Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Help!: Booting off recovery USB

M

Marvin16

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 8, 2013
32
0
Hey i have a macmini 6,1 and i have 16GB ram and i have just ordered a Samsung 840 SSD (250GB) anyway i cant be bothered creating a fusion drive as i will not need one so i just want to totally replace the hard drive with my new SSD so i followed JBTECH17's youtube vid on how to create a usb bootable thumb drive for mountain lion i created it successfully it works on my 2011 Mac book pro but not on my 2012 I5 mac mini. When i turn on my mac i hold down the option key and then select the usb (This works on 2011 mac book pro) it brings up an error message here is the screenshot http://gyazo.com/da2a00b37cc6581994aef48fe17157a9

Some help would be much appriciated As i want it up and running when it comes. thats why i am preparing the USB in advance

I have read about internet recovery i dont mind my mac being wiped but as soon as i turn on my mac mini for the first time after putting in the clean SSD will i be able to go into internet recovery? if so how? i have many questions in my mind right now some help would be great

Many thanks
marvin16
 

Attachments

  • 2013-07-08 09.17.15.jpg
    2013-07-08 09.17.15.jpg
    3 MB · Views: 183
Last edited:
You 2012 Mini has Internet recovery. So once you install the new SSD do a command-r boot and the recovery console will be downloaded (you need to be connected to the Internet). Once the recovery screen comes up use Disk Util to format the SSD to Mac OS Extended. Then quit Disk Util and click install OS. This will DL and install the OS. Takes a bit as the DL is about 4.7GB.
 
Ok great this helps alot so il open the internet recovery on the wiped ssd then format it and then download mountain lion Thanks alot this has cleared my mind
 
If you have a USB drive with an installer on it, it'll need to be 10.8.3 or later to work with the 2012 Mini.
 
chrfr said:
If you have a USB drive with an installer on it, it'll need to be 10.8.3 or later to work with the 2012 Mini.
Click to expand...

yes i downloaded mountain lion straight from the appstore and took the file forgot what it was called. but i can just use internet recovery as i have learned so it doesnt matter really.

----------

Also when i open internet recovery will i have to chose my wifi network? if so how
 
great thanks im not plugged into ethernet so il just chose my wifi network
 
This is one of those things where I say test and hard drive/ssd first. The kernel panics are usually hardware or sometimes bad drivers related to peripheral devices.
 
I agree with what thekev said in post #8.

You should install the OS and test boot the new SSD externally, BEFORE you attempt to install it in the Mini.

You could buy either a USB/SATA "dongle", or (better) a USB3/SATA "docking station" which will make doing the above VERY easy.

If the OS and apps on your old internal drive are working fine for you now, there may not be a reason to do a complete install of the system.

Instead, just use CarbonCopyCloner (free download, and free use for 30 days) to do a full clone of your internal drive to the new (docked) drive. CCC will even clone the recovery partition for you.

Once this is done, test boot by doing this:
- Restart
- As soon as you hear the startup sound, hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN
- The startup manager will appear
- You should see both drives as being bootable. Use the arrow key, the tab key or the mouse pointer to select the docked drive, then hit Return.
- The computer should boot from the docked drive.

If you get a good boot, check around to be sure everything on the docked drive is as you want it to be. If so, NOW it's time to open the Mini and install/swap drives.

Actually, if you buy the right dock (one that has USAP support), you will get boot/running speeds from it nearly as fast as you would after going through the trouble to install it internally. You could leave the SSD in the dock, and run it that way….
 
Hi thanks i took your advice and went and bought a 2.5' External Hard Disk Enclosure USB 3 (Mac compatable https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1607350/ it says on box)

so can i not just plug it in go to disk utility and clone my hdd to ssd by using The Destination (My sad) and source Macintosh HDD will this not work?

my ssd comes tomorrow fast reply would be great

Thanks

Marvin16

==================================================================

I was also thinking i would rather put my ssd if it works in the mac mini then put my Old 500GB HDD into the external dock thing. If i do this would i still be able to use my bootcamp partition off my HDD on my mac mini even though the HDD with bootcamp on is external will i be able to select it from the option boot menu or is it more complex then that?
 
Last edited:
Ok thanks so will this external HDD sata thing work fine? and about the bootcamp thing any help? (sorry im a bit noobish)
 

Attachments

  • 2013-07-09 20.34.59.jpg
    2013-07-09 20.34.59.jpg
    2.6 MB · Views: 123
  • 2013-07-09 20.35.06.jpg
    2013-07-09 20.35.06.jpg
    2.9 MB · Views: 117
Marvin16 said:
Ok thanks so will this external HDD sata thing work fine? and about the bootcamp thing any help? (sorry im a bit noobish)
Click to expand...

That enclosure will work fine. Sorry I don't have anything to offer on Bootcamp... don't use it so have not taken the time to learn about it.
 
Ok thats great help Thanks alot relief as it will work with my ssd and hdd
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back