Recovery mode not detecting TimeMachine on external USB

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Recovery mode not detecting TimeMachine on external USB

have a 2014 MacBook Pro that was running macOS Big Sur. I upgraded the 128GB factory SSD to a JetDrive 820 (480GB).

Before the upgrade, I backed up my drive using Time Machine on an external hard drive. After installing the new SSD, I booted into macOS Recovery (Command + R), plugged in the external drive, and tried to restore from the Time Machine backup. However, the external hard drive isn't being recognized in Time Machine.

I've reformatted the external drive twice to rule out any issues with the Time Machine backup, but the problem persists.

To troubleshoot further, I loaded macOS Mavericks, downloaded Big Sur, and tried to install it, but the installation failed. Now, I'm downloading macOS Sierra in hopes that I can use it as a stepping stone to reinstall Big Sur.

Does anyone have any insights or suggestions on what else I could try?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Feb 3, 2025 2:27 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

145,215 points

Feb 3, 2025 2:33 PM in response to Macbookrrr

<< I booted into macOS Recovery (Command + R), plugged in the external drive, and tried to restore from the Time Machine backup. >>

That is Not the path to a working system on a Mac that has a separate crypto-hashed locked System Volume (Big Sur or later).

You must FIRST use Recovery to install MacOS from fundamental sources, then at first run, you can specify that Time Machine backup drive as the place to get the account and other information.

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Answer 2

Feb 3, 2025 2:43 PM in response to Macbookrrr

the drive format of an internal SSD drive used for Boot drive changes at High Sierra.

Before High Sierra, MacOS Extended format is used. if you try to jump too many versions, you may be trying to install a version of MacOS that sees only MacOS Extended and says "No place to install MacOS".

Right around High Sierra, and for a few versions afterward, MacOS was willing to convert MacOS extended to APFS. After Catalina, I would be doubtful that it would be willing to convert..

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Recovery mode not detecting TimeMachine on external USB

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