OS X El Capitan installation from ISO fails

[mibosshard]

using Mist Version 0.8.1 I today created an ISO file of Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

I then tried to install from the ISO (VMware Fusion) and it failed:

"The Install OS X El Capitan application can't be used from this disk.

Copy this application to a writable Mac OS Extended formatted disk and reopen it to continue installation."

[ninxsoft]

The logic I was using to shrink the Bootable Disk Image down in size seems to have broken the ability to boot the ISOs.

I have a pull request in flight, #82, will reach out to confirm testing after I cut a new release 👍

[ninxsoft]

Mist version 0.9.1 is now available - if you can please test with this version and report back 🙌

[mibosshard]

wonderful, thank you! Ijust created a new ISO of El Capitan and tried to create a VM in VMware Fusion. unfortunately I'm getting the exact same error during install as shown in the screenshot I posted above... running on a Mac mini 2014 with macOS Monterey. I'm now going to reinstall Monterey from scratch on said machine and report back.

[ninxsoft]

@mibosshard thanks for the update - just confirming: please ensure you are on macOS Monterey 12.6.8 (21G725) when you attempt to build the ISO again 👍

[mibosshard]

okay: I made a USB installer stick using the latest (21G725) "Install macOS Monterey.app". wiped the SSD of the Mac mini clean using dd, installed macOS. downloaded Mist 0.9.1 and let it create an El Capitan installer ISO. tried to install a fresh VM using VMware Fusion 12.2.3. still getting the same error "The Install OS X El Capitan application can't be used from this disk".

[mibosshard]

just to make sure it's not macOS Monterey or VMware Fusion that causes the error I now have successfully created an El Capitan VM using an ISO I made a few years back...

[ninxsoft]

I stumbled across this VMware article:

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Discussions/copy-this-application-to-a-writable-mac-os-extended-formatted/td-p/2865859

I suspect VMware Fusion is smarter in creating a compatible ISO than just converting a DMG > ISO via Mist, especially for "newer" versions of macOS.

Are you able to confirm the app installer isn't corrupted in any way by attempting the solution in the article? Maybe even compare the ISO created by VMware with the one created by Mist?

I may just be missing the secret sauce in the ISO that allows VMware to boot the ISO correctly.

[mibosshard]

I mounted the (non-working) ISO I created 2 days ago using Mist and dragged "Install OS X El Capitan.app" to VMware Fusion to create a fresh VM. BTW: VMware Fusion does not create an ISO but a DMG instead (gets attached to the VM as a virtual harddrive). the installer then runs without throwing an error.

[mviron]

As of .10 this issue still persists.