Mac mini 2018 wont boot to finish installation process of Catalina

[Keblar]

Please help!

So I needed to do a fresh install of Catalina. I booted into recovery mode, erased the whole drive (SSD), then proceeded with the initial installation of Catalina. The mini did a restart and then it shows what I suppose is a Kernel Panic (an image of a power button with different languages saying that my computer restarted because of a problem). If I leave the mini alone it just restarts over and over to the same error. What I am doing wrong? The ssd was erased using GUID and APFS.

 

[chscag]

We need to ask: Why did you feel you needed to do a fresh installation of Catalina? What problems if any were you having?

Kernel panics usually are attributed to hardware problems but can also be software related.

 

[Keblar]

We need to ask: Why did you feel you needed to do a fresh installation of Catalina? What problems if any were you having?

Kernel panics usually are attributed to hardware problems but can also be software related.

I installed the Big Sur beta in a different container within my main Catalina drive. Both macOS worked well, zero problems, but bootcamp started to freeze after the Big Sur install. Windows 10 would freeze every time while playing a game using my external GPU. I know macOS and bootcamp are two different things, but before this stupid thing that I did (install a beta in a container), Windows started to behave strange and freezes a lot. So I decided to wipe everything and install Catalina from scratch.

Thanks for any help and suggestions.

 

[chscag]

Okay, sounds reasonable. Suggest you create a USB installer for Catalina, boot from it, and install Catalina that way. However, as I mentioned above, there could be a hardware problem since the machine is going into kernel panic.

Here are some instructions from Apple:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.

support.apple.com

And also some good instructions from Macworld Mag:

How to create a bootable USB masOS installer

Make a macOS installer with createinstallmedia and install Monterey or another macOS on multiple Macs, do a clean install, or access a faulty Mac.

www.macworld.com

 

[Keblar]

Okay, sounds reasonable. Suggest you create a USB installer for Catalina, boot from it, and install Catalina that way. However, as I mentioned above, there could be a hardware problem since the machine is going into kernel panic.

Here are some instructions from Apple:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.

support.apple.com

And also some good instructions from Macworld Mag:

How to create a bootable USB masOS installer

Make a macOS installer with createinstallmedia and install Monterey or another macOS on multiple Macs, do a clean install, or access a faulty Mac.

www.macworld.com

Thanks for your help so far. I was really lost. I did the usb boot drive following your instructions in the links.

Good thing was that it recognized the startup usb drive holding the option key.

Bad news is that the installer says the following: "Security settings do not allow this Mac to use an external startup disk". I know all the passwords for my Mac. So the question is: do I need to do something at Recovery Mode that involves any password entry? excuse my ignorance, but does this has anything to do with the T2 security chip in my Mac?

Thanks again.

 

[chscag]

excuse my ignorance, but does this has anything to do with the T2 security chip in my Mac?

Yes. You will have to tell the T2 that booting from USB is allowed.

Please read the following Apple KB:

About Startup Security Utility on a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Use Startup Security Utility to make sure that your Mac always starts up from your designated startup disk, and always from a legitimate, trusted operating system.

support.apple.com

 

[Keblar]

Yes. You will have to tell the T2 that booting from USB is allowed.

Please read the following Apple KB:

About Startup Security Utility on a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Use Startup Security Utility to make sure that your Mac always starts up from your designated startup disk, and always from a legitimate, trusted operating system.

support.apple.com

Thanks so much for your help! My Mac is running Catalina and bootcamp normally.