Can not erase main drive or reinstall

[GreenApple29]

hello everyone

Yesterday I had to open my Mac mini late 2012 cos the fans were going crazy plus mini was getting way too hot
It was full of dust so cleaned it and only places I had to unscrew were the fans and not removing the whole logic board


On boot everything seemed ok
Then I kept getting iCloud system preferences to enter my password
Some other apps couldn't be opened via spotlight

So I turned mini off tried safe boot nothing drive
I decided to do a clean install but the disk utility couldn't erase the main drive
Even when I tried to use an external USB stick the same message a
Pearled

I'm attaching the images and if anyone has an idea I would really appreciate that

 

[Fishrrman]

Something broken or loose inside?

 

[GreenApple29]

Something broken or loose inside?

I hope it's something lose inside and nothing more than that

But as I said we removed the black plate to access mini
We didn't remove the memory just the fan
Only thing we did is used a tool to blow air inside

I hope it's a cable got lose and nothing else
However why the disk utility doesn't let me erase even a USB stick? That's the thing that worries me

 

[CoastalOR]

I hope it's something lose inside and nothing more than that
But as I said we removed the black plate to access mini
We didn't remove the memory just the fan
Only thing we did is used a tool to blow air inside
I hope it's a cable got lose and nothing else
However why the disk utility doesn't let me erase even a USB stick? That's the thing that worries me

Try a fresh restart. I have found that El Capitan and Sierra Disk Utility gets flakey sometimes. If that doesn't work then try another USB stick.

 

[GreenApple29]

Try a fresh restart. I have found that El Capitan and Sierra Disk Utility gets flakey sometimes. If that doesn't work then try another USB stick.

If you check my pics and my initial post I mentioned that it doesn't let me erase either the main drive or the external USB
I couldn't see the drive that's why I can't erase or install a fresh copy of the operating system

 

[CoastalOR]

Try a fresh restart. I have found that El Capitan and Sierra Disk Utility gets flakey sometimes. If that doesn't work then try another USB stick.

If you check my pics and my initial post I mentioned that it doesn't let me erase either the main drive or the external USB
I couldn't see the drive that's why I can't erase or install a fresh copy of the operating system

Have you tried a restart and retried Disk Utility?

 

[GreenApple29]

a small update
i took the internal ssd and used it as an external on my MacBook pro
then i used the MacBook pro disk utility and tried to erase it
but i got an error message
"exit code 8"

any ideas?

 

[stevenaaus]

Only thing we did is used a tool to blow air inside

This is definitely not good practice, and quite possibly your problem.
Cables get loosened, fan bearings broken, and dirt blown *in* to places where it shouldn't be.
If you have to take it in for repairs, make sure to mention this to the repairer.
[doublepost=1489489919][/doublepost]

i took the internal ssd and used it as an external on my MacBook pro
then i used the MacBook pro disk utility and tried to erase it
but i got an error message
"exit code 8"

But this just sounds like a general SSD failure.

 

[csurfr]

If you check my pics and my initial post I mentioned that it doesn't let me erase either the main drive or the external USB
I couldn't see the drive that's why I can't erase or install a fresh copy of the operating system

I have had this error as well recently on almost every machine that I have . . .My guess is that it is some sort of bug in the recovery software from Apple. If I try again, it usually works fine immediately.

 

[GreenApple29]

This is definitely not good practice, and quite possibly your problem.
Cables get loosened, fan bearings broken, and dirt blown *in* to places where it shouldn't be.
If you have to take it in for repairs, make sure to mention this to the repairer.
[doublepost=1489489919][/doublepost]

But this just sounds like a general SSD failure.

a hardware failure or a corrypted disk directory?
that the worst period for me to get a new ssd not to mention searching for an original or aa OWC

ill have to wait and see what the repairer will say i guess
[doublepost=1489490116][/doublepost]

I have had this error as well recently on almost every machine that I have . . .My guess is that it is some sort of bug in the recovery software from Apple. If I try again, it usually works fine immediately.

what do you mean try again? try again the "erase" or the "first aid" procedure?
i tried many times first aid with the same results mentioned above
and when i tried to erase it lets m pick a name for my drive but the option to continue and erase the drive is greyed out

 

[csurfr]

what do you mean try again? try again the "erase" or the "first aid" procedure? i tried many times first aid with the same results mentioned above
and when i tried to erase it lets m pick a name for my drive but the option to continue and erase the drive is greyed out

For me, when I get that error, I just highlight the drive (Apple Internal) and choose "erase" and it works fine. I give the drive a name (Macintosh HD) and presto. Sometimes it takes two tries. Sometimes it takes three. But It has always worked in the end, which is why I feel like it's a software issue. That, or all 3 of my SSDs are going bad at the same time (not likely).

 

[GreenApple29]

For me, when I get that error, I just highlight the drive (Apple Internal) and choose "erase" and it works fine. I give the drive a name (Macintosh HD) and presto. Sometimes it takes two tries. Sometimes it takes three. But It has always worked in the end, which is why I feel like it's a software issue. That, or all 3 of my SSDs are going bad at the same time (not likely).

ill wait and see what the repair guy will say and i just hope its a software thing only!
fingers crossed

 

[GreenApple29]

so the repair guy just phoned me
he said that he could see this issue that iw as describing but after using the diagnostic tools, i guess the ones or similar apple is using, he saw no signs of disk failure
at the same time he said that he can go ahead and continue with the installation, when i tried that this wasn't possible.
not sure how to move forward
i mean if he goes ahead with installation he will charge me 50 euros for a procedure that i have done multiple times in the past
again, when i have the internal ssd as external on a usb case, its not visible on the finder only in disk utility, where first aid gives errors and greyed out option when i try to erase

you think any tools like disk warrior or tech tools pro could help me with this?

 

[stevenaaus]

Normally a disk format error means the disk has failed physically, but as csurfr said

I have had this error as well recently on almost every machine that I have . . .My guess is that it is some sort of bug in the recovery software from Apple. If I try again, it usually works fine immediately.

and there is also a similar error message in this thread
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-and-fixes-here.1991731/page-18#post-24337405

Disk Utility: In my opinion Disk Utility stopped being useful in 10.11. Yosemite had the best, useful, Disk Utility available and they’ve taken some steps towards fixing it but these bugs remain. While attempting to Erase a volume, you will often get an error the first time as it fails to erase/partition/reformat the drive. If you then try again, it succeeds! This is not something I do daily, but when I do have to (SD cards, flash drives), it always requires at least two or three attempts for Disk Utility to get the job done.

So it looks like there may be a software issue with recent disk utility program... though i havent seen it.
Maybe peseverance will pay off ?

 

[csurfr]

Normally a disk format error means the disk has failed physically, but as csurfr said

and there is also a similar error message in this thread
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-and-fixes-here.1991731/page-18#post-24337405

That message you quoted is exactly what I run into and is what I was attempting to convey to the OP. Good find!

 

[GreenApple29]

Hello all and thanks for the messages and replies. I had to leave it to the repair guy who initiall called me and said that according to his diagnostic tools. I guess Apples diagnostic tools it doesn't seem to be any hardware issue either with the drive or the machine itself. He could get into the installation process so I guess everything is ok apart from me paying for approves ( installation) that I could have done it with my eyes closed. He mentioned that there was probably an issue with the recovery partition. As soon as I got it back I restored from a time machine backup and everything is back in normal mode

Only issue is that in iCloud preferences find my mac is greyed and it informs me that there is no recovery partition!

I didn't get into it yet since I'm away for a few days but at least the Mac mini is working and the drive is ok

I should have waited and tested a couple of tools myself like techtool or disk warrior but wasn't sure if it was a hardware or a software issue