[SUCCESS] Corrputed System Drive? (Do-not-enter symbol)

greenfrog5 · Nov 27, 2020

Sorry for such a long post, but I think most of this history is relevant. Thanks for your help.

I have a working Yosemite installation (using Chimera) and am trying to update my system to Mojave (for now), and beyond. I have several partitions used for OSX:
Main HD (SSD) - Yosemite, Chimera
Backup HD - Clone of Yosemite
Test HD - Mojave (boots with USB stick)

Last Thanksgiving, I took a shot at updating to a newer OS, and had trouble getting Clover to boot my current system properly. Clover would boot the system, but within a few minutes the computer rebooted itself without any warning. I tried several versions of clover, different settings/kexts, posted at TonyMac, and never got it to work. I have more recently come across information suggesting it is a graphics issue (not a surprise, as my graphics card has always been problematic).

In that process last Thanksgiving, I created a Mojave USB stick with Clover, which *could* boot my system correctly, and also allowed me to successfully install Mojave onto my Test HD. This boot process is *very* slow (like 5+ minutes), not sure if it is just a slow USB drive, or if its the Clover itself for some reason. My graphics card is not Mojave-compatible so I have limited resolution, but it seems to otherwise work pretty well. (no auto-reboot). (I also have an RX 560 ready to install when I fully upgrade).

This Thanksgiving I picked back up where I left off, starting to re-test Clover installations (on a USB stick). The last clover USB I had from last year produced similar results (caused auto-reboot), and the Mojave USB could successfully boot both Main HD (Yosemite) and Test HD (Mojave), without rebooting. I started trying the latest Clover, following (a now very old guide: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/test-drive-how-to-create-a-clover-usb.127134/), hoping to become confident that I could configure Clover (so I could install in permanently). At first, Clover booted Main HD, but still caused auto-reboot after a few minutes. I tried different settings/kexts in Clover, intendeding to start with the "standard" and slowly add settings from there. One of these early tests (with basically no extra settings or kexts) was able to boot my Yosemite drive (Main HD), and it didn't cause an auto-reboot. I did get a warning that "Keychain had been reset" and I needed to do something to re-activate it (which is unusual, and in hindsight possibly a sign of the problem to come).

I used the system for a while, and I don't think I noticed any other problems. When I went to reboot and see if I could boot the Mojave drive, I think I got "this OS is not compatible with this system" (I think due to lacking a System Definition in Clover). I tried to reboot back into the Yosemite drive to keep tinkering with Clover, but at the point Clover booted to an apple logo, and the progress bar progressed very slowly and then I got the dreaded "do not enter" (prohibited) symbol. Chimera (still installed as the main boot method on my computer) booted with similar results. Verbose mode ended with "still waiting for root device." Nothing I had was able to boot the drive.

I booted into the Mojave drive and used Disk Utility to verify/repair/permissions on my Main HD. There were a few permission errors that it fixed, but nothing major. This did not resolve my boot issue. Now, I formatted Backup HD and cloned a backup copy of my Yosemite installation onto it. The Mojave installer can boot this system, and it generally works (except for audio). I then made another Clover USB, and added the recommended kexts, and set System Definition and FB for my graphics card. This is also able to boot the BU system, with no sound or internet (even though I added RTL8111 kext).

Then I cloned Backup HD (Yosemite backup) to Main HD (using CCC). All of my boot loaders still lead to the "do not enter" symbol, and cannot boot this. (I may not have formatted it first, so I may try that next).

At this point, I am partly curious what happened and curious about how I can fix it to restore a working Yosemite on my SSD. I'd like to get the Main HD working again, and am concerned why the clone/restoration cannot be booted. I am also somewhat concerned how I caused this problem, in order to avoid it in the future.

Ultimately, I'd like to get Main HD working again, finalize a Clover setup that works for my system, install Clover onto my system as the main boot loader, finish testing Mojave, then migrate my Yosemite back onto Backup HD so I can fresh-install Mojave onto Main HDD (SSD), and change my graphics card.

Any help or troubleshooting recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

UtterDisbelief · Nov 27, 2020

greenfrog5 said:
Sorry for such a long post, but I think most of this history is relevant. Thanks for your help.

I have a working Yosemite installation (using Chimera) and am trying to update my system to Mojave (for now), and beyond. I have several partitions used for OSX:
Main HD (SSD) - Yosemite, Chimera
Backup HD - Clone of Yosemite
Test HD - Mojave (boots with USB stick)

Last Thanksgiving, I took a shot at updating to a newer OS, and had trouble getting Clover to boot my current system properly. Clover would boot the system, but within a few minutes the computer rebooted itself without any warning. I tried several versions of clover, different settings/kexts, posted at TonyMac, and never got it to work. I have more recently come across information suggesting it is a graphics issue (not a surprise, as my graphics card has always been problematic).

In that process last Thanksgiving, I created a Mojave USB stick with Clover, which *could* boot my system correctly, and also allowed me to successfully install Mojave onto my Test HD. This boot process is *very* slow (like 5+ minutes), not sure if it is just a slow USB drive, or if its the Clover itself for some reason. My graphics card is not Mojave-compatible so I have limited resolution, but it seems to otherwise work pretty well. (no auto-reboot). (I also have an RX 560 ready to install when I fully upgrade).

This Thanksgiving I picked back up where I left off, starting to re-test Clover installations (on a USB stick). The last clover USB I had from last year produced similar results (caused auto-reboot), and the Mojave USB could successfully boot both Main HD (Yosemite) and Test HD (Mojave), without rebooting. I started trying the latest Clover, following (a now very old guide: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/test-drive-how-to-create-a-clover-usb.127134/), hoping to become confident that I could configure Clover (so I could install in permanently). At first, Clover booted Main HD, but still caused auto-reboot after a few minutes. I tried different settings/kexts in Clover, intendeding to start with the "standard" and slowly add settings from there. One of these early tests (with basically no extra settings or kexts) was able to boot my Yosemite drive (Main HD), and it didn't cause an auto-reboot. I did get a warning that "Keychain had been reset" and I needed to do something to re-activate it (which is unusual, and in hindsight possibly a sign of the problem to come).

I used the system for a while, and I don't think I noticed any other problems. When I went to reboot and see if I could boot the Mojave drive, I think I got "this OS is not compatible with this system" (I think due to lacking a System Definition in Clover). I tried to reboot back into the Yosemite drive to keep tinkering with Clover, but at the point Clover booted to an apple logo, and the progress bar progressed very slowly and then I got the dreaded "do not enter" (prohibited) symbol. Chimera (still installed as the main boot method on my computer) booted with similar results. Verbose mode ended with "still waiting for root device." Nothing I had was able to boot the drive.

I booted into the Mojave drive and used Disk Utility to verify/repair/permissions on my Main HD. There were a few permission errors that it fixed, but nothing major. This did not resolve my boot issue. Now, I formatted Backup HD and cloned a backup copy of my Yosemite installation onto it. The Mojave installer can boot this system, and it generally works (except for audio). I then made another Clover USB, and added the recommended kexts, and set System Definition and FB for my graphics card. This is also able to boot the BU system, with no sound or internet (even though I added RTL8111 kext).

Then I cloned Backup HD (Yosemite backup) to Main HD (using CCC). All of my boot loaders still lead to the "do not enter" symbol, and cannot boot this. (I may not have formatted it first, so I may try that next).

At this point, I am partly curious what happened and curious about how I can fix it to restore a working Yosemite on my SSD. I'd like to get the Main HD working again, and am concerned why the clone/restoration cannot be booted. I am also somewhat concerned how I caused this problem, in order to avoid it in the future.

Ultimately, I'd like to get Main HD working again, finalize a Clover setup that works for my system, install Clover onto my system as the main boot loader, finish testing Mojave, then migrate my Yosemite back onto Backup HD so I can fresh-install Mojave onto Main HDD (SSD), and change my graphics card.

Any help or troubleshooting recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there.

I think the problem is the different macOS versions you have. Are they on separate physical drives? It worries me that you say they are on different partitions which implies the same drive ...

If you have Chimera for Yosemite and Clover for Mojave then you are also possibly confusing the system at boot time.

Clover itself isn't causing the reboot, nor the waiting for root device error. What this error is telling you is that either the main boot medium is corrupted or the controller for the drive attachment is becoming deactivated. Commonly this happens with USB-based bootloaders.

As I am still in the dark a little right now, I would hope that these "partitions" are actually on separate drives?

greenfrog5 · Nov 27, 2020

Thank you for your reply. Let me clarify a bit. Both the working Yosemite (backup) and Mojave (test) are partitions on the same HDD. My main system drive is a separate SSD, and that is the one having problems. My main system has Chimera. I am only using Clover from a USB stick.

I think, given my bigger problem/process now, that the reboot issue may have gone away. It seems that cloning my backup onto Backup HD (partition), which now boots, and/or my latest Clover USB, has resolved that issue. My problem is regaining use of my SSD.

Chimera (on my HDD) cannot boot the main system HD/SSD, which suggests it is not a USB-stick issue. Shouldn't re-cloning a backup onto the main system drive resolve any system corruption? I'm going to try again, making sure to format the drive first (I think I did, not sure).

Any further help or things to try/report are appreciated.

UtterDisbelief · Nov 27, 2020

greenfrog5 said:
...Shouldn't re-cloning a backup onto the main system drive resolve any system corruption?

It might do as Legacy bootloaders tend to be put in the root of the main drive and most off-the-shelf back-up soultions will pick that up. However EFI/UEFI bootloaders go in a hidden EFI partition and that is rarely cloned.

It's difficult to see what might have changed to prevent the Chimera Yosemite drive from booting. If the BIOS hasn't been touched then I wonder if perhaps an EFI partition has been created on the Yosemite drive, which is confusing the bootloader? Load-up DiskUtility and check the drive ID of the Yosemite drive. If it is disk*s2 where * is a number, then the "2" tells you there is a "1" somewhere. That is usually a hidden EFI partition.

greenfrog5 · Nov 27, 2020

I have made some progress, and have more questions. I have erased/partitioned my Main HD, and cloned my backup onto it. My Clover USB can boot this with degraded graphics, and no internet or audio (yay, progress). This is similar to how I can boot the Backup HD version of the same clone, and I should be able to resolve those issues. Note that booting from the Mojave USB, while horribly slow, does have internet working (but not audio).

Chimera does not successfully load anything anymore. It goes . . . . . . . then to a _ and just stops. I expect I have damaged/erased this somehow (formatting drive), which is fine since I'm trying to update to Clover anyway. I was going to follow the TM guide for backing Chimera up and replacing with Clover (once I'm satisfied I have it configured correctly), but I guess I could just abandon it if Clover is working. Is the Clover-install-to-HDD risky? Or can I un-do/re-do easily?

Is there anything special that I should do to 'fix' Chimera before trying to remove/replace it with Clover? Or confirm I did erase it? I'll have to review the guide for that more, but I'm not really familiar with a lot of the "under the hood" stuff, so want to avoid causing further problems with multiple boot loaders, hidden partitions, etc. by accident.

My Main HD partition is in fact disk0s2, per your request for this. Does this mean Clover is (partly) installed on this?

Thanks for the prompt help. Encouraging to be making progress!

UtterDisbelief · Nov 27, 2020

greenfrog5 said:
My Main HD partition is in fact disk0s2, per your request for this. Does this mean Clover is (partly) installed on this?

Possibly

To check out what is actually in any EFI folder your main drive might have, use EFIMounter v3.1 from our downloads section. Select the disk0s1 if there is a menu to select from, and it will mount just like another drive on your desktop for you to browse through it.

If you are wary of writing anything to your main drive, you can create a Clover USB boot-stick. This is one of the great advantages of going the UniBeast route when you are installing macOS - you always have a back-up way to boot your system.

How To Install OS X Yosemite Using Clover

How to Install OS X Yosemite using Clover Clover is a new and exciting open source EFI bootloader. Developed over the past 2 years by a group of developers at Project OS X led by Slice, Clover aims to solve problems inherent in existing OS X installation methods and legacy bootloaders: Boots...

www.tonymacx86.com

... is the main guide for this.

greenfrog5 · Nov 27, 2020

To clarify, I have a Clover USB stick (that I have been testing/configuring, trying to get working so I can write it to my main drive with minimal risk). I also have a Uni-Beast Mojave USB stick that I have been using (until now getting Clover to actually boot my drives, albeit without internet or audio).

Only the Clover USB will boot my newly restored clone/backup on Main HD. The Mojave USB goes to Do-Not-Enter symbol. Both USBs can boot my Backup HD (from same clone); but only Mojave USB provides working internet (still no audio).

I am wary of writing to my main disk, but only in that a mistake bricks my system. I am trying to be very cautious, and have not fully mastered the Clover configuration, and therefore am not ready to write that to my disk. I was hoping to keep Chimera working, so I could continued "working as is" while I tinkered, but that seems to have been disrupted.

Once I get internet working, I'm prepared to try loading Clover as my main boot loader on my Main HD. I'll review the Yosemite guide you posted, maybe it is different (for Clover) than I have been referencing.

I was able to mount the EFI partition on Main HD and it contains \EFI\APPLE\EXTENSIONS\Firmware.scap (and nothing else). I think I can/should now install Clover to this EFI partition? (nothing to loose?), even if I continue using a USB stick to experiment with kexts and settings.

UtterDisbelief · Nov 27, 2020

greenfrog5 said:
To clarify, I have a Clover USB stick (that I have been testing/configuring, trying to get working so I can write it to my main drive with minimal risk). I also have a Uni-Beast Mojave USB stick that I have been using (until now getting Clover to actually boot my drives, albeit without internet or audio).

Only the Clover USB will boot my newly restored clone/backup on Main HD. The Mojave USB goes to Do-Not-Enter symbol. Both USBs can boot my Backup HD (from same clone); but only Mojave USB provides working internet (still no audio).

I am wary of writing to my main disk, but only in that a mistake bricks my system. I am trying to be very cautious, and have not fully mastered the Clover configuration, and therefore am not ready to write that to my disk. I was hoping to keep Chimera working, so I could continued "working as is" while I tinkered, but that seems to have been disrupted.

Once I get internet working, I'm prepared to try loading Clover as my main boot loader on my Main HD. I'll review the Yosemite guide you posted, maybe it is different (for Clover) than I have been referencing.

I was able to mount the EFI partition on Main HD and it contains \EFI\APPLE\EXTENSIONS\Firmware.scap (and nothing else). I think I can/should now install Clover to this EFI partition? (nothing to loose?), even if I continue using a USB stick to experiment with kexts and settings.

If that is all there is in the EFI partition then no bootloader has stomped about in there. All good. :thumbup:

A UniBeast Clover USB stick is precisely what you need to boot safely without touching your main drive. That is why I recommended it.

The Clover bootloader for either Mojave or Yosemite should actually be the same because the hardware is the same. It might be that your system definition needs changing. This is the type of real Mac you are pretending to be for macOS sake. As Apple incremented macOS old machines lost support. Your config.plist contains the SMBIOS of your machine so check what it is against supported machines for the OS version.

The Internet not working for Mojave may be down to your wireless hardware losing support (Atheros chipsets for e.g). Broadcom should be okay. Audio is probably down to the "Audio ID" changing with the OS change. This is just the port layout and can be changed very easily using Clover Configurator for e.g.

If none of that sheds any light ... sorry to waste your time.

greenfrog5 · Nov 28, 2020

Continuing to test Clover, I have now broken both Yosemite installs. Neither of my USB sticks can access either the Main HD or Backup HD installations of Yosemite. Both USB sticks can boot Mojave (and the Clover USB seems to support internet there).

What is puzzling, I'm not changing things on my Yosemite disks (just booting, logging in, checking basic functionality); yet after a few boots, they tend to break into Do-Not-Enter symbols... What would cause this? I have repaired these disks several times, doesn't seem to matter.

I understand the EFI partition on Main HD may be breaking that; but what about the Backup HD?

greenfrog5 · Nov 28, 2020

I have made some progress, and as expected have run into new challenges/questions. I have discovered that when my motherboard has a "CMOS checksum error" (or sometimes I can get into the Post Screen), I can choose between several saved settings. Some of these allow the systems to boot, and I think some (that became the default) prevent booting. Last night, I re-clone-restored the Yosemite BU, and was able to boot that without issue. I can no-longer boot this Yosemite BU (even with the POST settings), and it hangs as "USBMC Identifier (non-unique)..." I expect if I re-clone-restore it, it will be fixed (for a little). I'd love to figure out how to fix this drive without needing to re-clone it. I only need to maintain it long enough to migrate my stuff into my new (eventually working) Mojave system.

Instead of restoring another Yosemite install onto my Main HD (which generally wasn't bootable anyway), I wiped the drive and installed a fresh copy of Mojave, intended to be my actual/final system moving forward. I also installed Clover onto this, since Chimera seems to be long gone. Anyway, this all works! Interestingly, this version of Clover doesn't show any of the other drives just Main HD and it's Recovery HD. I think that can be fixed with some Clover settings.

Ultimately, I think that the Mojave installations don't shut down/reboot properly. After logging into one of these, and rebooting, my motherboard goes to the Post Screen with "CMOS checksum error." I think that this behavior is what somehow got the wrong BIOS settings saved as the 'default' in this Post Screen. Manually selecting Settings 1 repeatedly during testing seems to have somewhat resolved these settings (they are now default again), and I can regularly boot the Mojave systems. I still cannot boot the Yosemite one (even though I had no problem with it last night).

Questions:
- What should I do to try to recover the Yosemite drive? (Stuck at USBMC Identifier)? I think it is a BIOS/POST issue, not a problem with the drive itself.
- How can I fix Mojave to shutdown without triggering the CMOS error? What should I be looking for here?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but those are the two most pressing if anybody has any ideas. Thanks!

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[SUCCESS] Corrputed System Drive? (Do-not-enter symbol)

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