Master Star external drive not showing with OS Monterey

[krs]

It’s a good example of why I always discourage people from using symbols, even common ones in passwords.

Except....
Lately I have come across more and more sites in Canada that require at least one symbol in the password they will accept.
Mind you, here we are talking about a WiFi password which probably doesn't have any speific requirement other than length, but many websites, at least in Canada, get pretty picky - at least one upper case and one lower case letter, one number and one special symbol.

 

[krs]

Getting back to your question Slussen2, the "target" for installation of an Operating System is always "Macintosh HD".

Well - or whatever the hard drive one wants to install macOS on is called - I called mine "Crucial 1TB" to distinguish it from the "Macintosh HD" that is still in the Mini with the original macOS.
I have never used Internet Recovery, always used a local USB installer; sometimes one needs to erase and format the drive before installing the OS. With the USB installer that is straight forward, can someone explain to the OP how that is done (if needed) using Internet Recovery.

 

[MacInWin]

Except....
Lately I have come across more and more sites in Canada that require at least one symbol in the password they will accept.
Mind you, here we are talking about a WiFi password which probably doesn't have any speific requirement other than length, but many websites, at least in Canada, get pretty picky - at least one upper case and one lower case letter, one number and one special symbol.

So, make it MyFisHH@S22H@ts. Or MyF!shH@S22Hats.

What I have found good is to use What Three Words to locate a particular part of our property, or a familiar location and then use the three words with symbols or numbers between. So, the top of the Queen Victoria statue in front of Buckingham Palace is slows.inches.pets, which can then become Sl0ws.inches.pets with a clue of "Victoria Buckingham" for when you don't remember it. Seventeen letters, numbers, characters. I have lots of What 3 Words passwords.

 

[slussen2]

It’s a good example of why I always discourage people from using symbols, even common ones in passwords. Instead I suggest nonsense statements or sentences like, MyFisHhas22Hats, it’s pronounceable, memorable, has a number, upper and lower case letters and 15 characters in total.

Good one! The password with the hashtags was given by a phone company and my brother-in-law didn't want to change it.

Getting back to your question Slussen2, the "target" for installation of an Operating System is always "Macintosh HD". That does not appear to be available from the screen shots.

True. This seems to mean that the HD has died, no?

 

[krs]

True. This seems to mean that the HD has died, no?

I don't think so.
What i the very first drive that shows in Disk Utility?
CT 500MX, a 500GB drive

If it's not something you recognize and need the data on it, I would erase it, and format it as Macintosh HD and then try the restore again.

 

[Rod]

It is possible the guys at the Genius Bar erased the Macintosh HD, either way it certainly would be worth trying to reformat, partition and map the drive to restore the Macintosh HD but that means erasing it, that can't be done without an external bootable source and that introduces a whole new topic.

 

[krs]

Is that Seagate drive that shows in the OP's images not a bootable drive?

 

[slussen2]

Hi again, going to my niece's tomorrow to try and restore the OS on my 0MP.

CT 500MX, a 500GB drive

If it's not something you recognize and need the data on it, I would erase it, and format it as Macintosh HD and then try the restore again.

The GB told me that the hard drive on the OMP was not the original one. This tallies, because I bought the machine refurbished around 2017. I don't know what this CT 500MX, a 500GB drive is exactly, maybe it's the hard drive of the OMP? Maybe I should use that as the destination drive? I'm thinking of starting off by Option + R + P, then at some point restarting with Option + R to restore the OS.
Any advice welcome!

 

[MacInWin]

This thread has certainly wandered all over the place, to the point where it makes little to no sense to me at this point. @slussen2 , your use of non-standard abbreviations makes it more confusing. I think "OMP" means something like Old Mac Pro? Or are we talking about an Old MacBook Pro? The typical abbreviation for MacBook Pro is MBP, so if you have to abbreviate Old MBP, it would be, maybe, OMBP? But that non-standard abbreviation adds nothing to the discussion, so why not just say old MBP and be clear? The CT500MX is a Crucial 500GB SSD. It would be your internal drive and it seems to be working, as it is mounted. That is where you would install the operating system.

Or, maybe I'm just totally lost, again. This thread started by trying to identify some drive, then wandered into installing the OS, then trying to get a hashtag for a password, then to a visit to a Genius bar and now trying to restore the OS. I have no real clue as to what it is you really want. Sorry.

 

[slussen2]

This thread has certainly wandered all over the place, to the point where it makes little to no sense to me at this point. @slussen2 , your use of non-standard abbreviations makes it more confusing. I think "OMP" means something like Old Mac Pro? Or are we talking about an Old MacBook Pro? The typical abbreviation for MacBook Pro is MBP, so if you have to abbreviate Old MBP, it would be, maybe, OMBP? But that non-standard abbreviation adds nothing to the discussion, so why not just say old MBP and be clear? The CT500MX is a Crucial 500GB SSD. It would be your internal drive and it seems to be working, as it is mounted. That is where you would install the operating system.

If you, a seasoned pro feels lost, then how do you think I, a novice at this kind of thing, feel? Apologies for OMP MacInWin, I shall try, if possible, to keep my abbreviations up-to-date. Am I right in thinking that with Option plus R + P, I can erase CT 500MX in order to restore the OS with Option + R?

 

[MacInWin]

If you, a seasoned pro feels lost, then how do you think I, a novice at this kind of thing, feel? Apologies for OMP MacInWin, I shall try, if possible, to keep my abbreviations up-to-date. Am I right in thinking that with Option plus R + P, I can erase CT 500MX in order to restore the OS with Option + R?

No, that is not correct. This is the document from Apple on startup keys:

Startup key combinations - Apple Support

Learn about the Mac features and tools that you can access by holding down one or more keys during startup.

support.apple.com

Option-R will boot, if it can, from the Recovery partition on the internal drive. I doubt there is one there on that drive, as the screenshots you posted don't show it, but it might be there. If it boots, it will end up in the Recovery screen, where you can elect to reinstall the OS. There is a link to Recovery installations in the article from Apple.

EDIT: Here is another article on Recovery:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

 

[slussen2]

No, that is not correct. This is the document from Apple on startup keys:

Startup key combinations - Apple Support

Learn about the Mac features and tools that you can access by holding down one or more keys during startup.

support.apple.com

Ok, thanks for that. I've seen it before, but I tend to forget wether you press Option or Command. I'd better take my MacBook Air with me so I can see the instructions. On YouTube I think it was, some guy said that you should erase the NVRAM before doing anything else, but I'll follow the book as you recommend.

 

[krs]

Hi again, going to my niece's tomorrow to try and restore the OS on my 0MP.

The GB told me that the hard drive on the OMP was not the original one. This tallies, because I bought the machine refurbished around 2017. I don't know what this CT 500MX, a 500GB drive is exactly, maybe it's the hard drive of the OMP? Maybe I should use that as the destination drive? I'm thinking of starting off by Option + R + P, then at some point restarting with Option + R to restore the OS.
Any advice welcome!

The fact that the hard drive on the OMP is not the original one is immaterial, Jake identified it as a Crucial 500GB SSD and that is great - better than the original.
There is one thing you can try/check before you go to your niece to use the Recovery option.
Make sure the OMP is off, then hit the power button and right away hold down and keep holding down the Option key until something shows on the screen.
If there is any bootable drive available for this OMP, it will show on the screen including any bootable external drives you have connected to the OMP (like the Seagate one).
If the OMP can't find a bootable drive you will get a flashing ?

Maybe post back here what you get.

 

[krs]

On YouTube I think it was, some guy said that you should erase the NVRAM before doing anything else, but I'll follow the book as you recommend.

One doesn't actually erase the NVRAM, one resets it.
But that is not necessary at this point.
Here is some info on that:

How To: Reset NVRAM or PRAM

Introduction NVRAM (nonvolatile random-access memory) is a small amount of memory that your Mac uses to store certain settings and access them quickly.

purplecomputing.com

 

[slussen2]

The fact that the hard drive on the OMP is not the original one is immaterial, Jake identified it as a Crucial 500GB SSD and that is great - better than the original.
There is one thing you can try/check before you go to your niece to use the Recovery option.
Make sure the OMP is off, then hit the power button and right away hold down and keep holding down the Option key until something shows on the screen.
If there is any bootable drive available for this OMP, it will show on the screen including any bootable external drives you have connected to the OMP (like the Seagate one).
If the OMP can't find a bootable drive you will get a flashing ?

Hi Krs, I did as you suggested, with the Seagate external drive plugged in. This showed on the screen, so I clicked on the arrow for it then the Apple icon showed, and after a few moments the narrow rectangular icon started charging and the OSX Base System screen (see screenshot) came up.
When I clicked on the CT500MX disk, I got the window for that, and clicking on the Seagate Basic, I got that window.
I suppose that's all I can do now. When I connect to the Internet tomorrow I hope I can take things further.

 

[slussen2]

The attachments will follow asap.

 

[slussen2]

Here are the other screenshots.

The attachments will follow asap.

 

[krs]

Your Crucial CT500 SSD is uninitialized, it needs to be initialized:

Initialize an SSD in OS X El Capitan and Later

Before you can use your new SSD with your Mac® system, or install macOS® onto it, you have to initialize and partition it first. Follow the steps in this article if you are using OS X El Capitan or later.

www.crucial.com

 

[slussen2]

I followed the crucial instructions, but the process seemed to fail. The uninitialised CT 500 MX is now called Disk 0s2.

Can you get any information from the screenshot?

 

[MacInWin]

Follow these Apple instructions instead.

Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

How to erase (format) the built-in startup disk of an Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com

The instructions say to boot from Recovery, but it's ok to boot from whatever you are booting from. The idea is to get to Disk Utility to partition and format the drive. I've forgotten which version of OS you want to install, but if it's High Sierra or newer, use APFS and GUID. Give it the name "Macintosh HD." If it's older than High Sierra, use "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" and GUID. Again, name it Macintosh HD. That will format and initialize the drive for you. Then you can see about installing the OS on it.