Thanks. I have navigated the maze of these folders. The issue is, I have my iCloud organized by project rather than the app that was used to create the document. My project folders seem to disappear completely. So the only way to truly find what I’m looking for is to open various folders until I find it.
What is the recommendation for the “Secure Boot” section? What is Apple really trying to protect us from here?
The intent is to prevent the installation and
operation of operating systems that have not
been cryptographically verified by Apple.
Similar to how the iPhone is “protected”
It’s rather difficult to load anything on the
iPhone without Apple’s involvement
Much easier to do on a Mac…
1 Like
I’m just getting back to this. When I restart with Command-R, I don’t see Startup Security Utility. What am I missing?
Open Disk Utility, click on the drive that hosts the primary OS, and Mount. (If FileVault is installed you’ll need to enter your Admin password.) Once mounted, exit Disk Utility, then Startup Security Utility should be an option.
Thanks @bowline. But it was already mounted. I tried unmounting and remounting. I also tried unmounting and seeing if it appeared after that. I still can’t figure out how to get Startup Security Utility to appear. Here are screenshots of what I’m seeing inside Disk Utility. (FWIW, FileVault is not turned on).
Does anyone know an alternate way to get to the Startup Security Utility ?
Not sure what you’ve done but try to shut down your Mac, wait a few seconds, then start your Mac using common-R. (don’t restart). This seemed to help me. Not sure why; could have been chance.
Thanks @neonate. I tried that a couple of times, but it didn’t change anything. Startup Security Utility still not showing up.
1 Like
What happens when you click on Firmware Password Utility?
A question:
Are you logging in an Admin account and not a lower-security User account? (Since you are required to authenticate as a valid admin user when opening the Startup Security Utility perhaps it isn’t even an option unless you’re already an Admin.)
A couple more:
• If your Mac is not allowed to use an external disk I assume your machine has a T2 chip in it, yes?
• And perhaps you also set a firmware password on the Mac (which disallows booting from an external drive)?
• Is Secure Boot employed?
If you did log in as Admin, and have the firmware password and/or Secure Boot enabled, I’d try temporarily to disable them and see if Startup Security Utility reappears. (You are required to authenticate as a valid admin user when opening the Startup Security Utility, and if the setup assistant has not been run and no user has been created, then you will not be able to open - or possibly see - the Startup Security Utility.)
Well, Password Protection was off. So I got this message:
I turned it on and got this message:
Because it seemed to do the opposite of what I wanted, I turned it back off:
- I checked, and I am logged in as an Admin when I restart.
- I assume this machine has a T2 chip because when I tried to boot from my SuperDuper clone I got the message “Security settings do not allow this Mac to use an external startup disk” That message is what started this whole thread.
- Judging from my screenshot above on April 13, at one point I was able to see the Startup Security Utility (SSU). My memory is that I didn’t know what to do when I found it and I didn’t change anything. For some reason, on the same computer, the SSU will not show up now.
- I did not have a Firmware Password set. I tried setting it (see message to @neonate above). But it didn’t change anything and I have sense turned it back off
- Sorry, I don’t know how to check if Secure Boot is employed.
Thanks, all for trying to help me solve this! I appreciate the help.
Startup Security Utility sets SecureBoot to Full Security by default
Since anyone with physical access to the Mac can boot into the macOS Recovery, this provides a safeguard against local attacks and while on prohibits external boot drives from working with Macs. So yes, I think you have SecureBoot on, and I don’t know why you can’t access it (or, therefore, turn it off).
I hope it isn’t related to the issue of corrupted T2 firmware as described in this recent thread - I just don’t know, sorry.
Which operating system are you on? Look at the middle of the second paragraph.
Seems to me that Startup Security Utility is for High Sierra later.
10.11.6 El Capitan
At one point (April post above) I was able to get Startup Security Utility to come up on this machine, but I can’t now.
Oh wow, that corrupted T2 firmware seems horrible. I have a brand new 2020 13” and I will make sure to turn off secure boot. What I’m wanting to do with this old machine is to run Mohave on it via an external drive. I wonder if I could do this if I wipe the machine and start over. There isn’t any data on it that I care about. All my data is on the external drive. I just need this machine for a handful of old files I need to edit that will not run on Catalina. @bowline does this change anything?
If Startup Security Utility has Secure Boot set with Disallow Booting From External Media then you shouldn’t be able to run Mojave or any OS from an external drive.
If you have a bootable external drive somewhere (maybe a backup clone) then try it. But if the machine is locked down and you cannot access Startup Security Utility you may need to contact Apple Support.
Kinda’ important to state at the very beginning! 
Since you have El Capitan, when starting up using command-R, this is the menu you should see:
Which Mac do you have? The following is from Apple support:
Maybe, when you did see the Startup Security Utility on April 13th, you had started your Mac in recovery mode through one of the alternate methods. I’m not suggesting you do this now. Maybe someone here could come in about that.
Finally, since you initially tried to boot up your Mac from a SuperDuper clone (your initial post), you may want to contact SuperDuper support.
https://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
@bowline do you recommend no security, or medium security?
On my new machine (2020 13" MBP running Catalina) I was able to turn it off. But now it’s saying the OS on my SuperDuper backup needs to be reinstalled. All I really need is a machine that runs Mojave so I can still open these files while I wait for the developers to update.
Thanks so much!