Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Zbignyev

macrumors newbie
Sep 26, 2017
1
0
This is my very first comment/calling for help, so hello to everyone.

I've pretty much messed up. I've deleted the main volume using the Disk Utility (by pressing the newly introduced 'Volume -' button, next to the 'Volume +', and between 'view' and 'first aid' buttons) through a USB High Sierra installer. Therefore the MacBook Air's SSD doesn't show up at all in the Disk Utility, nor in the OS installation setup, and I'm unable to install the system. Tried both from the USB as well as the Internet Recovery. I haven't got a Time Machine backup. I'm desperately calling for any help.

Pic #1: the disc utility
Pic #2: the OS installation process with no drive to choose from
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0288.JPG
    IMG_0288.JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 702
  • IMG_0289.JPG
    IMG_0289.JPG
    1.6 MB · Views: 664

gootkin1

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2017
8
2
Australia
Will someone please help me, I also have the same problem. I am running mac os high sierra on a MacBook air and I tried to erase the contents of my mac for a fresh start. I accidentally deleted my "Macintosh HD" drive and now it has disappeared from my disk utility. I tried the commands in the terminal from previous pages but It said that I have no core volumes on the mac. I have a time machine backup, but I can't restore it because the mac no longer recognizes my internal drive. If I hold option on startup, it allows me to boot with the internal drive but it won't show in disk utility.
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
Will someone please help me, I also have the same problem. I am running mac os high sierra on a MacBook air and I tried to erase the contents of my mac for a fresh start. I accidentally deleted my "Macintosh HD" drive and now it has disappeared from my disk utility. I tried the commands in the terminal from previous pages but It said that I have no core volumes on the mac. I have a time machine backup, but I can't restore it because the mac no longer recognizes my internal drive. If I hold option on startup, it allows me to boot with the internal drive but it won't show in disk utility.
When you boot are you seeing a spinning globe first before you get to the recovery screen?
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
Sometimes yes, but other times it usually just automatically boots into the internal drive, it shows the no entry sign but I can still access the recovery mode.
Okay... once you see the spinning globe then it gets to the recovery screen, can you see the internal disk in Disk Utility?

Also while in recovery, go to the Utilities menu and open Terminal. Then enter the two lines below one at a time and tell me the output of each command.

Code:
diskutil list

diskutil cs list
 

gootkin1

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2017
8
2
Australia
Okay... once you see the spinning globe then it gets to the recovery screen, can you see the internal disk in Disk Utility?

Also while in recovery, go to the Utilities menu and open Terminal. Then enter the two lines below one at a time and tell me the output of each command.

Code:
diskutil list

diskutil cs list

No, I can't see the internal in the disk utility, only a disk image called OS X Based System
I typed in the two commands, the first one showed the internal disk as a GUID_Partition_Scheme but it was called disk0
the second command showed "no corestorage logical volume groups found"
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
No, I can't see the internal in the disk utility, only a disk image called OS X Based System
I typed in the two commands, the first one showed the internal disk as a GUID_Partition_Scheme but it was called disk0
the second command showed "no corestorage logical volume groups found"
That base system is a virtual image in memory and is the recovery volume you are booted to.

Run diskutil list again and tell me exactly what it says.... including everything below that first line.

Maybe take a picture with your phone or something and post that.
 

gootkin1

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2017
8
2
Australia
This is the outcomes of each command
638031-1df1d7b9011f107cbd21a5fea068b1ab.jpg
638032-4b4c1ce59236f8fbc5324b02992a09e7.jpg
638032-4b4c1ce59236f8fbc5324b02992a09e7.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 9.39.20 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 9.39.20 pm.png
    1.5 MB · Views: 364
  • Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 9.39.35 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 9.39.35 pm.png
    1.4 MB · Views: 368
  • Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 9.39.45 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 9.39.45 pm.png
    1.1 MB · Views: 318

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
Okay.. that's fine. Looks like you converted to APFS. Open Disk Utility then click the icon at the top left and select show all devices like in my screenshot. Then select container disk1 and click the + volume up to tp add in a Macintosh HD volume of 120GB. Then you should be able to install to that.

Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 6.57.43 AM.png Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 6.57.30 AM.png
 

gootkin1

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2017
8
2
Australia
Unfortunately, even after doing that, it still only shows the OS X Base System. Thank you for your help so far by the way.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 10.04.03 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 10.04.03 pm.png
    1.4 MB · Views: 896
  • Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 10.04.14 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 10.04.14 pm.png
    1 MB · Views: 870

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
Unfortunately, even after doing that, it still only shows the OS X Base System. Thank you for your help so far by the way.
Hmm.. odd we can see it in Terminal.

Code:
diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ "Macintosh HD" disk0

While still in Internet recovery, go back to Terminal and enter the above line exactly like I have it including the quotes. That will wipe the whole drive back to the old format. Then go ahead with the install. You can convert to APS later if the HS installer does not do it for you.
 

gootkin1

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2017
8
2
Australia
Hmm.. odd we can see it in Terminal.

Code:
diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ "Macintosh HD" disk0

While still in Internet recovery, go back to Terminal and enter the above line exactly like I have it including the quotes. That will wipe the whole drive back to the old format. Then go ahead with the install. You can convert to APS later if the HS installer does not do it for you.

It started to erase it but failed...
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 10.22.59 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2017-10-02 at 10.22.59 pm.png
    1.2 MB · Views: 1,905

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
If you are sure you are in Internet recovery (saw the spinning globe first?) then I am getting worried you have a failed drive.
 

gootkin1

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2017
8
2
Australia
If you are sure you are in Internet recovery (saw the spinning globe first?) then I am getting worried you have a failed drive.
I am going to reopen internet recovery but I might have to get back to you tomorrow because the internet in Australia is really slow. It says 20 minutes but last time it took about an hour.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Weaselboy

raffaytarar

macrumors newbie
Oct 28, 2017
1
3
Hmm.. odd we can see it in Terminal.

Code:
diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ "Macintosh HD" disk0

While still in Internet recovery, go back to Terminal and enter the above line exactly like I have it including the quotes. That will wipe the whole drive back to the old format. Then go ahead with the install. You can convert to APS later if the HS installer does not do it for you.

I was having the exact same issue and after spending hours on the internet finding a solution, eventually this worked for me. Created an account here just to say Thanks to you.
Thank you so much for saving me from big trouble.
 

setemupknockem

macrumors newbie
Nov 4, 2017
3
1
Michigan
Alright. This is my last resort before I buy an enclosure and try something else. I consider myself very savvy but stuck.

Decided today I would reformat my Macbook Pro, 13-inch, Mid-2012, with a fresh install of the OS.

Booted into recovery and went into Disk Utility to reformat drive (was previously partitioned 1 part for MacOS, another for Windows). Seemed like every thing as fine but noticed when I went to install no drive was showing up.

Tried reformatting again through Disk Utility and have been getting a variety of errors such as

"Repairing volume failed : disk object invalid or unable to serialize" when running disk repair
or
"File system formatter failed" when try to Erase

I've attached terminal screenshots of what I've seen requested in this thread (diskutil list and diskutil cs list). I currently have the Mac booting from a USB drive.
[doublepost=1509865218][/doublepost]While writing the last post I seemed to have gotten a Erase of the partition to not error out, so I quickly restarted the computer and held down the option key, got into recovery. Went into Install OS and the drive was there and right now it supposedly is downloading to install OS X Mountain Lion onto the internal hard drive. I'm going to go to bed and update in the morning. I have little faith and have a feeling it will error out once it comes to the actual installation.

I appreciate any ideas or insights in the mean time.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-11-05 at 1.57.02 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2017-11-05 at 1.57.02 AM.png
    1 MB · Views: 583

setemupknockem

macrumors newbie
Nov 4, 2017
3
1
Michigan
Update: I don't know why, but the install finally worked. I tried multiple times to mess with options in Disk Utility and for some reason it finally let me partition and worked. I directly went to installing the OS after that and it did so properly. No total explanation why other than keep trying to Erase the disk and it might randomly work eventually.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
Update: I don't know why, but the install finally worked. I tried multiple times to mess with options in Disk Utility and for some reason it finally let me partition and worked. I directly went to installing the OS after that and it did so properly. No total explanation why other than keep trying to Erase the disk and it might randomly work eventually.
Sounds like you might have a drive starting to fail. You might try a disk first aid run in Disk Utility to see if that shows any errors.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
setemupknockem --

If you have the 2012 MacBook Pro (non-retina), it could be a problem with the drive ribbon cable -- there have been many instances of this component "going bad" on the 2012 non-retina MBPro's.

If you're anywhere near a brick-n-mortar Apple Store, I'd take it over to them and let them check the cable. They had a free replacement program for these -- not sure if it's still in effect.

If you still have the original hard drive inside, might be time to replace it with an SSD.
The process is VERY easy and anyone can do this.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.

I would also buy an external USB3 2.5" drive enclosure, or a USB3/SATA dock or just a USB3/SATA adapter dongle like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...478&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=sabremt+usb3+to+ssd

Then I'd use the adapter to "prep and test" the SSD -before- I opened the MBPro to do the drive swap.
After the swap is done, you can use the adapter to connect the old HDD, and use it as a backup or for extra storage.
 

Janie1011

macrumors newbie
Nov 5, 2017
1
0
Hey guys - its my first post, I'm DESPERATE!
Just prepping my iMac 2015 Retina 4K to sell. I had a new hard drive installed earlier this year after the fusion drive failed, so hadn't clicked that the usual process to wipe and reinstall the OS wouldn't work. In my frustration after waiting all day for the reinstalling process to complete, I started randomly clicking things (I know...) and have managed to delete the hard drive totally. I have managed to reboot in recovery mode and get back to disk utility but don't know how to get back to a place where I can reinstall the OS. The drive seems to have converted to APFS and both internal drive and disk image are showing is full to capacity - I don't know what I can do to sort this out. Please help! I have a buyer for the machine and need the money but can't sell it like this..... pics attached. I also have a MacBook Pro 2016 and a time machine backup of that if that helps in any way.... but no time machine of the iMac in question.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5467.JPG
    IMG_5467.JPG
    71.9 KB · Views: 672
  • IMG_5689.JPG
    IMG_5689.JPG
    77.2 KB · Views: 656
  • IMG_8794.JPG
    IMG_8794.JPG
    82.8 KB · Views: 661
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.