New SSD install wont boot (iMAC 2012)

[jaykim]

I have a iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) which I just swapped out the internal HDD with a Western Digital 500GB SSD drive. Before the install I loaded macOS High Sierra v 10.13.6 on the SSD and verified everything was working properly.

When restarting I get the folder with question mark logo. i have:
1. Reset PRAM
2. Formatted/Installed fresh version (GUID/Journaled)
3. Booted into recovery mode and selected the SSD as `Startup Disk`
4. Ran First Aid --It fails "File system check exit code is 8"
- Problem -69842 occurred while restoring the original mount state.


Currently, I have booted into another usb drive that I have and can see the SSD in disk utility and also have the ability to read/write data from it. For some reason, it just won't boot from the drive.

 

[harryb2448]

Go into System Preferences > Startup Disk and make sure the drive appears there and select it as the boot drive.

 

[chscag]

Before the install I loaded macOS High Sierra v 10.13.6 on the SSD and verified everything was working properly.

Welcome to our forums.

How did you load High Sierra on to the SSD? Unless you used something like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone High Sierra to that SSD, very likely it's not bootable. You could also load High Sierra on to the SSD with a bootable installer flash drive if you have one.

 

[jaykim]

I can see the disc listed in Disk Utility and also under devices in Finder, but it does not show up as an option when I go to System Preferences > Startup Disk

 

[jaykim]

Welcome to our forums.

How did you load High Sierra on to the SSD? Unless you used something like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone High Sierra to that SSD, very likely it's not bootable. You could also load High Sierra on to the SSD with a bootable installer flash drive if you have one.

I have tried two different methods. The first was with a Time Machine backup. I booted into recovery mode and used the restore from Time Machine option.

The second method, I booted into a USB drive that is currently running High Sierra. From there, I downloaded High Sierra from the apps store and ran the install on the new SSD.

 

[jaykim]

Attached is the screen shot of what happens when I run First Aid. To give more information, I have been using this SSD for the last month via USB & external drive bay without any issues. I just installed it inside the iMac yesterday and have been unable to boot.

 

[ferrarr]

For the Mac to see the SSD, as an internal startup volume, it needs to be formatted as APFS, not Mac OS Extended.

 

[iggibar]

Just some info.
MAC OS Extended was developed to run on "old" Apple computers with HDDs, and has been taken over by APFS formatting. APFS is I believe(could be wrong) required for High Sierra to operate and be picked up by boot sequence. Platter drives(HDD) and SSDs write data differently, and software that is designed to handle data on an HDD is not suited for SSDs. This is where APFS formatting comes in. APFS is designed to run on SSDs, and does this by prioritizing importance of data on an SSD, and manages where they are stored for quick access. Other formats simply scatter data aimlessly because they were designed to write on a platter disk in a "first-come-first-serve" order on a disk as new data is written. Along with drastically increased performance, APFS offers native encryption and more advanced management to prevent data corruption/loss.

The common issue people have is their system still has backups written in Extended(Journaled), while their new OS is needs to be written in an APFS formatted SSD. The two are not interchangeable for booting, and you can't have a recovery set in Extended, while the OS is set in APFS.
You need to start everything fresh in APFS format, or you will not be able to boot to High Sierra written in Extended.

 

[jaykim]

UPDATE:

I have loaded macOS High Sierra on a USB thumb drive.

I restarted, holding down Option key and then selected the High Sierra USB. From here I ran disk utility and successfully formatted the drive as APFS. I then quit the disk utility and ran ‘Install macOS High Sierra’ option.

The problem is it appears to be stuck on 2 minutes remaining. I have left it to sit for nearly an hour now and noting has changed. Any advice?

 

[ferrarr]

Is the SSD internal, or external?

Personally, I would start the installation over again.

 

[Slydude]

I've had that happen a few times with Apple installers. It has probably een long enough for whatever files were being written. It's probably safe to force the machine to shut down using the power button. Once that's done, remove the High Siera theumb drive and turn the machine on to see if it boots.

Don't use the Option key just let the boot process happen normally. If the boot process begins it may take onger than usual to complete. This could be due to changes made during the install process and cleaning up any directory issues that may have been created by forcing the Mac to power down.

 

[jaykim]

Is the SSD internal, or external?

Personally, I would start the installation over again.

This is an internal SSD I just recently installed. I will format the drive APFS and run a clean install and see how things go.

 

[chscag]

What is troublesome to me is that First Aid failed on that SSD when it was formatted to HFS+. It shouldn't matter whether an SSD is formatted to HFS+ or APFS as it should pass muster with First Aid. And the mandatory formatting to APFS does not occur with High Sierra but does with Mojave. The reason it did not occur with High Sierra is that some drives (HHD and Fusion) did not take well to APFS. It wasn't until Mojave that Apple converted all drives to APFS and that APFS was improved to accommodate drives other than SSDs.

Anyway, let us know what happens. And by the way, both methods you used above to transfer macOS do not make the SSD bootable.

 

[ferrarr]

What is troublesome to me is that First Aid failed on that SSD when it was formatted to HFS+. It shouldn't matter whether an SSD is formatted to HFS+ or APFS as it should pass muster with First Aid. And the mandatory formatting to APFS does not occur with High Sierra but does with Mojave. The reason it did not occur with High Sierra is that some drives (HHD and Fusion) did not take well to APFS. It wasn't until Mojave that Apple converted all drives to APFS and that APFS was improved to accommodate drives other than SSDs.

Anyway, let us know what happens. And by the way, both methods you used above to transfer macOS do not make the SSD bootable.

The SSD mandatory APFS formatting, for an internal startup drive, started with High Sierra. If it wasn't an SSD, then APFS, would not be mandatory.

 

[chscag]

Internal yes, external no. He was also trying to boot with the drive externally. Also, remember this was a replacement drive, not original. As stated, the drive failed the First Aid test. That would be my first concern.

 

[ferrarr]

Internal yes, external no. He was also trying to boot with the drive externally. Also, remember this was a replacement drive, not original. As stated, the drive failed the First Aid test. That would be my first concern.

Right, so when they first formatted the drive, in an external enclosure, and tested it, it worked, even though it was formatted as Mac OS Extended. Then, when they installed it internally, it didn't work, because the formatting was Mac OS Extended and not APFS. I don't understand what "replacement vs original" drive has to do with anything?

 

[chscag]

I don't understand what "replacement vs original" drive has to do with anything?

Because I don't believe Apple forced APFS on a drive that was a replacement for the original even though the replacement is a SSD. Although, I admit you may be right. But why would it fail? It should have checked okay with First Aid. I think he's dealing with a drive that may be defective. I guess we'll have to wait until he get's back to us.

 

[iggibar]

The code 8 means there are corrupted files that can't be fixed. WD drives are notorious for these problems!

Also, for general knowledge to anyone reading, disk First Aid actually has 3 stages that it can function in.
-First, the First Aid running while the OS is also running. Not all disk repairs are possible while the operating system is running because it can cause system crashes.
-Second, you run First Aid in recovery safe mode to check system while operating system is down.
-Third and most hard-core, you run FSCK(File System Check) command in the single user mode terminal. FSCK can find critical system errors and fix them.
FSCK command sounds complicated, but is actually really simple.

If these 3 stages can't fix a corrupt drive, it's time for a replacement.

Since the error from the OP stated "file system check exit code 8", you will need to run FSCK command in the single user mode terminal to attempt to fix it.

 

[jaykim]

The code 8 means there are corrupted files that can't be fixed. WD drives are notorious for these problems!

Also, for general knowledge to anyone reading, disk First Aid actually has 3 stages that it can function in.
-First, the First Aid running while the OS is also running. Not all disk repairs are possible while the operating system is running because it can cause system crashes.
-Second, you run First Aid in recovery safe mode to check system while operating system is down.
-Third and most hard-core, you run FSCK(File System Check) command in the single user mode terminal. FSCK can find critical system errors and fix them.
FSCK command sounds complicated, but is actually really simple.

If these 3 stages can't fix a corrupt drive, it's time for a replacement.

Since the error from the OP stated "file system check exit code 8", you will need to run FSCK command in the single user mode terminal to attempt to fix it.

So everything I have tried with APFS and an external USB installer has failed.

- I was able to boot into single user mode and run FSCK and everything came back with `status ok`.
- I ran First Aid and everything comes back `operation successful`
- Looking at this https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496
I am going to format my internal SSD Mac OS extended, then boot in recovery mode and restore from a Time Machine backup. According to the link, the installer will determine to convert to APFS, if needed....thoughts?

***NOTE***
The Time Machine backup is from the same SSD, but when I using it in an external enclosure via USB.

 

[jaykim]

Unfortunately nothing has worked. My thought at this point is to buy a new SSD drive and try again. I started with an external SSD that I was booting to and using as my primary OS for several weeks. I placed that drive into a 2.5" - 3.5" mount so it could be installed internally. Before mounting the SSD in the iMac, I verified that I could boot to it via a SATA to USB cable on my MBP.

Could it possibly have anything to do with the SATA cable? I can still see it and read/write to the disk. I just cant seem to get any macOS to load and boot. I have tried both High Sierra and Mountain Lion.

I have tried:
a time machine backup (both drives formatted macos extended)
- Internet recovery Install option
- Bootable USB drive -> formatted (APFS) SSD
- Bootable USB drive -> formatted (macOS extended) SSD
- I ran FSCK and First Aid and received success/ok
- When I recently ran verify option, i received an error that it could not complete


Anything that I am missing before I pull the panel off and replace it with another SSD?