Creating Bootable Clone from Apple Silicon Mac

[dnanian]

I was very sad to send my old Sony DAT autoloader to the junkpile in the sky...

[mschmitt]

Update: I got an external SSD and tried again to create a bootable clone from a M2 MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.6.2.

First attempt: SuperDuper erase-then-clone (ASR): same problem where ASR didn't update the dyld cache.

2nd attempt: Update Ventura on the 1st clone, using the full Ventura installer. This didn't work because Apple hasn't posted 13.6.2 yet to the App Store, and you can't downgrade. So, putting this idea aside until there's an App Store version >= what's on the source drive.

3rd attempt: While waiting for above, tried erasing the drive, installing Ventura 13.6.1 using the full installer, then Smart Update over it.

I know that's not recommended but I figured won't hurt to try it.

What happened is when I try to use System Settings to start up from the clone, it asks me to authorize users, then it asks me to select an owner, then to authorize users, then to select an owner, over and over. Is this something you've run into? Google returns no hits on that problem. (Note that I didn't get into that loop in attempt 1.)

(Planned 4th attempt will be to erase, use full Ventura installer, boot from that, and then migrate the data from the internal SSD. And hope that after doing that, it will continue to be a bootable clone after a later Smart Update puts the data back 100% in sync with the source.)

[dnanian]

That's not going to work - the user info held in the hidden volumes won't match what's in the data. You'd have to migrate for that...or you might be able to force a sync.

Can't you install your Ventura version from Recovery? That's the way to do it, typically, not by using an installer.

[mschmitt]

(Talking about idea #2: erase-then-copy followed by a macOS update to get the dyld cache fixed...)

The macOS downgrade issue is a moot point now since Apple posted Ventura 13.6.3 to the App Store. But I'd think I'd better apply the 13.6.3 update to the internal drive first, in case running the 13.6.3 full installer also does a firmware update.

What do you mean by "force a sync"?

I'll try the reinstall from macOS Recovery.

Note: based on previous experience, I'm not sure this will even work. That is, I think it will make the clone bootable, but then won't allow turning on FileVault.

[mschmitt]

Did another erase-then-copy, tried to startup from it, but it goes through the same authorize users, set owner loop as previously described. Which is weird, since this worked the first time I tried an erase-then-copy.

Do I need to completely erase (repartition) the drive to clear out whatever hidden data is there? What I did was erase the APFS container in that partition, changing it to HFS+, then erase that and create as APFS.

[dnanian]

There's no need to change things to HFS+. I would erase the whole drive, from the hardware (top), and format as APFS from the get-go.

[greengrass]

FWIW I had no problem creating a bootable clone on an m3 iMac. I created an APFS volume on an external SSD, then did an erase and copy all files with SD. Upon completion, I booted to the volume, turned on FileVault, let it run for a while and then booted back to the internal drive.

[mschmitt]

Same authorize/owner loop as before.

I did this:

1. Erased entire drive (i.e. reparitiioned), as APFS "Untilted"
2. Renamed to Backup T7
3. SuperDuper! erase-then-copy from internal booted SSD (Ventura 13.6.2)
4. System Settings > General > Startup Disk
5. Select Backup T7
6. TouchID to unlock system settings
7. "Startup Disk needs to authenticate to continue" - entered password
8. Restart...
9. Are you sure? Restart
10. "This volume does not have any authorized users for this computer". Authorize users...
11. Authorize my main account, entered password
12. Authorize emergency account, entered password
13. Continue
14. "Please enter the password for the user <me>" - entered
15. "Select an owner" - selected me on the boot drive, Authorize
16. "Please enter the password for the user <me>" - entered
17. "This volume does not have any authorized users for this computer".
18. repeats steps 10 - 16 forever