you try using a USB drive as well as the SD card?

     

    cheers

    dave

  • by Dave Lang (the other one),Helpful

    Dave Lang (the other one) Dave Lang (the other one) Oct 21, 2015 10:02 AM in response to EdisonW
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 21, 2015 10:02 AM in response to EdisonW

    EdisonW - that worked for me as well.

  • by martin from,

    martin from martin from Oct 8, 2015 8:33 AM in response to Ghost_Rider
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 8, 2015 8:33 AM in response to Ghost_Rider

    Hi Ghost_Rider

     

    Thanks Your suggestion worked. The final message in Terminal was as follows below but the drive works as a bootable disk when I checked it: I asssume that because the ends of the command is --nointeraction that the mounting part is curtailed:

     

     

    Last login: Thu Oct  8 15:34:11 on ttys000

    Martin:~ Admin$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/ElCapInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app --nointeraction

    Password:

    Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...

    Copying installer files to disk...

    Copy complete.

    Making disk bootable...

    Couldn't mount dmg /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg (error code 110)Mount of outer dmg failed.

    Done.

    Martin:~ Admin$

  • by martin from,

    martin from martin from Oct 8, 2015 10:36 AM in response to martin from
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 8, 2015 10:36 AM in response to martin from

    Ah! When I restarted and pressed Alt the memory stick bootable drive was not there so, I did the following:

     

    I erased and formatted usb drice memory stick again and renamed it "Untitled" in Finder.

     

    Ithen issued this Command in Terminal:

     

    Admin$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/Untitled –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app


    So:

     

    Last login: Thu Oct  8 16:40:30 on console

    Martin:~ Admin$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/Untitled –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

    Password:

    You must specify both the volume and install application path.

    Martin:~ Admin$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/Untitled –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

    You must specify both the volume and install application path.

    Martin:~ Admin$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled  --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

    Ready to start.

    To continue we need to erase the disk at /Volumes/Untitled.

    If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return: Y

    Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...

    Copying installer files to disk...

    Copy complete.

    Making disk bootable...

    Copying boot files...

    Copy complete.

    1. Done.

    Martin:~ Admin$

     

    The saliant point was to leave out the -- noninteraction at the end of the command

     

    If I now turn off my iMac and restart and press Alt the bootable drive shows up in the drives available and I can proceed from there.

  • by leroydouglas,

    leroydouglas leroydouglas Oct 8, 2015 11:06 AM in response to martin from
    Level 7 (23,520 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 8, 2015 11:06 AM in response to martin from

    martin from wrote:

     

     

    The saliant point was to leave out the -- noninteraction at the end of the command

     

    If I now turn off my iMac and restart and press Alt the bootable drive shows up in the drives available and I can proceed from there.

     

    But the question really is,  do you see it in >System Preferences>Startup Disk   ???

  • by martin from,

    martin from martin from Oct 8, 2015 2:03 PM in response to leroydouglas
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 8, 2015 2:03 PM in response to leroydouglas

    Oh! Right. I now see the problem. I've spent quite a lot of time on this including talking to several senior techies at Apple and they could not figure out it so, the assumption by them was that something in El Capitan prevents us making a bootable drive but they had no idea why. One of the really annoying aspects of Apple is that when something like this comes up on the forum they do not just put up a statement telling us how to do it or why it cannot be done.

     

    As everyone has said this was a doodle in Yosemite and so, it is reasonable for customers to want to do the same in El Capitan. It may not be practical for Apple to use disks anymore, however, when we are reliant on Apple's servers and software that does not respond to doing something useful, like a bootable drive, I personally miss having disks that I can use to get a system up and running again.

  • by FatMac>MacPro,

    FatMac>MacPro FatMac>MacPro Oct 8, 2015 2:45 PM in response to martin from
    Level 5 (4,815 points)
    Oct 8, 2015 2:45 PM in response to martin from

    Having read through the extended struggle to create a bootable installer, it still seems easier to install El Capitan on the flash drive and then copy the El Cap installer to its Applications folder so that you can not only run the installer from there but use that external drive for other purposes (e.g., running programs beyond Disk Utility, such as Carbon Copy Cloner or Disk Warrior) and have it appear in Startup Manager like any other bootable drive.

  • by martin from,

    martin from martin from Oct 8, 2015 3:22 PM in response to FatMac>MacPro
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 8, 2015 3:22 PM in response to FatMac>MacPro

    I do not understand what you mean by, " install El Capitan on the flash drive and then add El Cap Installer to its application folder?"  El Capitan itself surely is a very large file and is not going to fit on a flash drive?

     

    I just tried the same Terminal Command that I used before but with "--nointeraction" at the end of the command and it resulted in this:

     

    Last login: Thu Oct  8 22:22:01 on console

    Martin:~ Admin$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/ElCapInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app --nointeraction

    Password:

    Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...

    Copying installer files to disk...

    Copy complete.

    Making disk bootable...

    Couldn't mount dmg /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg (error code 112)Mount of outer dmg failed.

    Done.

    Martin:~ Admin$

  • by FatMac>MacPro,

    FatMac>MacPro FatMac>MacPro Oct 8, 2015 3:46 PM in response to martin from
    Level 5 (4,815 points)
    Oct 8, 2015 3:46 PM in response to martin from

    martin from wrote:

     

    I do not understand what you mean by, " install El Capitan on the flash drive and then add El Cap Installer to its application folder?"  El Capitan itself surely is a very large file and is not going to fit on a flash drive?...

    Flash drives are available with capacities up to 256GB, which should be plenty of room. I put three bootable partitions (10.8, 10.9, and 10.10) and a non-bootable storage partition on a single 128GB Flash drive and each had a Yosemite installer available along with other disk maintenance programs. That proved very useful when I had to work on an unbootable 2011 MBP. Best Buy is selling 32GB Flash drives for $9 and Office Depot has them for $11.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Oct 8, 2015 3:54 PM in response to FatMac>MacPro
    Level 7 (32,044 points)
    iPad
    Oct 8, 2015 3:54 PM in response to FatMac>MacPro

    I actually just prefer bootable clones - they can be on any external media as long as it's formatted correctly and you can boot from them, erase your hard drive, and clone back the system very quickly without much effort. I maintain one "factory fresh" clone as well as two regularly updated clones of each OS version that I am either running or has been on my machines (that would be 10.9, 10.9, 10.10, and 10.11) on separate external hard drive partitions. For me, just an OS install wouldn't be all that helpful without my apps, preferences, etc. etc.

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