Createinstallmedia fails with updated Sierra installer - "not a valid volume mount point"

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Createinstallmedia fails with updated Sierra installer - "not a valid volume mount point"

The newly released Sierra installer (now with updated certificate for installations post-October 23rd) doesn't play nicely with the createinstallmedia command. Instead, the Terminal returns:

/Volumes/osx is not a valid volume mount point.

Yes; I've named my flash drive "osx". Even tried other names just in case Apple now won't let me use that volume name. No good. Tried this on both a Mojave Mac and a Sierra Mac. createinstallmedia is fubar'd in the Sierra installer.

I tried createinstallmedia with the newly updated High Sierra and Mojave installers. No problems there.

If anyone has found a work-around, please advise. For now, I'm just changing the date (back to 2018) on the Mac needing a Sierra install, using the older (expired) installer and keeping the Mac off the Internet until the installation is complete.

Posted on Oct 26, 2019 12:39 PM

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Answer 1

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Barry Levine Author

Level 1

93 points

Oct 28, 2019 11:15 AM in response to RadioGuyTn

We've had a long discussion about this issue at macintouch.com, as well. The workarounds are:

Create the flash drive installer as I did (above) and then copy the installer to that drive. Subsequent installation from that drive will work.
Boot from your old (pre-Oct24th) installer drive, confirm WiFi is off, change the date in Terminal to pre-Oct24th, and then install.

Who'd have thought that "Apple Quality Control" would elicit the same laughs as "Military Intelligence"?

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

55,724 points

Oct 26, 2019 1:11 PM in response to Barry Levine

Did you use the "--applicationpath" option?

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app

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Answer 3

Barry Levine Author

Level 1

93 points

Oct 26, 2019 1:25 PM in response to HWTech

Tried it both with and without. Without doesn't even begin to work. With just yields the "/Volumes/osx is not a valid volume mount point."

I even tried other drive names just in case there's something now "reserved" about osx or maybe that's no too few characters. Nothing worked.

The actual installer does work (with a post-Oct. 24th date on my Mac) so I'm temporarily just installing Sierra to my "recovery" flash drive and then simply copying in the Sierra installer so I can boot from it and then install Sierra to the hard drive in the Mac into which I've plugged the flash drive. It's a kludge but it works until Apple can resolve the issue with a new installer (or some sort of hack to the createinstallmedia code for this new Sierra installer).

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Answer 4

HWTech

Level 9

55,724 points

Oct 26, 2019 6:25 PM in response to Barry Levine

Did you erase the USB drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled)? If you use the USB drive for other things the partition type may have changed. Disk Utility usually defaults to using the last partition type unless the user manually changes it.

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Answer 5

DonH49

Level 6

16,704 points

Oct 27, 2019 5:53 AM in response to Barry Levine

I downloaded high Sierra and Mojave after 10/24 and they both work to install and make a bootable media using Apple's create install media script.

Sierra fails at createinstallmedia script. Although the installer does work. To prove out the failure I successfully completed the Apple createinstallmedia script with the older non functioning Sierra file prior to 10/24 So there is a problem only with the Sierra 'new' file.

Non of the suggestions mentioned here will solve the issue. I've tried them all and then some...

Lastly I also tried Yosemite , the older file previous to 10/24 and it does work. Don't know why but I'll accept it....

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Answer 6

Oct 28, 2019 10:43 AM in response to DonH49

I have encountered the same issue today and have tried all conceivably logical remedies to no avail. The installer probably works but getting it on a bootable USB appears to be hopeless. Apple...the ball is back in YOUR court.

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Createinstallmedia fails with updated Sierra installer - "not a valid volume mount point"

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