bdcs64
Level 1 (15 points)
Desktops

Q: Mavericks on external partition not booting

Hi

 

I am trying to set up Mavericks on a partition on my external drive. Found several good guides on how to but can not seem to boot from it.

 

I created a Mavericks Install USB drive and booted to that. I erased the partition (guid partition map and extended journaled) where I wanted to install Mavericks ran through the installation and said it would restart automatically which it did.

 

However it booted to my internal drive with OS X 10.11.4. 

 

The partition where Mavericks was installed appears in the Finder.

 

The partition where Mavericks was installed appears as a Source Disk in System Preferences, but when selected to restart, however after restarting, it does not appear.

 

When I hold down the Option ket at start up it does not appear for me to select.

 

I retried with both "createinstallmedia" https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372 and Diskmaker, but same results .

 

How can I troubleshoot why it why it seems installed, but not be a bootable drive?

 

Cheers for any advice.

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), Late 2012

Posted on May 12, 2016 10:43 AM

by bdcs64,Apple recommended
bdcs64 bdcs64
Level 1 (15 points)
Desktops
A:

So I think this the reason for my problems:


from https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4/preparing-your-backup-disk-backup-os-x

"If the backup disk is a USB-attached disk and is larger than 2TB, you must partition it

Macs can't boot from USB disks larger than 2TB due to a firmware limitation. If your disk is larger than 2TB and you can only connect it to your Mac via USB, you must create a 2TB (or smaller) partition at the beginning of the disk if you are planning to boot from the backup disk.

After erasing the disk, click on the Partition button in Disk Utility's toolbar, then click the + button at the bottom of the pie chart. The circular diagram is completely unintuitive, but the portion on the right side of the diagram indicates the beginning of the disk, and the currently selected partition will be blue (it's name and attributes will be noted in the Partition Information section on the right). Be sure that the first partition on the disk is no larger than 2TB."


I made the bootable Mavericks partition the first one, and worked from there on.

Posted on May 13, 2016 9:19 AM

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bdcs64

Q: Mavericks on external partition not booting

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  • Helpful answers

  • by bdcs64,

    bdcs64 bdcs64 May 12, 2016 10:46 AM in response to bdcs64
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Desktops
    May 12, 2016 10:46 AM in response to bdcs64

    Also....


    I am using a 100gb partition for Mavericks on a 4TB Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive for Mac.

  • by bdcs64,Apple recommended

    bdcs64 bdcs64 May 13, 2016 9:19 AM in response to bdcs64
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Desktops
    May 13, 2016 9:19 AM in response to bdcs64

    So I think this the reason for my problems:


    from https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4/preparing-your-backup-disk-backup-os-x

    "If the backup disk is a USB-attached disk and is larger than 2TB, you must partition it

    Macs can't boot from USB disks larger than 2TB due to a firmware limitation. If your disk is larger than 2TB and you can only connect it to your Mac via USB, you must create a 2TB (or smaller) partition at the beginning of the disk if you are planning to boot from the backup disk.

    After erasing the disk, click on the Partition button in Disk Utility's toolbar, then click the + button at the bottom of the pie chart. The circular diagram is completely unintuitive, but the portion on the right side of the diagram indicates the beginning of the disk, and the currently selected partition will be blue (it's name and attributes will be noted in the Partition Information section on the right). Be sure that the first partition on the disk is no larger than 2TB."


    I made the bootable Mavericks partition the first one, and worked from there on.