![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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I hope Artie will forgive my copying his post in another string, but I think it is pertinent in this thread as well. I'm having a LOT of trouble trying to believe that Apple is going to leave us with no way to create a bootable clone. I'm having a LOT of trouble believing that they'd even think of it.
Their mandating an Internet connection for upgrading was bad enough, but at least it only left us potentially unable to upgrade, which is an option rather than a necessity.
How do they expect us to recover when we NEED to recover and we haven't got Internet accessibility? I have two observations: - After Apple went to the trouble of creating the very useful clone command in Catalina, that CCC and TinkerTool System made use of, the fact it does not work in Big Sur would lead me to believe either Apple doesn't know how to make it work with the new constraints or doesn't know how to make it work without creating unacceptable security vulnerabilities. That doesn't mean the issue can't or won't be solved, but it may take a lot of blood, sweat, tears, coffee, late nights, cold pizza, and time to do so. I don't envy the engineering team that has this on their todo list. It may not be at, or even near, the top of that todo list either as I suspect the vast majority of Mac users don't even know what a clone is. 😳
- You haven't been reading the highway signs marking the road for software updates, upgrades, reinstalls, and application installs. The first obvious road sign was the App Store like iOS. The second, a billboard instead of a sign, was the Recovery Drive. MacOS is tail-end Charlie on this. There are thousands of iPhones and dozens of iPads for every Mac and neither has ever had any way of getting software except the internet or cellular. Bringing MacOS and its distribution channels into line with the other ninety percent of Apple products is inevitable.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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I hope Artie will forgive my copying his post in another string, but I think it is pertinent in this thread as well. I'm having a LOT of trouble trying to believe that Apple is going to leave us with no way to create a bootable clone. I'm having a LOT of trouble believing that they'd even think of it.
Their mandating an Internet connection for upgrading was bad enough, but at least it only left us potentially unable to upgrade, which is an option rather than a necessity.
How do they expect us to recover when we NEED to recover and we haven't got Internet accessibility? I have two observations: - After Apple went to the trouble of creating the very useful clone command in Catalina, that CCC and TinkerTool System made use of, the fact it does not work in Big Sur would lead me to believe either Apple doesn't know how to make it work with the new constraints or doesn't know how to make it work without creating unacceptable security vulnerabilities. That doesn't mean the issue can't or won't be solved, but it may take a lot of blood, sweat, tears, coffee, late nights, cold pizza, and time to do so. I don't envy the engineering team that has this on their todo list. It may not be at, or even near, the top of that todo list either as I suspect the vast majority of Mac users don't even know what a clone is. 😳
- You haven't been reading the highway signs marking the road for software updates, upgrades, reinstalls, and application installs. The first obvious road sign was the App Store like iOS. The second, a billboard instead of a sign, was the Recovery Drive. MacOS is tail-end Charlie on this. There are thousands of iPhones and dozens of iPads for every Mac and neither has ever had any way of getting software except the internet or cellular. Bringing MacOS and its distribution channels into line with the other ninety percent of Apple products is inevitable.
No problem with your "retweeting" my post. I don't know about iPads, but can't iPhones be restored from the backup on your Mac? And I suspect that those Mac users who are aware of clones are the ones who are the most at risk if they go by the boards. Neither macOS or the hardware that runs it is infallible, and I think Apple needs to consider that.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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I don't know about iPads, but can't iPhones be restored from the backup on your Mac?
And I suspect that those Mac users who are aware of clones are the ones who are the most at risk if they go by the boards.
Neither macOS or the hardware that runs it is infallible, and I think Apple needs to consider that. In order: - No, because I never backup either my iPhone or iPad to my Mac, I back up to iCloud. In any case iPhone and iPad backups are not bootable and like Time Machine in Big Sur do not back up the OS, That has to be restored from the App Store and will be the latest OS compatible with the device, not the version that was on the device. The Apps are not backed up either, they come from the App Store as well. Backups consist primarily of settings and data.
- Likely true
- Unlikely to happen. Apple has been on this track for years and shows no signs of being diverted (especially if diversion would reduce security one iota).
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Neither macOS or the hardware that runs it is infallible, and I think Apple needs to consider that. Unlikely to happen. Apple has been on this track for years and shows no signs of being diverted (especially if diversion would reduce security one iota). And the safest car is one that sits in your driveway while you take taxis everywhere. Apple's goal, a computer so invasively safe that it frees its users of all responsibility, ain't gonna be much of a computer.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Maybe adding cellular capability to the MacBook would solve your conundrum. There is a rumored 11†MacBook Air(?), which would appear be little more than an 11†iPad Pro with a built in keyboard and running MacOS. 😜
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Maybe adding cellular capability to the MacBook would solve your conundrum. It would be a solution only if I was in a place where there was cellular access. There are large parts of the world where there's neither cellular nor wi-fi available, and what do I do if my SSD goes south while I'm in such a location?
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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LATEST WORD ON CLONING BIG SURIt appears that creating a bootable clone of Big Sur (macOS 11) will not be possible unless and until Apple creates a revised APFS replication utility. Apparently the "Copy All Files" and "Copy Some Files" options of old will no longer work for system files and volumes. This just in from today's beta release of Carbon Copy Cloner. We're wrapping up our beta testing cycle for macOS "Big Sur" 11. CCC will create Data Volume backups of any Big Sur startup volumes. Apple's APFS replication utility is still not currently capable of replicating a Big Sur System volume (as of Big Sur Beta 8). We're working with Apple to develop the functionality within macOS that will allow third-party backup applications to continue making backups of macOS System volumes. In the meantime, we're making complete backups of your data, and those backups can be seamlessly used alongside the macOS Installer or Migration Assistant to produce a bootable backup or to facilitate a restore See also: Installing MacOS onto a data-only volumeI have a CCC data only clone that I will try installing Big Sur on this afternoon.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Unfortunately from Apple's perspective that all makes sense. Why clone the System when you can do an Internet Restore and grab the System from on line. Well, I can still think of reasons—like no Internet connection—but Apple does not ask me. ![wink wink](/forums/images/graemlins/default/wink1.gif)
On a Mac since 1984. Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Unfortunately from Apple's perspective that all makes sense. Why clone the System when you can do an Internet Restore and grab the System from on line. Well, I can still think of reasons—like no Internet connection—but Apple does not ask me. Don't forget that if your Mac has a T2 chip, as I believe all new Macs do, the T2 chip prevents booting from an external drive unless you boot from the recovery drive or internet recovery drive and disable that feature, so internet may still be a requirement, even if you have a "bootable clone". By-the-way, I can tell you from experience, that also prevents booting from a Recovery Drive on any device other than the internal drive.
Last edited by joemikeb; 09/24/20 11:02 PM. Reason: by-the-way
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/sick.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Coincidental with this discussion of recovery after a disaster, I had just such a disaster and was forced into an emergency recovery of Big Sur. THE PRESENTING ISSUEThe principal symptoms were the keys on the keyboard did not match what was getting to the computer, and an app ran away throwing up a continuing stream of screens requesting a password, which I was unable to give because of the keyboard SNAFU. This persisted through a reboot, a cold boot, reinstalling Big Sur, and a new keyboard. My computer was in a word — unusable 🤯 MY SOLUTION (Related discoveries in footnotes) - Boot from the Recovery Drive
- Erase the boot drive*¹
- Clean install of macOS 11 (Big Sur)*²
- Recover from Time Machine*³ *â´ *âµ *ⶠ*â· *â¸
RESULTS- My system was completely restored incuding all app store and other third party applications. 😎
- Only one app, BOINC, had to be reinstalled. (I expected that)
- The only loss was my carefully curated Launchpad folders 😢
CONCLUSIONSAlthough the entire process took over four hours, recovery was 100% successful and the entire process was completed with zero loss. At the present state-of-the-art the Recovery drive and an internet connection are essential to disaster recovery in Big Sur and it appears that is Apple's intent just as it is with the iPhone, iPad, Watch, TV, etc. Whether Apple will create a means of creating a bootable clone or not is an open question and I am not sure I would bet the price of a venti iced mocha, no whip at Starbucks they will. I still have no clue to what triggered my issue in the first place and I am not happy about that. 😡 FOOTNOTES (aka DISCOVERIES)- When erasing the boot drive, Disk Utility offered to erase only the data volume or the entire drive including even the Recovery volume ‼ï¸
- An internet connection is mandatory
- Although Migration Assistant found every Time Machine data set on every shared drive on my LAN it did not see the CCC clone of the Data volume on an attached drive.
- NOTE: Migration Assistant has to be open and running on other Macs before Migration Assistant will see them as recovery data sources.
- A new password was requested for each of the user accounts recovered from Time Machine
- In Catalina there is a Time Machine option to NOT include system files and applications. that option does NOT exist in Big Sur
- Big Sur Time Machine backups are the entire Data Volume minus any specifically excluded folders (essentially the same data as contained in a CCC clone)
- During the restart after recovery I needed my Apple ID and Password, as well as the six digit logon code for my iPad
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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I finally got around to testing installing Big Sur on a drive with a Carbon Copy Cloner created data volume clone. Piece-of-cake ðŸ°. I cloned my data volume to an external drive using CCC then booted the Recovery Drive and installed Big Sur on the external volume. When the external drive booted after the install it came right up, even my just rearranged LaunchPad settings were just as they had been. The only way I could immediately tell the difference was the CCC warning about suspended tasks that popped up. Admittedly it took a lot less time than yesterday's recovery from Time Machine.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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How about reversing that procedure and cloning your data volume to an external drive that's already got macOS installed on it?
That would, in a single-buttocked way, anyhow, allow you to maintain an emergency backup in the boonies where there's no Internet, or, for that matter, for immediate use in your home.
Once you've got macOS on the drive it would seem as if you could go forward with your regular CCC cloning routine and regularly overwrite your data volume with a fresh one.
And you could keep the external system volume up to date by running the dot updaters and, eventually, the macOS 17 installer. (Oh, well, you'd have to run everything multiple times, but no huge deal.)
I wouldn't love it, but I'd accept that as a viable solution for the lack of system volume cloning ability.
Without some way to recover from a failed drive without Internet, a Mac is a liability.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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MY WATCH IS THE BOSS OF ME
People have said that for a long time because of Apple watch nagging to stand, breath, exercise, etc., but last night mine quit nagging and took charge. The Health app on my iPhone tracks sleep and knows when I wake up and go to bed. As part of that cycle, it turns on "Do Not Disturb" shortly before bedtime. Since my Mac mini does not have touch or visual ability, my watch substitutes for a touch bar or facial recognition. Last night, I was working late and the "wind down" time arrived, the keyboard on my Mac mini stopped responding, the screen darkened, and a message appeared that in order to continue using the computer,I would have to turn off "Do Not Disturb" on my watch. I went to bed.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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The Health app on my iPhone tracks sleep and knows when I wake up and go to bed. Sounds just like Santa Claus! ![grin grin](/forums/images/graemlins/default/grin1.gif)
Last edited by jchuzi; 10/05/20 01:31 PM.
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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]Sounds just like Santa Claus! ![grin grin](/forums/images/graemlins/default/grin1.gif) . Even worse than Saint Nick! He doesn’t monitor my vital signs like my watch does. The watch is more like an over-protective grandmother. 👀 l
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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How about reversing that procedure and cloning your data volume to an external drive that's already got macOS installed on it? An interesting idea, but sadly one that does not work. I just tried re-cloning the data volume on my bootable Big Sur clone. The cloning process was very quick, but when I attempted to boot the re-cloned drive i kept getting a reversed ⌀ symbol and finally had to quit the process with the power switch. 😖 Ah-well, it was worth a try. I just wish it weren't going to take so long to re-install Big Sur on the drive after I erase it and once again clone the data volume to the drive. 🤷â€â™‚ï¸ Although I don't really know why I am going to do that as the critical data stores will never be current on the cloned volume. But it is a shame to have such a fast external SSD sitting around unused. 🙅â€â™‚ï¸ ðŸ’¡ { Bright Idea} On second thought, as my Documents and Desktop folders are technically on the iCloud, rather than re-cloning I might just boot from the clone and allow enough time for the data to "settle" and I would be back up and running with no data loss and no need to reclone the data. While I know that would not work for those who eschew the iCloud, it might just be the answer for those of us who are willing to turn on storing the Docuents and Desktop folders in the cloud. No clone would be needed, just a second bootable drive on the same Apple ID account and iCloud. The only question would be the applications, drivers, and other such "stuff". I feel another experiment coming on.
Last edited by joemikeb; 10/08/20 09:06 PM. Reason: BRIGHT IDEA
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Some new (I think) Big Sur details from an exchange with Mike Bombich: Is the system volume actually MORE untouchable in Big Sur than it is in Catalina, i.e. has it been fixed so it can't be manipulated from a clone as I do in Catalina (like booting into OS 9 to manipulate the early versions of OS X)? Yes, it's cryptographically sealed and then a snapshot is taken. On startup, the snapshot is mounted and that's what the system boots from – the original System volume isn't even mounted. If you mount the System volume and make changes to it, that renders the system non-bootable. You can learn more about it here: https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=3xpv8r2mThere is actually a mode in which you could modify the system and create your own snapshots, but that's geared towards kernel extension developers.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Some new (I think) Big Sur details from an exchange with Mike Bombich That is new and explains a LOT. In retrospect, its roots were planted in the concepts of APFS years ago; transitional elements appeared in Catalina, and it is now achieving a logical maturity in Big Sur. It constitutes an order of magnitude increase in system security and integrity, and reliability. It also makes life a LOT harder for legitimate developers who attempt to get too close to the hardware or OS inner workings. We may also see some old standbys go by the board in the coming year because they are no longer needed and/or can no longer be implemented. Thanks to Mike Bombich for sharing that information, and thanks to you for passing it along.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Thanks to Mike Bombich for sharing that information.... I'm sure you've dealt with many more developers than I have, but Mike is far and away the most responsive one with whom I"ve ever dealt. When I pose a question to Mike, I don't get just an answer, I get a SEMINAR! ![smile smile](/forums/images/graemlins/default/smile1.gif) (I intend to use the included link to (try to) hack Big Sur when I install it.)
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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How about reversing that procedure and cloning your data volume to an external drive that's already got macOS installed on it? An interesting idea.... I've been discussing this question with Mike Bombich, but I"m at a dead end, because I haven't got Big Sur and can't see how CCC reacts to it. Would you please post screenshots of the options you're offered in CCC's "Copy All Files" and "Copy Some Files" drop-downs with Big Sur selected as your source volume?
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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How about reversing that procedure and cloning your data volume to an external drive that's already got macOS installed on it? An interesting idea, but sadly one that does not work. I just tried re-cloning the data volume on my bootable Big Sur clone. The cloning process was very quick, but when I attempted to boot the re-cloned drive i kept getting a reversed ⌀ symbol and finally had to quit the process with the power switch. 😖 Ah-well, it was worth a try. I just wish it weren't going to take so long to re-install Big Sur on the drive after I erase it and once again clone the data volume to the drive. 🤷â€â™‚ï¸ Although I don't really know why I am going to do that as the critical data stores will never be current on the cloned volume. But it is a shame to have such a fast external SSD sitting around unused. 🙅â€â™‚ï¸ Here's my exchange with Mike Bombich: artie: but that you can achieve a bootable volume by combining it with either a Time Machine or Recovery restore
Mike: No, Time Machine isn't required at all. An Internet connection is only required to download the Installer, which you've done already if you've installed Big Sur. Hang on to that Installer – drag it to some other volume to make a copy that the Installer won't delete. When you've finished installing Big Sur, run your CCC backup to get your Data-only backup created, then install Big Sur onto the backup. At that point you have a bootable backup, and presumably a backup of that macOS Installer as well. If Internet connectivity is a problem in your area, then definitely save a copy of the installer. (Addendum: Red text is contradictory, no?)
artie: Can I install Big Sur on an external drive and keep it current by cloning my internal data volume to it regularly?
Mike: CCC will keep the Data-only volume current, yes. Nothing copies the System volume – not CCC, not Time Machine, nothing nor nobody can copy it (yet), not even Apple. The only way to restore the system right now is to reinstall it.
FWIW, I'd wait on this one. There is no impetus to upgrade to Big Sur, and there are some lower-level things that are still not working correctly. The biggest problem right now is that the "Signed System Volume" is supposed to be cryptographically "sealed", but that seal is constantly broken. A volume with a broken seal isn't supposed to be bootable, but Apple has relaxed that requirement because the functionality doesn't work. You're in no worse shape than in Catalina where the volume lacks the seal altogether, but then there's also no advantage (security-wise) to upgrading just yet. I've terminated the discussion because it's not reasonable of me to impose on Mike's time about functionality at a particular moment that may change in the next moment, not to mention the fact that I"m not even running Big Sur, so I can't run any experiments of my own. The one thing I'm scratching my head about, and regret not having asked Mike about, is how Migration Assistant is dealing with this, and can it perhaps be used in place of CCC for some necessary functionality?
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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The one thing I'm scratching my head about, and regret not having asked Mike about, is how Migration Assistant is dealing with this, and can it perhaps be used in place of CCC for some necessary functionality? Migration Assistant only deals with the data volume. It is through the magic of firmlinks that applications installed in the data volume appear in the System volume. Quoting from Mike Bombich's Working with APFS Volume GroupsFinder shenanigans with the Applications folder
Firmlinks are mostly transparent, but there is one really noticeable exception: the Applications folder. The Applications folder at the root level of the System volume is a firmlink to the Applications folder at the root level of the Data volume, however, if you navigate to your startup disk > System > Volumes > Data > Applications, you'll notice that the bulk of the Applications are not there. Yet when you look at the Applications folder on the System volume, they are all there! The Finder applies some magic here. The read-only System Applications folder actually resides at System > Applications on the System volume, and when you open the Applications folder in the Finder, you'll see the aggregation of that folder and the Data volume's root-level Applications folder. To the average user, this is exactly what you expect to see, and that's great. However, you may notice that this same aggregation is not applied to other system volumes that your Mac is not currently booted from (e.g. your backup disk). On those volumes, if you open the root-level Applications folder on the visible System volume, you'll only see the content of the firmlink to the root-level Applications folder on the Data volume (i.e. no Apple applications, just your third-party applications and Safari). Rest assured, though, that all of the applications are backed up! You'll find them at System > Applications on the backup volume.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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The one thing I'm scratching my head about, and regret not having asked Mike about, is how Migration Assistant is dealing with this, and can it perhaps be used in place of CCC for some necessary functionality? Migration Assistant only deals with the data volume. It is through the magic of firmlinks that applications installed in the data volume appear in the System volume. Quoting from Mike Bombich's Working with APFS Volume GroupsFinder shenanigans with the Applications folder
Firmlinks are mostly transparent, but there is one really noticeable exception: the Applications folder. The Applications folder at the root level of the System volume is a firmlink to the Applications folder at the root level of the Data volume, however, if you navigate to your startup disk > System > Volumes > Data > Applications, you'll notice that the bulk of the Applications are not there. Yet when you look at the Applications folder on the System volume, they are all there! The Finder applies some magic here. The read-only System Applications folder actually resides at System > Applications on the System volume, and when you open the Applications folder in the Finder, you'll see the aggregation of that folder and the Data volume's root-level Applications folder. To the average user, this is exactly what you expect to see, and that's great. However, you may notice that this same aggregation is not applied to other system volumes that your Mac is not currently booted from (e.g. your backup disk). On those volumes, if you open the root-level Applications folder on the visible System volume, you'll only see the content of the firmlink to the root-level Applications folder on the Data volume (i.e. no Apple applications, just your third-party applications and Safari). Rest assured, though, that all of the applications are backed up! You'll find them at System > Applications on the backup volume. I'm familiar with all that, but trying to think Big Sur things through without having Big Sur as a reference point has left me at the point of pointlessness. Note: The file path I've highlighted in red doesn't exist in Catalina, but if you follow the closest thing to it that does exist you see what Mike's talking about, although in reverse. Mike's response to my question may be "quoted" as "Installing Big Sur on top of a CCC data clone and running Migration Assistant on top of a Big Sur installation yield the same results."
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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![](/forums/images/icons/default/book.gif) Re: First Look At Big Sur
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Note: The file path I've highlighted in red doesn't exist in Catalina, but if you follow the closest thing to it that does exist you see what Mike's talking about, although in reverse. This is the closest I can get to that path in Big Sur. Mike's response to my question may be "quoted" as "Installing Big Sur on top of a CCC data clone and running Migration Assistant on top of a Big Sur installation yield the same results." Agreed. But that does not mean you can clone or re-clone a data volume onto an existing Big Sur drive and end up with a bootable system. In Catalina a virtual run time volume is created at boot time using elements from the system volume and the data volume. In Big Sur that virtual volume is created, and signed at Install time and is stored on the boot drive as an APFS snapshot. That snapshot is the bootable volume.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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