Error 702 Installing macOS on an External Drive
My Intel MacBook Pro died, and even though I have an M1 MacBookAir ready to replace it, it’s taken several days to get back to the point where I can run older versions of macOS for testing my apps. I had all the old versions installed in separate partitions on an external SSD. Prior to Apple Silicon, I could just plug this drive into a new Mac and continue as if nothing had happened. But Apple Silicon Macs can’t use Intel boot drives, so that won’t work with the new test Mac. Although externally booting Apple Silicon Macs has been a bit dodgy in the past, I figured that 4+ years into the transition the issues had mostly been ironed out. My M1 test Mac already had an external SSD set up with partitions for testing different versions of macOS Sequoia. I figured I could just reformat the other SSD and install fresh copies of all the old versions on it. I eventually succeeded, but the process was anything but straightforward and I’m left feeling like Jeff Johnson:
I don’t understand Macs anymore.
I was already aware of this limitation:
There are further complications to this. For instance, an older macOS Installer app can’t be run in a newer major version of macOS. The workaround for that is to create a bootable installer volume, and boot from that to run its older installer.
so I created a bootable installer with DropDMG. The main problem I ran into is that, after rebooting and running the installer, a good way into the process it would fail with this error:
com.apple.OSinstallerSetup.error error 702
The detailed error log showed a problem mounting the InstallESDDmg.pkg file: “Couldn't mount dmg! (error code 12).” I searched for the 702 error code and various text from the error log and came up with nothing useful. There are a bunch of pages with generic advice that didn’t apply to me. I’m not using MDM, the Internet connection is working, the clock is correct, there’s plenty of disk space, the installer isn’t damaged, M1 Macs don’t have NVRAM to zap, Find My is disabled, etc.
I tried multiple installers from different major and minor versions of macOS and multiple different destination drives. I tried running the installer with two different Macs, reformatting both the source and destination drives, and repartitioning the destination to have a single partition/container. I kept getting error 702. Both of these Macs had previously successfully created and booted from external drives. What was different now?
I found a promising comment on Howard Oakley’s site:
I tried to install onto an external plugged into the DFU and got a message “The operation couldn’t be completed.(com.apple.OSinstallerSetup.error error 702.)”
I suspect Apple have made a recent change to firmware/hidden volumes which requires the non-DFU port.
This reminded me of one of his earlier posts:
On each Intel Mac with a T2 chip, or Apple silicon Mac, one of its USB-C+Thunderbolt 3 ports is designated for use in DFU mode. That port isn’t labelled, and System Information doesn’t tell you which is the DFU port on that Mac. Instead, Apple lists them for each model here. Beware when reading that support article, as it isn’t internally consistent: for instance, it shows the DFU port as being that on the left of the left side of a MacBook Pro, but states in the text that on a MacBook Pro 14-inch 2024 with an M4 chip, the DFU port is that on the right of the left side instead.
DFU mode is seldom required in T2 or Apple silicon Macs, as it’s how you can refresh or restore the firmware in them. But if you do need to use it, you’ll need to connect a USB-C (not Thunderbolt) cable to the DFU port and perform the procedure from another Mac connected to the other end. However, there is another more common situation in which you need to know the DFU port on an Apple silicon Mac: that’s when you want to create an external bootable disk.
[…]
If the external drive you’re trying to install macOS onto is connected to that Apple silicon Mac’s DFU port, then the procedure is almost certainly doomed to fail. The solution is to connect that external drive to a different port, where it’s likely to succeed.
Apple finally documented this:
If you’re using a Mac with Apple silicon, plug your storage device into any compatible port except the DFU port. Learn how to identify the DFU port. After macOS installation is complete, you can connect your storage device to any compatible port, including the DFU port.
For example, on my Mac mini M4, that’s either the left or right Thunderbolt port, as the middle one is its DFU port. On all other Apple silicon Mac minis, that’s either the centre or right port as you look from the rear, as their DFU port is the one on the left.
[…]
Reformat that disk as you want to use it, with at least one APFS container containing a single APFS volume in regular APFS format (not encrypted).
But, alas, that was not the cause of my problem. Several of the failed installations had been to drives that were not connected to the DFU port.
I did find one other suggestion from Apple:
Reviving or restoring firmware might also help if your Mac experiences a persistent macOS installation error not resolved by other solutions for macOS installation errors.
I was skeptical that reviving would help. It seemed unlikely that both M1 Macs had bad firmware. Restoring an IPSW file for an old version of macOS should definitely work, but I didn’t want to erase either Mac’s internal SSD. And I wanted to install multiple old versions of macOS externally.
But this did give me an idea: could there be something wrong with the recovery partition on the internal SSD? I had noticed something unexpected. Apple says:
On a Mac with Apple silicon:
Recovery installs the current version of the most recently installed macOS.
If you installed a macOS upgrade and then used Disk Utility to erase the disk, you might get the macOS that you were using before upgrading.
I had not erased the disks, but both M1 Macs had Sonoma recovery partitions even though they had been updated to Sequoia. It’s possible to upgrade the recovery partition, but before doing this I figured I should see whether the existing one worked. I might as well try to make a Sonoma boot drive before blowing away the Sonoma recovery partition.
Installing Sonoma from recovery to the external drive worked normally! It then occurred to me that the original 702 error might be related to creating the Ventura recovery partition. But my external drive now had a fresh Sonoma recovery partition. Maybe that would be enough. I added a volume to the SSD and ran the Ventura installer again, and it worked! The Mac could now boot from either Ventura or Sonoma on the external drive. I don’t know whether my analysis is correct, but I tried installing a few more times to prove that it wasn’t something on Apple’s server that had changed. Installing Ventura consistently worked when there was already another version of macOS installed but failed when installing into a fresh drive/container.
I also tried using the DFU port, which isn’t supposed to work, to see what would happen. Installing from recovery to a blank drive said it succeeded, but then booting from the fresh installation failed, saying “Unable to verify startup disk.” However, installing using the DFU port to a drive that already had a bootable partition did work.
More than a dozen installations later, I still don’t fully understand what’s going on here, but I was able to create my external boot drive.
However, around the same time, I discovered a new Mac storage problem, which is that APFS doesn’t seem to be fully backward compatible. I hadn’t read about any problems with this and have in the past used APFS drives formatted from newer versions of macOS on a Mac running macOS 15 Catalina. However, now I have two drives that don’t work on the Catalina Mac. One of them shows up in Disk Utility but doesn’t show the volume’s actual name and doesn’t mount. The other doesn’t show up in Disk Utility at all. Both drives work normally, with the same enclosure, when connected to a Mac with a newer version of macOS. A mystery for another day…
Previously:
- MIST (macOS Installer Super Tool)
- Sequoia’s spctl and csrutil
- macOS Installer’s “Failed to Personalize” Error
- macOS 14 Simplifies Restoring a Mac in DFU Mode
- How Recovery Works on M1 Series Macs
- Owner Accounts on M1 Macs
- Booting an M1 Mac From an External Disk
- Reviving or Restoring a Mac With Apple Silicon
- Installing Old Versions of macOS
- The Impossible Dream of USB-C
Update (2025-03-26): I installed a macOS Sequoia beta on a different external SSD, and this somehow updated the internal recovery partition to Sequoia. Now I am once again getting the 702 error when trying to install a previous version of macOS on an external drive. I can no longer even install Sonoma.
Update (2025-03-27): I used Apple Configurator to restore my M1 MacBook Air to an older version of macOS, in the hope that an older recovery partition would let me install other old macOS versions. Getting the Air into DFU mode took several tries, but I eventually got the timing of the keypresses right. Restoring the Big Sur (11.5) IPSW failed several times with errors such as:
The System cannot be restored on this device.
The operation couldn’t be completed. (AMRestoreErrorDomain error 9 - Failed to receive message from device, might be connection problem with USB host. (Communication error, possibly USB disconnection)) [AMRestoreErrorDomain – 0x9 (9)]
and:
The System cannot be restored on this device.
Failed to restore device in recovery mode, libusbrestore error:21 [com.apple.MobileDevice.MobileRestore – 0x15 (21)]
It had to stay watch on the restore process because otherwise it would be halted when the Mac kept asking for permission to allow the accessory (the Mac being restored) to connect.
I gave up and tried restoring a Monterey IPSW, and that worked the first time.
I was then able to boot from Monterey on the internal SSD and partition an external drive with separate volumes for Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia.
I installed Big Sur (11.7.10) on the external drive, which succeeded except that when booted from Big Sur it acts as if the Mac has no Wi-Fi. I can enable it in Control Center, but it doesn’t see any networks, and Wi-Fi doesn’t show up in the Network pane of System Preferences. I erased the Big Sur volume and installed it again and got the same problem. Maybe I should try again with 11.6 or something?
Installing Monterey, Ventura, and Sonoma on the external SSD went smoothly.
Update (2025-03-28): Howard Oakley (tweet):
Installing macOS on external bootable disks connected to Apple silicon Macs has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life, and has driven some more experienced than me to abandon their attempts altogether.
[…]
In each test, I entered the external installer from Recovery mode as detailed by Apple, and started installation to one of the two APFS volumes in the first APFS container on the external SSD. After long periods attempting the installations, both failed with exactly the same error reported by Michael Tsai:
com.apple.OSinstallerSetup.error error 702[…]
I therefore conclude that, in Sequoia 15.3.2 at least, it’s not possible to install any version of macOS prior to Sequoia 15.0 on an external SSD connected to an Apple silicon Mac.
16 Comments RSS · Twitter · Mastodon
"I don’t understand Macs anymore."
This. ☝️
Sometimes I read Howard Oakley's stuff. And each time, I'm exhausted after the first paragraph.
> Sometimes I read Howard Oakley's stuff. And each time, I'm exhausted after the first paragraph.
This. ☝️
I don't want to use Apple Silicon macs for reasons like this. I know they're fast and power efficient and all, but they also can be a nightmare for power users like me.
I have an M1 Mac Mini that I use for testing, and I lost a whole day because I had my external drive with all of my macOS installations plugged into the wrong USB port. Naturally at no point did macOS give me *any* sort of clue as to what was going wrong. And I was aghast when I discovered what the reason for my failures was!
Macs used to be so easy. And now they're frequently exercises in hair pulling frustration. It's so sad.
If I'm going to have to put this much effort and esoteric knowledge into getting things working the way I *need* them to, then I may as well be using Linux. At least then there are no stupid restrictions in what I can do.
I had to restore an M4 MacBook Pro with M4 SoC at work recently. Entered DFU mode with no issues, but the restore kept failing. So I referred to Apple’s documentation. Yes, the DFU port on this device differs from other Apple Silicon MacBooks.
The feeling I get after reading Howard Oakley deep dives is that becoming a “real” Mac power user is impossible in practice, unless you want to be a Mac sysadmin specifically. By diving deep on a specific niche topic at worst you hit a wall, at best you gain knowledge that might perish next September.
Same goes when reading Michael’s or Jeff Johnson’s technical reports of their non-trivial Mac app releases.
> If I'm going to have to put this much effort and esoteric knowledge into getting things working the way I *need* them to, then I may as well be using Linux.
A stable version of Linux (I use Debian, I’d recommend Ubuntu LTS) is indeed freeing. The term “esoteric” doesn’t do it justice because almost everything is documented, albeit often in convoluted ways.
> I added a volume to the SSD and ran the Ventura installer again
I'm confused. Did you mean the internal disk or the external? And what effect did that have regarding the recovery partition? Did you end up with a Sonoma recovery on the internal and a Ventura recovery on the external?
@Thomas I installed Ventura on the external, so that the same drive had both Sonoma and Ventura on it. The external ended up with its own recovery partition.
@mtsai Thanks for clarifying.
BTW, I used to be able to save the recovery partitions from different macOS installs, using my app iBored (or simply with `dd`), and restore by simply replacing the blocks in the partition. Not sure if that still works, but I don't see why not. I just had a look - the Recovery partition's contents are still unencrypted, even on a M4 Mini, so it should be possible to keep a set of copied images of those partitions and replace them, possibly even between different Macs, provided the partition space still fits. I know this worked on older Macs, but haven't tried this lately.
Maybe a task for Howard to figure out.
@Thomas Since Sonoma and earlier don’t seem to install with the Sequoia recovery, is my only option at this point to wipe the Mac and restore an earlier IPSW?
@mtsai Sorry, I don't know that. But if you have someone who has an older Recovery partition, you could ask them to dd it to a file, and then you restore that to your part (after first saving your own, just in case) and see if that works.
But I thought you had already solved the downgrade issue by successfully installing the older system(s) to your external disk? What am I missing here?
@Thomas I had it working for 2 older versions when I wrote the post. With the test installs successful, I decided to erase and repartition the drive to make room for more older versions (11.0 through 15.0). Before I installed those, I made the mistake of installing the Sequoia beta (on a different external drive), and that apparently messed up the internal recovery partition so that I can no longer install any downgrades.
I’m hoping someone knows why installs only seem to work with an older recovery partition in place. But if that’s the only way to do it I can arrange to set that up again, either from another Mac or by restoring.
I saved the full log this time (excerpted below from where the trouble seemingly starts) and was surprised to see that even though I made an install disk using the latest Ventura full installer .pkg, it still apparently had to download something from Apple’s server.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: mountDiskImageWithPath: /System/Volumes/Data/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/Cleanup At Startup/IA.ZrAJI/Install macOS Ventura.app/Contents/SharedSupport/SharedSupport.dmg
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 742, PROC: osishelperd ODNodeRelease request, NodeID: 32A4AE69-B9DC-45AB-9EF6-6B4151F5FF18
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] ODNodeRelease completed
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 742, PROC: osishelperd ODSessionRelease request, SessionID: 98B8187C-F899-4F2D-A765-C7D93D7AD2ED
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] ODSessionRelease completed
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 742, PROC: osishelperd ODNodeRelease request, NodeID: 998373F5-2E2E-487A-A59B-0B0B189A0B5E
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] ODNodeRelease completed
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0, PID: 742, PROC: osishelperd ODSessionRelease request, SessionID: A82880C5-E228-4D8E-9473-3BA54FA34584
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro opendirectoryd[70]: [session] ODSessionRelease completed
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Couldn't mount dmg! (error code 12)
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Using product <OSISCollectionInstallProduct: 0x600001651a80> at distance 10
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: UI available: yes
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: PostLogoutApply: enabled
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Running without access to DEP flags. Will assume DEP enrolled.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro InstallAssistant[702]: OSISPowerAssertionManager: Take com.apple.InstallAssistant.RestartTimerPowerAssertion assertion with type PreventUserIdleSystemSleep for pid 702, id 0x8042
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Can not find update bundle. Will use fallback size.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Can not find sfr update bundle. Will use fallback size.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Can not find update bundle. Will use fallback size.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Required package references: (
"{\n AdditionalInfo = {\n PKDownloaderAdditionalReferenceOptionChunklistSize = 41972;\n PKDownloaderAdditionalReferenceOptionChunklistURL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg.integrityDataV1\";\n integrityDataSize = 41972;\n integrityDataURL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg.integrityDataV1\";\n tocDigestChecksum = 3fcb0a220d5b49e952e864af55cf9cf77634d4ca;\n };\n HashAlgorithm = 0;\n Identifier = \"com.apple.pkg.InstallAssistant.macOSVentura\";\n Size = 12201285267;\n URL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg\";\n Version = \"22.7.420\";\n}"
)
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Required package references: (
"{\n AdditionalInfo = {\n PKDownloaderAdditionalReferenceOptionChunklistSize = 41972;\n PKDownloaderAdditionalReferenceOptionChunklistURL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg.integrityDataV1\";\n integrityDataSize = 41972;\n integrityDataURL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg.integrityDataV1\";\n tocDigestChecksum = 3fcb0a220d5b49e952e864af55cf9cf77634d4ca;\n };\n HashAlgorithm = 0;\n Identifier = \"com.apple.pkg.InstallAssistant.macOSVentura\";\n Size = 12201285267;\n URL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg\";\n Version = \"22.7.420\";\n}"
)
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Skipping bridgeOS update because the current hardware doesn't support bridgeOS
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Operation queue started
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osishelperd[742]: Will not add removal tool because target is not /.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Using product PKSecureNetEnabledProduct <file:///Volumes/Gray%20Ventura/macOS%20Install%20Data/> at distance 5
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Can not find update bundle. Will use fallback size.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Required package references: (
"{\n AdditionalInfo = {\n PKDownloaderAdditionalReferenceOptionChunklistSize = 41972;\n PKDownloaderAdditionalReferenceOptionChunklistURL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg.integrityDataV1\";\n integrityDataSize = 41972;\n integrityDataURL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg.integrityDataV1\";\n tocDigestChecksum = 3fcb0a220d5b49e952e864af55cf9cf77634d4ca;\n };\n HashAlgorithm = 0;\n Identifier = \"com.apple.pkg.InstallAssistant.macOSVentura\";\n Size = 12201285267;\n URL = \"https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg\";\n Version = \"22.7.420\";\n}"
)
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: OSISDownloadOperation: No IAL update found.
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: OSISDownloadOperation: Download cache doesn't exist, skipping
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Retrieving 0 packages (0.000 GB)
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Retrieving 1 packages (12.201 GB)
Mar 26 20:19:59 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Started downloading package com.apple.pkg.InstallAssistant.macOSVentura (https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg)
Mar 26 20:30:30 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion TimedOut. Type:UserIsActive Name:'com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle serviceID:100000ad0 service:AppleMultitouchDevice product:Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad eventType:11' Id:0x90000803c Process:WindowServer [System: PrevIdle DeclUser kDisp]
Mar 26 20:30:41 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Display is turned off
Mar 26 20:30:41 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Released. Type:PreventUserIdleSystemSleep Name:'Powerd - Prevent sleep while display is on' Id:0x10000803d Process:powerd [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:30:41 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Summary. Type:PreventUserIdleSystemSleep Name:'com.apple.InstallAssistant.RestartTimerPowerAssertion' Id:0x100008042 Process:InstallAssistant [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:30:41 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Summary. Type:NoIdleSleepAssertion Name:'OSInstaller Setup' Id:0x100008044 Process:osinstallersetupd [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:30:41 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Summary. Type:NoIdleSleepAssertion Name:'OSInstaller Setup' Id:0x100008043 Process:InstallAssistant [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:30:41 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Summary. Type:ExternalMedia Name:'com.apple.powermanagement.externalmediamounted' Id:0x800008004 Process:powerd [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:42:25 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: Retrieved package com.apple.pkg.InstallAssistant.macOSVentura (https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/08/22/072-83845-A_XJNKWES8K3/95bsibbbgdt0eyfr278z60061tw15x7g40/InstallAssistant.pkg)
Mar 26 20:42:25 macbook-pro osinstallersetupd[706]: mountDiskImageWithPath: /Volumes/Gray Ventura/macOS Install Data/InstallAssistant.pkg
Mar 26 20:42:25 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Released. Type:NoIdleSleepAssertion Name:'OSInstaller Setup' Id:0x100008044 Process:osinstallersetupd [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:42:25 macbook-pro powerd[53]: Assertion Released. Type:NoIdleSleepAssertion Name:'OSInstaller Setup' Id:0x100008043 Process:InstallAssistant [System: PrevIdle]
Mar 26 20:42:25 macbook-pro InstallAssistant[702]: Stopped operation queue with Error Domain=com.apple.OSInstallerSetup.error Code=702 "(null)"
@Michael I take it you tried changing the boot policy for all the volumes on the internal and external drives and this isn't some code integrity check keeping you from installing an older version?
Not that it's excusable and I'm getting sick of security being used to justify all this shit.
@mtsai Nevermind my suggestions. I had a chat with Howard and he explained to me why doing what I said won't work. It used to work for me on Intel Macs with pre-Big Sur systems. But on recent Macs that's probably not possible any more. At least not the way I thought.
I wonder if asking on Apple's dev forum could help. There are still some helpful DTS engineers out there who take action to figure things out for us - see https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/776198 as an example.
@Sebby Thanks for the suggestion. I assume you mean the Startup Security Utility, though I think that sets a policy for the Mac itself, not per-drive, so maybe I’m misunderstanding? It’s confusing because it shows “Security Policy for ‘[drive name]’” in the UI, but obviously you can’t set the policy on a drive that doesn’t yet have a bootable installation. Anyway, I have tried setting it to Reduced Security, but that didn’t help.
@Thomas Wow, what a helpful thread. DTS Kevin is one of the best.
@TT in linked dev forum thread: "Incidentally, I had applied for a job a few times working on FS improvement in the past but nothing come of it." -- Ha! You almost became the urban legend of the programmer that got hired / fixed bug on day 1 / quit on the spot. E.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/144t2ev/get_hired_fix_bug_refuse_to_elaborate_leave/
