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External USB Drive not Bootable

Hi everyone,


I've been trying to create a bootable USB Drive so I can reinstall El Capitan on my old mac, but can't for the life of me get it to be visible as a startup disk.


  • I've selected the Schema as a GUID Partition Map with Mac OS Extended (Journaled)


  • Created a partition as a Mac OS Extended (Journaled).



  • Viewing the info states that it's not bootable.


I'm stumped.


Appreciate the help

Cheers



MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 16, 2019 4:06 AM

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Posted on Dec 16, 2019 4:20 AM

It is not bootable because you haven't installed anything on it yet. If you want to make it bootable then use this,

How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support or use https://diskmakerx.com/download/

select the correct version for El Capitan.


Why are you using a 2TB external drive for this, you should really use a USB stick 8GBs or over.

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6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 16, 2019 4:20 AM in response to TrackerFlat

It is not bootable because you haven't installed anything on it yet. If you want to make it bootable then use this,

How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support or use https://diskmakerx.com/download/

select the correct version for El Capitan.


Why are you using a 2TB external drive for this, you should really use a USB stick 8GBs or over.

Dec 16, 2019 4:29 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks Eau,


I have gone through that process of creating the installer but I still says it's not bootable. I've also tried viewing it in the startup disk util and holding down option while booting and am yet to see it.




Eau Rouge wrote:
Why are you using a 2TB external drive for this, you should really use a USB stick 8GBs or over.


The only reason I'm using a 2TB HD is because it was a spare that I was using for backups a while ago.

Dec 16, 2019 5:04 AM in response to TrackerFlat

Try the process again but don't do step two where you made a partition.

So go back to Disk Utility high light the Disk, not the Volume, select Erase

give the Disk a name, Format Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and Scheme

GUID Partition Map, then click Erase, you do not need to make a further

partition.

Use the createinstallmedia command to make the disk bootable

but as you are using an external drive you will need to alter the destination

path as that of your external drive and the name you have given it.


Are you sure you don't have a spare USB stick it would probably be a lot easier.

Dec 16, 2019 1:18 PM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks for you help Eau, still no luck. The only reason whey I'm trying with the bootable USB is because the internet recovery failed. Stating that it couldn't download the additional requirements needed.


Eau Rouge wrote:

Make sure the external drive is connected directly to the Mac, do not use a USB hub.


I'll have to try that but it's a bit hard since I'm living the dongle life since the upgrade.


Cheers


External USB Drive not Bootable

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