Lherif Loraamm
Level 1 (9 points)
Mac OS X

Q: can not boot from hard drive

On an 21.5" iMac, OS 10.10.5 Yosemite:

 

Erased and prepared an external 500GB hard drive properly for use as a bootable hard drive. Installed OS 10.10.4 Yosemite download from the Apple Store. When selecting it as the start up hard drive, it only offers itself as a restore option for Time Machine. Can not boot it up as a normal hard drive for any other purpose. Want to use it as a test drive for software.

 

When installing Yosemite, the install looped repeatedly ad infinitum taking 24 minutes each iteration to complete. I finally chose to quit the install program process. 

 

What is going on?

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Aug 28, 2016 7:17 PM

by Eric Root,Solvedanswer
Eric Root Eric Root
Level 9 (69,659 points)
iTunes
A:

Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair Disk and Repair Permissions until you get no errors.  Reformat the drive using Disk Utility/Erase Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click the Option button and select GUID. Then re-install the OS.

 

You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you.

 

Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X

Posted on Aug 29, 2016 12:41 PM

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Lherif Loraamm

Q: can not boot from hard drive

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  • Helpful answers

  • by RIFerrarr,Apple recommended

    RIFerrarr RIFerrarr Aug 29, 2016 12:37 PM in response to Lherif Loraamm
    Level 3 (699 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 29, 2016 12:37 PM in response to Lherif Loraamm

    Did you create a USB installer to install Yosemite? Or, did you try to install after it finished downloading?

     

    Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support

  • by Eric Root,Solvedanswer

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 29, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Lherif Loraamm
    Level 9 (69,659 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 29, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Lherif Loraamm

    Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair Disk and Repair Permissions until you get no errors.  Reformat the drive using Disk Utility/Erase Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click the Option button and select GUID. Then re-install the OS.

     

    You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you.

     

    Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X

  • by Lherif Loraamm,

    Lherif Loraamm Lherif Loraamm Aug 31, 2016 4:47 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 31, 2016 4:47 AM in response to Eric Root

    31Aug2016

     

    This whole Yosemite install process onto an external hard drive has been exceedingly frustrating beyond all reasonable expectations.  I must have gone through the initialize and install steps upwards of ten times, each time following to the “T” your helpful instructions. Never would the computer boot from the external hard drive!

     

    And all of this for naught! My first install from the Yosemite Installer download was in all likelihood good. Late into the night a quiet voice told me to try something. It must have been God; He knew how frustrating I was getting over all of this.

     

    ADD THIS TO YOUR TROUBLESHOOTING REPERTOIRE: Next time somebody submits a help request that he is unable to boot from an external hard drive after doing his best in setting it up properly, ask if his external is connected through a USB hub. Then, suggest he plug his external directly into a USB port on his iMac (or whatever type his compute might be). Chances are, he’ll be able to boot from it!!  QED

     

    My USB hub brand is a “Plugable” product. I will notify the manufacture.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 31, 2016 10:14 AM in response to Lherif Loraamm
    Level 9 (69,659 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 31, 2016 10:14 AM in response to Lherif Loraamm

    Thanks for the feedback.