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Mojave on new Mini - can't startup from recovery partition

S

Slartibartfast42

macrumors member
Original poster
May 4, 2019
35
3
Surrey, UK
I've just used T/Machine to restore to my new Mini - and it works fine EXCEPT that I can't boot from the recovery partition.

I use CCC as well as T/Machine, and CCC alerted me to the fact that I would need to grant access (via the recovery partition procedure) to allow me to boot from a CCC backup.

I've tried (1) rebooting using CMD-R, (2) rebooting using Opt-CMD-R, (3) rebooting using Shift-Opt-CMD-R, (4) rebooting holding D to do a full diagnostics run (which shows no problems) then going from there to the recovery partition, (5) I ran Diskutil list and it shows the partition is there (if I read it correctly).

With option (2) above I get a globe with 'apple.com/support -3401F' as a message, and with (3) I get the same, only the error code is -3001F. I've searched on these codes and find nothing.

Before I contact Apple support - does anyone know a fix for this? I obviously can't reinstall the OS as I can't boot from an external drive!
 
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION:
Do you have everything backed up?
(I'm guessing that the answer is YES).

If you can't boot to the recovery partition, can you boot to INTERNET recovery instead?

That's "command-OPTION-R" at bootup.

IF you can get to internet recovery, I'd try this (again, you must be backed up):
1. Boot to internet recovery
2. Open Disk Utility
3. Choose "show all devices" (upper left of DU window)
4. Select topmost entry that represents the physical SSD inside
5. ERASE IT (the ENTIRE drive) to APFS.
6. NOW see if you can do a re-install of the OS (for a 2018 Mini, it should currently be 10.4.5).
7. When done, run through the regular setup procedure.
8. When you get to "do you want to migrate from another Mac or drive", YES, you want to do this
9. Connect the backup and "point the way" for setup assistant. It will take a few mins to "digest" everything.
10. I'd just let setup assistant migrate everything.
11. When done, you should see your regular login screen.

IF this works for you, the next thing I'd do is:
a. Boot to recovery partition NOW
b. Can you get there? If so...
c. Open Startup Security and TURN OFF everything in there.
d. Reboot to your regular Mac partition.
 
Slartibartfast42 said:
I've just used T/Machine to restore to my new Mini - and it works fine EXCEPT that I can't boot from the recovery partition.

I use CCC as well as T/Machine, and CCC alerted me to the fact that I would need to grant access (via the recovery partition procedure) to allow me to boot from a CCC backup.

I've tried (1) rebooting using CMD-R, (2) rebooting using Opt-CMD-R, (3) rebooting using Shift-Opt-CMD-R, (4) rebooting holding D to do a full diagnostics run (which shows no problems) then going from there to the recovery partition, (5) I ran Diskutil list and it shows the partition is there (if I read it correctly).

With option (2) above I get a globe with 'apple.com/support -3401F' as a message, and with (3) I get the same, only the error code is -3001F. I've searched on these codes and find nothing.

Before I contact Apple support - does anyone know a fix for this? I obviously can't reinstall the OS as I can't boot from an external drive!
Click to expand...

-3401F suggests a corrupt Recovery volume. -3001F could be a networking issue. At least one person had success solving the -3001F problem by resetting the NVRAM.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

You may lose certain settings in doing this (read the Apple article about this). If this doesn't work for the -3001F issue, you can also try resetting the SMC.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

If this doesn't work, it might be the networking stack (smaller than what's loaded when the full OS is loaded) doesn't support the WiFi security you're using.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7591084

If you're connecting to a bridge vs. directly to a router, there may be an issue there. (Yes, it works when the full OS is loaded but may not when trying to do Recovery.)

If the NVRAM and SMC reset doesn't fix getting into the local Recovery (I suspect it won't), you might want to re-install the OS. If you do that over an existing OS of the same version, it will just try to fix what's not right. (But make sure you have a current backup just in case.) If you have another Mac with the same version of Mojave where Recovery is working, you can try copying the files from the working one to the non-working one but if you're not familiar with manually mounting volumes, it may just be easier to try the re-install.
[doublepost=1560109890][/doublepost]I noticed that it wasn't mentioned whether you're using WiFi or not. If not, then the WiFi-fix related remedies obviously won't work. If you are using WiFi, I forgot to mention the alternative of connecting using an Ethernet cable, if that's possible.
 
OK Thanks both of you for replying - I have full regular & various backups, so I'm happy with that aspect!

I reset the SMC, and the NVRAM. No difference. I'm connected by Ethernet only so didn't try the Wifi link above.

When I try a CMD-R to go into recovery mode, I get a white apple, then a slow progress bar. Half way along the progress bar the screen just goes black.

Reinstalling the OS makes sense, BUT how can I do it if I can't startup from an external drive and I can't get into the recovery partition to set the option to let me boot from an external drive?
 
Slartibartfast42 said:
OK Thanks both of you for replying - I have full regular & various backups, so I'm happy with that aspect!

I reset the SMC, and the NVRAM. No difference. I'm connected by Ethernet only so didn't try the Wifi link above.

When I try a CMD-R to go into recovery mode, I get a white apple, then a slow progress bar. Half way along the progress bar the screen just goes black.

Reinstalling the OS makes sense, BUT how can I do it if I can't startup from an external drive and I can't get into the recovery partition to set the option to let me boot from an external drive?
Click to expand...

I re-read your original post - to clarify - you only get the black screen but no error message when doing regular recovery (Command-R). Is that correct?

You can download the macOS installer and run it from your internal SSD. It should then try to correct your existing OS installation on your internal SSD.

Another suggestion - if you have any other peripherals other than the monitor and keyboard, try disconnecting them and see if regular recovery (Command-R) works. What monitor do you have? Do you have a wired or wireless keyboard?
 
Last edited:
I have the very same problem.

I tried everything mentioned above, nothing has worked.

So i took the machine to the authorized service, I will post the outcome.
 
OP:

Will you please try what I recommended above?
That's to try INTERNET recovery -- NOT "the recovery partition".

To get internet recovery, power down.
You're connected via ethernet so you won't need a wifi password.
Then, press the power on button and hold down "command-OPTION-R" for a while, until you see the internet symbol appear.
It may take some time to load up all the software.

Just TRY this first, and get back to us with your result.
 
Fishrrman - I've just tried the Command-Option-R with nothing attached other than a wired keyboard and mouse, and thunderbolt 27" display (via USB C Apple adapter).

Saw white apple logo on black screen. Then released the keys. Then saw the 'Choose network' dropdown - but very rapidly over that there appeared a globe with an ! in a triangle. Under that it read apple.com/support then on the next row -3001F.
[doublepost=1560195211][/doublepost]Just for completeness. Command-R (on its own) just gives me a black screen.

Shift - Alt - Cmd - R just brings me to the normal logon screen to the main Mac OS partition (I had read somewhere this was another possible option.

Thanks...!
 
Slartibartfast42 said:
Fishrrman - I've just tried the Command-Option-R with nothing attached other than a wired keyboard and mouse, and thunderbolt 27" display (via USB C Apple adapter).

Saw white apple logo on black screen. Then released the keys. Then saw the 'Choose network' dropdown - but very rapidly over that there appeared a globe with an ! in a triangle. Under that it read apple.com/support then on the next row -3001F.
[doublepost=1560195211][/doublepost]Just for completeness. Command-R (on its own) just gives me a black screen.

Shift - Alt - Cmd - R just brings me to the normal logon screen to the main Mac OS partition (I had read somewhere this was another possible option.

Thanks...!
Click to expand...

If the install over your existing OS doesn't work, you should probably do what george_i in post #6 did - contact Apple. Any further suggestions I have requires work that should not have to be done by a user on a new computer (so I think there's some bug here - not some random corruption). However, I will mention this. With APFS, you can install another macOS (in your case Mojave or Catalina beta) in a new volume in your existing container (provided you have enough free space). When I did this with High Sierra a while back on my 2014 Mini, I installed Mojave beta and within the Recovery volume, it created a second Recovery directory for Mojave. I presume it will do the same for Mojave, Catalina. I don't know if it will create another Recovery directory if you have another Mojave volume - I think it will but am not sure. So the hope here is that when you do Cmd-R here, it will give you the choice of which Recovery to run and hopefully the second Recovery will run properly. Whatever new OS volume you create can be deleted when you're done and the space formerly taken by it is returned to the container but if I remember correctly, you'd have to take actions to delete the Recovery directory that was created (about 500MB).
 
Treekram - sorry for appearing thick, but I don't see how I can install over the OS without booting from an external drive of some sort - which of course I can't do.

Are there instructions somewhere? I haven't been able to find any!

Thanks.
 
Slartibartfast42 said:
Treekram - sorry for appearing thick, but I don't see how I can install over the OS without booting from an external drive of some sort - which of course I can't do.

Are there instructions somewhere? I haven't been able to find any!

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Download Mojave (click on the "Get macOS Mojave from the App Store" link).
https://support.apple.com/macos/mojave

This will put the Mojave installer in the Applications directory. After the download is done, you should copy the "Install macOS Mojave" app to an external disk in case you need it again.

Run this installer app. You can tell it to install on the internal disk with the running OS.

On my 2014 Mini, I have 2 SSD's in it. One is at 10.14.5, the backup is at 10.14.4 (in case the 10.14.5 update had problems). I restarted the 2014 Mini to start on the 10.14.4 SSD and am going through this process right now (already have the installer) so I will post back if anything is amiss in what I've prescribed. (I needed to update the 10.14.4 SSD anyway so I'm just using this method as a check.)
 
On the phone to Apple support this afternoon. Ran through all the options weve already discussed (except reinstalling OS). Result is Im taking it in to them tomorrow. Will discuss reinstall and see if they have any ideas!
 
Slartibartfast42 said:
On the phone to Apple support this afternoon. Ran through all the options weve already discussed (except reinstalling OS). Result is Im taking it in to them tomorrow. Will discuss reinstall and see if they have any ideas!
Click to expand...

(BTW, my re-install took about 25 minutes and was fine. Kept old settings, etc.)

If you're taking it in to Apple, they should make it work. It seems like this is not a problem unique to you so one would hope they would already have a solution available (a solution that may be beyond what can be done over the phone). If they're testing out possible solutions because they're not sure if it will work, that's not a good sign. If Recovery didn't work on your system from the start (did you try that?) - then that's obviously a major problem. But if Recovery was working and if the Mojave version pre-installed on your Mini was older than the OS version you restored from TM, that may be causing some issue (usually Migration Assistant doesn't have a problem if the TM backup is of an older OS version as it will not install older OS files over the new ones). In any case, please let us know what the results of your visit is.
 
UPDATE:

I spent a happy hour at the local Apple Genius Bar and have established the following.

The problem seems to be related to how the O/S treats the monitor! On both their HDMI Acer (or was it an Asus) monitor, AND on my Apple Thunderbolt 27" screen the following happens.

On restarting in Recovery mode (CMD-R), the apple logo appears, then a progress bar. Then the screen goes black/blank and nothing happens until I restart.

However, we discovered that at this point, the normal recovery screen is being displayed - but the screen doesn't show it! In the store, we simply switch the MONITOR off and on again - and could then proceed as normal. At home, I unplugged the monitor from the mains, plugged it in again, and the Recovery window appears & functions OK.

The assistant thought it was a firmware problem, possibly not enough power being sent to the monitor (?) - but it's been passed up the line and hopefully will be fixed in the 'Slartibartfast42 recovery fix'.!

P.S. reinstall of Mojave was tried, but didn’t make any difference.
 
Last edited:
I have had very similar issues. No success with regular recovery NOR Internet recovery. My Internet Recovery error, fwiw, is -9000F
 
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