Unable to Boot from USB Backup HDD

[demiankz]

My apologies if this is the wrong forum to ask for help for this issue.

 

1. Used SuperDuper to clone internal, APFS-formatted SSD containing fresh, working High Sierra 10.13.1 install onto freshly formatted HFS+J external USB HDD (linked via working USB 2 port)
2. Installed Clover_v2.4k_r4297 onto same external USB
3. Replaced USB EFI folder with internal SSD EFI folder
4. Rebooted, verbose
5. Last line before panic stated "considerRebuildOfPrelinkedKernel com.apple.kext.triggers triggered rebuild"
6. Screen full of "gobbledygook" (at least nothing I recognize from a typical verbose boot log) appears for a second
7. Machine reboots, clover appears, boots from default (internal SSD) volume, desktop appears as expected

Clearly I've done something wrong in preparing my external USB backup. I've also tried the same process, but formatting the external USB as APFS. Same result.

If it's remotely useful, ioReg, screenshot, and EFI/Clover from the internal, working HDD attached.

Any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks.

demiankz_files.zip

[demiankz]

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Single-user mode, same result. Eventual panic and reboot to Clover.

 

Safe mode, I was able to boot to the desktop. In terminal, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-caches". Seemed to rebuild some things. Rebooted, same result. Eventual panic and reboots.

 

So, I guess safe-mode is my only solution at this point? If my internal SSD goes {censored} up, I can boot from the USB, clone the main partition and EFI partition back to the internal, rebuild the kextcache, and be back in business, yeah?