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minvoyager

macrumors member
Original poster
May 16, 2014
64
10
I've done clean installs of several OSX and macOS's. Always, it involves booting up on the new OS install disk, and wiping and formatting the SSD, then installing the new OS.

I had High Sierra on my MacBook Air's SSD, and wanted to go back to Sierra.

I did the above, and now the bootable install disk doesn't detect the SSD.

I wonder if it's because the SSD is still on APFS, hence, the Sierra install disk doesn't detect it. But the thing is, I had reformatted the SSD using the Sierra Disk Tools.
 
@casperes1996, I don't know how to post the output of the disk utility.

Having said that, I tried again. I had already wiped and re-partitioned the SSD, but this time I re-wiped it, and it worked. So everything is ok now. Clean install went well. Thanks.
 
I understand your pain dude,

It happened to me and this is how I solved:

When you installed High Sierra, the SSD drive was converted to the new file system, for that reason in order to downgrade to Sierra you have to revert that. I solved that problem installing the original operating system that came with my MacBook Pro.

To do that I did the following:

Pre-requisites: MacBook connected to internet, high speed because the whole system is going to be downloaded.

1) Turn off the MacBook.
2) Turn on the MacBook and immediately press SHIFT-OPTION-COMMAND-R This will trigger an internet install.
3) Let the internet install whatever macOS came installed in your MacBook. This will put back the previous file system.
4) Download a copy of MacOS Sierra and create a usb installer.
5) Install MacOS Sierra.

That was the easy way and secure, the file system is going to be intact and I thing this will create a recovery partition or something like that, it takes longer but your old MacBook file system is going to be fixed and ready for MacOS Sierra.

I did this yesterday. But I have done this many times.
 
If the user did not have a copy of macOS Sierra, this is a must in order to be able to download the operating system from the App Store to make a usb installer, the MacBook needs to be in a lower version of macOS High Sierra. If your are in macOS High Sierra, just go to the App Store to download Sierra, it won't let you. So this is a work around if anybody needs a copy of Sierra, is simple to do.
 
If the user did not have a copy of macOS Sierra, this is a must in order to be able to download the operating system from the App Store to make a usb installer, the MacBook needs to be in a lower version of macOS High Sierra. If your are in macOS High Sierra, just go to the App Store to download Sierra, it won't let you. So this is a work around if anybody needs a copy of Sierra, is simple to do.


OK, sure that's true. I was just working out of the assumption you already had an installer :). I keep old installers around everywhere and that's not even joking. On my desk right now are flash drives with Mountain Lion, Mavericks, El Capitan and Sierra. I basically never use them, but they're there.
 
OK, sure that's true. I was just working out of the assumption you already had an installer :). I keep old installers around everywhere and that's not even joking. On my desk right now are flash drives with Mountain Lion, Mavericks, El Capitan and Sierra. I basically never use them, but they're there.


I learned that lesson the hard way, I think it was on September or October when Apple remove the Sierra installer from the App Store, well it was impossible to find a copy, but to my good luck, at that time, I remembered that I had created a usb installer with Sierra for my brother. Lesson learned.
 
I learned that lesson the hard way, I think it was on September or October when Apple remove the Sierra installer from the App Store, well it was impossible to find a copy, but to my good luck, at that time, I remembered that I had created a usb installer with Sierra for my brother. Lesson learned.

They are hidden but not removed. Apple's support page has links that take you to the hidden app store pages.
 
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