Bootable External Drive Issue on Apple Silicon M2 - Need Help Resolving

Question

Bootable External Drive Issue on Apple Silicon M2 - Need Help Resolving

Note: It is working Fine on M1 machine.

I've been encountering difficulties with my bootable external drive on my Apple Silicon Mac.

I've tried creating the bootable drive using ASR, Carbon Copy Cloner, and SuperDuper,

but unfortunately, the system doesn't boot up, displaying an error message indicating that the OS needs to be reinstalled on the selected disk.

Here are the steps I've taken so far:

Checked compatibility: Ensured macOS version on the external drive is compatible with Apple Silicon.
Recreated the bootable drive: Used ASR, Carbon Copy Cloner, and SuperDuper to recreate the bootable external drive.
Reset NVRAM/PRAM: Attempted to resolve the issue by resetting NVRAM/PRAM.
Checked external drive connection: Ensured proper connection and tried different ports and cables.
Updated macOS: Updated the macOS version on the external drive to the latest.
Checked for errors: Ran Disk Utility from Recovery Mode to check and repair any disk-related issues.

Despite these efforts, the problem persists. The external drive is formatted with the APFS file system, and I've verified that the cloning tools are up to date. I would appreciate any insights or suggestions from the community on how to troubleshoot and resolve this issue. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem with bootable external drives on Apple Silicon, and if so, how did you successfully address it?

Posted on Feb 12, 2024 11:34 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 13, 2024 6:12 AM in response to umairiqbal786

You say that this is an M2 Mac, and then you say you tried resetting NVRAM. This does not add up.

It has been getting harder and harder to boot a mac from an external disk. While I get that this comes from security concerns, I for one would like to keep that capability, for practical reasons.

Instead of trying to clone the drive, I think you should install the OS directly to the external drive, and then boot from it and migrate from your internal, or a clone of it. Cloning the system partition is probably what is failing now.

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Answer 2

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,783 points

Feb 13, 2024 4:35 AM in response to umairiqbal786

I assume you are running the OS that came with your Mac as an older system will not work.

This is how I do it using CCC:

Start with a clean drive formatted to APFS, GUID

Use CCC to copy the data from your internal to the external (do not pick legacy boot process)

Boot into recovery and select reinstall the OS

Pick the external drive to install to

This works every time to make a bootable drive.

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,783 points

Feb 15, 2024 5:14 AM in response to umairiqbal786

First be sure your internal is at the latest level. Then use CCC to copy all your data then go to recovery and install the latest OS on the clone and then you should be identical. I do this all the time.

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Answer 4

Owl-53

Level 10

111,363 points

Feb 13, 2024 9:27 AM in response to umairiqbal786

Just as a Point of Interest

Apple has forced CCC or Shirt Pocket SD to use the same Apple ASR function when attempting to Clone the Operating System

So if it does not work using Apple ASR, it is lightly it will not work using either of the two Cloning Softwares

Think @Luis Sequeira1 may have hit on something by install the OS Directly to the External

From another repeated Contributor @ Jack-19

Use an external SSD as your startup disk with your iMac or Mac mini

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Answer 5

Feb 13, 2024 10:15 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis Sequeira1 , tbirdvet

I am using Monterey.

I have done some customizations on my Operating System, Like Username, logo, password, Some permissions, Some Configurations.

Now if i install new OS on external drive via installer, I have to make changes again on that external drive, that i have already in my installed OS on internal drive.

and if i have to change the external drive, i don't have any option for cloning exact image. i have to reinstall OS and reconfigure the whole OS.

So i was looking for any option where i don't need to install new OS. just clone the exact OS which is on my internal drive. so that all configs, properties will be cloned.

Or if i create DMG image of Currently installed OS, that should be cloned to external drive when i want.

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Bootable External Drive Issue on Apple Silicon M2 - Need Help Resolving

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