Bootable External Drive Issue on Apple Silicon M1: Need Help Resolving

Bootable External Drive Issue with Apple Silicon M1: Need Help Resolving

If you are experiencing difficulties creating a bootable external drive for your Apple Silicon M1 Mac, you are not alone. This article will cover the key concepts related to this issue and provide detailed instructions on how to resolve it. We will discuss the use of Apple Software Restore (ASR) and Carbon Copy Cloner as possible solutions.

Background

Apple's transition to the M1 chip has brought about several changes in the way external drives are used. One of the main challenges is creating a bootable external drive that can be used to boot up the system in case of a failure or for troubleshooting purposes. This is because the M1 chip uses a different architecture than previous Macs, which requires a different approach to creating a bootable external drive.

Using Apple Software Restore (ASR)

ASR is a command-line utility that comes with macOS and can be used to create a bootable external drive. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Connect the external drive to your M1 Mac.
2. Open Terminal and run the following command to partition the external drive:

Note: Replace "/dev/disk2" with the identifier of your external drive. You can find this by running the "diskutil list" command.

3. Next, download the macOS installer from the App Store and run the following command to create the bootable external drive:

This will create a bootable external drive that you can use to boot up your M1 Mac.

Using Carbon Copy Cloner

Carbon Copy Cloner is a third-party utility that can be used to create a bootable external drive. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Connect the external drive to your M1 Mac.
2. Launch Carbon Copy Cloner and select the source (your M1 Mac) and the destination (the external drive).
3. Click on the "Clone" button to start the cloning process.
4. Once the cloning process is complete, restart your M1 Mac while holding down the Option key. This will bring up the Startup Manager, where you can select the external drive as the startup disk.

Creating a bootable external drive for an Apple Silicon M1 Mac can be challenging, but it is possible with the right tools and instructions. In this article, we have covered the use of Apple Software Restore (ASR) and Carbon Copy Cloner as possible solutions. By following the steps outlined in this article, you should be able to create a bootable external drive that you can use to boot up your M1 Mac.

References

• Apple Support: How to create a bootable installer for macOS
• Carbon Copy Cloner: Carbon Copy Cloner