[Solved] The installer resources were not found

[thecythe]

Copying my post from another thread here. All of the things I've tried:

-Updating from a perfect working install of 10.13.6
-Clover 4674
-All kexts updated to latest versions in Other folder
-NVRAM is working
-APFS working via latest Clover method
-System def, UUID, ROM all correct
-Corrected date/time/UFC in Clover UEFI shell
-booted with nv_disable=1
-attemped with SIP enable / disable

My mojave installer log reveals a few suspect lines:

- Failed to locate volume with UUID E39863B0-34DA-34CA-B57F-80DED174AFAE (I have no volume with this UUID??)
- No file at /System/Installation/Packages/Extras/minstallconfig.xml (huh? this file is located at /macOS Install Data/)
- Failed to open installer document
- Failed to get UUID for system rebless

Are you guys seeing similar errors in your install logs?

Also "Packages" in macOS Install Data/BaseSystem.dmg/System/Installation is just an alias / symlink that leads nowhere. Where is that alias / symlink supposed to be pointing?

 

[hugheba]

Is most everyone here having this issue trying to install Mojave to a Samsung EVO 960 NVME?

Trying to install on a Samsung SSD 950 Pro 512 NVMe here

 

[thecythe]

Changed from nVidia to Radeon Pulse 580... still same error. Also, same error with only 1 EVO 960 drive attached to the system.

 

[Gigamaxx]

Have you tried booting the preboot install tab first? Then a normal boot.

 

[hugheba]

Have you tried booting the preboot install tab first? Then a normal boot.

I have tried the Preboot tab but it still does not work.

 

[thecythe]

No go with the preboot tab here either

 

[Gigamaxx]

https://pikeralpha.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/help-my-nvme-show-up-as-external/

Here’s some info in NVME and it may be related. NVME icon on desktop appears as orange or external. The external icons patch doesn’t fix it. I have a 970 EVO and it appears this way in Mojave betas.

Somethings I noticed with Sata drives.

1). I was able from a working apfs Mojave build to install on a new disk using a USB adapter. It would load in HFS mode and not default to apfs. This stopped working a few updates back.

2). I tried to load a fresh install last night using a USB adapter and got all the to the last boot (clover install icon was gone) but it kept getting errors. I connected to the Sata port and it finished the install. So I was able to get through 3 reboots and load the software bit it wouldn’t finalize until I connected to a Sata port/cable. The final install ended in apfs mode (unavoidable).

3). Tonight I created a USB installer and tried using the SSD on a USB adapter but it gave me errors. As soon as I connected it to the Sata cable it loaded right up no problems.
So it seems that the latest releases of Mojave need an internal Sata connection to complete especially when using a USB installer. The direct install made it through 3 reboots (see above).

Conclusion/speculation: if the NVME drives are not being recognized as internal drives the this could be the issue with resources not found.

Have any of you tried loading onto a SSD via Sata connection and then carbon copy cloning to the NVME drive? That was the old method used in Sierra and High Sierra.

 

[markjhatch]

I also have a Samsung NVMe (and a Toshiba stick in an pci adapter ). This error has been occurring for me with the last 3-4 updates to High Sierra (most recently 10.13.6). What "worked for me" on each of those occasions (with High Sierra) was physically unplugging the power supply, waiting a few minutes for the capacitors to discharge, and then powering on. Not saying this will work on Mojave, just sharing my experience with High Sierra updates.

 

[Qres]

I have the same problem, however, it's definitely not related to NVMe. My mb is old with one Apple SSD (from MBA 2012 with SATA adapt card) and one HD. This problem happened since Mojave PB 7. At very first, I thought it's related to installing on the HD (old HD, once was win 7 system disk, caused me lots of trouble until I clone copied it from my perfectly working 10.13.6 Apple SSD). After the official release, I try to directly upgrade from 1013.6 on my Apple SSD, the same problem happened. I realized it could be a problem related to the installer, it must check something to continue the installation that we don't know.
The only solution worked for me is put the HD (SSD) in an external USB 3 case and plug into my MBA. Then everything works.

 

[thecythe]

Finally have the old sand dune installed without pulling any drives!

Indeed this problem is not related it NVME. In my case, the culprit appears to be CSM support being enabled in BIOS. With it disabled, I was able to install directly onto NVME drives (960 EVO included).

Here's the steps that got it working for me:

1.). Disable CSM support in BIOS

2.) Run the Mojave installer. It will install macOS Install data to the destination drive you choose. However, the installer may still not be pointed to that folder!

3.) Boot up into the installer. If you see "resources not found" open the log file while booted in the installer. What you don't want to see is this error - "Failed to locate volume with UUID xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx". I was only getting that with CSM support enabled

4.) If you can't find that error in the log, search for the error -
Could not open file at Volume/System/Installation/Packages/Extras/minstallconfig.xml

5.) Take note of that volume path and boot back into the system you launched the installer from. Copy the macOS Install data folder to that volume path.

6.) Boot the installer on the destination drive again, and Mojave should now start installing!

Some additional notes:

- APFS conversion failed in the installer first time for me. Good idea to convert the destination to APFS ahead of time.

-Installer boot order for me was:

macOS intall preboot
Destination drive boot
Destination drive boot

-Installing over 10.13.6 was a total failure for me. System booted extremely slow with many hangs at boot and was basically unusable. Granted my 101.3.6 build was the result of many years of updating with very few clean system installs. Also tried clean installing and them migrating my old data with the same errors and unusable system.

With this OS, things have gotten so complicated you are probably better off doing a clean install, manually transferring important data, and re-installing all apps from scratch to get best performance. A lot of time and effort I know, but the end result for me has been a lighting fast system on an NVME drive with trim enabled.

Hope this helps someone