restart while holding the option key down only results in regular startup

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Level 1

4 points

restart while holding the option key down only results in regular startup

Hello;

I have a new external Samsung 860 EVO for booting my 2011 Mac at Startup with.

I could not get the SSD drive to show at Startup, although it's icon is on the Desktop and it looks fine in Disk Utility.

Next I am trying the SSD on my 2015 Mac mini; but when holding down the option key or Command-R key after restarting the mini; it only results in a regular startup .

I don't get to the screen pane to install the OS on choice of drives , just my regular home screen

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 5, 2020 12:46 PM

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Answer 1

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den.thed

Level 9

78,052 points

Aug 5, 2020 3:25 PM in response to kevin.r51

Sorry, I thought that the 2011 was a Mac Mini as well.

There is no 2015 model Mac Mini, see > Identify your Mac mini model - Apple Support

Try this,

Connect the external drive to your Mac Mini and open Disk Utility.
Select and format the external drive GUID Partition Map / Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Eject and disconnect the drive from your 2014 Mac Mini and re-connect the drive to your 2011 iMac.
Now then, startup the 2011 iMac into Internet Recovery Mode using the Shift-⌘-R or the Shift-Option-⌘-R
Install macOS on the external drive, as per > How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 9

78,052 points

Aug 5, 2020 1:35 PM in response to kevin.r51

Your 2011 only has USB 2.0 and will not gain anything booting from an external SSD. You really need to install an internal PNY, OWC or Crucial SSD.
You may need to use a USB keyboard on your 2014 Mac Mini, if startup commands are not working with your wireless keyboard.
The 2011 Mac Mini can only go up to 10.13 High Sierra, it will not run a new macOS that is installed on you 2014 Mac Mini.

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Answer 3

kevin.r51 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 5, 2020 2:51 PM in response to den.thed

Thanks for your reply.

I don't want to tear apart the iMac to install the SSD as internal , it seems more than I want to tackle .

according to videos on YouTube demonstrating using a SSD as boot drive on older Macs it greatly speeds up the startup process, at least...... so I wanted to try it .

I do agree with your point though that the best way is for an internal installation.

My keyboards and mice are all wired .

I have a 2011 iMac with High Sierra and a 2015 Mini with Catalina.

I am just puzzled why pressing the option key or the Command-Recovery at restart on my 2015 Mini, that it just starts normally .

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