Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

[Ronni Brown]

Hi Brian,

Did you download the updated drivers for EI Capitan?
Huawei E8372 Drivers for El Capitan
https://consumer.huawei.com/en/search/?keyword=Huawei%20E8372%20Drivers%20for%20El%20Capitan

Kind Regards,
Ronni

 Ronni Brown’s iPad Pro 12.9-inch 256GB 


> On 1 Jul 2019, at 10:03 am, Brian W Scott  wrote:
> 
> Hi Neil,
> 
> Thank you for your assistance.
> 
> I’m beginning to think the reason I’m having trouble getting a USB drive 
> bootable could be the way I’m going about it using the Restore option from 
> the MacBook Air. 
> 
> What if the MacBook Air (2011) to old to handle the Restore system.
> 
> What I should do is get a copy El Capitan from where ever and install it on 
> the USB drive without using the Restore option.
> 
> Trouble is I don’t know how to get hold of El Capitan in a form where I can 
> install it on the external drive. Would I have to go to an Apple shop and buy 
> it?
> 
> I’ve thought of my old Clone for the MacBook Air with Lion on it - put that 
> back on the MacBook Air and update to El Capitan again. 
> 
> Trouble is I’m not sure how to go about doing that. I can’t remember if it’s 
> a clone made using SuperDuper or the old Disk Utility that was capable of 
> doing clones.
> 
> But I guess if the clone boots it will prove it’s viable but getting it onto 
> the MacBook Air, I I’m not sure how to do that would SuperDuper do it for me 
> if Disk Utility made it?
> 
> That would at least clean out any messed up Library or what ever is stopping 
> this Huawei stick from working on it.
> 
> It is as you guessed a Huawei E8372.
> 
> I’ll take a look at the pdf for it when I’ve done a bit of shopping and some 
> other stuff, dealing with these computer problems does come with a certain 
> stress factor.
> 
> Thanks again
> Brian
> 
> 
>> On 30 Jun 2019, at 3:21 pm, Neil Houghton  wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Brian,
>>  
>> First off a clone of your Mac mini is not the way to go - the hardware of 
>> the Mac Mini and the MacBook Air are different. The OSX installation process 
>> installs what is needed for the specific computer it is installed on.
>> Personally, I would not dive into re-installing El Capitan on the MacBook 
>> Air when:
>> You do not know what the existing problem is and whether a system re-install 
>> ill fix-it
>> You seem to be having problems just installing a bootable system on an 
>> external drive.
>> Maybe we need to work out why you can’t create your USB boot drive – 4TB is 
>> definitely not too small to put a bare OSX operating system on – 32GB is 
>> plenty!!
>>  
>> I’ll come back with more on the bootable USB
>>  
>>  
>> Cheers
>>  
>> Neil
>> -- 
>> Neil R. Houghton
>> Albany, Western Australia
>> Tel: +61 8 9841 6063
>> Email: n...@possumology.com
>>  
>> -Original Message-
>> From:  on behalf of Brian W 
>> Scott 
>> Reply-To: WAMUG 
>> Date: Sunday, 30 June 2019 at 14:48
>> To: WAMUG 
>> Subject: Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?
>>  
>> Well after re-formating the USB disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) I 
>> had another go but it didn’t work.
>> 
>> Once again after several minutes downloading etc it reckoned it had 
>> hundreds of years remaining but after a couple of minutes 
>> went to 0 seconds and eventually rebooted and then said the target disk 
>> (4 TB) is too small.
>> 
>> It left a folder on the USB drive called OS X install Data within which 
>> is file called installESD.dmg double clicking that
>> brought up a window with another folder called Packages within which 
>> were these files..
>> 
>> BaseSystemResources.pkg
>> EFIPayloads
>> Essentials.pkg  (5.6 GB)
>> InstallableMachines.plist
>> OSInstall.mpkg
>> OSInstall.pkg
>> OSUpgrade.pkg
>> SMCPayloads
>> X11redirect.pkg
>> 
>> all quite small except for Essentials.pkg which I double clicked and was 
>> presented with the option of installing so I went ahead
>> with installing to the USB drive.
>> 
>> After a couple of hours or so the USB disk ended up with 23.2 BG used 
>> and with these directories on it ...
>> 
>> Applications
>> bin
>> cores
>> dev
>> etc
>> Library
>> Network
>> OS X Install Data
>> OS X Install Data copy
>> private
>> sbin
>> System
>> tmp
>> Users
>> usr
>> var
>> Volumes
>> 
>> But still not a bootable drive.
>> 
>> I thought it prudent to make copy of OS X install Data incase it got 
>> removed by the installation process and because I was 
>> warned at the start I would not have the Recovery option when installing 
>> to the USB disk.
>> 
>> So do I go for broke and try to re-install the OS on the MacBook Air?
>> 
>> I’ll have a think about it but after how that went I’m not too keen.
>> 
>> I still want to make the external USB drive bootable. 
>> Perhaps if I use it to make a clone of my Macmini which has El Capitan 
>> 

Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

[Brian W Scott]

Hi Neil,

Thank you for your assistance.

I’m beginning to think the reason I’m having trouble getting a USB drive 
bootable could be the way I’m going about it using the Restore option from the 
MacBook Air. 

What if the MacBook Air (2011) to old to handle the Restore system.

What I should do is get a copy El Capitan from where ever and install it on the 
USB drive without using the Restore option.

Trouble is I don’t know how to get hold of El Capitan in a form where I can 
install it on the external drive. Would I have to go to an Apple shop and buy 
it?

I’ve thought of my old Clone for the MacBook Air with Lion on it - put that 
back on the MacBook Air and update to El Capitan again. 

Trouble is I’m not sure how to go about doing that. I can’t remember if it’s a 
clone made using SuperDuper or the old Disk Utility that was capable of doing 
clones.

But I guess if the clone boots it will prove it’s viable but getting it onto 
the MacBook Air, I I’m not sure how to do that would SuperDuper do it for me if 
Disk Utility made it?

That would at least clean out any messed up Library or what ever is stopping 
this Huawei stick from working on it.

It is as you guessed a Huawei E8372.

I’ll take a look at the pdf for it when I’ve done a bit of shopping and some 
other stuff, dealing with these computer problems does come with a certain 
stress factor.

Thanks again
Brian


> On 30 Jun 2019, at 3:21 pm, Neil Houghton  wrote:
> 
> Hi Brian,
>  
> First off a clone of your Mac mini is not the way to go - the hardware of the 
> Mac Mini and the MacBook Air are different. The OSX installation process 
> installs what is needed for the specific computer it is installed on.
> Personally, I would not dive into re-installing El Capitan on the MacBook Air 
> when:
> You do not know what the existing problem is and whether a system re-install 
> ill fix-it
> You seem to be having problems just installing a bootable system on an 
> external drive.
> Maybe we need to work out why you can’t create your USB boot drive – 4TB is 
> definitely not too small to put a bare OSX operating system on – 32GB is 
> plenty!!
>  
> I’ll come back with more on the bootable USB
>  
>  
> Cheers
>  
> Neil
> -- 
> Neil R. Houghton
> Albany, Western Australia
> Tel: +61 8 9841 6063
> Email: n...@possumology.com 
>  
> -Original Message-
> From:  on behalf of Brian W 
> Scott 
> Reply-To: WAMUG 
> Date: Sunday, 30 June 2019 at 14:48
> To: WAMUG 
> Subject: Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?
>  
> Well after re-formating the USB disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) I had 
> another go but it didn’t work.
> 
> Once again after several minutes downloading etc it reckoned it had 
> hundreds of years remaining but after a couple of minutes 
> went to 0 seconds and eventually rebooted and then said the target disk 
> (4 TB) is too small.
> 
> It left a folder on the USB drive called OS X install Data within which 
> is file called installESD.dmg double clicking that
> brought up a window with another folder called Packages within which were 
> these files..
> 
> BaseSystemResources.pkg
> EFIPayloads
> Essentials.pkg  (5.6 GB)
> InstallableMachines.plist
> OSInstall.mpkg
> OSInstall.pkg
> OSUpgrade.pkg
> SMCPayloads
> X11redirect.pkg
> 
> all quite small except for Essentials.pkg which I double clicked and was 
> presented with the option of installing so I went ahead
> with installing to the USB drive.
> 
> After a couple of hours or so the USB disk ended up with 23.2 BG used and 
> with these directories on it ...
> 
> Applications
> bin
> cores
> dev
> etc
> Library
> Network
> OS X Install Data
> OS X Install Data copy
> private
> sbin
> System
> tmp
> Users
> usr
> var
> Volumes
> 
> But still not a bootable drive.
> 
> I thought it prudent to make copy of OS X install Data incase it got 
> removed by the installation process and because I was 
> warned at the start I would not have the Recovery option when installing 
> to the USB disk.
> 
> So do I go for broke and try to re-install the OS on the MacBook Air?
> 
> I’ll have a think about it but after how that went I’m not too keen.
> 
> I still want to make the external USB drive bootable. 
> Perhaps if I use it to make a clone of my Macmini which has El Capitan on 
> it.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Brian
> 
> > On 30 Jun 2019, at 11:34 am, Brian W Scott  
> wrote:
> > 
> > Hi Neil,
> > 
> > Thank you for your reply.
> > 
> > The short WHY is I have a Huawei USB stick fitted with a SIM for mobile 
> internet that works with my iMac (High Sierra) and my
> > Mac Mini (El Capitan) but there is something stopping it from working 
> on the MacBook Air (El Capitan) so I want to clean 

WAMUG User Group Reminder: This Tuesday, 2 July 2019

[WAMUG Annoucement]

G’day all WAMUGERS.

It’s exactly half way through the year and out half-way monthly User Group of 
the year is just a couple of days away being this Tuesday, the 2nd of July, 
2019.

This month we are looking Airdrop between a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone; 
depending of on the age of the device and its software. Also, we’ll be looking 
at Affinity Products and Photo and Designer works on the Mac and iPads, some 
very popular brands of software.

So grab your Apple devices and head on down the User Group.

(Details are subject to change without notice)

Location: The Professional Prowest Real Estate building, 175 High Road, 
Willeton.
Time:   7.30pm - 9.30pm
Cost: $5

Visit 
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Professionals+Prowest+Real+Estate/@-32.040609,115.8870881,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x2a32bd0766deee43:0xbed7162d276a4cb7

Gregory’s UBD map ref: 329 E 2 (Nearest cross street is Yampi Way.)
Streetsmart map ref: 433 D 1 (Nearest cross street is Yampi Way.)

See you there.

Pete Smith

Please do not reply to this email.

-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
Archives - 
Guidelines - 
Settings & Unsubscribe - 

Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

[Neil Houghton]

Hi Brian,

 
First off a clone of your Mac mini is not the way to go - the hardware of the 
Mac Mini and the MacBook Air are different. The OSX installation process 
installs what is needed for the specific computer it is installed on.
Personally, I would not dive into re-installing El Capitan on the MacBook Air 
when:
You do not know what the existing problem is and whether a system re-install 
ill fix-it
You seem to be having problems just installing a bootable system on an external 
drive.
Maybe we need to work out why you can’t create your USB boot drive – 4TB is 
definitely not too small to put a bare OSX operating system on – 32GB is 
plenty!!
 

I’ll come back with more on the bootable USB

 

 

Cheers

 

Neil

-- 

Neil R. Houghton

Albany, Western Australia

Tel: +61 8 9841 6063

Email: n...@possumology.com

 

-Original Message-

From:  on behalf of Brian W 
Scott 

Reply-To: WAMUG 

Date: Sunday, 30 June 2019 at 14:48

To: WAMUG 

Subject: Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

 

    Well after re-formating the USB disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) I had 
another go but it didn’t work.

    

Once again after several minutes downloading etc it reckoned it had 
hundreds of years remaining but after a couple of minutes 

went to 0 seconds and eventually rebooted and then said the target disk (4 
TB) is too small.

    

It left a folder on the USB drive called OS X install Data within which is 
file called installESD.dmg double clicking that

    brought up a window with another folder called Packages within which were 
these files..

    

BaseSystemResources.pkg

    EFIPayloads

    Essentials.pkg  (5.6 GB)

    InstallableMachines.plist

    OSInstall.mpkg

    OSInstall.pkg

    OSUpgrade.pkg

    SMCPayloads

    X11redirect.pkg

    

all quite small except for Essentials.pkg which I double clicked and was 
presented with the option of installing so I went ahead

    with installing to the USB drive.

    

After a couple of hours or so the USB disk ended up with 23.2 BG used and 
with these directories on it ...

    

Applications

    bin

    cores

    dev

    etc

    Library

    Network

    OS X Install Data

    OS X Install Data copy

    private

    sbin

    System

    tmp

    Users

    usr

    var

    Volumes

    

But still not a bootable drive.

    

I thought it prudent to make copy of OS X install Data incase it got 
removed by the installation process and because I was 

warned at the start I would not have the Recovery option when installing to 
the USB disk.

    

So do I go for broke and try to re-install the OS on the MacBook Air?

    

I’ll have a think about it but after how that went I’m not too keen.

    

I still want to make the external USB drive bootable. 

Perhaps if I use it to make a clone of my Macmini which has El Capitan on 
it.

    

Regards

    

Brian

    

> On 30 Jun 2019, at 11:34 am, Brian W Scott  wrote:

    > 

> Hi Neil,

    > 

> Thank you for your reply.

    > 

> The short WHY is I have a Huawei USB stick fitted with a SIM for mobile 
internet that works with my iMac (High Sierra) and my

    > Mac Mini (El Capitan) but there is something stopping it from working on 
the MacBook Air (El Capitan) so I want to clean out what 

> ever is stopping it from working.

    > 

> To make the WHY even longer; 

> Web pages I use were not loading any more while the OS on the MacBook Air 
was Lion so I updated to El Capitan.

    > 

> The web pages work fine now using my home modem, but when I tried to 
access the web using my old USB stick (from Optus, 

> mobile account with Exetel)  that had been working fine since 2011 under 
Lion it came up with a warning to install legacy Java SE 6 which I did, 

> 

> I in fact updated to the latest, and the warning went away. 

> But the stick still was not logging onto the web. 

> So I figured the stick is simply old technology that won’t work anymore 
and got this latest one from Exetel with a new SIM and new 

> account. Except it’s not working on my MacBook Air but works fine on my 
other computers. 

> 

> When the stick is first inserted a window pops up with an Install icon 
which I double clicked and something was installed, what and

    > where I don’t know. The stick doesn’t appear as device on the system so 
there is no way finding an un-install which probably doesn’t

    > exist any way.

    > 

> I feel that there may something from the old stick in the MacBook Air’s 
system preventing it from working, (maybe the Java update?) 

> I can’t find anything in my Library and don’t know what to look for 
anyway hence the desire for another clean install.

    > 

> I thought if I boot from an external drive with the stick in the MacBook 
Air and it works I can be more confident in re-installing the OS on it.

 

Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

[Neil Houghton]

Hi Brian,

 

OK, it definitely helps to know what your problem is!

 

We all tend to have our different ways to go about things like this and I'm not 
familiar with your USB mobile modem. I have used them when travelling overseas 
when some places I have stayed that offered internet access used them. Some 
worked better than others but that could just have been down to how the owners 
set them up  ;o)

 

So just a few thoughts:

 
An alternative approach:
· You do not say what model of a Huawei USB modem this is but the 
Exetel site https://www.exetel.com.au/mobile-broadband suggests it is the 
Huawei E8372 and the quick start guide for this modem 
https://wirelessgear.com.au/content/huawei-e8372-qsg.pdf shows that it has a 
wi-fi function - if this is your model, have you tried turning on the wi-fi 
whilst the modem is in one off the working computers and then connecting the 
other computer(s) by wi-fi?

· If the modem DOES have inbuilt wi-fi then this could be the most 
convenient way to go - installed in one of the fixed macs (iMac or Mac mini) 
and providing wi-fi internet access to the other two - which would avoid having 
to swap the modem from computer to computer.

· The performance of this set-up is likely to be very dependent on the 
positioning of each device both with regard to the mobile reception of the 
modem in the host device and the proximity of the other computers for the wi-fi 
connection.

· If this seems like a good solution except for the poor performance of 
the inbuilt wi-fi then there are wireless routers which accept a plug-in USB 
modem eg: 
https://wirelessgear.com.au/dovado-tiny-3g-4g-lte-usb-modem-router-bulk-packaging/
 note this is just an example from google – not a recommendation.

 
Troubleshooting the existing problem:
The alternative solution may not be an option or, like me, you like to solve 
the problem anyway ;o)
Whilst re-installing your OS MIGHT solve the problem - to me it seems a bit 
premature to jump to this conclusion.  Sort of like "My car won't start, I'd 
better put a new engine in!" 
Personally, I would be trying a few tests to try and work out where the problem 
lies.
The fact that the modem is working with the two other computers proves that the 
modem and network connection work OK.
The fact that your Mac mini also uses El Capitan rules out basic OSX 
incompatibility - I assume both computers are running the latest El Capitan 
version OSX 10.11.6?
Have you tried setting up a new, bare admin account and seeing if you can get 
the modem to work – that would rule out the problem being any corrupted user 
preferences/settings.
With regard to your old setup and the warning to install legacy Java SE 6 – 
this is definitely an old, unsupported version of Java – so this may well have 
been the problem (rather than the old technology of the old USB device. The 
current version of Java is Java 8. Installing Java is straying off topic a bit 
but, if you are interested, there are OSX FAQs here < 
https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/java_mac.xml> 
Your idea of booting of of a clean  bare install of El Capitan on an external 
boot drive should work OK – but it doesn’t really help you know where the 
problem is. The problem then is how to manage the mirastion of all your user 
apps and data that you do want  - without migration over whatever is causing 
the problem.  Not that it can’t be done – but it may involve eitherquite a bit 
of time and trial/error or just starting with a completely clean installation 
and then re-installing apps one by one and managing your data accordingly.
 

 

That’s probably enough for now  ;o)

 

 

Just my thoughts.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Neil

 

Neil R. Houghton

Albany, Western Australia

Tel: +61 8 9841 6063

Email: n...@possumology.com

 

 

-Original Message-

From:  on behalf of Brian W 
Scott 

Reply-To: WAMUG 

Date: Sunday, 30 June 2019 at 11:34

To: WAMUG 

Subject: Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

 

    Hi Neil,

    

Thank you for your reply.

    

The short WHY is I have a Huawei USB stick fitted with a SIM for mobile 
internet that works with my iMac (High Sierra) and my

    Mac Mini (El Capitan) but there is something stopping it from working on 
the MacBook Air (El Capitan) so I want to clean out what 

ever is stopping it from working.

    

To make the WHY even longer; 

Web pages I use were not loading any more while the OS on the MacBook Air 
was Lion so I updated to El Capitan.

    

The web pages work fine now using my home modem, but when I tried to access 
the web using my old USB stick (from Optus, 

mobile account with Exetel)  that had been working fine since 2011 under 
Lion it came up with a warning to install legacy Java SE 6 which I did, 



I in fact updated to the latest, and the warning went away. 

But the stick still was not logging onto the web. 

So I figured the stick is 

Re: Is it possible to have an External USB boot drive?

[Brian W Scott]

Well after re-formating the USB disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) I had 
another go but it didn’t work.

Once again after several minutes downloading etc it reckoned it had hundreds of 
years remaining but after a couple of minutes 
went to 0 seconds and eventually rebooted and then said the target disk (4 TB) 
is too small.

It left a folder on the USB drive called OS X install Data within which is file 
called installESD.dmg double clicking that
brought up a window with another folder called Packages within which were these 
files..

BaseSystemResources.pkg
EFIPayloads
Essentials.pkg  (5.6 GB)
InstallableMachines.plist
OSInstall.mpkg
OSInstall.pkg
OSUpgrade.pkg
SMCPayloads
X11redirect.pkg

all quite small except for Essentials.pkg which I double clicked and was 
presented with the option of installing so I went ahead
with installing to the USB drive.

After a couple of hours or so the USB disk ended up with 23.2 BG used and with 
these directories on it ...

Applications
bin
cores
dev
etc
Library
Network
OS X Install Data
OS X Install Data copy
private
sbin
System
tmp
Users
usr
var
Volumes

But still not a bootable drive.

I thought it prudent to make copy of OS X install Data incase it got removed by 
the installation process and because I was 
warned at the start I would not have the Recovery option when installing to the 
USB disk.

So do I go for broke and try to re-install the OS on the MacBook Air?

I’ll have a think about it but after how that went I’m not too keen.

I still want to make the external USB drive bootable. 
Perhaps if I use it to make a clone of my Macmini which has El Capitan on it.

Regards

Brian

> On 30 Jun 2019, at 11:34 am, Brian W Scott  wrote:
> 
> Hi Neil,
> 
> Thank you for your reply.
> 
> The short WHY is I have a Huawei USB stick fitted with a SIM for mobile 
> internet that works with my iMac (High Sierra) and my
> Mac Mini (El Capitan) but there is something stopping it from working on the 
> MacBook Air (El Capitan) so I want to clean out what 
> ever is stopping it from working.
> 
> To make the WHY even longer; 
> Web pages I use were not loading any more while the OS on the MacBook Air was 
> Lion so I updated to El Capitan.
> 
> The web pages work fine now using my home modem, but when I tried to access 
> the web using my old USB stick (from Optus, 
> mobile account with Exetel)  that had been working fine since 2011 under Lion 
> it came up with a warning to install legacy Java SE 6 which I did, 
> 
> I in fact updated to the latest, and the warning went away. 
> But the stick still was not logging onto the web. 
> So I figured the stick is simply old technology that won’t work anymore and 
> got this latest one from Exetel with a new SIM and new 
> account. Except it’s not working on my MacBook Air but works fine on my other 
> computers. 
> 
> When the stick is first inserted a window pops up with an Install icon which 
> I double clicked and something was installed, what and
> where I don’t know. The stick doesn’t appear as device on the system so there 
> is no way finding an un-install which probably doesn’t
> exist any way.
> 
> I feel that there may something from the old stick in the MacBook Air’s 
> system preventing it from working, (maybe the Java update?) 
> I can’t find anything in my Library and don’t know what to look for anyway 
> hence the desire for another clean install.
> 
> I thought if I boot from an external drive with the stick in the MacBook Air 
> and it works I can be more confident in re-installing the OS on it.
> 
> Of course I could just re-install the OS on the MacBook Air without doing and 
> external boot drive but I thought there would some benefit in 
> having one and I don’t want to risk disabling my MacBook Air by risking what 
> may be a faulty re-instal.
> 
> I have a clone of my MacBook Air when it had Lion on it, but I only use the 
> machine when I’m out, it mainly gets used to access the web and nothing else.
> 
> So I’ll have another go today to make a boot drive though I’m not super 
> confident after yesterdays fail. The drive I’m using has 3.99 TB available
> and the MacBook Air has 208 GB available but I’m wondering if the USB powered 
> drive may be too slow and that may be effecting the install.
> 
> I thought of going to something smaller like an iPad Air but then I’d end up 
> with a MacBook Air siting around doing nothing. 
> Plus I’m 70 now and don’t get about much any more so I don’t want to spend 
> heaps for a mobile device when I already have one, 
> even though at the moment it’s one that isn’t doing what I want.
> 
> Exetel support tried to help but once they learned it works on other 
> computers they figured the fault lay with the MacBook Air.
> 
> I’ve not tried to contact Huawei and I am not sure if that’s even practical 
> except to maybe to find what was installed and where.
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> Brian
> 
>> On 29 Jun 2019, at 6:18 pm, Neil Houghton  wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Brian,
>>