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User profile for user: skellyRose
skellyRose Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Installed Monterey on external boot drive but the drive won’t launch

Can't boot from external drive on MacBook Pro 2021 controller macbookpro18,2. This is not a T2 machine as far as I can tell. Downloaded Monterey 12.2.1 from Apple. Created a thumb drive installer based on their instructions. It installs and boots if I install on a partition volume of my main hard drive as a test. But on an external HD it installed but will not boot. Mac sees the drive as bootable but I get an error: SDerrordomain error 108. Searching the net shows several possibilities, one being that you have to Bless external drives using Startup Security Utility. But when I pull up that window there is no Firmware option, nor a Boot Media blessing option. The only options it shows are two Security options: Full and None. Does this model not allow me to bless external drives to be boot drives? The USB installer was created using Apple’s instructions as follows:


Followed these instructions and downloaded Monterey from the link provided. It gave me Monterey 12.2.1 at the time which was the OS pre-installed on my system.


How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.3

Posted on May 4, 2022 5:54 PM

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User profile for user: PRP_53
PRP_53
User level: Level 10
85,129 points

May 5, 2022 9:46 AM in response to skellyRose

4th coffee and here goes again


Use macOS Recovery on a Mac with Apple silicon


Change the security policy

  1. In the Recovery app, choose Utilities > Startup Security Utility.
  2. Select the system you want to use to set the security policy.
  3. If the disk is encrypted with FileVault, click Unlock, enter the password, then click Unlock.
  4. Click Security Policy.
  5. Select one of the following security options:
    • Full Security: Ensures that only your current OS, or signed operating system software currently trusted by Apple, can run. This mode requires a network connection at software installation time.
    • Reduced Security: Allows any version of signed operating system software ever trusted by Apple to run.
  1. If you selected Reduced Security, select any of the following options, if needed:
    • Allow user management of kernel extensions from identified developers: Allow installation of software that uses legacy kernel extensions.
    • Allow remote management of kernel extensions and automatic software updates: Authorize remote management of legacy kernel extensions and software updates using a mobile device management (MDM) solution.
  1. Click OK.
  2. If you changed the security policy, click the User pop-up menu, choose an administrator account, enter the password for the administrator account, then click OK.
  3. Choose Apple menu  > Restart.
  4. You must restart your Mac for the changes to take effect.




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User profile for user: skellyRose
skellyRose Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

May 5, 2022 6:00 AM in response to PRP_53

My Startup Security Utility doesn't have options relating to Firmware or enabling Boot Drives. It only has one setting for general security. As far as I've been able to determine, it doesn't have the T2 chip. When I pull up the System Report in About This Mac, under Hardware/Controller it lists controller "macbookpro18,2" instead of "T2". She's brand new, custom ordered from Apple, maybe I've got the next gen after the T2 and they've done away with giving people security options. Even a search on the net regarding macbookpro18,2 doesn't bring up much info. Search for T2 and info is everywhere.

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User profile for user: skellyRose
skellyRose Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

May 5, 2022 6:25 AM in response to lllaass

Yes, she's a brand new, custom ordered from Apple M1 16" MacBook Pro. One thing that jumps out in those articles is Thunderbolt and SSD. The drive I've been working with is not SSD, nor is it connected with Thunderbolt. I bought a brand new Sabrent USB 3.2 SATA hard drive tray-less docking station specifically to house an external Time Machine backup drive and a "prepare for the worst" boot drive. It's definitely not Thunderbolt because it required an adapter to plug into the computer. The drive is a Western Digital black drive, not SSD. So maybe the failure lies in both of these.


Big believer in external drives and multiple backups. We lost a bunch of equipment to a lightning strike years ago and now I have (on my old trusted MacPro desktop) one backup drive that stays connected, and a second one that I plug in only to run a secondary backup and then unplug it again. I don't think I've ever had a computer that at some point didn't need a system re-install. Easy back in the days of CD installers. This new system that takes away all of our safety nets and puts reinstalls into someone else's control who doesn't favor "freezing in place" but forcing system software upgrades to new OS's -- this feels like walking a tightware 100 feet in the air without a net below with 50 mile an hour winds buffeting you this way and that.


My old computer has multiple partitions, each with a different system. Which allowed me to move upward at a pace that didn't break the bank replacing software.


Forced upgrades break things. Software that works on one system doesn't always work on the next system up. That's why I "freeze in place" until I'm ready to replace software that might break. And that's why I'm trying so hard to figure out how to preserve my current operating system on an external bootable drive just in case. Along with a reinstaller thumb drive. But in reading articles elsewhere, they're moving toward eliminating external boot drives altogether?? And not honoring the system on a thumb drive installer but auto-upgrading it during install. That's what happened with my thumb drive installer, it auto-upgraded from Monterey 12.2.1 to Monterey 12.3.1 during install on an internal partition.


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User profile for user: PRP_53
PRP_53
User level: Level 10
85,129 points

May 5, 2022 6:29 AM in response to skellyRose

Source Everymac


MacBook Pro 16-Inch "M1 Max" 10 CPU/24 GPU3.2 GHz Apple M1 MaxIntro.October 18, 2021*Disc.NoneOrderBTO/CTOModelA2485 (EMC 3651)FamilyM1 Max, 2021IDMacBookPro18,2RAM32 GB*VRAMIntegratedStorage512 GB, 1 TB SSDOpticalNone*Complete MacBook Pro 16-Inch "M1 Max" 10 CPU/24 GPU Specs


MacBook Pro 16-Inch "M1 Max" 10 CPU/32 GPU3.2 GHz Apple M1 MaxIntro.October 18, 2021*Disc.NoneOrderMK1H3LL/A*ModelA2485 (EMC 3651)FamilyM1 Max, 2021IDMacBookPro18,2RAM32 GB*VRAMIntegratedStorage1 TB SSDOpticalNone*Complete MacBook Pro 16-Inch "M1 Max" 10 CPU/32 GPU Specs


So the User is saying the below does NOT appear



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User profile for user: lllaass
lllaass
User level: Level 10
210,417 points

May 5, 2022 10:04 AM in response to PRP_53

My Studio Max only has the Startup Security Utility which only has Full Security and Reduced security options. No pane that includes Firmware PW, Secure Boot, and allowed boot media. When I installed Monterey on a 2 2/1" SSD connected via Thunderbolt 2 I thought I would have to enable booting from external drive. But when I entered Recovery there was not such pane and I was able to boot from the external SSD with no problem.

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Installed Monterey on external boot drive but the drive won’t launch

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