I had an issue with a Mac Mini Server model from 2012. It’s been working great for over a decade, we’ve been though a lot together, he’s running Fedora now and still has an entire drive with macOS Catalina. I regularly back him up with CloneZilla, for which I boot from a USB stick and it’s never been an issue. Until today, when the little guy refused to start the Boot Manager with the drive selection when I held down ALT/OPT (depending on who you ask). What gives?
I browsed through articles upon articles of users with the same issue, yet no clear cut solution (aside from “yank out all drives” or “format all partitions from all drives”, which I thought were silly).
Turns out, I was pressing the wrong button. Yeah, I didn’t expect that!
I no longer have a paired Apple keyboard for the Mac. I no longer own any wired ambiguity-free keyboards I can plug in and rely on what key combination is sent via a cable. It’s all wireless Unifying/Bolt receivers these days, with dual-function keys and backlighting that never does what I ask it to. The slick modern lifestyle was my downfall.
I’m using – you’ve guessed it – a Logitech MX Keys, and pressed the OPT button instead of the ALT button (because that’s what the Apple homepage told me to). On these Logitech keyboards, you have three buttons at the bottom left:
- CTRL (single label)
- Start/OPT with bizarro symbol
- ALT/CMD with another crazy symbol
It is the THIRD KEY we need to hold down when starting the Mac. We also need to make sure of course that we insert a paired receiver (preferably into the USB slot closest to the Thunderbolt port, but don’t quote me on that), and that the correct paired computer is selected on the right, next to the Numpad.
Things to know about Boot Manager
- Doesn’t work with reboots. You MUST shut down, then press the power button to start while holding down ALT
- Doesn’t work with a CloneZilla USB already inserted. Take it out, enter Boot Manager, then insert CloneZilla USB (shows as Windows)
- Doesn’t always work immediately after shutdown. Give your Mac 30 seconds or longer before attempting the start, or else Boot Manager may not show up (esoteric, I know, but hey computers are people too).
So yes. My bad, got confused with the fancy labels. Pressed what the official Apple site suggested and didn’t think out of the box enough. Did it too fast. Thought a USB stick can be left in. Might need to invest into a wired keyboard to avoid such trouble in the future, but wanted to make a note here and share it in case it was helpful.
Happy hacking!