No disk to reinstall MacOS...

[Ralino]

Hey folks,

I think I'm in big trouble!
I just bought a new MBP with M1 chip to replace my "old" MBP 2016 Touch Bar...
I prepared the old one to sell it, following Apple instructions... But I screwed it up and erased the Macintosh HD disk...
Now, in recovery mode, when prompted to reinstall Big Sur, there's no disk to install it on...

here are a few pics, maybe that can help...

does anyone has an idea?

Thank you so much guys!

 

[pippox0]

You can use recovery mode to download BigSur from Apple servers or ...

You can download full BigSur setup (12 Gb) with new MBP M1 and then create a USB setup installer to use with old MBP ...

 

[Ralino]

You can use recovery mode to download BigSur from Apple servers or ...

You can download full BigSur setup (12 Gb) with new MBP M1 and then create a USB setup installer to use with old MBP ...

Thank you for your answer!
That's indeed what I tried to do, but when I'm prompted to choose a disk to install Big Sur, there's no disk available so I'm stuck...

(the attached pic is in French, but I figure it's clear enough...)

 

[Fishrrman]

Try this:

1. Power down, all the way off
2. Press the power-on button and hold down:
Command-OPTION-R
(this gets you to INTERNET recovery)
You'll need your wifi password, and it will take a while to load.
3. When the utilities load, open Disk Utility
4. VERY IMPORTANT: go to the "view" menu and choose "show ALL devices"
5. NOW look at the list on the left -- the topmost line represents the physical drive inside.
6. NOW try erasing the ENTIRE drive. Choose APFS, GUID partition format.
7. Does the erase work? If so, close disk utility, open the OS installer, and try again.
8. The MBP may reboot one or more times, and the screen may go dark for a minute or two. BE PATIENT.
9. When done, you should see the first setup screen (choose your language).
10. At this point, press the power button and hold it down until the display goes black and the power is off. It's ready to sell, and the buyer will get to set it up as if it were new.

 

[Ralino]

Thanks @Fishrrman ! I finally achieved to perform what you told me and install Big Sur again!

 

[halofan56]

Thank you for your answer!
That's indeed what I tried to do, but when I'm prompted to choose a disk to install Big Sur, there's no disk available so I'm stuck...

(the attached pic is in French, but I figure it's clear enough...)

Your hard disk is not formatted to APFS, highlight diskos2 and format it to name Macintosh HD format APFS and select GUI partition map, when finish Restart and restart up the USB installer.Find a you tube video to show you how to do this.

 

[chrism86]

Try this:

1. Power down, all the way off
2. Press the power-on button and hold down:
Command-OPTION-R
(this gets you to INTERNET recovery)
You'll need your wifi password, and it will take a while to load.
3. When the utilities load, open Disk Utility
4. VERY IMPORTANT: go to the "view" menu and choose "show ALL devices"
5. NOW look at the list on the left -- the topmost line represents the physical drive inside.
6. NOW try erasing the ENTIRE drive. Choose APFS, GUID partition format.
7. Does the erase work? If so, close disk utility, open the OS installer, and try again.
8. The MBP may reboot one or more times, and the screen may go dark for a minute or two. BE PATIENT.
9. When done, you should see the first setup screen (choose your language).
10. At this point, press the power button and hold it down until the display goes black and the power is off. It's ready to sell, and the buyer will get to set it up as if it were new.

Thanks, super helpful!

 

[mxtx]

and what if #7 erase does not work? im getting an error "Erase process has failed.Click done to continue" and no further information.

 

[Quackers]

and what if #7 erase does not work? im getting an error "Erase process has failed.Click done to continue" and no further information.

What have you done so far? Erased the disk how and why?
What machine is this?

 

[mxtx]

brand new M1 macbook air.

was trying to wipe/restore and followed instructions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983 ending with "If your Mac was using macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 before you erased it, select Reinstall macOS Big Sur in the utilities window, then follow the onscreen instructions."

upon trying to reinstall macos big sur, i ran into the issue at the top of this thread where i had no disk to select.

then i tried the instructions above on this thread #1 - #7, but stuck here since i cannot erase?

thanks in advance

 

[Quackers]

brand new M1 macbook air.

was trying to wipe/restore and followed instructions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983 ending with "If your Mac was using macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 before you erased it, select Reinstall macOS Big Sur in the utilities window, then follow the onscreen instructions."

upon trying to reinstall macos big sur, i ran into the issue at the top of this thread where i had no disk to select.

then i tried the instructions above on this thread #1 - #7, but stuck here since i cannot erase?

thanks in advance

Thank you for the info.
Sadly those are older instructions. The newer ones are here, but that might be irrelevant now
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212030

So you opened the terminal and typed in "resetpassword" and that opened the window to reset the password.
You then went to the recovery assistant option on the menu bar and selected "erase mac".
Is this the point at which the erase failed?
Or did you use Disk Utility to erase the mac?

 

[mxtx]

that first part is where i erased the disk. in fact, i understood those instructions saying to “Perform steps 3 through 9 once more, then continue to the next section, below.” and so i did it twice.

it seemed to erase successfully if i recall correctly. so then i went to reinstall macos big sur and there was no disk to select.

im now trying another method via Apple Configurator it appears?

 

[Quackers]

that first part is where i erased the disk. in fact, i understood those instructions saying to “Perform steps 3 through 9 once more, then continue to the next section, below.” and so i did it twice.

it seemed to erase successfully if i recall correctly. so then i went to reinstall macos big sur and there was no disk to select.

im now trying another method via Apple Configurator it appears?

I see.
Do you have another Mac that will run later versions of Apple Configurator 2 and a means to connect them?
If you do then that should do it

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you don't have a second Mac to run Configurator 2, you will need to delete APPLE SSD AP0256Q Media, which can be seen in Disk Utility and click view all.

 

[mxtx]

luckily i do. i bought my first M1 macbook air end of last year and its been great. so great, i bought this second one, however, the new one has been a completely different, and disappointing, story so far. will see how it goes. thank you

 

[Quackers]

luckily i do. i bought my first M1 macbook air end of last year and its been great. so great, i bought this second one, however, the new one has been a completely different, and disappointing, story so far. will see how it goes. thank you

Sounds like it may have needed a re-install anyway
Here's the Apple instructions in case you don't have them.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-configurator-2/apdd5f3c75ad/mac
Depending on your internet connection it may take a while as the file it needs has to be downloaded and it's 13.7GB
Good luck!

 

[Apple_Robert]

luckily i do. i bought my first M1 macbook air end of last year and its been great. so great, i bought this second one, however, the new one has been a completely different, and disappointing, story so far. will see how it goes. thank you

Configurator 2 method will get you going in less than 20 minutes. Follow the instructions. One exception is to press the power, right shift, left control and left option keys all at the same time for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, release all but the power button for 7 - 8 more seconds until you see the DFU symbol on the other screen.

 

[Fishrrman]

Hmmmm....

Seems a "complete erase and re-install" for the m1 Macs IS DIFFERENT from that of Intel Macs.

The "old advice" of simply booting to internet recovery, erasing and then re-installing doesn't work.

Apple Robert has the key, as stated above.

It used to be:
"It just works".

These days:
"It might work..."

 

[mxtx]

Apple Configurator 2 was very easy once I was able to hold the keys properly on the Mac to be erased.

Computer is up and running without issue.

However, not sure what I would have done if I didnt have the other new MacBook to actually run Apple Configurator 2...

Thanks all

 

[Apple_Robert]

Apple Configurator 2 was very easy once I was able to hold the keys properly on the Mac to be erased.

Computer is up and running without issue.

However, not sure what I would have done if I didnt have the other new MacBook to actually run Apple Configurator 2...

Thanks all

If you didn't have the other Mac, we could have still got you up and running. I had the same experience you did several weeks ago, even though I followed the instructions every step.

Glad you are running smoothly.

 

[Quackers]

Apple Configurator 2 was very easy once I was able to hold the keys properly on the Mac to be erased.

Computer is up and running without issue.

However, not sure what I would have done if I didnt have the other new MacBook to actually run Apple Configurator 2...

Thanks all

Glad to hear it's back up and running again
That's why I kept my old rMBP - for this reason only (and the fact that Apple only offered me £130 for it).

 

[Stewartme]

Hello, I was trying to reset my MacBook Air (2015) to give to a neighbor's daughter to finish school with because theirs broke and don't know what I did wrong but it will not let me reinstall macOS Sierra, it keeps telling me no disk to choose from when I get to the download screen. I can get to the screen with the globe spinning around and then it will go to the screen that says reinstall, disk utility. I choose reinstall and agree to everything and it gets to the screen where it say choose a disk and there is no disk there to choose from. I dont know what to do I hope I did not brake it, any help would be appreciated

 

[Heiberg]

If you didn't have the other Mac, we could have still got you up and running. I had the same experience you did several weeks ago, even though I followed the instructions every step.

Glad you are running smoothly.

I have run into the same problem on my M1 Mac. I have followed the given instructions in this thread, but i couldnt erase the entire drive. I dont have access to another Mac or Apple configurator 2. What do i do? Thanks!

If you didn't have the other Mac, we could have still got you up and running. I had the same experience you did several weeks ago, even though I followed the instructions every step.

Glad you are running smoothly.

 

[Serenes12]

Try this:

1. Power down, all the way off
2. Press the power-on button and hold down:
Command-OPTION-R
(this gets you to INTERNET recovery)
You'll need your wifi password, and it will take a while to load.
3. When the utilities load, open Disk Utility
4. VERY IMPORTANT: go to the "view" menu and choose "show ALL devices"
5. NOW look at the list on the left -- the topmost line represents the physical drive inside.
6. NOW try erasing the ENTIRE drive. Choose APFS, GUID partition format.
7. Does the erase work? If so, close disk utility, open the OS installer, and try again.
8. The MBP may reboot one or more times, and the screen may go dark for a minute or two. BE PATIENT.
9. When done, you should see the first setup screen (choose your language).
10. At this point, press the power button and hold it down until the display goes black and the power is off. It's ready to sell, and the buyer will get to set it up as if it were new.

Oh my gosh THANK YOU for this detailed description of how to fix this. It worked like a charm!

 

[ma8c9]

Try this:

1. Power down, all the way off
2. Press the power-on button and hold down:
Command-OPTION-R
(this gets you to INTERNET recovery)
You'll need your wifi password, and it will take a while to load.
3. When the utilities load, open Disk Utility
4. VERY IMPORTANT: go to the "view" menu and choose "show ALL devices"
5. NOW look at the list on the left -- the topmost line represents the physical drive inside.
6. NOW try erasing the ENTIRE drive. Choose APFS, GUID partition format.
7. Does the erase work? If so, close disk utility, open the OS installer, and try again.
8. The MBP may reboot one or more times, and the screen may go dark for a minute or two. BE PATIENT.
9. When done, you should see the first setup screen (choose your language).
10. At this point, press the power button and hold it down until the display goes black and the power is off. It's ready to sell, and the buyer will get to set it up as if it were new.

Hi! I have the same (or similar) issue after erasing my mac, namely there is no disk visible to re-install OS X on to. I have tried to follow the instructions on this thread, and this post by Fishrrman seemed to help most people. The point where I get stuck is step 4, as there is no "view" menu on my disk utility or any option to select "show all devices". The physical SSD drive is visible on the left column though. The disk is already completely erased, so step 6 doesn't change anything either.

This is an Intel MacBook Pro, it had Big Sur installed before I wiped it, and when I go to install OS X, El Capitan is what it offers (but then there is no disk).

If anyone could help that would be great!