I have a 2018 mini, I tried to install Monterey several times today. I now have 5 drives on my desktop, and a huge amount of "Other" on the drive. I signed out of iTunes and iCloud but it keeps taking up more space and taking things out of iCloud, which I do not want it to. I tried to use gmail and not yahoo and it would not let me do it any help would be great. I have been using Mac minis since Leopard and never had this problem. Tom
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How to install Monterey
- Thread starter tom29786
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So the problem is that it didn't install? What was/were the error/symptoms?
How large is your boot disk? How much space is free?
Please elaborate.
What happened? Need specifics.
I suspect that based on your experience you were too smart for your own good. All you needed to do was run the Monterey installer. Did you do something different, like manually erasing or creating disk volumes?
Tbh I can’t see what the big deal is about Monterey , apart from the security updates the interface hasn’t really changed much and some things like alert sounds really do need updating
Thanks for the reply. In a nut shell what I was trying to accomplish was to reset my 2018 mini base model to give to One of my Grandkids for college. I googled how to do it, Google came back to a MacRumors article by Tim Hardwick with detailed instructions and pictures. I used my notebook with the article on it and followed it exactly like it said. I did not want any info from me to be on the mini. In the instructions it said to sign out of iTunes and iCloud so that the mini would be clean for resale or give away. It still put info on the mini when I rebooted it to make sure it was clear even though I signed out of iCloud and had unchecked all the boxes. I then went through the process again and instead of using my Yahoo email to sign in I used Gmail so as not to associate to iCloud, it would not let me do it, it wanted me to do another install and create another account. I already went through this when my wife and I each had iPhones she could call out I could not nor did my phone ring, I went with Android. So last night I updated through the update in apple system up date and wound up with 6 hard drives on the desk top and I am down to 2 both say data I deleted 4 of them. Did I outsmart my self by following the article from MacRumors? I still do not have a clean install Tom
OP:
Try this:
First, be powered down, all the way off.
Now, boot to INTERNET recovery (this is NOT THE SAME as "the recovery partition"):
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.
The internet utilities take a while to load, be patient "as the globe turns".
If you connect via wifi, you'll need your wifi password.
When you get to the utilities, open disk utility.
VERY IMPORTANT STEP:
Go to the "view" menu and choose "show all devices"
DO NOT skip this step!
Now, look at "the list on the left".
The topmost item is the SSD inside the Mini.
Click on it and then click "erase".
Erase the ENTIRE drive to APFS, GUID partition format.
Close disk utility and open the OS installer.
Start clicking through.
The Mini will restart several times, and the display will go dark for a minute or more, with no indication of activity. BE PATIENT.
When done, you should see the initial setup screen (choose your language).
At this point, either quit setup assistant (don't know if it gives you the option to manually quit), OR -- pull the plug out of the wall (really).
Now, it's ready to hand over to the grandkids and when the power on button is pressed for the first time, they'll see the initial startup screen again, and can proceed with the new setup.
If you PRINT OUT these instructions and follow exactly as I've presented them, I predict a 98% chance or better of success.
Good luck.
Try this:
First, be powered down, all the way off.
Now, boot to INTERNET recovery (this is NOT THE SAME as "the recovery partition"):
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.
The internet utilities take a while to load, be patient "as the globe turns".
If you connect via wifi, you'll need your wifi password.
When you get to the utilities, open disk utility.
VERY IMPORTANT STEP:
Go to the "view" menu and choose "show all devices"
DO NOT skip this step!
Now, look at "the list on the left".
The topmost item is the SSD inside the Mini.
Click on it and then click "erase".
Erase the ENTIRE drive to APFS, GUID partition format.
Close disk utility and open the OS installer.
Start clicking through.
The Mini will restart several times, and the display will go dark for a minute or more, with no indication of activity. BE PATIENT.
When done, you should see the initial setup screen (choose your language).
At this point, either quit setup assistant (don't know if it gives you the option to manually quit), OR -- pull the plug out of the wall (really).
Now, it's ready to hand over to the grandkids and when the power on button is pressed for the first time, they'll see the initial startup screen again, and can proceed with the new setup.
If you PRINT OUT these instructions and follow exactly as I've presented them, I predict a 98% chance or better of success.
Good luck.
Erase the internal drive, not just the volume: Boot to your external Monterey installer. Open Disk Utility. Click on the View menu, and make sure that "Show All Devices" is selected. Choose the top item in the drive list, which should show the model number of the drive (and NOT the boot drive name that you would use). Choose that top item, then click Erase. Name it anything you like (don't let the Disk Utility use "Unknown" or Untitled). And, the drive will be ready to install in a few seconds, completely wiped. Quit Disk Utility, and now "Reinstall macOS". Be sure to select the drive that you just erased, and continue on with the install. When you get to the screen where it asks about using a backup, or starting the new user setup, just press Command-Q, which should then do a full shutdown. Let your grandson set up his own user.
(pretty much the same as Fishrrman ... )
(pretty much the same as Fishrrman ... )
During the setup process you really want to skip the step where it asks you to enter your AppleID. You could always do that later, but in this case you want to make sure not to associate the computer with any account whatsoever.
Thanks Fisherman and to all that replied, I did something similar to that, but it did not work, it installed Monterey but with info from iCloud. Fisherman I knew sooner or later you would reply and Thanks I have been reading you posts for years and they are always to the point with style. Thanks again. I am 78 now and not up to date as I was. Should I replace for myself with another 2018 or an M1 from refurb? I only use it to pay bills and surf the web and email. Tom
OP wrote:
"Thanks Fisherman and to all that replied, I did something similar to that, but it did not work,"
Then,
Try it again, EXACTLY AS I HAVE POSTED TO YOU ABOVE.
Print out my reply, and get a pencil and check it off, one step at a time.
Unless you're willing to do this, I predict you'll continue to get nowhere.
Got it...?
A saying by Winston Churchill that's relevant here:
“Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.”
"Thanks Fisherman and to all that replied, I did something similar to that, but it did not work,"
Then,
Try it again, EXACTLY AS I HAVE POSTED TO YOU ABOVE.
Print out my reply, and get a pencil and check it off, one step at a time.
Unless you're willing to do this, I predict you'll continue to get nowhere.
Got it...?
A saying by Winston Churchill that's relevant here:
“Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.”
Last edited:
When doing a full wipe - I prefer booting to an external bootable installer, after performing an NVRAM reset. OP has a pre-M1 Intel, so NVRAM reset can be done manually. The NVRAM reset is supposed to clear out any AppleID-related settings (such as stored AppleID account info (something that the T(x) chip keeps track of), which may relate to OPs issues!). After the reset, boot to external bootable installer, wipe the internal boot drive as Fishrrman listed so clearly, and proceed with a reinstall.
This is not a problem. It's ok to sign in to complete the setup. Then, because this is Monterey, open System Preferences and choose "Erase All Content and Settings..." That restores the system to factory fresh. This feature was new to Monterey, though iOS devices have had it for years. It's nice.