Startup manager not recognizing USB drive

Question

Startup manager not recognizing USB drive

I have an external drive with Lion and it boots fine when using the Startup control panel. However, the same drive does not show up in the Startup Manager as an option. If I plug the same drive into someone else's Macbook Air, it show up in the Startup Manager. Is this a MacBook Pro bug or is there a hidden setting somewhere? I have a MacBook Pro model 8,2, running 10.7.3, SMC 1.69f3 and the boot ROM is MBP81.0047.B27.

Thanks.

julius

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Mar 15, 2012 1:16 PM

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Answer 1

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 15, 2012 5:38 PM in response to juliusfromnew york

Is this a multi-interface drive?

If so, try the other interface(s). I have a fairly new drive that doesn't appear via FireWire, but does via USB. An older one appears both ways.

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Answer 2

Shootist007

Level 6

16,709 points

Mar 15, 2012 5:56 PM in response to juliusfromnew york

It must be a bug in your system. I have an external that has 3 other OS X versions on it and they all show in Startup Disk in Sys Preferences. I'm alos running Lion.

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Answer 3

Mar 19, 2012 9:50 AM in response to juliusfromnew york

Thanks guys for giving me some ideas.

Pondini -- the external drive can only be connected via USB. As mentioned, it works fine when plugged into my MacBook after booting and it works fine in Startup Manager on other people's Macs

Shootist007 -- the question is how to fix it. Are you using a MacBook 8,2? I am trying to understand whether this is a bug in the latest firmware or whether there is a way to reinstall the firmware. I do not think the problem can be fixed by reinstalling the OS since the Startup Manager occurs before the OS is loaded.

julius

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Answer 4

Mar 23, 2012 4:49 PM in response to juliusfromnew york

I figured it out. It works correctly if I plug in the USB drive after the Startup Manager is on the screen.

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Answer 5

Aug 12, 2013 2:04 AM in response to juliusfromnew york

thanks that solved my problem

have the same macbookpro 8.2 , SMC Version (system): 1.69f4, Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B27

I also must run Startup Manager first and than connect the usb drive to have it show in Maneger.

Strange cause it used to be working correctly before but wenn you know the trick it's only a minor problem.

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