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Install Mojave 10.14.6 in new iMac 19,2 to HFS+ Partition

Pinarek

Pinarek

Suspended
Original poster
Sep 16, 2009
321
288
Wilsonville, Oregon
Hello all Friends

I have a brand new iMac 19.2 for my friend and would like to install on the 512 GB Apple Media SSD Mojave 10.14.6 on HFS+. I created a USB-Bootstick which is called "Install macOS Mojave". I find no solution, then when I enter from the stick boats in Terminal the command --converttoapfs NO, which it works.

I've tried all these options here. Everything does not work.

This right here:

Code: 
/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --converttoapfs NO

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/
Resources/startosinstall --applicationpath /Applications/
Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app --converttoapfs NO

sudo / Applications / Install \ macOS \ Mojave \ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume / Volumes / Macintosh-HD --converttoapfs NO

I have a big one for all friends here, how is the correct command that will not convert the HFS + partition I created for installation to APFS during installation?

Or is it not possible to install Mojave 10.14.6 Final on HFS + through this Apple 512GB Apple Media SSD? Thank you for Answer.
 
Pinarek said:
Hello all Friends

I have a brand new iMac 19.2 for my friend and would like to install on the 512 GB Apple Media SSD Mojave 10.14.6 on HFS+. I created a USB-Bootstick which is called "Install macOS Mojave". I find no solution, then when I enter from the stick boats in Terminal the command --converttoapfs NO, which it works.

I've tried all these options here. Everything does not work.

This right here:

Code: 
/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --converttoapfs NO

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/
Resources/startosinstall --applicationpath /Applications/
Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app --converttoapfs NO

sudo / Applications / Install \ macOS \ Mojave \ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume / Volumes / Macintosh-HD --converttoapfs NO
I have a big one for all friends here, how is the correct command that will not convert the HFS + partition I created for installation to APFS during installation?
Or is it not possible to install Mojave 10.14.6 Final on HFS + through this Apple 512GB Apple Media SSD? Thank you for Answer.
Click to expand...
Apple brought out a new version of Install macOS High Sierra dated Nov. 4, 2018 that does NOT work with code you posted. The prior version of the installer dated July 15, 2018 does work with that code.
If you do not have the earlier version or want to use Mojave you will have to do some loop jumping!
1. Install to the internal disk, let it convert to APFS.
2. Connect a USB SSD drive (128 or even 64GB) and initialize it to HFS+
3. Use Carbon Copy Cloner (free demo will work but in my opinion this software is well worth the purchase!) and copy the set up internal drive to the HFS+ external drive.
4. Reboot from the external drive.
5. Format the internal drive to HFS+ and use CCC to clone the external drive to the internal.
Voila:):apple::) Running the system (both HS and Mojave) on a HFS+ drive works fine, and you can use Disk Warrior on it occasionally to keep it working, but ...
6. You will need to have an APFS bootable drive to do any updates, so you may want to use another drive or you can now reformat the external drive to APFS and clone the internal to the external again.
Enough loops for you? Send your thanks to Apple for that (doubt they will appreciate it).
 
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Pinarek said:
Hello all Friends

I have a brand new iMac 19.2 for my friend and would like to install on the 512 GB Apple Media SSD Mojave 10.14.6 on HFS+. I created a USB-Bootstick which is called "Install macOS Mojave". I find no solution, then when I enter from the stick boats in Terminal the command --converttoapfs NO, which it works.

I've tried all these options here. Everything does not work.

This right here:

Code: 
/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --converttoapfs NO

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/
Resources/startosinstall --applicationpath /Applications/
Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app --converttoapfs NO

sudo / Applications / Install \ macOS \ Mojave \ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume / Volumes / Macintosh-HD --converttoapfs NO

I have a big one for all friends here, how is the correct command that will not convert the HFS + partition I created for installation to APFS during installation?

Or is it not possible to install Mojave 10.14.6 Final on HFS + through this Apple 512GB Apple Media SSD? Thank you for Answer.
Click to expand...
You cannot install Mojave (any version) directly onto an HFS+ drive. If you really feel it's necessary to run in this unsupported configuration, you'll need to install onto an APFS drive and then clone that installation to an HFS+ disk. Be aware that software updates will not install to the HFS+ drive, so you'd have to repeat this process every time you want to apply an update to the operating system.
None of the commands you posted will work. The "converttoapfs NO" command is removed from the Mojave installer, and all of the commands above either reference High Sierra or a Mojave beta installer.
 
davidlv said:
6. You will need to have an APFS bootable drive to do any updates, so you may want to use another drive or you can now reformat the external drive to APFS and clone the internal to the external again.
Enough loops for you? Send your thanks to Apple for that (doubt they will appreciate it).
Click to expand...
This right here is one of the main reasons why I have decided to remain on High Sierra for as long as possible. I am very conservative when it comes to filesystems, guess I've seen my share of "****, that's not supposed to happen..." situations. I remember losing an important production database because of a major bug in early implementations of ZFS on Solaris that caused the system to invalidate, lose track of, and subsequently reuse inodes on certain Adaptec SCSI controllers. And we're talking enterprise-grade "this data is critical to mankind's survival" Solaris here, not consumer-level "who cares about your cat photos?" macOS. I don't trust Apple enough and am going to avoid APFS for as long as humanly possible. If this means I have to stick with 10.13 for the time being then so be it.

@Pinarek The hoops you have to jump through to get Mojave running on HFS+ are simply not worth it, especially if you're doing it for a friend. At a certain point the hassle of hourly backups and lack of support by Windows and Linux is going to be the lesser evil, and Apple made sure of it by actively refusing to allow you to search for updates on HFS+-enabled installations of 10.14. If you want to stick with HFS+ I you need to run 10.13 instead, however you will have to get a 2017 iMac to do that. The 2019 iMacs will not run 10.13 anymore.
 
I use two drives

1. SSD 2.5" formatted to APFS for the initial install.

then . ..

2. Carbon Copy Clone to a Samsung M.2 960 EVO.

Works perfectly.
 
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