Detailed Guide: Using DiskMaker to Create Bootable macOS USB

DiskMaker X, previously called Lion DiskMaker, is a free software tool developed with AppleScript that enables users to create bootable USB drives. It operates on donations and is compatible with various versions of macOS, including the macOS Catalina Install App. To use DiskMaker X, your Mac must be running macOS 10.10 or later.

macOS is an excellent operating system, but installation can be challenging if your system crashes and you lack the proper tools. DiskMaker simplifies the process, allowing you to run diagnostics or install Mac OS X with ease.

In this article, we'll discuss how to use the DiskMaker X software to create a bootable macOS USB. We'll also provide solutions to some problems that users encounter while using the software on your Mac computer.

Part 1. DiskMaker Versions and Their Compatibility

Fristly, let’s have a look at the basic information of DiskMaker. Below is the list of DiskMaker versions with their compatible macOS X:

Part 2. Pre-requisite to use DiskMaker

To use the DiskMaker for macOS bootable USB, you will need the following:

Part 3. Backup or Recover Lost Data from Unbootable Mac before using DiskMaker

After knowing what DiskMaker is and what you need to prepare to apply it, there is an important thing to do before you start with the guidance in Part 4 – backup your data. While we have provided the scheme to use DisMaker to boot your Mac in the later part, if it failed, you may risk losing your important data. Hence, it is recommended to backup your data on Mac before you start. You can backup and rescue your data with a reliable and secure tool – Recoverit. This application can run smoothly on Mac and extract the data under various difficult situations, including an unbootable Mac.

Please follow the steps below to use Recoverit and give you a strong backup.

To begin with, let’s check the prerequisites to use it:

Here are the steps to apply Recoverit to recover your data from an unbootable Mac.

Step 1: Launch Recoverit on your working computer, then insert the USB. On the left side of the main interface showing in the screen, choose "System Crashed Computer". And then click “start” to go on.

Step 2: When selecting a bootable device, there are two options of modes available. Select your USB flash drive and click the "Start" button.

Step 3: To ensure enough space on the USB drive, it will be formatted, and thus, all the data present on it will be wiped. So back up important files in advance. Click "Format" and the next interface will show you the procedure for formatting the USB drive.

After the drive formatting, Recoverit starts creating the bootable media drive on Mac. During the process, do not remove the USB flash drive out of your Mac computer. Usually a few minutes later, the bootable USB flash drive will be created. Then there will be a guide for you to boot your crashed Mac.

Step 4: Now, Recover data from crashed Mac. Connect a good hard drive to the crashed Mac, choose the hard drive you connect, and click “Start Copy” button. Then the screen shows the process of copying data from the crashed Mac to the hard drive. When the copying process is finished, it will show “Copy files completed!”.

Part 4. How to Use DiskMaker to Create a Bootable USB on macOS?

Here's how to use DiskMaker X to create a bootable USB on different macOS:

Use DiskMaker to Create Bootable USB on macOS 10.14 Mojave

Follow the below steps to use DiskMaker on macOS Mojave:

Step 1: Download DiskMaker X 8 on your Mac system and install it. Next, launch the Mac App Store and find the macOS Mojave Installer. Click Get and download it on your system.

Step 2: Plug a 16-32 USB drive into the USB port on your Mac. Make sure to backup your data on the drive, as DiskMaker will erase everything on it while creating a bootable macOS drive.

Step 3: If you are already running the macOS 10.14 Mojave on your system, make sure to give Accessibility authorization before using DiskMaker. This is because the Mojave OS has a built-in Privacy Control mechanism that will cause multiple alerts to appear on your screen while creating a bootable USB. To avoid the alerts, do the following steps:

Step 4: Launch the DiskMaker software, select the macOS version 10.14 Mojave, and click "Use this Copy."

Step 5: Select the type of drive you are using to create your bootable drive (USB Drive in this case). The drive will be erased, type the admin password if asked, and wait for the booting process to complete.

Once done, a dialog box will appear. Click quit or System Preferences, depending on your requirements. Alternatively, install the OS by rebooting your Mac.

Use DiskMaker to Create a Bootable USB on Sierra and Other Mac OS X

To create a bootable USB on macOS Sierra using DiskMaker, do the following steps in sequence:

Step 1: Download the macOS Sierra from Mac App Store.

Step 2: Next, download DiskMaker X for macOS Sierra and install it. Plug a 16-32GB USB into your Mac and launch the DiskMaker X software.

Step 3: Select your macOS version, i.e., macOS Sierra in this case, and the app will start searching for a copy of the OS. Once it finds the copy, a dialog box will appear. Click Use this Copy to continue. If you don't want to use the copy, you can click "Use another copy" and select it from your system.

Step 4: Select your thumb drive; the app will format everything on the USB drive. Enter your admin password, and the booting process will begin.

Step 5: Wait for the process to complete and restart your Mac to install the macOS on your system.

In case you want to create macOS Bootable usb drive on Windows in another way, you can watch this video:

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Part 5. Troubleshooting

When using DiskMaker, you may discounter some common problems on different macOS systems. We have listed the three main problems and provided relevant solutions to help you out.

When creating the Install disk with DiskMaker X, I encounter this error message: "The disk could not be created because of an error: An error occurred: -10006."

This error occurs when you try to create an install disk, and a false mount is created, which is a folder with the same name as your install drive. This results in the Install drive having the same name but with 1 at the end. To avoid this, do the following steps:

Step 1: Head to Finder > GO > Go to Folder menu and type /Volumes/.

Step 2: If a folder is named as your macOS Install disk, delete it. Enter your admin name and password.

Step 3: Reboot your Mac and try again.

When using DiskMaker X 7 for High Sierra / When using DiskMaker X 8 for Mojave, I encounter this error message: "The disk could not be created because of an error: An error occurred: -10006. Finder got an error: Can't set alias \" Install macOS High Sierra: Install macOS High Sierra.app\" to {425, 76}."

Follow the tips below to resolve this DiskMaker error message:

"This copy of the Install OS X [OS X Name] application can't be verified. It may have been corrupted or tampered with during downloading."

After February 14th of, 2016, Apple's OS X App Store certificates expired, which means that anyone trying to re-install OS X using an installer downloaded before that date will encounter an error. This has nothing to do with DiskMaker X but is an issue with the Apple installers.

Part 6. A Quick Verdict: Well-Known MacPE Tools - UNetbootin and DiskMaker, Which to Choose?

Both UNetbootin and DiskMaker X are popular tools for creating bootable USB flash drives. But which one to choose?

The first thing to know about is that they work on different systems. DiskMaker X is a macOS-only tool that allows you to create bootable disk images for macOS installer disks. However, UNetbootin is a free cross-platform tool that enables you to create bootable live USB drives for various Linux distributions and is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. To learn more about UNetbootin, you can read How to use UNetbootin on Mac.

Below we have provided a quick comparison table to help you decide which software is best for you.

As you can see in the table, UNetBootin is better software than DiskMaker X in many aspects. However, the latter is specifically designed for macOS. Therefore, we recommend to choose the one which best suits your needs.

More Related: How to Boot Mac from USB Drive

Conclusion

In this article, we've discussed how to use DiskMaker X to create a bootable macOS USB for different Mac OS X. We've provided step-by-step methods for using the software on macOS Mojave and Sierra. In the end, we've explored how to resolve some common errors that users encounter while using DiskMaker X on Mac.

Hopefully, this article helped resolve your queries, and you can now create a bootable macOS USB without any hassle.