Create a tails hd on Catalina

I’m trying to create a TAILS external hd for my 2020 MacBook Pro, running Catalina 10.15.6. Can someone give me instructions on how to do it, using Etcher? I’ve already attempted the directions at

https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/usb-overview/

My 2020 MacBook requires me to format my external hd as APFS, creating two containers(?). I’ve tried to flash one, the other, and both containers. No luck. Can you help?

Hello, you don’t need to format your drive first.
You will need to select the drive itself and not one of the containers.

That worked! Thanks.

I’ve rebooted to TAILS on my ext had, but the cursor is frozen. I can’t start TAILS without cursor control.

I don’t know much about Tails.
Have you read Tails - Known issues ?
It seems like trackpads might not work on some models.

Still, the trackpad and keyboard may not work. You may use an external mouse and keyboard.

Hey, just wanted to let you know that if you try the flashing again with the new version of Etcher it should only show the drive and not the APFS containers as that was not intended to happen. Thanks for letting us know about the issue and let us know if you manage to get the cursor working

I’ll probably have to flash the drive again. Thanks.

I haven’t researched the cursor issue yet.