MS All Models Easiest way to install MacOS to external drive.....?

[MarkC426]

I am used to installing/cloning multiple OS's on my cMP....

Any advice to install Sonoma onto an external SSD to boot my Mac Studio (if this is possible)?
I want to test my 3rd party apps still work before committing my internal drive to the upgrade, as I imagine it would be a 'pig' to get back to Ventura.

 

[Homy]

I made a new partition on my internal SSD to test Sonoma with games and Crossover. Works fine. On my daily partition I have Monterey.

 

[MarkC426]

I made a new partition on my internal SSD to test Sonoma with games and Crossover. Works fine. On my daily partition I have Monterey.

Is this on an AS Mac....?

 

[Homy]

Is this on an AS Mac....?

Yes, my base Mac Studio.

 

[Bigwaff]

I'd recommend an external SSD rather creating a new volume on your internal SSD ..

Creating a bootable external disk with an M1 Pro in Monterey

Want to create a bootable external disk for your M1 Mac? Here’s how to do it in full detail, from erasing the volumes through to how to remove it safely.

eclecticlight.co

 

[MarkC426]

I'd recommend an external SSD rather creating a new volume on your internal SSD ..

Creating a bootable external disk with an M1 Pro in Monterey

Want to create a bootable external disk for your M1 Mac? Here’s how to do it in full detail, from erasing the volumes through to how to remove it safely.

eclecticlight.co

Yep, this is what I would prefer also....👍

 

[Fishrrman]

Use an external SSD.
DON'T use a platter-based hard drive (HDD). Not fast enough.

You might TRY booting to recovery first (through the power-on button trick).
This MIGHT offer you Sonoma (unsure).
After opening the OS installer, "aim it" at the external drive (instead of at the internal).

If that doesn't work, you might then try a bootable USB flashdrive.

 

[Surenmunoo]

I have Sonoma booting from an external drive in a Thunderbolt enclosure. Just download Ventura/Sonoma if you need it, then open it and go through the prompts and when it asks for drive, select your external drive. Make sure to format it using APFS first before trying to install.

 

[MarkC426]

I have read posts suggesting after installing to an external drive, people couldn't reselect the internal system drive as the main drive again.
Not sure how true this is...

 

[Surenmunoo]

I have read posts suggesting after installing to an external drive, people couldn't reselect the internal system drive as the main drive again.
Not sure how true this is...

I have not had this yet and have been using the Studio from my external Ventura and Sonoma for a few months now. If I want to boot Sonoma, then I select it from settings, General, startup disk section and reboot, no issues at all. All my drives including the internal NVME works well and can be selected via this method and boots with no issues.

 

[PaulD-UK]

Quote: "...after installing to an external drive, people couldn't reselect the internal system drive as the main drive again."

Yes, I had this problem after installing Ventura on an external SSD when using a Monterey Mac mini.
After using Ventura for a bit I tried to reset the start up drive to the Monterey internal SSD, but it wasn't available.
I rebooted and still couldn't get back to Monterey.
Removing the external SSD, and long-press powering up the Mac mini allowed me to reselect my Monterey Macintosh HD boot drive again.
After that I could re-attach the external drive, and long-press choose either disk to boot into, as normal.

 

[Homy]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/anyone-else-experiencing-these-issues-booting-macos-from-an-external-disk.2411732/

 

[MarkC426]

Does anyone know why the 4th USB-C port (right hand) should not be used for a boot drive...?
I currently have my Lacie SSD connected (which is data only), with no issues.
This also shows up as a destination to install MacOS from Recovery screen if desired......🤔

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

I believe the information you've posted in reply 13 above pertains ONLY to the use of Apple Configurator 2.

AC2 requires that "the target Mac" be connected to by way of specific ports (i.e., you can use certain ones, but not others).

This doesn't have anything to do with booting the Mac from an external boot drive.

 

[maverick100]

I have done this with 6 different external on an M2 Mac Studio. I can do this logged into my internal drive; I have this done with both SSD's and HHD's. Speed is not my concern; making sure the data backed up is Critical. I install the ssd or hdd on one of my external enclosure; format the drive APFS; download the Sonoma Installer from App Store; Install Sonoma; During the process; I select my internal drive; use my user information and authorize that user. The M2 restarts; I don't login to my Apple ID upon I restart. I turn on File Vault; once encrypted I restart using my internal SSD. Once rebooted; I use CCC to backup the data. I can boot into any one of the 6 different drive any time I want. I can log into my Apple ID and sync all the data. It works great for me; I never have a problem selecting any boot drive I want

 

[Carl Frat]

Hopefully I'm in the right thread for my question. My work situation requires me to use a windows laptop pc (employer provided). At home I use a mac. I would like to be able to load mac os on a external drive and to be able to boot from that drive on my pc. My employer will not allow me to install mac directly on the laptops drive. I've done some research but can't seem to find instructions on how to install the mac os on an external drive and be able to run it on windows 11. Any help or direction would be great. Thank you.

 

[Bigwaff]

Hopefully I'm in the right thread for my question.

Not really but the answer is quick.

I would like to be able to load mac os on a external drive and to be able to boot from that drive on my pc.

Likely not feasible. Your PC hardware would need to be supported by macOS (i.e. low-level driver support). There is a "Hackintosh" community dedicated to running macOS on PC hardware.. but the hardware is very, very specific. An alternative could be installing macOS in a virtual machine running in Windows. Now you have some direction.

 

[Carl Frat]

Not really but the answer is quick.

Likely not feasible. Your PC hardware would need to be supported by macOS (i.e. low-level driver support). There is a "Hackintosh" community dedicated to running macOS on PC hardware.. but the hardware is very, very specific. An alternative could be installing macOS in a virtual machine running in Windows. Now you have some direction.

Thank you.