I want to install MacOS on an SSD drive, but not sure whether I have to initialise it before installing MacOS on it.
I have seen advice on this for a hard drive, but am not sure whether it would be the same for an SSD drive and I don't want to mess things up - Maybe someone knows how to do this please
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.1
Would need to attach it to an Apple Computer by whatever means possible. Once it shows up in Disk Utilities, in left hand panel choose the drive listed as external drive. in tool bar of Disk Utilities choose Erase >> give it a name of your choice >> when asked format >> APFS and just below that is Scheme - GUID Partition Map. Then click Erase.
Would need to attach it to an Apple Computer by whatever means possible. Once it shows up in Disk Utilities, in left hand panel choose the drive listed as external drive. in tool bar of Disk Utilities choose Erase >> give it a name of your choice >> when asked format >> APFS and just below that is Scheme - GUID Partition Map. Then click Erase.
It should be looking similar to this screen shot. In my case, SanDisk Ultra = your external Drive. I was formatting it as MacOS Extended ( Journaled ) but your should be APFS and below that is Scheme: GUIDPartition Map. Then just hit Erase
In the end we reformatted the external drive just to make sure what I did was correct then we disabled my seagate external backup drive. Then we reinstalled MacOS Big Sur by restarting and holding down the command button + R.
Basically what I have done previously but this time it gave me the option to decide which drive I wish to install it on. (Previously it just selected my external drive and asked me for my internet connection and password for my hub)
Once selected it also asked me for my internet connection and password for the hub and then the install process started.
It then quite automatically called up migration manager and basically created an all new mac on my external drive.
This then caused a slight problem with the setup process as it did not want to accept my password for my Apple ID.
I then contacted Apple again and after quite a few steps (they just wanted to be sure that my password was working correctly elsewhere i.e. signing in to my Apple ID on apple.com) we decided to sign out of my iCloud on my Mac and then signed in again with my normal password which I obviously had to verify via another device (My iPhone in this case). Also had to re-activate iCloud on my iPhone.
I also have my wife as a separate user on the system and when I signed into her side I had the same problem with iCloud - I had to do all the Sign Out and Sign into iCloud with verification on her iPhone and iPad too.
After that everything operated as usual and I now have a much faster computer but my environment looks a little different and I am not sure that all my documents etc. is actually in iCloud or just on my external disk - although that's luckily not that important to me and I will notice in time whether that also works - although I can see all my data perfectly well in the various applications.
Hope this helps and hopefully I did not leave anything out.
I have had support from the supplier and one has to do the 'erase' on the upper level first then format the partition see attached screenshot, but thank you very much for your help
I am trying to send you a screenshot of mine but cannot manage to attach it - please advise as it only contains a directory on my computer i.e. /Users/Justin/Desktop/Screenshot 2021-01-05 at 12.48.54.png
Now that I have loaded macOS Big Sur and indicated that I wish the SSD to be the startup disk when I click on the 'apple' for the System Information it still shows the startup disk as Macintosh HD? Just don't really understand it
any advice? Then as a followup I would need to transfer my data and apps to the SSD and have tried to move things but was not allowed so just wondering where to go to get some advice on this - sorry to be a nuisance but I am 75 and although I used to install very large commercial systems I am not that knowledgeable with today's modern stuff and struggle a bit
First off - Not a nuance - we are almost of an age.
Secondly, with the external drive with Big Sur installed, go to System Preferences >> Bottom Right Corner >> Startup Disk. It should be listing ALL Devices that can be used to Setup the computer. Now, before going further, look in Lower Left Corner, there should be an Icon of a Padlock. To make changes, click the padlock and it will require the computer password to Unlock it. That done, the external drive should be listed so, choose that Disk as the Startup Disk. It may ask if you want to resort the computer. Suggest doing so to TEST if it works.
It needs to be mentioned, the moment this is configured this way, the computer should ALWAYS attempt to boot form this disk.
Will get back to you on second part of your inquiry a bit later - ok!
Have seen this exact same thing happen earlier once the Catalina Security Update 2020-01 was released and installed. Regardless of what setting were invoked ( Set External Drive as Startup Disk ) the computer would not boot as it was designed to do. Some felt it was necessary to do a SMC Reset, others NVRAM Reset, while others had some success by disconnecting ALL External Drives except the desired Bootable drive. In the end, there was no definite answer or solution.
Judging from what you have experienced thus far, this behavior is appearing in Big Sur too.
My suggestion, at this point is, to contact Apple Directly. Explain exactly what has been done and ask them, The Startup Disk preference has been chosen as external, this change was done via Admin Account of computer - Why does it not function as their macOS purports to be designed to do - that is boot from External Drive.
Sorry but that is the best I can offer on this issue. Further, until that can be resolved and is reliable, no use exploring getting all the Apps etc off the Internal Drive onto the External Drive.
Hi there, just to let you know, I have contacted Apple and after a day or two they managed to resolve the issue and all is now well again - just thought I would let you know and thanks again for your advice
Ah, when flowing the process outlined, makes sense. Though, what a long process to achieve what should be a straightforward process. The end result was achieved and that was the goal in the end.
Thank you for sharing and good computing.
Thanks, it confirms all the bits I have managed to read so far in different forms etc.
Good it supplied the request info.
unfortunately i cannot get it to show the guid partition as i also noticed that 'partition' at the top icons are blanked out so now i am stuck
See screen shot - this of this posting page on Apple Communities. Te circled item is where to click and will open. Now need to maneuver to Desktop and choose the image
How do I prepare a SSD drive before installing MacOS
