macOS Big Sur - clean install issues (1008F)

[Doozeruk]

Hi all,

I can see a lot of comments about 1008F errors, all commentators saying different things. Here’s my issue.


I was on the beta that was pushed out a couple of days ago and wanted to do a full clean install of 11.1 (NOT the beta).
I downloaded via App Store, did a USB build as I normally would do.

Powered down and restarted via usb

(here’s what I’m guessing. At this point I had NOT removed myself from beta, had not switched off Find My Mac, not changed security settings to allow other operating system versions and I didn’t turn off file vault - no flames - I’m working this through....)

After restarting I usually erase the disk and all partitions. Which I did again.

I closed disk utilities and did a reboot.

At this point, I see my ‘install BigSur’ and chose this.
After a second or two I would expect to get to the setup screens. But instead im forced via the internet recovery route. This downloads - I can see the traffic going through my firewall

After about 10 mins, it looks to have completed.

Then it drops to a -1008f error.

I have read a lot saying this is a connection issue (apple support say it is not.)

Apple have advised I need to take it to a Genius Bar to do a re-install as they have a special utility that they need to use to re-initilize the SSD.

After a lot more reading...

I have removed Mac from Find My Mac and also come out of the beta stream.

Could apples comment about them needing to do the re-initialisation be correct?

I know the USB installer is working as I tried booting another Mac on it (I didn’t run through the whole process tho)

I know my ISPs are working (tried different APs and ISPs.

Any ideas or suggestions that I may have missed?

The only thing I have not tried is building an installer with the RC beta version. (As I can’t download the file on another Mac that is not in the beta).

Any ideas or do I just have to wait for apple to re open here in the UK after lockdown?

Thanks!

 

[Grumpus]

What model Mac are you dealing with? Does it have a T2 chip? Have you tried Option+Cmd+R at boot time?

 

[Doozeruk]

Hey @Grumpus

I spoke with a few different Apple staff and ended up getting the answer to my question.

It turns out if you FULLY delete the SSD from within Disk Utility and then re-boot, you will need to use a second Mac with a USBC port and do a DFU reset.

We used:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-configurator-2/apdebea5be51/mac this link - but could not make it work.

It turns out you need to press power for exactly 1 second and then ADD the other key presses for exactly 8 more seconds - on the 'working' machine, you see DFU in Configurator.

THIS PROCESS WILL FULY ERASE THE T2 BootOS and SSD!!

Took a bit of searching, but revived my Mac and won't be going back onto Beta on this machine!

 

[eflx]

Was this only because you installed the BETA? Curious, as I always do a full SSD erase and re-install myself with new major OS versions every so often. Though, I don't boot from USB - I go into recovery mode instead.

 

[Quackers]

Was this only because you installed the BETA? Curious, as I always do a full SSD erase and re-install myself with new major OS versions every so often. Though, I don't boot from USB - I go into recovery mode instead.

No. It's probably because he's on a M1 Mac and erased the whole disc using Disk Utility and thereby erased the firmware, at least some of which is now stored on the disc.

 

[Grumpus]

My problem seems related and I installed Big Sur 11.1, no BETA involved. My 2019 Air now can not boot to recovery mode from the internal disk, even after erasing the entire drive and clean-installing Mojave. I'm wondering if a buggy T2 chip firmware "upgrade" might be the cause of these problems. For me, the System Information app reports iBridge: 18.16.14346.0.0,0 and under Controller, the T2 chip firmware version is 18P4346. @Doozeruk, I'd be curious to hear what you're seeing in System Information on your fixed machine for those items.

 

[Grumpus]

No. It's probably because he's on a M1 Mac and erased the whole disc using Disk Utility and thereby erased the firmware, at least some of which is now stored on the disc.

M1 Macs don't have internet recovery so the -1008F error isn't possible.

 

[Quackers]

M1 Macs don't have internet recovery so the -1008F error isn't possible.

There's a pretty good imitation of it in the last section here (although it's a more manual method than previously)
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983

 

[Doozeruk]

Was this only because you installed the BETA? Curious, as I always do a full SSD erase and re-install myself with new major OS versions every so often. Though, I don't boot from USB - I go into recovery mode instead.

From what I can work out and I will stand corrected.

On the SSD are (I think from memory) 4 partitions.

I normally erase ALL partitions on every operating system I have ever used, then do a full clean re-install.

This time, I have found that, from what I can see, Big Sur sets up a recovery partition and an extra partition that is somehow linked to Disk Encryption. If you put a brand new SSD in according to apple, this will trigger the same issue.

I triggered this because I wanted a full bare-metal, clean install.

There is NO warnings that deleting all the partitions will trigger this. I don't think many people must do this.

I can confirm that it is the same for the Beta and 11.2 NON beta builds.

Hope this helps.

 

[Doozeruk]

My 2019 Air now can not boot to recovery mode from the internal disk, even after erasing the entire drive and clean-installing Mojave. I'm wondering if a buggy T2 chip firmware "upgrade" might be the cause of these problems.

The DFU refresh seems to be a new thing we will have to get used to. I would back your machine up fully and do the Configurator refresh, if you have a second Mac you can install the app on.

I think this is going to be our new 'have you tried turning it off and back on' comment... 'Have you DFU refreshed it'...

 

[Doozeruk]

No. It's probably because he's on a M1 Mac and erased the whole disc using Disk Utility and thereby erased the firmware, at least some of which is now stored on the disc.

Heres my spec for anyone reading comments in 5 years time (yes, I was reading lots of old posts as well as recent ones trying to work out what I had done) trying to work out how they ended up with a door stop...

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1
Processor Name: 8-Core Intel Core i9
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 16 MB
Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
Memory: 16 GB
System Firmware Version: 1554.80.3.0.0 (iBridge: 18.16.14346.0.0,0)

 

[eflx]

Thank you for the detailed info! This will no doubt help anyone who tries to install completely fresh like this. I was going to do this before I saw your thread, I guess I'll have to be prepared for it. Though I should know how to do this anyhow, in case I swap the SSDs in this MacPro - as you mentioned, you need to run this DFU restore process when making any changes to the SSD.

 

[Grumpus]

The DFU refresh seems to be a new thing we will have to get used to. I would back your machine up fully and do the Configurator refresh, if you have a second Mac you can install the app on.

I think this is going to be our new 'have you tried turning it off and back on' comment... 'Have you DFU refreshed it'...

I don't have another machine new enough to run the Apple Configurator 2 app, which needs Catalina 10.15.6 or higher. That aside, I'm not desperate enough to try the revive/restore procedure anyway, since it can brick your computer if anything goes wrong. Anyway, glad to hear that your problem is sorted!