Restoring Apple Silicon M1 Macs Leading to macOS Installation Errors

[singleshard]

I gotta say, I have done a fresh install on every Mac I have ever purchased and even consider it a vital privacy move*. When I got my most recent (2013) iMac, I skipped the fresh install and figured I would get to it later. Well, I never got around to doing a fresh install and for 7 years the OS was glitchy. It has always had weird lags and other spinning beachball joys that do not happen on any other Mac I use. The internal SSD failed this summer and I started booting from a fresh install on an external drive and have been glitch-free since.

To me, this is a lesson hard-learned. The next Mac and every single one after it will be wiped after unboxing and have a fresh install.

* RE: the vital privacy move ...
For years and years I have lived in South Korea and every store bought Mac had been already opened by the shop for who knows what. Fresh installs were essential. When I bought the the 2013 iMac, it was the first time there was an official Apple Store (online only) and I ordered from there. I think this is why I didn't bother reinstalling the OS.

 

[Delgibbons]

Several customers who purchased a new Mac with an M1 Apple Silicon app have discovered an issue when attempting to restore the machine, which leads to it becoming non-functional and stuck on error screen that says "An error occurred preparing the update. Failed to personalize the software update."

There are at least three threads on the MacRumors forums outlining the issue and warning against restoring one of the new machines. MacRumors reader RyanFlynn describes the problem:While Apple Support wasn't able to provide RyanFlynn with a reliable fix for the problem, other MacRumors readers have discovered a solution that appears to work.

Apple has instructions on using Configurator 2 and a secondary Mac to revive or restore an Apple Silicon Mac that has become unresponsive. This method requires the newest version of Apple Configurator 2, a functional Mac, and an appropriate cable to connect the two Macs.

Restoring in this way restores the firmware, updates recoveryOS to the latest version, and erases and installs the latest version of macOS on internal storage, thereby erasing all data. This method was successful for two MacRumors readers who had the recovery problem.

Apple may have a fix coming for this issue in the future, but for now it's best to avoid restoring an Apple Silicon Mac. For those that have already done so and are running into trouble, the Apple Configurator solution may be worth trying.

Article Link: Restoring Apple Silicon M1 Macs Leading to macOS Installation Errors

Ah.... The tight integration of hardware and software.

 

[CrushRoller]

Apple is rushing new MacOS releases the last years - that's why there are so many problems and bugs with Catalina (and now Big Sur). Wait at least 5-6 months before upgrading to Big Sur especially if you are not a home user and you use your Macs in a business environment.

 

[alien3dx]

Really not sure why you would have to "babysit" Apple devices. I have 4 Macs, 3 iPhones, 4 iPads, 3 Apple Watches amongst a host of other gear in our household. It's rare that anything actually goes wrong. What's more, a report or two of somebody having an error on restore on a day-old M1-based Mac is not something to think "right, that's enough, I am moving back to Windows PCs from now on". Of course, it's your money, your choice, but a bit of an over-reaction to say the least. Have to agree that Apple's QC is not what it used to be, but it's still better than Windows. A year or so ago, they released a Windows 10 update that totally screwed most of the machines it was installed on. Nobody is perfect. At least Apple control the hardware AND software so when the occasional glitch happens, they fix it.

lol. both the same but apple should reduce back product . currently they cannot maintain woth covid 19 era

 

[aknabi]

Apple said u unlike ios devices u can still roll back to prior versions of macos

Of course on an M1 Mac right now I'd like to see someone claim to rollback to Catalina (and they'll insist they did it successfully!)

 

[cocoua]

Some things I dont understand. You can remove apps like iMovie and GarageBand and just put the additional stuff into a folder. Why would you restore the OS ?

well, som apps stores additional files along the system, in docs, movies, images or even library folders, so sometimes could be hard tracing all data

 

[n-evo]

Why would you need to restore already? The machine has only been out for 1 day! Did you try to format your root drive? User error!

Nice case of victim blaming you’ve got going on there. A user should be able to restore macOS without an issue, regardless of how old the machine is and reason why.

 

[citysnaps]

PS: Who was thinking about leaving Apple products and didn’t sooner, leaving now ... makes no sense ... in spite of growing number of software issues and UX ... hopefully it will be tackled.

People acting out going non-linear (3rd order if you're an RF engineer) wanting some attention. You find them everywhere now.

 

[70garyb]

Several customers who purchased a new Mac with an M1 Apple Silicon app have discovered an issue when attempting to restore the machine, which leads to it becoming non-functional and stuck on error screen that says "An error occurred preparing the update. Failed to personalize the software update."

There are at least three threads on the MacRumors forums outlining the issue and warning against restoring one of the new machines. MacRumors reader RyanFlynn describes the problem:While Apple Support wasn't able to provide RyanFlynn with a reliable fix for the problem, other MacRumors readers have discovered a solution that appears to work.

Apple has instructions on using Configurator 2 and a secondary Mac to revive or restore an Apple Silicon Mac that has become unresponsive. This method requires the newest version of Apple Configurator 2, a functional Mac, and an appropriate cable to connect the two Macs.

Restoring in this way restores the firmware, updates recoveryOS to the latest version, and erases and installs the latest version of macOS on internal storage, thereby erasing all data. This method was successful for two MacRumors readers who had the recovery problem.

Apple may have a fix coming for this issue in the future, but for now it's best to avoid restoring an Apple Silicon Mac. For those that have already done so and are running into trouble, the Apple Configurator solution may be worth trying.

Article Link: Restoring Apple Silicon M1 Macs Leading to macOS Installation Errors

I had a similar problem.. trying to move my photos (using migration assistant) from my former to the new MBA caused recovery mode.. apple support could not recover it so it's being sent back & replaced.

 

[johnalan]

Sloppy alright...

Didn't they say these Macs would have support for multiple operating systems with multiple versions:

https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2020/102/ (time=15:20)

 

[ijordano]

Doesn't Garage Band auto install anyway even on a clean install? Why didn't this idiot just uninstall the apps he/she didnt want...

 

[IG88]

Doesn't Garage Band auto install anyway even on a clean install? Why didn't this idiot just uninstall the apps he/she didnt want...

I don't think it does.

Why is someone an idiot for wanting to do a clean install?

 

[az431]

Couldnt you just uninstall the apps you need? Resorting to a restore right out of the gate seems a bit excessive.

This is an Internet forum. Please refrain from the use of common sense, logic, critical thinking, and reliance on facts.

 

[az431]

I feel like there are some things Apple doesn’t even test these days

That's because you have no idea what Apple tests.

 

[az431]

Doesn't Garage Band auto install anyway even on a clean install? Why didn't this idiot just uninstall the apps he/she didnt want...

I believe you answered your own question.

 

[az431]

Why would you need to restore already? The machine has only been out for 1 day! Did you try to format your root drive? User error!

Your question is literally answered in the article (the text in smaller font below the headline).

 

[polaris20]

This is why I'm waiting until.......January, when the software fixes come, because this isn't a hardware issue. No big deal, they'll fix it.

 

[DocNo]

And honestly I have no idea what Windows is like. I probably last used it in the year 2000. Just tired of having to babysit my Apple devices.

Oooh, aren't you going to be in for a surprise - especially if you don't like babysitting devices.

If you do follow through and switch to Windows do us a favor and don't leave us in suspense. I'll have the popcorn ready.

As someone who uses both, Apple and the Mac still take a LOT less care and feeding. Windows is better than it used to be, but it's sill a mishmash of parts, drivers and third party software.

If you think stuff like this - on a brand new device and brand new architecture (and that already has at least one workaround) is bad, then let me tell you about my latest Windows adventure. Out of nowhere (but probably some Windows 10 update that was silently applied without warning - thanks Microsoft) my machine wouldn't go more than a few minutes without the graphics driver crashing. The computer was still running, but no display (despite in the log the driver claiming it auto recovered). After much digging through searches, tech sites, forums and all the usual places one quests for knowledge all things were pointing to either a hardware problem with my graphics card or power supply not being able to keep up. Indeed, swapping in an older (but much slower) graphics card solved the issue; but it didn't pull nearly the same amount of power as my current card so that didn't necessarily rule the power supply out either.

On a whim I decided to switch from dual link DVI to display port to see if that made any difference and lo and behold, the crashes stopped! So it is just a software issue after all. The only problem with display port is I have a second monitor. And when using display port if you turn your monitor off for some reason Window's "helpfully" re-arranges everything on your desktop. The reason I was using DVI in the first place. So I solved one problem, but created a new one. I think I might be able to get a display port EDID adapter that will fool Windows into thinking my monitor is always powered on so I'm back to where I was....

Anyway, the point of my story - the grass isn't always greener. Yes, Apple has it's quirks - but they are still far fewer and in my experience far more likely to be addressed than on Windows. Which makes sense - Apple controls far more parts of the overall system, and their are FAR fewer variables. Far fewer things to interact badly; especially now that they are literally creating the CPUs in Mac's too. The only way Microsoft could hope to have that level of control/stability is by making their own hardware too. Which they do with the Surface computers and even THOSE have fare more quirks than Mac's.

This stuff is hard - these systems are incredibly complex because there are literally billions of combinations of hardware, software and drivers. Apple is moving in a direction that dramatically reduces those combinations of potential screw ups - now is not the time to move in the other direction!

 

[DocNo]

The fix seems no better than the problem.. That assumes you own a 2nd Mac but it could be a replacement
and selling the old one

You don't have friends or family with Mac's too? If it wasn't for the stupid virus you could just pop down to the Apple store if nothing else.

Yeah, it's annoying it happened but it's a new platform. If they never fix it then I will be right there screaming bloody murder - but whenever you have generation 1 of anything if you don't have at least a slight tolerance for a little friction it's best to pass and let others discover these kinds of bumps until they are inevitably ironed out. Still looking forward to getting my M1 based MBA!

 

[AppleFan22]

Is it possible to make a USB installer for Big Sur and boot from that to reinstall?

I'm actually really curious how different the ARM Macs are when it comes to restoring/reinstalling/cloning/etc.

No, I’ve tried that and it didn’t work. Configurator also didn’t work for me. Apple Support have no idea what’s going on because they’ve not been given any support docs from Cupertino. It’s a disaster for them.

 

[DocNo]

Why do some people complain about these people who restore?

Worrying about others is the root of 90% of our problems with society today. Cancel culture? Who cares! My favorite are the people (especially "open source" zealots) who act like the mere existence of a company like Apple threatens them personally.

Anyway, as others point out the single best reason to install a bare OS on a new machine is bloat. Software is NOT like fine wine. It does not get better with age. It rots, like fruit on a shelf. The leaner and meaner you start, the longer you will probably be able to go without having major issues - although macOS is far better than Windows in this regard. Still stuff can accumulate and no, dragging an app into the trash or even using an uninstaller doesn't ensure all the little bits of apps get removed.

The best way to remove an unwanted app is to never have installed it in the first place; hence those (like me) who format any new machine and install a bare OS first.

 

[DocNo]

Also - apologize if this is a dumb question - now that I have to go through this process, is there any benefit to instead returning and repurchasing a new computer? I assume there’s no downside to doing this workaround to restoring? Just figured i might check with experts here before going through it, as my local store still has stock of the model i have

Even if your local store has stock it's silly to return a computer for what is wholly a software issue. Actually its quite wasteful since your return computer will have to be processed, refurbished, repackaged. Again, all for a software issue.

There is zero downside to this "work around" - it's just manually doing the process that for some reason the built in firmware is failing to do.

 

[IG88]

Apple has supplied a tool for this called 'createinstallmedia' for a number of years.

Yes and I use it all the time, it's great. I suppose the complaint is that there's no GUI.

 

[DocNo]

if I am on the App Store, and I search for Catalina or Mojave (Both supported), it finds nothing.

BTW - the direct App store links for Catalina and Mojave on this page still work: https://www.addictivetips.com/mac-os/download-older-versions-of-macos/

But I agree - it should be easier to get prior versions if you need them.

 

[DocNo]

I had someone ask me if spinrite would help refresh their ssd a couple of months ago....

Spinrite sure saved my a$$ on more than one occasion back in the day - good times. It's painful there is still so much misunderstanding about SSDs but then again confusion over tech is nothing new. I used to love reading Jerry Pournell's Chaos Manor columns in Byte back in the date - they could be simultaneously enlightening and head slapping in only that special Jerry way.

Thankfully with things like Time Machine and Backblaze I no longer care about data recovery (sorry Louis Rossman!) - I just "recover" from my backups.