Unable to install Mac OS High Sierra in Macbook Pro Mid 2012 13"

[Avinash Kumar]

Hi Folks!

Hope you are staying safe!

I use a Macbook pro mid 2012 13" which is running Sierra 10.12.6 currently. Some spec about my mac (A1278) before I proceed to the issue:

8+8 GB DDR3 RAM

480 GB Crucial BX SSD (it is currently in Optical Bay, since my HDD flex cable is not working and the original HDD slot is empty).

i5 processor, 13" display (non retina)

So the issue is when I try to install Mac OS High Sierra or above (till Catalina), it takes 15-20 mins and then I see an error as 'An error occurred while trying to verify firmware' and not allowing me to pass the OS installation.

I tried directly installing from App store, tried via Bootable USB but for all the cases I get the same error. When I see that many people dont have troubles installing the latest OS (Catalina) in the Mid 2012 Version (Non Retina model), why am I having troubles in installing. I read in other forums that this might be due to APFS formatting of the disk but I dont get that option while formatting via Disk Utility as I use Sierra. Also, read as Mac will automatically update the firmware and format as APFS while moving to High Sierra.

Is it because I dont have a drive in my original HDD Bay is not allowing to update the firmware? Or could there be any other issues.

I badly in need of an OS update as the Office products and other Softwares aren’t compatible with Sierra and it is sometimes affecting my tasks.

Please help me guiding a solution for this.

Can someone help me on this?

 

[justashooter]

Is it because I dont have a drive in my original HDD Bay is not allowing to update the firmware? Or could there be any other issues.

I believe you may have answered your own question. But that is just a guess on my part. I don't think it has to be the original drive but that a drive needs to be in the original position. I have this same MBP, they are great machines.

In the U.S. the replacement SATA cable runs about $7.00 and is a pretty easy DIY replacement. I've replaced mine twice in the 8 years I've had it.

As for High Siera automatically going to APFS, I'm pretty sure that is not correct. I believe Mojave is when it defaults to APFS, and if the drive is not APFS the MBP will not get pop-ups that updates are available.

 

[brianmowrey]

Install High Sierra shouldn't care what connector the drive is. Unless it is what happens to be tripping up the SSD firmware update that the installer performs.

Either way you need to get that firmware update onto the SSD since Install High Sierra is failing to add it. You have a few different routes. One is to try the cable replacement and put the drive into the main drive slot and see if that fixes it.

The manufacture-approved route is to download the firmware and put the SSD into a Mac that still has an optical drive and burn the firmware update onto a disk, or download the firmware on a PC, which they have a USB installer support for, and then put the drive into that PC and boot into the USB firmware update installer. The non-approved route is to try to create and use the USB installer with the SSD still in the Mac.

 

[Avinash Kumar]

As for High Siera automatically going to APFS, I'm pretty sure that is not correct. I believe Mojave is when it defaults to APFS, and if the drive is not APFS the MBP will not get pop-ups that updates are available.

I do not see any pop up during update, all it does is, staying in the progress loader for 10-15 mins and then throws an error message 'An error occurred while verifying firmware'. I tried for all; Mojave, High Sierra and Catalina. I get this error for all.

 

[Avinash Kumar]

The manufacture-approved route is to download the firmware and put the drive into a Mac that has an optical drive, download the firmware on a PC, which they have a USB installer support for, and then put the drive into the PC and boot into the USB installer. The non-approved route is to try to create and use the USB installer with the SSD still in the Mac.

I dont get this part. Please correct me if I am wrong:

1. I need to download the BX 500 Firmware (that is meant for my SSD)
2. Then create a USB installer via windows for the downloaded firmware.
3. Then use the USB in Mac to install the Firmware?

If so this method, doesn't require me to remove the SSD from my Mac Optical bay?

Am I missing anything here?

 

[justashooter]

I do not see any pop up during update,

Sorry, I did not mean during the install of the OS. I meant during normal use of the computer when security, safari, etc. updates become available. If your drive is formated HFS these don't appear.

 

[brianmowrey]

I dont get this part. Please correct me if I am wrong:

1. I need to download the BX 500 Firmware (that is meant for my SSD)
2. Then create a USB installer via windows for the downloaded firmware.
3. Then use the USB in Mac to install the Firmware?

If so this method, doesn't require me to remove the SSD from my Mac Optical bay?

Am I missing anything here?

You can google 'An error occurred while trying to verify firmware' and find, in the top result, a method professing to create the USB firmware installer on the Mac, as well. Either way, you’re veering from Crucial’s supported process if you try to update the firmware with the USB installer on the Mac, so..

 

[brianmowrey]

You can also sidestep this problem by using an HDD instead, but definitely don’t format it as APFS, which rules out Catalina, or buying a new SSD that will already have compatible firmware, or, possibly? by cloning an SSD that already has High Sierra with your Mac booted into Target Disk Mode, but I have no cloning expertise so that’s just speculative.

 

[Avinash Kumar]

buying a new SSD that will already have compatible firmware,

i got a new SSD from Curcial just a week ago. So I am pretty sure that it must be the latest. And another point here is in the Crucial Website for SSD BX 500, there is no firmware. It says 'No Firmware updates at this time' and I dont see any file there for update.

 

[brianmowrey]

Eek, well scrap everything I said, ha. And I see even less reason why having the drive in the optical slot should be relevant. It’s still SATA. There must be a fix, but I am unaware of it. Meanwhile cloning High Sierra / Moj / Cat install from another Mac is probably the easiest workaround.

 

[justashooter]

Might want to stroll through this thraed:

Firmware error with High Sierra?!

Hey Guys, I tried upgrading my mac to High Sierra and I am getting this error. Any suggestions on what may be the cause? I am running Sierra right now.

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Avinash Kumar]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your support, I replaced my HDD Flex cable which connects to the main Disk bay. After installing the flex cable an connecting my original hdd which came with Mac, I installed Sierra first followed by Catalina. I was able to successfully install Catalina. And I again installed the Catalina in the SSD which is in Optical bay and surprisingly it got installed in SSD too. (Later formatted the HDD which is in main bay to use it as a secondary storage and leave SSD as a bootable drive.

Thanks for all your support.

One more question: I am planning to change the HDD and replace that too with SSD with 1 TB. Will my mac support 1 TB SSD (only for storage) on top of a 480 GB SSD in Optical bay?

Also which is the best bay to keep the booting SSD, is it Main Bay or Optical Bay?

 

[estabya]

I had this same issue with my Mac Mini 2014. I bought it on ebay with no storage and added an after market NVME drive. However, I was unable to install anything newer than 10.13 without doing it from a drive installed on the main SATA connector.

It is a giant pain in the butt, and I don’t see why it would be a necessary limitation.

Your machine should support both drives no problem. I would keep the boot drive in the main bay. I’ve read of many people who have had stability issues with having an SSD as boot drive in the optical bay. Have you had any issues with that?

 

[Avinash Kumar]

I had this same issue with my Mac Mini 2014. I bought it on ebay with no storage and added an after market NVME drive. However, I was unable to install anything newer than 10.13 without doing it from a drive installed on the main SATA connector.

It is a giant pain in the butt, and I don’t see why it would be a necessary limitation.

Your machine should support both drives no problem. I would keep the boot drive in the main bay. I’ve read of many people who have had stability issues with having an SSD as boot drive in the optical bay. Have you had any issues with that?

I just did all these things a few days ago and I don't have any issues till now. May be once I start using it, I can find the difference. But as you suggested, keeping the SSD (that has the OS X bootable OS) in the main bay would be consistent right? Also, does my MacBook pro (mid 2012, 13" Non Retina) support 1 TB SSD for storage and 480 GB for booting?

 

[justashooter]

If you have a hard drive and ssd in a 2012 MBP, have the hard drive in the hard drive bay because there is a shock sensor associated with that SATA connection only. If you are installing two SSD's it does not matter although I like having my boot drive, a Samsung EVO 500gb, in the hard drive bay. My optical bay with an OWC Data Doubler currently has a Micron 128gb SSD I bought cheap on ebay. I had a 500gb SSD there also, but needed it for a 4 bay raid.

I have never seen an Apple document listing the maximum drive size supported by this MBP, althugh other forum post have stated the installation of 1TB drives.

 

[Avinash Kumar]

If you have a hard drive and ssd in a 2012 MBP, have the hard drive in the hard drive bay because there is a shock sensor associated with that SATA connection only. If you are installing two SSD's it does not matter although I like having my boot drive, a Samsung EVO 500gb, in the hard drive bay. My optical bay with an OWC Data Doubler currently has a Micron 128gb SSD I bought cheap on ebay. I had a 500gb SSD there also, but needed it for a 4 bay raid.

I have never seen an Apple document listing the maximum drive size supported by this MBP, althugh other forum post have stated the installation of 1TB drives.

Thank @justashooter! But will there be any difference between HDD and SSD in performance which is not going to be used for booting, only for storage. (Not about the bootable SSD because that is for sure going to be effective in performance).

 

[justashooter]

There would be a difference between a HDD and SSD, files will read and write much faster to the SSD than the hard drive. But only you can determine if it matters. Try using the computer for a time with the SSD boot drive and a HDD for storage and see if it matters to you.

 

[brianmowrey]

Well, I was no help but I'm glad you got the drive running!

Also which is the best bay to keep the booting SSD, is it Main Bay or Optical Bay?

The main connector for 2012 MBPs is SATA III, while the optical is still SATA II. You'll get ~500MB/s reads on the main SSD and about half on the optical.

 

[vince22]

Well, I was no help but I'm glad you got the drive running!


The main connector for 2012 MBPs is SATA III, while the optical is still SATA II. You'll get ~500MB/s reads on the main SSD and about half on the optical.

not exactly true, Mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro 13" non-retina optical drive runs full speed SATA-111 6 gigabit link, i have it running RAID-0 with catalina, it runs extremely well with Big-Sur release candidate.

 

[brianmowrey]

not exactly true, Mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro 13" non-retina optical drive runs full speed SATA-111 6 gigabit link, i have it running RAID-0 with catalina, it runs extremely well with Big-Sur release candidate.

ah! super, so there's no dif