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Installing Big Sur Clean on M1 Macs "Computer account creation failed"
- Thread starter cecoleman
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If you are in “Brick Mode” and can’t get any of the great advice above to help: I connected old Mac & M1 via Ethernet and selected Migration in Utilities on older Mac (2010) then restarted M1 holding start button for Options, then chose Restore at top right and the option to use Migration from older Mac got my brick to restart and behave as new. Thanks everyone.
This saved my night. Apple Support adviced me to reinstall Big Sur in order to resolve my M1 Bluetooth woes and ended up with bricked Mac mini.If an error occurred while updating or installing macOS - Apple Support
The message might say that an error occurred while downloading, preparing, or installing, or that the software is damaged, could not be verified, failed to personalize, or needs to be reinstalled.support.apple.com
Do this exactly. Worked for me.
I also have this issue with my Mac mini. I also have a 2014 MacBook Air.
my mini doesn’t appear anywhere in my iCloud account.
im stuck at the create account window currently.
if I boot into recovery and use terminal to reset the password, do you think that will resolve it?
this is the first Mac I’ve had issues with and wouldn’t know anything about deleting or erasing a drive.
my mini doesn’t appear anywhere in my iCloud account.
im stuck at the create account window currently.
if I boot into recovery and use terminal to reset the password, do you think that will resolve it?
this is the first Mac I’ve had issues with and wouldn’t know anything about deleting or erasing a drive.
Try the second method in the thread below (not the Apple Configurator 2 method).
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983
Follow the guide exactly and see if that clears things up. I think that should do it.
If not try the Apple Configurator 2 method.
Good luck!
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983
Follow the guide exactly and see if that clears things up. I think that should do it.
If not try the Apple Configurator 2 method.
Good luck!
Most of the errors described here I had too, all the tips and tricks didn’t really work.
I tried these steps and I was able to erase the MacBook Pro 13” (2020)
But now have an even bigger issue; the Macintosh HD and Data has been replaced by an APPLE SSD AP0256Q MEDIA with a container disk3
And I am unable to re-install Big Sur or even add a volume or partition.
What do I do now?
If you've used the instructions given above can I ask why you're in Disk Utility?
Disk Utility doesn't figure in that guide.
If you haven't used D.U. then please explain how far you got through the guide and what happened.
I went to DU because when I got to step 8 where I re-install Big Sur it didn’t give me a disc to instal the OS on, so I checked DU, as that is the quickest way to check why I didn’t see Macintosh HD
every step described worked perfectly.
I was very happy when I got to the Activation part, because that’s where I kept having to log in with my AppleID, eventhough I removed it from the iCloud.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear, it’s been a frustrating evening.
I see. Thanks.
Your drive doesn't look how I'd expect it to look. It may be enough to delete the container and reformat in APFS but that's a grey area on these M1's and I wouldn't recommend that unless all else fails.
I know you've followed the guide listed above but Apple's guide is slightly different in that a couple of the steps need repeating.
I'd follow the guide below exactly (including the two repeated steps) and see if things improve regarding re-installation.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983
Go from the second option (after the Apple Configurator 2 steps) which is similar, but not the same, as what you've done.
Good luck and let us know how you go on.
Thanks so much!
edit:
It sure seems this fixed the issue of getting the Macintosh HD back. It showed up as “untitled” so I changed the name.
Installing Big Sur now again and hopefully this whole adventure solved everything and it’s as good as new again.
the issue seems to be resolved because on the Apple support page it stated tot repeat steps 3-9.
thanks again.
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When you entered resetpassword in the terminal a new window should open up. Clicking that window should change the wording in the menu bar from "Recovery" to "Recovery Assistant".
Clicking on Recovery Assistant should have one option in the menu - erase mac.
Once you clicked on erase mac the laptop should automatically restart.
Once it's back on and you've chosen your network and activated it again (if necessary) you should perform the resetpassword and erase mac instructions a second time (even though it might not seem to do much).
When it next restarts you should have the option to re-install macOS
Does anyone think that Apple should release a firmware update on the M1 Macs that allows us to connect to an online Apple Configurator and do a clean install from it and/or if someone does not have a second mac to use as an Apple Configurator when installation errors come during the normal procedure?
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I think it would be better if Re-install macOS just ran as it should and gave an option to erase/or not erase the required volume(s).
And internet recovery should just work as expected.
You certainly shouldn't need to own a second Mac to fix a new Mac!
As you have noticed, it takes two erases with the resetpassword method to get the install going. This method is important for those who were running FileVault.
