I think this issue is fixed now. FileVault on M1 works much differently than on intel. Apple has more control over the encryption. You're just making a key. See here:
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M1 Macs, boot from external drive possible?
- Thread starter sledgehammer89
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I don't yet have a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure to try unfortunately.
Do we think FileVault boot is a likely addition, that is not yet implemented?
k-hawinkler
macrumors 6502
Well, I don't think that matters to the enclosure.
It could matter to the storage media used.
And definitely it matters how the macOS deals with that.
In my OWC TB3 enclosures I have 4 SATA SSDs and 4 Seagate IronWolf NAS drives.
As SoftRAID 6 isn't ready yet, I use Disk Utility to create RAIDs, ScaryRAIDs that is.
Two Seagate IronWolf NAS drives in one RAID, the other similar RAID as backup.
ScaryRAID is aptly named because if one drive dies all data in that RAID is lost.
The four 2 TB SATA SSDs form a single 8 TB RAID.
On my older Intel Mac those were used in a RAID 5 configuration.
Such a wasteful use!!!
Completely unnecessary for scratch storage.
The performance hit for writes is simply not worth it.
Also, typically SSDs don't all of a sudden die.
If one keeps monitoring them most likely there will be advanced warnings.
So, as a TM backup and as an external boot drive I have two TB3 2TB SSDs.
The OWC Envoy Pro FX has a detachable cable.
On the EX the cable is solidly integrated and can't be detached.
I have not tried out encryption here either.
Did not work for me. And online research learned me this is a know issue, not to work.
when i try to modify it give me "recovery app is trying to change system settings, no admin found"
I had been facing the error "SDErrorDomain error 104" when trying to boot BigSur 11.3 from an external USB 3.0 (USB A) SSD (ADATA 480). I couldnt set the external ssd as the startup disk because of this error. Note that I had this issue on my Intel iMac 27 2020, not on M1.
The solution that worked for me was to first go to Recovery mode, set it to no security + allow booting from external drive and only then proceed with an installation attempt. After setting these two options, I deleted the Volume Group on my external SSD (as it previously failed with error 104) using Disk Utility. After that, restarted and booted to the internal drive. After the boot , started the installation of the Big Sur 11.3 image I downloaded from App Store. It completed and restarted the machine twice on its own. Finally, I got to the Select Language screen, completed the installation and now I can boot from both drives.
It seems to me that I might had faced error 104 because I started the installation process before setting to No Security and Allow External boot in the Recovery console. It might might not be correct, but it appears to me so.
Just my 2c, I hope it might help someone, as I said it was for Intel iMac though
The solution that worked for me was to first go to Recovery mode, set it to no security + allow booting from external drive and only then proceed with an installation attempt. After setting these two options, I deleted the Volume Group on my external SSD (as it previously failed with error 104) using Disk Utility. After that, restarted and booted to the internal drive. After the boot , started the installation of the Big Sur 11.3 image I downloaded from App Store. It completed and restarted the machine twice on its own. Finally, I got to the Select Language screen, completed the installation and now I can boot from both drives.
It seems to me that I might had faced error 104 because I started the installation process before setting to No Security and Allow External boot in the Recovery console. It might might not be correct, but it appears to me so.
Just my 2c, I hope it might help someone, as I said it was for Intel iMac though
Experiences about bootable externals seem to vary widely. I have done several successful installs onto externals with Full Security settings. The M1 Startup security settings do not mention external drives, unlike the T2 security settings which have a whole extra section about External booting, which is not present in the M1 equivalent.
ZombiePhysicist
Suspended
Has anything changed here? Summarizing the thread this seems to be the state of affairs.
To boot externally on M1 Mac you have 2.5 paths:
1) Get a Thunderbolt 3 (or newer) based drive and install on that
2*) If your M1 Mac has a USB-A port, you can install on a USB based device.
2.5*) One person claims if you use the Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter you can also install via that USB-A port on a USB device.
*If you replug a successfully created USB device from the USB-A port to a USB-C port, it might corrupt the drive so it's no longer bootable.
In short, USB devices are (with the possible exception of items 2 and 2.5 above) not bootable on M1 Macs (save for the lame and near useless bootable installer that you can make). Further, since it is possible to make a bootable installer on a USB thumb drive but not an actual bootable OS/system, it seems like apple is purposefully limiting the ability. WHY?!
Monterey doesn't seem to have fixed this issue as I'm still not able to create a bootable USB drive.
TLDR the only real consistent way to boot an M1 Mac externally is via Thunderbolt.
To boot externally on M1 Mac you have 2.5 paths:
1) Get a Thunderbolt 3 (or newer) based drive and install on that
2*) If your M1 Mac has a USB-A port, you can install on a USB based device.
2.5*) One person claims if you use the Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter you can also install via that USB-A port on a USB device.
*If you replug a successfully created USB device from the USB-A port to a USB-C port, it might corrupt the drive so it's no longer bootable.
In short, USB devices are (with the possible exception of items 2 and 2.5 above) not bootable on M1 Macs (save for the lame and near useless bootable installer that you can make). Further, since it is possible to make a bootable installer on a USB thumb drive but not an actual bootable OS/system, it seems like apple is purposefully limiting the ability. WHY?!
Monterey doesn't seem to have fixed this issue as I'm still not able to create a bootable USB drive.
TLDR the only real consistent way to boot an M1 Mac externally is via Thunderbolt.
This thread is over six months old which is a long time in Apple Silicon world. Current Answers:
1) No. In the early days of M1 TB3 3xternals were more successful than USB but USB worked as well.
2) No. I have M1 MBA, with no USB-A ports and have made bootable externals
3) Not necessary IME
My experience which was more in the early days of M1 was that problems often arose, and repeat attempts were sometimes successful. This may account for the reports of 3).
Good up to date article.
Many more about M1 and external on same site.
ZombiePhysicist
Suspended
Thanks, I did not know that.
Well I tried to make a bootable drive from an SD card and it fails and hangs with the same kind of errors were discussed at length in this thread. So seems to still be an issue. The OS installs on the SD card, but seems like nothing you do will select the drive to be bootable on the new M1 Macs.
This is a shame as SD cards make great quick recovery drives and they run decently fast.
I made a new thread to discuss the more narrow topic here:
M1 Macs, boot system from USB Thumb Drives/SD cards possible?
Has anyone found a way to create a bootable SD card on M1 Macs? Following up from this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m1-macs-boot-from-external-drive-possible.2267649/post-30607547 It seems like it is now possible to create bootable thunderbolt or USB drives for M1 Macs and...
forums.macrumors.com
Last edited:
I haven't tried a bootable SD, though a friend made a bootable installer on one.Thanks, I did not know that.
Well I tried to make a bootable drive from an SD card and it fails and hangs with the same kind of errors were discussed at length in this thread. So seems to still be an issue. The OS installs on the SD card, but seems like nothing you do will select the drive to be bootable on the new M1 Macs.
This is a shame as SD cards make great quick recovery drives and they run decently fast.
I made a new thread to discuss the more narrow topic here:
M1 Macs, boot system from USB Thumb Drives/SD cards possible?
Has anyone found a way to create a bootable SD card on M1 Macs? Following up from this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m1-macs-boot-from-external-drive-possible.2267649/post-30607547 It seems like it is now possible to create bootable thunderbolt or USB drives for M1 Macs and...
I have made bootable thumb drive in Big Sur and found some particular ones don't work so might be true of SD
another thought is whether the SD is plugged direct into a new M1 with SD slot, or an earlier one using an SD reader or hub.
ZombiePhysicist
Suspended
I'm going to move this into this new thread where it's more on topic:
M1 Macs, boot system from USB Thumb Drives/SD cards possible?
Above repasted from here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m1-macs-boot-from-external-drive-possible.2267649/post-30608737 Can you tell me what thumb drive you used that you got a Big Sur bootable drive to work on? So you can build an installer onto a USB thumbdrive/SD card, but not an...
forums.macrumors.com
ZombiePhysicist
Suspended
I tried this but it didn't work with USB Thumb Drives/SD cards per this thread:
M1 Macs, boot system from USB Thumb Drives/SD cards possible?
So after seeing this post: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m1-macs-boot-from-external-drive-possible.2267649/post-29662324 I gave the Apple adapter a try. Interesting result. Before using the Apple USBc to USBA adapter, by using the built in SD card on the M1 MBP, installation would...
forums.macrumors.com