Can't boot from SSD due to Yosemite Recovery

[SCavndrF]

I have 3 MacBook Pros that I updating and installing SSDs. Two are 2015 and one 2014. All 3 are using the same 3rd-party SSD.

Two are all running Catalina. One keeps coming up with Yosemite. It will NOT see the SSD during installation. So I created a USB installation drive with Catalina on it. It DOES see the SSD and will install the OS, but it will NOT see the SSD as a boot device. I assume because the base environment is still based on Yosemite. How can I update the Internet Recovery to a newer version. I tried the normal recovery and internet recover, but they're both Yosemite. So I'm stuck.

I had a similar issue with some 2010 Macs and never did get it figured out. They would see the SSD during install, just not boot to it. No matter the version. I tried install High Sierra, on those, but they never would see the drive during boot, only during installation.

In short, one 2014 and one 2015 are working and updating to newest OS. One 2015 will install from USB, but won't see the drive, while the other two booted right to recovery and I installed the OS.

 

[MBAir2010]

anything upgrading a MacBook needs a firmware upgrade.
try that
which helped me many times!

 

[SCavndrF]

I figured it might be something like that, but have never done that on a Mac. You have an good resources? I always assume the OS handled it.

 

[MBAir2010]

there are links on the apple.com ummm say the the High Sierra page that you need to fish for.
while upgrading to Mojave on my MacBook air, i need to upgrade the firmware
which was not easy to find, but findable and important to do though while on High sierra to go to Mojave.

what i had to do 2 months ago to reinstall snow leopard from Catalina
was reinstall SL from a usb, then go through the upgrades to Mountain lion.
if you know what exact os your MacBook was installed, perform a clean install(s) and the firmware should be included.
then proceed to what every os you want and is compatible.

i hope i explained this understandably and let us know if this worked.

 

[lcubed]

did you remember to cover the SSD to APFS from HFS before the catalina installation?

find the apfs rom updater under important info here:

macOS Catalina Patcher

 

[MBAir2010]

did you remember to cover the SSD to APFS from HFS before the catalina installation?

find the apfs rom updater under important info here:

macOS Catalina Patcher

good advice, thanks

 

[SCavndrF]

I will look into both of these tomorrow. It has Yosemite on it now for Recovery. If I try to run Internet Recovery, I get a 5101f or something like that. I forgot to mention that. I just did an Erase on my SSD and let Catalina do whatever it wanted for the format. I figured it would do APFS by default, but I will look.

I got a MacBook Air, as well, which had an older OS, and I had to update to El Capitan, then one of the Sierras, and now it's going to Catalina. Thanks for the info and I'll reply back later.

 

[DeltaMac]

The Catalina install (assuming that you are booting to an external bootable Catalina installer) will change a MacOS Extended (HFS+) volume to APFS during the install. There's no need to make that volume APFS before installing Catalina, as the system installer takes care of that for you. It won't hurt anything to make the boot volume APFS, it's just not necessary when the installer will change the boot drive to an APFS volume anyway.
For that "troublesome" MBPro, you should boot your external installer, then erase the drive (not just the volume) by making sure that Disk Utility shows All Devices. Make that adjustment under the View menu to Show All Devices.
Choose the topmost line, which should show the SSD model number, then erase that. It will remove all volumes and containers, and leave your internal drive with nothing.
This still may not work, possibly because the "problem" MBPro has never had High Sierra or higher installed (not just an update, but booted to an installer, and reinstalled macOS... ) You won't get that one to boot on a third-party SSD if the firmware has never been updated.
Do that upgrade by installing your old Apple SSD, THEN installing Catalina on the old SSD. Once that is finished, you should get a successful boot to the old SSD, and you can assume that the installer has upgraded the firmware. THEN --- replace the old Apple SSD with your new SSD, and install Catalina on THAT SSD. Should work, now that you have the firmware sorted out, and you should expect that it will boot after the install is complete.

 

[lcubed]

I just did an Erase on my SSD and let Catalina do whatever it wanted for the format. I figured it would do APFS by default, but I will look.

you can check by firing up disk util and checking the SSD file type. if it's not already APFS, use the disk util in the macOS Installer on the USB stick to convert the volume.

of course, install the APFS rom update, otherwise, catalina will not run.

it's worth the time to watch the dosdude catalina install video where he goes over the various steps including APFS.

going from 19H2 to 19H1510 can be much more challenging