MP 1,1-5,1 Open Core + BigSur + Clone SDD and EFI to new SSD

[qwerter18]

Hello again,
is it possible to clone a working SSD (120GB) to a bigger SSD and then just swap them?
The 120GB SSD contains BigSur and OpenCore with the boot picker.
I read the EFI would not be copied and the OpenCore needs to be redone?
Or is it now possible to do a CCC clone with all I need to just swap disks and have OpenCore up and running again?.
Thank you

 

[joevt]

You can copy the EFI files manually using the Finder. Make sure the Open Core config file doesn't reference your Big Sur disk by EFI device path or GPT partition UUID. You'll want to set the default boot to the new EFI. You can use the bless command or use the Startup Manager: hold the Option key at boot, then select the new EFI boot, hold the control key (the up arrow turns into a circular arrow) and press the Return key to set it as the new default boot and to boot it.

I'm not sure about cloning Big Sur. You could try booting into Recovery, and use Disk Utility to Recover to the new partition (select the new partition, click Recover, then select your old Big Sur as the source, read the text carefully to make sure it says it's copying from the old to the new and not the other way around.

 

[h9826790]

CCC can clone Big Sur now, and it's bootable.

For OpenCore, you better re-install it after you boot from the cloned Big Sur.

e.g.

1) install BOTH old and new SSD
2) Boot from the old SSD (OC + Big Sur)
3) use CCC to clone Big Sur to the new SSD
4) Re-install OC to the new SSD (including bless it)
5) Shutdown, then remove the old SSD
6) boot the cMP, it should automatically boot to the new OC

 

[qwerter18]

@joevt
Thank you for your help!
I think I understood most of you're saying.
But how would I do that:
"Make sure the Open Core config file doesn't reference your Big Sur disk by EFI device path or GPT partition UUID"

@h9826790
Is it really that easy?
Which version of CCC would you recommend?
If something goes wrong:
Can I just put in the old SSD, and everything is boots like before?

 

[h9826790]

@h9826790
Is it really that easy?
Which version of CCC would you recommend?
If something goes wrong:
Can I just put in the old SSD, and everything is boots like before?

It should be just that easy.

The latest CCC

Yes, the whole process won't touch the old SSD. The only potential issue is that after you bless the new SSD, the cMP will try to boot from that before your old one. But as long as you remove the new SSD, it should boot to the old one automatically.

 

[joevt]

But how would I do that:
"Make sure the Open Core config file doesn't reference your Big Sur disk by EFI device path or GPT partition UUID"

An EFI device path is something that starts with "PciRoot(..." (see HackinTool.app PCIe tab or gfxutil)
A partition UUID is an ID that you see in diskutil info -all | grep -E '.*-.*-.*-.*-.*'
It's not likely you have either of those in reference to your old Big Sur disk.

 

[qwerter18]

Great, thank you guys.
I will step into this process a lot more confident than before...
?

 

[Steve_Jones]

Pardon me for jumping in but I have a similar question.

Running BS11.2 using OpenCore and hybridization. I’ve backed up my Big Sur drive (internal SSD) using CCC to an external SSD and then manually transferred the EFI over to the external drive.

I’m assuming that I can boot into recovery using a clean Mojave disk and bless the EFI partition on my backup drive and have a working bootable clone of my main BS drive?

*edit* Gave it a try and it worked. I see Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2 is available so at least I can give it a try now without worrying.