John Purlia

Q: Dual boot with Yosemite — Sierra not showing up

I have a dual boot configuration on my iMac, with Sierra installed on the local drive (upgraded previously from El Capitan) and Yosemite on an external drive. In the past, I was easily able to switch between El Capitan and Yosemite via the Startup Disk preference panel, and expected that same behavior to continue after updating from El Cap to Sierra. This halfway works... I'm able to boot into Yosemite from Sierra, but once in Yosemite, I can't go back to Sierra from Startup Disk, as the Sierra boot volume does not appear within Startup Disk. While I can, of course, switch boot volumes by initiating a restart and holding down the option key to launch the Startup Manager, I find it very, very surprising that the Sierra boot volume doesn't show up in Yosemite's Startup Disk prefs panel.

 

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

iMac and MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.6), 20th Anniversary Mac, 128K Mac, original Apple II

Posted on Sep 27, 2016 9:42 AM

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Q: Dual boot with Yosemite — Sierra not showing up

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Sep 27, 2016 9:48 AM in response to John Purlia
    Level 9 (53,825 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 27, 2016 9:48 AM in response to John Purlia

    I have the same configuration and have no problem going back and forth between either operating system.

     

    Please download and install EtreCheck from http://etrecheck.com/

     

    Run it and post the report here.

  • by John Purlia,

    John Purlia John Purlia Sep 27, 2016 10:49 AM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (98 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 10:49 AM in response to Allan Eckert

    The result of scanning the Yosemite configuration is completely clean. More interesting, though, is this line from a scan of the Sierra volume:

     

       /etc/sudoers, File size 2299 but expected 1563

     

    That is potentially concerning. I do use sudo occasionally for certain Terminal operations, but I've never really dipped into this particular file from an administration standpoint.

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Sep 27, 2016 10:52 AM in response to John Purlia
    Level 9 (53,825 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 27, 2016 10:52 AM in response to John Purlia

    If you wish someone here to help you them post the EtreCheck report in its entirety.

  • by John Purlia,

    John Purlia John Purlia Sep 27, 2016 1:41 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (98 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 1:41 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Here's the report from Sierra (located on a local drive):

     

    EtreCheck version: 3.0.5 (309)

    Report generated 2016-09-27 10:28:26

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 2:12

    Performance: Excellent

     

    Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

     

    Problem: No problem - just checking

     

    Hardware Information:

        iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)

        [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

        iMac - model: iMac13,2

        1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

        24 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 0/DIMM1

                8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM1

                8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

     

    Video Information:

        NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - VRAM: 2048 MB

            iMac 2560 x 1440

     

    System Software:

        macOS Sierra  10.12 (16A323) - Time since boot: less than an hour

     

    Disk Information:

        APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk1 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

            Office iMac (disk2) / : 1.11 TB (320.13 GB free)

                Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

                Core Storage: disk1s2 998.70 GB Online

     

        APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

            Office iMac (disk2) / : 1.11 TB (320.13 GB free)

                Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

                Core Storage: disk1s2 998.70 GB Online

     

    USB Information:

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Western Digital My Passport 0820

        Seagate Backup+  Desk

        SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro

        Datacolor Datacolor Spyder4

     

    Firewire Information:

        Seagate Backup+ Desk Mac 800mbit - 800mbit max

            disk3s1 (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Media (Yosemite) (disk3s2) /Volumes/Media (Yosemite) : 3.00 TB (2.35 TB free)

            Recovery HD (disk3s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

            Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

     

    Configuration files:

        /etc/sudoers, File size 2299 but expected 1563

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions:

            /Library/Extensions

        [loaded]    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (2.0b2 - SDK 10.10 - 2016-09-22) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.2.7 (26979) - SDK 10.4 - 2016-09-22) [Support]

     

            /Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns

        [not loaded]    com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_4 (5.2.7 (26979) - SDK 10.4 - 2015-07-16) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.2.7 (26979) - SDK 10.5 - 2015-07-16) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.seagate.driver.SeagateDriveIcons (5.2.7 (26979) - SDK 10.4 - 2015-07-16) [Support]

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    175 Apple tasks

        [running]    89 Apple tasks

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    com.apple.jetsamproperties.Mac.plist (2016-08-25) [Support]

        [not loaded]    37 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    167 Apple tasks

        [running]    100 Apple tasks

     

    Launch Agents:

        [running]    com.canon.MFManager.plist (2012-05-22) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2013-06-07) [Support]

     

    Launch Daemons:

        [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-08-29) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.apple.aelwriter.plist (2010-05-18)

        [loaded]    com.barebones.authd.plist (2012-05-19) [Support]

        [not loaded]    com.barebones.textwrangler.plist (2011-03-04) [Support]

        [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2013-06-07) [Support]

        [running]    com.seagate.TBDecorator.plist (2013-10-11) [Support]

     

    User Launch Agents:

        [loaded]    com.apple.MobileMeSyncClientAgent.plist (2011-08-07)

        [loaded]    com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist (2010-02-05)

        [loaded]    com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist (2016-09-20)

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-12) [Support]

        [not loaded]    jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist (2009-08-30) [Support]

     

    User Login Items:

        Google Drive    Application  (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

        Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        SpyderUtility    Application  (/Applications/Datacolor/Spyder4Pro/Support/SpyderUtility.app)

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        JavaAppletPlugin (1.7.13.20): Java 7 Update 13 (2013-06-07) [Support]

        SpeedDownload Browser Plugin: 2.1.2 (2013-06-07) [Support]

        Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.2.0.16   - SDK 10.8 (2013-06-07) [Support]

        RealPlayer Plugin: Unknown (2013-06-07) [Support]

        Silverlight: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-04-24) [Support]

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-19) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-09-13)

        Flash Player: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-19) [Support]

        iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (2013-06-07)

        AdobePDFViewer: 9.0.0 (2014-07-14) [Support]

        EPPEX Plugin: 3.0.5.0 (2013-06-07) [Support]

        JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (2016-08-26) Check version

     

    User internet Plug-ins:

        CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.104 (2013-04-11) [Support]

        fbplugin_1_0_3: Unknown (2010-02-25) [Support]

        WebEx64: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 (2012-10-29) [Support]

     

    Safari Extensions:

        MacShop - Ivo Nedelko - http://macshopp.com (2014-10-08)

        SaveFrom.net helper - SaveFrom.net - http://savefrom.net (2015-09-28)

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

        A Better Finder Preferences (2009-02-14) [Support]

        Flash Player (2016-08-29) [Support]

        Flip4Mac WMV (2013-06-07) [Support]

        Java (2016-08-26) [Support]

        Perian (2013-06-07) [Support]

        Seagate Dashboard for Mac OSX (2015-08-31) [Support]

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: OFF

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Office iMac: Disk size: 1.11 TB Disk used: 791.05 GB

            Media (Yosemite): Disk size: 3.00 TB Disk used: 645.40 GB

        Destinations:

            Time Machine [Local]

            Total size: 5.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 137

            Oldest backup: 6/4/14, 8:10 AM

            Last backup: 9/27/16, 10:01 AM

            Size of backup disk: Adequate

                Backup size 5.00 TB > (Disk used 1.44 TB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

             3%    fontd

             2%    WindowServer

             1%    kernel_task

             0%    launchd

             0%    com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        1.23 GB    kernel_task

        492 MB    mds_stores

        492 MB    mdworker(15)

        295 MB    Google Drive

        221 MB    Dropbox

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        18.00 GB    Free RAM

        5.96 GB    Used RAM (2.62 GB Cached)

        0 B    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        Sep 27, 2016, 10:23:57 AM    Self test - passed

        Sep 25, 2016, 10:01:33 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.boinx.fmexport_2016-09-25-100133_[redacted] .cpu_resource.diag [Details]

            /Applications/FotoMagico.localized/FotoMagico.app/Contents/XPCServices/com.boin x.fmexport.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.boinx.fmexport

        Sep 25, 2016, 09:41:46 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.boinx.fmexport_2016-09-25-094146_[redacted] .cpu_resource.diag [Details]

        Sep 24, 2016, 01:04:43 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/FotoMagico_2016-09-24-130443_[redacted].cpu_res ource.diag [Details]

            /Applications/FotoMagico.localized/FotoMagico.app/Contents/MacOS/FotoMagico

     

     

     

    And here's the report from Yosemite (located on a remote drive):

     

    EtreCheck version: 3.0.5 (309)

    Report generated 2016-09-27 10:19:40

    Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

    Runtime 2:54

    Performance: Excellent

     

    Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

     

    Problem: No problem - just checking

     

    Hardware Information:

        iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)

        [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

        iMac - model: iMac13,2

        1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

        24 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 0/DIMM1

                8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM1

                8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

     

    Video Information:

        NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - VRAM: 2048 MB

            iMac 2560 x 1440

     

    System Software:

        OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F1912) - Time since boot: less than an hour

     

    Disk Information:

        APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk1 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

            Office iMac (disk2) /Volumes/Office iMac : 1.11 TB (320.40 GB free)

                Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

                Core Storage: disk1s2 998.70 GB Online

     

        APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

            Office iMac (disk2) /Volumes/Office iMac : 1.11 TB (320.40 GB free)

                Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

                Core Storage: disk1s2 998.70 GB Online

     

    USB Information:

        Western Digital My Passport 0820 2 TB

            EFI (disk6s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Tape Archives (disk6s2) /Volumes/Tape Archives : 1.50 TB (596.93 GB free)

            Recovery HD (disk6s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

            Install OS X Yosemite (disk6s4) /Volumes/Install OS X Yosemite : 502.14 GB (495.76 GB free)

        Seagate Backup+  Desk 5 TB

            EFI (disk5s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

            Time Machine (disk5s2) /Volumes/Time Machine : 5.00 TB (687.38 GB free)

        Datacolor Datacolor Spyder4

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

        SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro 8.04 GB

            Shuttle (disk4s1) /Volumes/Shuttle : 8.04 GB (1.47 GB free)

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     

    Firewire Information:

        Seagate Backup+ Desk Mac 800mbit - 800mbit max

            disk3s1 (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Media (Yosemite) (disk3s2) / : 3.00 TB (2.35 TB free)

            Recovery HD (disk3s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

            Apple Inc. Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

     

    Gatekeeper:

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    System Launch Agents:

        [not loaded]    4 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    147 Apple tasks

        [running]    61 Apple tasks

     

    System Launch Daemons:

        [not loaded]    42 Apple tasks

        [loaded]    140 Apple tasks

        [running]    79 Apple tasks

     

    Launch Daemons:

        [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-08-29) [Support]

     

    User Launch Agents:

        [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-20) [Support]

     

    User Login Items:

        iTunesHelper    Application Hidden (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

        Dropbox    Application  (/Volumes/Office iMac/Applications/Dropbox.app)

        Google Drive    Application  (/Volumes/Office iMac/Applications/Google Drive.app)

        SpyderUtility    Application  (/Volumes/Office iMac/Applications/Datacolor/Spyder4Pro/Support/SpyderUtility.app)

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

        FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-16) [Support]

        QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-09-16)

        Flash Player: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-16) [Support]

        Default Browser: 600 - SDK 10.10 (2015-07-16)

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

        Flash Player (2016-08-29) [Support]

     

    Time Machine:

        Skip System Files: NO

        Mobile backups: OFF

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Tape Archives: Disk size: 1.50 TB Disk used: 900.30 GB

            Media (Yosemite): Disk size: 3.00 TB Disk used: 645.69 GB

        Destinations:

            Time Machine [Local]

            Total size: 5.00 TB

            Total number of backups: 134

            Oldest backup: 6/4/14, 8:10 AM

            Last backup: 9/18/16, 11:09 AM

            Size of backup disk: Adequate

                Backup size 5.00 TB > (Disk used 1.55 TB X 3)

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

             2%    kernel_task

             2%    WindowServer

             2%    fontd

             1%    identityservicesd

             1%    mds

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

        1.06 GB    kernel_task

        541 MB    mds_stores

        270 MB    Google Drive

        172 MB    Dropbox

        74 MB    iconservicesagent(2)

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

        20.00 GB    Free RAM

        4.49 GB    Used RAM (2.12 GB Cached)

        0 B    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information:

        Sep 27, 2016, 10:14:20 AM    Self test - passed

  • by John Purlia,

    John Purlia John Purlia Sep 29, 2016 9:18 AM in response to John Purlia
    Level 1 (98 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 9:18 AM in response to John Purlia

    After a couple of days testing across several clean installs of Sierra, El Capitan, and Yosemite across multiple hard drives (though, not, multiple computers) I've narrowed down the problem to a very specific configuration. When Sierra is installed on the first volume of an internal Fusion Drive, Yosemite will not offer this volume as a restart option in the Startup Disk preference panel. All other combinations work fine — Sierra as the second volume, El Cap or Yosemite on the first volume, etc... So it would appear that there is an issue with Sierra on a Fusion Drive that prevents Yosemite on an external drive from seeing it as a viable boot option.

     

    I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Apple yesterday going through various configurations and — at least on my class of iMac (27" late 2012) — it's a repeatable problem, and a bug has been filed.

     

    The problem definitely does not occur when a Fusion Drive is not present and it may not be present on other mac models.

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Sep 29, 2016 9:33 AM in response to John Purlia
    Level 9 (53,825 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 29, 2016 9:33 AM in response to John Purlia

    I have a problem with your analysis of the problem. I have a Fusion Drive with Sierra on it. It has no problem with booting from the Fusion Drive. One difference with my configuration over the configuration you are using is that it only has a single partition.

  • by John Purlia,

    John Purlia John Purlia Sep 29, 2016 9:58 AM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (98 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 9:58 AM in response to Allan Eckert

    This is where it may be model specific. I ran a fairly exhaustive set of tests with clean installs of Sierra, El Capitan, and Yosemite in one and two partition internal configurations, with four clean installs on external drives. With each configuration I would boot to a particular volume, then check to verify that each bootable volume showed up in Startup Disks. The only time a bootable volume failed to appear in Startup Disks was from Yosemite when Sierra was installed on volume one of the Fusion Drive.

     

    To further prove this to myself, I unlinked the Fusion Drive (which I really don't advise!) so I could treat my internal drive as a plain old hard drive and an SSD. When I did so I was actually able to create 4 partitions (normally, 2 is the limit on a Fusion Drive), installing a different OS on each. Here, again, only when Sierra was on what the OS believed to be the first volume was Yosemite not able to "see" Sierra from Startup Disks — though it was able to see a second Sierra boot volume on another partition.