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Help I think I’ve deleted hard drive

S

shakey55

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 26, 2014
55
0
I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro and I think I’ve deleted hard drive and or OS

I have entered disc utilities and tried things with no luck.

When I go to install macOS High Sierra I get this

21a0b7f6cbeb25bc45be1f129e377e49.jpg


What can I do. I do not need to save anything on the laptop.

I also get these when trying other things

e836e7ca7e067f0017c63029871e8528.jpg


84972a71543efe2b18db52562b2d8681.jpg


7392da733ebc44d712610d781bc29fb0.jpg
 
I don’t have a backup for this machine.

I do have a backup from a newer machine (see below) on an external hard drive.

To make thing worse I’m not very savvy in these areas

ade6d85b1d2fa96ce68084080c1e6df2.jpg
 
If you have data on the deleted drive that needs to be recovered, I recommend that you stop using the machine, remove the drive, and place it inside a usb enclosure, and use another Mac to copy the drive's content to another drive.
 
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I do not need anything recovered.

I just want the hard drive/OS back/reloaded
 
As shown in this picture it is locked and I can’t proceed further

How do I unlock it

661000fa2655b4332b8e6987b4869048.jpg
 
Did you boot to Internet Recovery?
restart, holding Option - Command - r
You will see a spinning globe on boot - not the normal Apple icon.
Before trying the macOS install, run Disk Utility, and make sure that you have selected Show All Devices, under the View menu.
(The OS X Base System is like a virtual drive, and is just used for installing the system. It is NOT a real destination for your install, and can't be used for one. That's why it is "greyed" out. It is locked, because it is just an image. You can't install to it, nor can you unlock that system.

If NOTHING else other than that Base System shows up in Disk Utility, even with Show All Devices selected, then there's no destination (no hard drive installed, or whatever storage device is installed is dead.
Next step is to try a different hard drive.
 
The "OS X Base System" is the name used by the installer disk image, not any proof that a working hard drive exists.

@shakey55: boot to your recovery system, launch Disk Utility, and show us a screen image of Disk Utility with "Show All Devices" selected.
 
OP:

Look at the second image you posted in your original post above.
It shows the Disk Utility window.

Right now what you're seeing -- "OS X Base System" is a PARTITION on the physical drive (not the drive itself).

Look at the "View" popup in the upper left of Disk Utility's window.
Click on that and choose "show all devices".

Now you will see a change in the list right below it.
This will show you "the physical drive itself" and partitions that are on that drive.

You need to erase the entire drive before you re-install.

BUT -- you can't do this while booted from the recovery partition.
You need to boot to internet recovery instead.

So... do this:
1. Boot to internet recovery
2. Don't run the OS installer yet
3. Go to Disk Utility, and again, choose to show all devices.
4. You want to click on the TOPMOST item in the list, which represents the physical drive
5. Erase it to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled.
6. Now quit Disk Utility and open the OS installer
7. See if it will let you install now.
 
Last edited:
Well my friends I’ve had success as a result of your assistance.

I’ve learnt a couple of thing today from you all.

Thank you everyone
 
shakey55 said:
Well my friends I’ve had success as a result of your assistance.

I’ve learnt a couple of thing today from you all.

Thank you everyone
Click to expand...

Glad you got it resolved. Now that it's done I've got to ask.....how in the heck did you manage to format the drive?
 
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