I have a 2012 mac pro. I currently running Catalina 10.15.7. When I hold down the option/alt key on startup it does not bring me to the startup manager so that I can select to boot from a usb drive. I've tried all of the other recommended startup options like Command (⌘)-R, Option-Command-P-R,Shift (⇧) - and everything else. Nothing seems to work and I need to get into the startup manager. Can anyone help me?
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Resolved Option Key not bringing me to the Startup Menu
- Thread starter jsantiago77
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If memory serves, you need to press and hold the keys after you hear the startup sound, not before. Also, a wired keyboard may work better than a wireless one in the early boot sequence (if you aren't already using one).
You can also select the boot device from System Preferences->Startup Disk, but I think this changes the boot device permanently for every boot thereafter. Otherwise, the
You can also select the boot device from System Preferences->Startup Disk, but I think this changes the boot device permanently for every boot thereafter. Otherwise, the
bless command line utility should let you specify a boot device for just the next boot.
I solved the problem and would like to leave the solution here for anyone that encounters the same issue.
#1. The reason I was trying to get into the startup menu was to upgrade from Catalina to Big Sur from a bootable usb drive.
#2. I tried every key combination you can think of that is listed and none of them worked.
#3. Catalina would not allow me to select the usb drive as the boot drive from the startup menu in options.
#4. OPT+CMD+P+R - did allow me to get a startup chime which I was not getting previously, but it still did not get me into the startup menu.
#5. What I ultimately ended up doing was leaving the bootable usb drive plugged in, and removing my ssd that has the Catalina OS on it. Then powering on the system. Immediately after powering it on, then I held on to the OPT/ALT key. This allowed me to click on the bootable usb drive to start the install. When asked what disk I wanted to install, I plugged my Catalina OS disk back in and selected it. That was the solution.
#6. If for some reason you don't see your drive once you plug it in, then you might have to click on the USB drive and really quickly plug in the hard drive with your OS in.
#1. The reason I was trying to get into the startup menu was to upgrade from Catalina to Big Sur from a bootable usb drive.
#2. I tried every key combination you can think of that is listed and none of them worked.
#3. Catalina would not allow me to select the usb drive as the boot drive from the startup menu in options.
#4. OPT+CMD+P+R - did allow me to get a startup chime which I was not getting previously, but it still did not get me into the startup menu.
#5. What I ultimately ended up doing was leaving the bootable usb drive plugged in, and removing my ssd that has the Catalina OS on it. Then powering on the system. Immediately after powering it on, then I held on to the OPT/ALT key. This allowed me to click on the bootable usb drive to start the install. When asked what disk I wanted to install, I plugged my Catalina OS disk back in and selected it. That was the solution.
#6. If for some reason you don't see your drive once you plug it in, then you might have to click on the USB drive and really quickly plug in the hard drive with your OS in.