Problem with SuperDuper

[lbsimon50]

I have been using SuperDuper to clone my 2016 MacBook Pro (Big Sur 11.2.3) to an external SSD for quite some time. I tried to do it again today, before upgrading to 11.3, and could not.

First, starting SuperDuper I see this message:



Of course, my Macintosh HD is available, as I am using this computer. So, I press Cancel and continue. Then the SuperDuper says that it sees my external drive as the target, and asks me to select the source. I select Macintosh HD, of course. Then I click on Backup. It has been close to three and a half hours since then, and still counting. It took me about 30-40 min before. Macintosh HD is 1 TB, with about a 200 GB used, both the source and the target are SSD.

The SuperDuper is the latest version, I verified.

Could somebody explain the behavior and propose a solution, please?

 

[IWT]

Hi, and welcome.

This Link from the Developer of SuperDuper! explains the problems with macOS 11 Big Sur (BS).

Shirt Pocket Watch

Ian

 

[lbsimon50]

Thanks, it explains it! The last time I did a bootable backup was fairly recently, from whatever it was to Big Sur.

 

[Rod]

Looks like Shirt Pocket are a little ahead on CCC. Congrats to Dave Nanian and the team.

 

[chscag]

Looks like Shirt Pocket are a little ahead on CCC. Congrats to Dave Nanian and the team.

Not quite Rod. Note that he's referring to SuperDuper and the beta of 11.4.

 

[Rod]

True

 

[MacInWin]

Yeah, it's a beta of Big Sur and a beta of SD. Good work, but not really ready for prime time.

 

[chscag]

It also should be noted that Mike Bombich is working on a solution. However, for now erasing the external drive and allowing CCC to install the preboot information on the drive works. (Intel only)

 

[Rod]

It also should be noted that Mike Bombich is working on a solution. However, for now erasing the external drive and allowing CCC to install the preboot information on the drive works. (Intel only)

I might just add to that, at least for me the method I used to use to preserve my CCC Safety Net, namely booting from the clone and updating via Software Update as per the internal drive is risky. In my case it caused some kind of kernel panic resulting in a constant boot loop. This necessitated a clean install of BS 11.3 and although I'm getting quite good at it I don't advise it

 

[chscag]

I don't use the "Safety Net" or allow "Snapshots" for my CCC backups that I do daily. Time Machine provides Snapshots and is actually a better safety net than the one that CCC uses. At least that's what I have found.

I can't explain what happened with your setup. Kernel panics always worry me because they usually indicate a hardware problem.

 

[Rod]

And me too. Really this 2015 13" MBPr has served me so well. It's on 24/7 and I use it everyday. I have limited my snapshots in CCC but like you I may just eliminate them and the Safety Net entirely (when I'm ready to create a new clone). For now at least I'm keeping my TM backup connected with Auto backups enabled.
Can I just give another vote to USB (thumb drive) macOS installers. Without one I would not be writing this on this MBP. The ability to boot, erase (at the media level) reformat and reinstall macOS was only possible with that. Both the clone and TM were completely unable to boot the device.

 

[MacInWin]

Like Rod, booted from my backup drive, then did an update of the OS while booted from that drive. When it was done, it rebooted to that same external drive, I checked it out and all was good. But it had set the boot drive to that drive, so I had to get into SysPref to change the default boot drive back to my internal to get control back. Never had that happen before. I don't use Safety Net on that backup, so I think I'll just do a new clone next time. Easier to do.

 

[Rod]

Guys, I got a reply from Mike at Bombich regarding my query on the topic and here is the reply I received:

"It is still possible to boot a Mac that was updated to 11.3 from an external device that is running 11.2.3 (I actually tested this exact configuration about 4 times). That isn't the problem here, though, rather I suspect there is something wrong with the authentication of the external device (it has to be authenticated by the user account associated with the internal storage). When that authentication fails, the system will reboot to the internal recovery volume, but we've seen cases where the system just keeps attempting to boot from the external device over and over. Unfortunately it's impossible to get any insight into that part of the boot process.

This is probably an unsupportable configuration, and we are actually planning to drop support for this (very soon). We've given it a really good shot, but there are just way too many problems for us to be able to realistically resolve to make this a reliable solution, Apple introduces new challenges with every single OS update.

Incidentally, you don't have to be able to boot your Mac from the CCC backup to restore data from it. You can restore individual files and folders using Finder or CCC while booted from your production volume, and you can also recover older versions of files from CCC snapshots. If you ever needed to restore everything from a non-bootable backup, you would install macOS via Recovery mode (e.g. onto a replacement disk), then migrate data from the CCC backup via Migration Assistant. CCC backups are compatible with Migration Assistant, and we support that configuration."

Mike

Mike Bombich
Bombich Software, Inc.

As usual a prompt and comprehensive reply. Although it confirms that what I did should have been possible, Jake has already proven that, albeit with a new "catch", there is no way of telling exactly what happened in my case.
I will have to be satisfied knowing that this can and does happen occasionally, as Mike says, "Unfortunately it's impossible to get any insight into that part of the boot process."
For now everything seems fine and I'm futher reassured by the fact that I now also have a fully functional white unibody late 2010 MacBook I restored that could get me out of trouble in the short term.

 

[MacInWin]

The discouraging thing is that the reason I keep a clone around is to be able to get going immediately if I have a problem with my internal drive. If CCC no longer can create a clone to do that, there is no real reason to have it installed. What Mike Bombich suggested here:

Incidentally, you don't have to be able to boot your Mac from the CCC backup to restore data from it. You can restore individual files and folders using Finder or CCC while booted from your production volume, and you can also recover older versions of files from CCC snapshots. If you ever needed to restore everything from a non-bootable backup, you would install macOS via Recovery mode (e.g. onto a replacement disk), then migrate data from the CCC backup via Migration Assistant. CCC backups are compatible with Migration Assistant, and we support that configuration."

can be done with Time Machine alone. I guess it's time to reconsider my backup strategy.

 

[chscag]

For the present time, CCC can still create bootable clones using the work around. As I stated previously, I have tested this with both of my T5 drives with Big Sur 11.3. It does require a bit more effort since the drive has to be erased first. This only works with Intel machines though.

But I do agree that one should keep up with Time Machine backups. I'm currently doing both a Time Machine and CCC backup.

 

[MacInWin]

This is probably an unsupportable configuration, and we are actually planning to drop support for this (very soon). We've given it a really good shot, but there are just way too many problems for us to be able to realistically resolve to make this a reliable solution, Apple introduces new challenges with every single OS update.

It was this statement that is causing me to reconsider the whole approach to backups. If, in fact, the support is dropped for bootable externals or if Apple persists in not permitting external booting of the new Apple Silicon systems, there is no need for a tool like CCC or SD. Just make a backup and if the drive has issues, reinstall and restore. No other options, as Bombich said.

 

[Rod]

Jake, I'm not sure what Mike means by, "an unsupportable configuration". I dont think he was inferring that CCC would abandon the Bootable Clone idea entirely but I could be wrong.

Either way I'm sure you agree we all need more than one backup.

It looks like SuperDuper has overcome the problem with the beta of macOS 11.4 so there's hope yet.

I do agree though, if we can't have a bootable clone there's not much point. In my case it failed because of some glitch in the boot sequence. I could have restored from a TM backup after erasing and reinstalling macOS from my bootable USB macOS installer but I only know how to do that in theory.
I would not want to restore data at initial setup from TM because the classifications are too broad.

Drag and drop from the CCC clone is simple and fast. I can be selective and rearrange locations as I go which I think may be difficult with TM but, as I say, I've never tried.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

...

It looks like SuperDuper has overcome the problem with the beta of macOS 11.4 ..

A beta version of SuperDuper! works with a beta version of Big Sur to bring back the ability to create bootable backups. There is no guaranty that the release versions of either or both will continue to work. All of the information about this is here:

Mac Benchmarks - Geekbench

 

[Rod]

To be fair, CCC's workaround does work. Erasing the target and creating a new, like a first backup is bootable. My complaint with that was only that I lose my Safety Net contents. I am now more dependent on TM for that.

 

[Jim40]

Having used both in the past, I prefer CCC it's faster and can create a bootable clone. Now running osMac 11.3.1