Problem updating MacOS

[Alwyn]

The MacOS software update is no longer working. I'm still on Big Sur 11.6.5 and should be on 11.6.8. It looks as if this is down to a fault on my hard drive. I have an external San Disk 1 TB SSD that I have been using with Carbon Copy Cloner. As a new internal hard drive would presumably be expensive I can either erase the San Disk SSD and use it as a bootable drive with Big Sur or Monterey installed or buy another external SSD drive. I have been told that San Disk SSDs aren't always reliable. I have backed up to Time Machine on an external HDD and I also have Time Capsule so, once I have installed an up to date OS I would be able to restore from Time Machine to the external drive.
RESOLVED After going back to opening in Recovery mode I was able to reinstall Big Sur with 11.6.8 and I may make another attempt to upgrade to Monterey. However I will try erasing the external SSD and setting it up as a bootable drive. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pigoo3]

What advice is needed (sounds like the original issue is solved)?

Is the question how to make the external drive bootable? If so...just need to install macOS on the external drive (similar process as installing macOS on internal drive).

Nick

 

[Alwyn]

What advice is needed (sounds like the original issue is solved)?

Is the question how to make the external drive bootable? If so...just need to install macOS on the external drive (similar process as installing macOS on internal drive).

Nick

Thanks, that’s just what I needed to know. Presumably, when I erase Carbon Copy Cloner, there will be an option to format the drive as MacOS_Extended.

 

[IWT]

I think you'll find that installing Big Sur and/or Monterey on the external SSD requires APFS as the desired format, not Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Any yes, the SSD you use for CCC can be wiped and reformatted.

Ian

 

[pm-r]

I think you'll find that installing Big Sur and/or Monterey on the external SSD requires APFS as the desired format, not Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Any yes, the SSD you use for CCC can be wiped and reformatted.

Ian

As Ian suggested, with some other extra details if needed from Bombich and his Carbon Copy Cloner:

Creating legacy bootable copies of macOS (Big Sur and later) | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

bombich.com

- Patrick
=======

 

[Alwyn]

Thank you all for your help. I have erased the SanDisk and formatted it as APFS. I have Install Monterey on a flash drive and in Applications on the internal hard drive. What I am not clear about is what to do next. Do I restore Time Machine directly to the SanDisk external drive before I install Monterey? Either way what is the procedure?

Apple's website is not very helpful when it come to setting up an external drive to run MacO but I found this website useful:

How to install macOS on an external drive

Worried about installing macOS Monterey beta on your Mac? Don't want to run macOS as your main system? Run it on an external drive.

www.macworld.com

under

Step 1: Prepare the drive for installation​

it suggests
7.Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the Format.
8.Choose GUID Partition Map as the Scheme.

Does this explain why, when I used APFS as the format and opted for the external drive from the Start up Disk, I got a screen that looked like this?

 

[Alwyn]

Apple's website is not very helpful when it come to setting up an external drive to run MacOS. I found this website useful:

How to install macOS on an external drive

Worried about installing macOS Monterey beta on your Mac? Don't want to run macOS as your main system? Run it on an external drive.

www.macworld.com

under

Step 1: Prepare the drive for installation​

it suggests
7.Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the Format.
8.Choose GUID Partition Map as the Scheme.

Does this explain why, when I used APFS as the format and opted for the external drive from the Start up Disk, I got a screen that looked like this?

 

[IWT]

@Alwyn

A word of caution, if I may.

The article you kindly linked is somewhat out of date. Moreover, the External Hard Drive (EHD) mentioned was a rotating drive.

Yours is a SSD.

This is important to bear in mind for two reasons:

It is much faster than a Rotating Drive.

APFS was designed for SSDs.

Therefore, my view remains that your external SSD be formatted APFS (which is the standard format on your Mac's internal SSD).

By all means, seek advice elsewhere or from other forum members.

Ian

 

[Alwyn]

Thanks for pointing this out Ian. I have always found this forum way better than any other.

As I did format the Sandisk SSD in APFS as you advised I don't understand why I ended up with a blank screen with lightning & connector icons. I will try to use the Startup Disk again to try to restart from the Sandisk SSD. If that fails I will erase again and reinstall Monterey.

Any alternative suggestions would be most welcome. Colin.

 

[Alwyn]

Thanks for pointing this out. I have always found this forum way better than any other.

As I did format the Sandisk SSD in APFS as advised I am not sure why I ended up with a blank screen with lightning & connector icons. I will try to use the Startup Disk again to try to restart from the Sandisk SSD. If that fails I will erase again and reinstall Monterey.

 

[Rod]

Alwyn, assuming you can download from the App Store okay then the first thing I would do is download the macOS Monterey Installer if you haven't already.

Erase your SSD at the root level using Disk Utility then name (maybe Macintosh HD 2), format (APFS), and map it (GUID).
Use CCC's Legacy Bootable Clone method to create a full bootable copy of your current internal drive.
Boot your device from that then use the Monterey Installer (which will have copied across) to upgrade the SSD to macOS Monterey.
The result should be a complete, upgraded, bootable copy of your internal drive.

All this assumes you have enough room for a full clone of your internal drive on the 1TB SSD. Personally I would prefer an external SSD HD for this task like the Samsung T5 with a Thunderbolt connection rather than USB-A but this may cost you more than replacing the internal drive. I think the screen shot you posted may have something to do with that.

 

[IWT]

Boot your device from that then use the Monterey Installer (which will have copied across) to upgrade the SSD to macOS Monterey.
The result should be a complete, upgraded, bootable copy of your internal drive.

Great advice. Much better option.

Ian

 

[Alwyn]

Many thanks.. Will report back on progress.