M1 Mac stuck in recovery, can’t enter DFU

[josephinemeowing]

Client erased the Macintosh HD drive and now the M1 MacBook is stuck in a recovery/restore boot loop. Every time it starts, it just goes back to the recovery screen or startup options.

Main issue: the power button won’t shut it down, so I can’t start the DFU sequence. It also auto-boots whenever I open the lid or plug in USB-C, which keeps sending me back into recovery instead of DFU.

Anyone know a workaround to force DFU in this situation?

 

[Bigwaff]

Anyone know a workaround to force DFU in this situation?

Did you follow the sequence outlined in this article to enter DFU mode? Especially the key presses immediately after holding down the power button?

How to revive or restore Mac firmware - Apple Support

Rarely, a Mac with Apple silicon or the Apple T2 Security Chip might stop responding and need its firmware to be revived or restored by another Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[Fishrrman]

Sounds like one of those times you have to take it to an Apple Store genius bar and see if they can "get at it".

There is the terminal command
sudo shutdown -h now

... but you'd have to be able to open a terminal window, and then you'd need an administrative password, as well ...

 

[Brian33]

It also auto-boots whenever I open the lid or plug in USB-C, which keeps sending me back into recovery instead of DFU.

Apparently you can disable this auto-boot "feature". It's an 'nvram' command, so you should be able to enter it in Terminal from Recovery mode and still take effect.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/120622

To prevent startup when opening the lid or connecting to power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%00

 

[Fishrrman]

OP never came back...

 

[edubfromktown]

Apparently you can disable this auto-boot "feature". It's an 'nvram' command, so you should be able to enter it in Terminal from Recovery mode and still take effect.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/120622

That is great to know!

I do not like the auto-boot feature.