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Leon_E Author

Level 1

9 points

Disk Utility restore failing: Could not validate source - Device not configured/OSStatus error 6

I'm trying to create a clone of my Macbook Pro to an external SSD using Disk Utility, but every time it fails with:

"The volume on device /dev/disk0 is not of type Apple_HFS or Apple_UFS. Could not validate source - Device not configured. The operation couldn't be completed. (OSStatus error 6.)"

Does anyone know why this is and how I can fix it?

FWIW I've run the "First Aid" process on my Macbook's drive and it says all is fine. I've certainly not had any issues with it so far either (it's only a few weeks old).

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 21, 2020 2:11 PM

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,284 points

Posted on Oct 26, 2020 7:54 PM

You would need to be booted into Recovery Mode.

I don't recommend using Disk Utility to clone a macOS boot drive as I've encountered too many issues with it over the years. Instead I recommend using Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) since it will also recreate the hidden recovery partition. I've never had an issue cloning macOS boot drive using CCC. Plus CCC allows you to clone the boot drive while you are booted to it.

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Disk Utility restore failing: Could not validate source - Device not configured/OSStatus error 6

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