Why cannot my mac Boot a USB?

Question

MacBook Unibody Model A1278

13" Aluminium Unibody, 2,0 oder 2,4 GHz Core 2 Duo Prozessor.

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Nenadbrateu @nenadbrateu

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Veröffentlicht: 28. Jul 2018

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Why cannot my mac Boot a USB?

So i created a Bootable USB 8GB drive with my windows and the program i used for this was TransMac.

I did also diskpart thing with converting it into GTP

BTW My mac has no hdd, because I think the hdd cable is defective and thus i just want to test if thats true.

The problem: I am always seeing the flashing question mark, no matter what i do ...

Option, option + cmd + r, cmd + r ...

So this is the MacBook I got just to be sure

I dont see any firewire ports ...

This is breaking mu head right now oh gosh

Beantwortet! Antwort anzeigen Ich habe das gleiche Problem

Ist dies eine gute Frage?

Ja Nein

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The recovery options you are plugging in only work from the hard drive as you don't have it present they won't work and the other factor is you need the newer OS-X which introduced the hidden partition service. Lion was the first release but you needed to add it using a utility if you hadn't it won't be there and it was Mavericks which I think was the first release which created it during the upgrade process.

28. Jul 2018 von Dan

That’s not very good news to hear ... :/

I have the newer OS X at least ... downloaded from tech radar OS X El Capitan 10.11

About 10GB

28. Jul 2018 von Nenadbrateu

Tell me you can read that! I blew it up and it is blurry. Give us the EMC and model # Axxx

28. Jul 2018 von mayer

I actually could :)

EMC 2254

28. Jul 2018 von Nenadbrateu

Eureka! You have a MacBook not a MacBook Pro! I've fixed the system info.

Here's your systems specs: MacBook 13" 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (Unibody)

That explains the confusion!

28. Jul 2018 von Dan

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Stephen @techstuff

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Veröffentlicht: 28. Jul 2018

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Hi @nenadbrateu

The first issue to your problem is there is no HDD in the MacBook to read. You need a storage location with at least 20GB to install the system (This applies for every computer). It sounds like you would like to install the latest version of macOS on the system itself, so I would first put an actual HDD inside.

After doing so, you should be able to hold the "Command" and the "R" key on the MacBook's key board to boot from the cloud recovery utility. From here you will be able to format the new HDD to a GTP partition to install the OS. After this you will have the option to reinstall macOS the MacBook itself had come with.

Once this is complete you should have a working Mac!

If you believe the HDD cable is bad you can replace the cable fairly inexpensively. However internal cable's never become defective unless they are spliced, cut, shorted, and or bent at the plug. So my guess is the internal cable is still ok.

This model MacBook does support USB booting as I have USB booted mid-2008 MacBook's and iMac's before. You just need to know the USB key combination. You'll need to hold the "Option" key to access the boot menu and then select the USB drive's name you are using.

Alongside, what @danj had said, you could also use the Apple Certified DVD Installer to install the OS too. The flashing question mark the MacBook shows means the MacBook cannot read the image you are attempting to boot, or there is no OS to boot from.

Good Luck!

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Hello sir,

This is the answer i just was looking for!

You are saying i cannot enter ANYTHING: recovery mode or disk utility, or anything else, UNLESS i have a working HDD commected to the Logicboard.

If i put a working HDD with more than 100GB in a CADDY and plug it into the cd/dvd port ok the logiboard.

———> Will i be able to boot from USB? ( Unless something other is not working too ... )

29. Jul 2018 von Nenadbrateu

Exactly! as long as the MacBook can recognize your HDD it will allow you to install the OS. You will still be able to boot the flash drive. Disk Utility is within the Cloud Recovery service.

29. Jul 2018 von Stephen

@techstuff - Only the newer 2010 MacBook's offer internet recovery Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery But thats only after the systems firmware was updated.

29. Jul 2018 von Dan

@techstuff

Would only a external hard disk connected over USB PORT also work?

Okay, than i will order an caddy and report back if I succeded in installing a OS on the mac.

29. Jul 2018 von Nenadbrateu

You can install the macOS to an external drive actually and boot the MacBook from it, however it wouldn't give you mobility since the drive would constantly have to be running and connected to power.

29. Jul 2018 von Stephen

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The recovery options you are plugging in only work from the hard drive as you don't have it present they won't work and the other factor is you need the newer OS-X which introduced the hidden partition service. Lion was the first release but you needed to add it using a utility if you hadn't it won't be there and it was Mavericks which I think was the first release which created it during the upgrade process. — Dan
That’s not very good news to hear ... :/

I have the newer OS X at least ... downloaded from tech radar OS X El Capitan 10.11

About 10GB — Nenadbrateu
Tell me you can read that! I blew it up and it is blurry. Give us the EMC and model # Axxx — mayer
Eureka! You have a MacBook not a MacBook Pro! I've fixed the system info.

Here's your systems specs: MacBook 13" 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (Unibody)

That explains the confusion! — Dan
Hello sir,

This is the answer i just was looking for!

You are saying i cannot enter ANYTHING: recovery mode or disk utility, or anything else, UNLESS i have a working HDD commected to the Logicboard.

If i put a working HDD with more than 100GB in a CADDY and plug it into the cd/dvd port ok the logiboard.

———> Will i be able to boot from USB? ( Unless something other is not working too ... ) — Nenadbrateu
Exactly! as long as the MacBook can recognize your HDD it will allow you to install the OS. You will still be able to boot the flash drive. Disk Utility is within the Cloud Recovery service. — Stephen
@techstuff - Only the newer 2010 MacBook's offer internet recovery Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery But thats only after the systems firmware was updated. — Dan
@techstuff

Would only a external hard disk connected over USB PORT also work?

Okay, than i will order an caddy and report back if I succeded in installing a OS on the mac. — Nenadbrateu
You can install the macOS to an external drive actually and boot the MacBook from it, however it wouldn't give you mobility since the drive would constantly have to be running and connected to power. — Stephen

Dan @danj Rep: 480,2 Tsd. Self employed contract worker 35 329 971 · Answer 1 · 2018-07-28T07:24:14-07:00

Dan @danj

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The older MacBooks & MacBook Pro’s didn’t offer USB boot support. The first Mac was the MacBook Air which came out in January 2008.

It’s been a while that I’ve had to worry about it but I do believe the 2007 & 2008 models are the last ones that required boot up from either the internal optical drive or an external FireWire drive (prepped with Mac OS-X as a bootable drive).

You’ll need to find the original grey CD that came with the system or the retail copy of the OS-X CD to gain access via the optical drive or leverage a friends Mac using Target Disk Mode via a FireWire connection.

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So from what i read i understood this:

If I install OS X El Capitan in windows with VirtualBox, than i can hook it up to my macbook with a firewire, and get from my mac into recovery options?

If thats right the next step would be to install a caddy into the macbook and install OS X El Capitan with the help of my virtual mac OS on virtual box

Or did i catch that completely wrong?

28. Jul 2018 von Nenadbrateu

Virtual machines are just as they sound, they are virtual! to try to FireWire a windows machine and a Mac together is near impossible, since the windows machine runs off a BIOS configurator, and Macs run off terminal commands. It also depends on the hardware, because most PC's don't have FireWire anymore. The recovery options I doubt would work since its not a genuine model Mac. You would need Apple's Logic Board to access that utility even on a virtual machine...

Sorry @nenadbrateu

29. Jul 2018 von Stephen

I fully understand what a VM is. But not all VM's run the Mac file system underneath which is the real issue. An emulated environment is not quite the same at the disk level.

I've tried in the past just to see whats involved, it was just not working for me. As I have all of the needed CD's and USB thumb drives configured as needed I don't need to go this route.

29. Jul 2018 von Dan

Well, good to know that now ...

These apple products are just so complicated to service and if someone doesnt tell you infos you are gonna do exactly nothing

29. Jul 2018 von Nenadbrateu

I'm making a living at it ;-} But I've been doing it awhile and I do limit what I work on.

29. Jul 2018 von Dan

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Marco @nisiide Rep: 13 4 1 1 · Answer 2 · 2021-05-05T17:01:40-07:00

Marco @nisiide

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Is it possible to install the system in a SSD with an external drive in a macbook pro 2011 via USB and then take that SSD and connect to the SATA in a macbook 2009?

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MacBook Unibody Model A1278

Why cannot my mac Boot a USB?

Update (07/28/2018)

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