Change APFS Volume icon?

[MacInWin]

I have a strange situation. I want to change the icon for a drive that is an external SSD formatted APFS. It's the clone of my boot drive and I want the icon to be something other than the default drive icon to mark it out. I have the icon file and have already used it on a different drive that is formatted HFS+ successfully. I have also been able to change the icon on my boot SSD internal drive. But this one external SSD clone won't change when I try to replace the icon. No error message, nothing to indicate why it won't change, it just won't change.

What I am doing is right click on the icon, then Get Info. I then click on the icon at the top of the Get Info window and drag to it the icon I want to be there. Nothing happens. I tried copy/paste and cmd-C/cmd-V, all no joy. It worked just fine on my internal SSD, so it should not be because it's APFS, and it's a clone made with CCC, so nothing weird there, AFAIK. Just the icon won't change.

I've used the same icon on other drives, as I said, but no luck with the one drive.

Any suggestions? Have any of you been able to change the default icon on an external SSD formatted APFS?

MBPr, mid-2015, Catalina 10.15.6.

 

[Rod]

Sadly Jake, no, I have not tried to change a SSD drive icon although I have changed HDD icons in the past and regularly change folder icons.
The method you describe is the same as the one I use with the exception of the my use of Preview. I open the icon I want to use in Preview and copy the whole canvas. There have been a few exceptions where nothing I did would work so I have come to the conclusion that some images are simply not compatible. Lastly, I'm sure you checked this, make sure you have Read and Write permission.

 

[IWT]

Jake,

Would it work if you unlocked the padlock at the bottom???

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

Does it matter if you are booted from the drive or not?

 

[MacInWin]

I have tried with the padlock locked and unlocked with no difference. I will try booting from the drive to see if that makes a difference. Will report back.

 

[MacInWin]

Jake,

Would it work if you unlocked the padlock at the bottom???

Ian

And that worked! I don't think it's logical, but it worked, so thanks Ian.

 

[IWT]

And that worked! I don't think it's logical, but it worked, so thanks Ian.

Hi Jake.

I didn't consider logic. It was the only thing I could think of

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

What was curious was that on the boot from the clone, as things started up from the startup routine, I got lots of "verifying" messages, as if it were a different machine. I subscribe, for example to MS365 and have Outlook in the startup items. It "verified" the installation of Outlook, even though on the source drive it doesn't do that. So CCC is. not copying something that MS uses to determine if the installation is "verified" or somehow MS is using the drive identifier as part of the verification process. My VPN did the same thing, requiring me to log in, even though on my internal drive the login is automated. So the CCC clone is imperfect, but workable. I wonder if I had to move the external back into the internal if I'd get the same verification? I suspect so. Lesson learned: Clones aren't.

 

[MacInWin]

Does it matter if you are booted from the drive or not?

Bob, this was the secret, not the padlock. I clicked on the wrong message. I booted from the external and was able to change the icon. Thanks for suggesting it.

 

[IWT]

Hi Jake

If it was Bob's post which worked, not mine, then please remove the like you gave me. I don't deserve it. Fair's fair, kudos to Bob.

Ian

 

[chscag]

@Jake:

I've had the same problem with MS when I was using Office 2011. Every time I booted from the CCC clone, MS would not allow 2011 to work without activating again. However, no problem with the 365 version.

 

[MacInWin]

Ian I'll leave the "like" as your suggestion was good, too.

Charlie, it wasn't a "problem" as such because the validation worked just fine. I was just surprised to see it being done. And my VPN required me to log in to work, but does not do that on the internal drive. Something must not have been cloned over to let the VPN know my account information. Again, not a problem as I just ignored it (not using VPN at the time), but curious that it required it.

I guess the lesson learned is that, as I said, clones are not actually clones--at least in the sense of running perfectly with no changes. They run, have most of your data, but are NOT identical.

 

[pm-r]

And that worked! I don't think it's logical, but it worked, so thanks Ian.

Glad to hear that Ian's suggestion worked.

I was just about to suggest maybe trying after disabling SIP or to check the "Disable Permissions" box for that drive.
It's nice to hear that Apple has still left some room for some user customization.



- Patrick
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[maurice2NR]

MacInWin, if icons-related stuff is still kind of an issue for you, I can share with you this article ( here: httрs://setapp.com/how-to/hide-icons-on-mac ), where I could find tips for hiding icons, and some other manipulationswithbuilt-in software features. It really opened my eyes on some features, and helped to hide icons during my presentations, which I was doing to my business partners.

 

[MacInWin]

Thanks, maurice2NR. I don't want to hid any icons, it was just that I wanted to change one. Apparently, from some research, the new security of Big Sur won't allow that for some drives. Not critical, so I've given up on it.