I have a MacBook Air which I believe is an early 2014 model. The user no longer works for the company and so I can't log in to the machine. I have made a boot USB with Mojave but the progress bar gets about half way across the screen before stopping. PRAM and NVRAM resets have not worked. Is there a chance that a 16Gb USB drive is too big for this?
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Boot from USB Issue
- Thread starter timgowen
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Can you boot the Mac into recovery mode? Either local one or internet one. Unless the Mac has firmware password, booting from external drive with that Mac shouldn’t be too difficult.
16GB I’d say it’s a bit too small. 32GB would be better, but I doubt that’s the reason.
16GB I’d say it’s a bit too small. 32GB would be better, but I doubt that’s the reason.
What is your intention. Why not boot into recovery with either cmd+r or alt+cmd+r (for latest supported version, which is Big Sur). You likely need internet connection, especially for alt+cmd+r.
Other alterntives. Make Big-sur usb-installer, in case a newer macos is already installed than Mojava and that is causing som problem.
support.apple.com
Or connect it to another Mac like an external disk drive with Target Disk Mode:
edit: just to add, that if your intentention is to access data, it is likely encrypted if filevault was/is enabled. If so, almost impossible to access without getting password from the ex-employee.
Other alterntives. Make Big-sur usb-installer, in case a newer macos is already installed than Mojava and that is causing som problem.
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.
Or connect it to another Mac like an external disk drive with Target Disk Mode:
Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode
You can connect two Mac computers using a USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt cable, then transfer files.
support.apple.com
edit: just to add, that if your intentention is to access data, it is likely encrypted if filevault was/is enabled. If so, almost impossible to access without getting password from the ex-employee.
Last edited:
I just want to do that, yes but the Recovery mode is causing the kernel panic which didn't happen last time. Maybe because the laptop had de-charged but on the other hand it was plugged in. The USB boot goes as far but there's not been evidence of a KP before.What is your intention. Why not boot into recovery with either cmd+r or alt+cmd+r (for latest supported version, which is Big Sur). You likely need internet connection, especially for alt+cmd+r.
Other alterntives. Make Big-sur usb-installer, in case a newer macos is already installed than Mojava and that is causing som problem.
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.
Or connect it to another Mac like an external disk drive with Target Disk Mode:
Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode
You can connect two Mac computers using a USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt cable, then transfer files.support.apple.com
edit: just to add, that if your intentention is to access data, it is likely encrypted if filevault was/is enabled. If so, almost impossible to access without getting password from the ex-employee.
Attachments
Access data?
Does it boot all the way on the current installation?
If not, it might have a hardware problem.
If it does, maybe try making a usb-installer of another version of macOS. As I already suggested, Big Sur is newest macOS and supported.
Here is what Apple suggest:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT200553
You might also try holding shift during boot to enable safe mode.
Start up your Mac in safe mode
Starting up your Mac in safe mode may help you diagnose problems with your Mac.
support.apple.com
It boots to the login screen and I can log in as a guest. I can't use Command-R or Command-S though, or a USB drive to boot.
Those shortcuts should be used during boot, not login screen. You can also try holding down alt-key, that will allow you to choose boot-drive and boot from a recovery partition if there is one or usb-drive/key. If firmware password has been enabled, you will be prompted for password. That will require hardware technition to remove/disable (had it done on 2014 11" during screen replacement).
cmd+s is disabled if firmware password i set in Mojave and later:
Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support
Learn about the Mac features and tools that you can access by holding down one or more keys during startup.
Thanks all, I don't know why it didn't work before but I have Big Sur on it and all is good!
