After install of High Sierra MacOS cannot locate SSD

Question

After install of High Sierra MacOS cannot locate SSD

I own a iMac 2010 27"

I have replace the defective HD ( WD Green 2TB) with an SSD. (either Samsung EVO 830 or EVO 850) Setup utility recognizes the SSD in side the Mac, and I format it as APFS.

When rebooting the SDD is not recognized anymore (folder with question mark).

Another type SSD has the same issue.

If I boot from USB the Disk Utility sees the SSD and im able to reboot. After reboot, it appears the Mac is no longer able to find the SSD.

If the ssd is recognized by the USB installer and Internet Recovery, why won't the Mac boot from it after reboot?

Video of the process:

mac os unable to boot after Internet Recovery - YouTube

Any one have any thoughts ?

Posted on Feb 27, 2018 5:14 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 28, 2018 2:49 AM in response to John Galt

Hi John,

I just found out that the SSD itself is not the issue.

Installing High Sierra on the SSD with HFS+ will work.

Converting the HFS+ afterwards fails

Installing directly to APFS fails.

System is a iMac 27" mid 2010

IMAC 27"/5750/SD

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

141,252 points

Feb 28, 2018 5:03 AM in response to Ronald Loggen

I just found out that the SSD itself is not the issue.

According to a multitude of the reports on this site, yes it is. Replace it with a SSD from a vendor known to support Macs. Otherwise, continue to use HFS+. There's nothing wrong with it other than the fact it is decades old, has been deprecated, will not be supported, and will continue to cause problems with every future macOS update or upgrade. Apple has zero interest in supporting SSDs that they do not incorporate themselves in the products they build.

If you don't want to cope with those limitations then replace it with a SSD from a vendor known to support Macs.

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Answer 3

keg55

Level 6

11,743 points

Feb 28, 2018 5:39 AM in response to Ronald Loggen

Samsung is an excellent SSD. You don't have to go get a different vendor's SSD.

Assuming your SSD is OK which it appears it is since you can install High Sierra when the format is HFS+, are you sure your Partition Map Scheme is GUID and not Master Boot?

Also, the SSD is internal, correct? High Sierra should see this during install and convert it to APFS. I'm surprised it didn't and left it at HFS+. External SSDs have to be formatted as APFS (if you want that format) before install.

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