Lol, yep things seem to have gone downhill
I only found that guide because somebody else had the account personalization error.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Think twice before doing an erase/reinstall on your M1
- Thread starter SpeQ
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I only found that guide because somebody else had the account personalization error.
I have to disagree, the 'resetpassword' instructions were definitely there a month ago. I bookmarked that page January 28th, and I remember that part clearly because I skipped that part of the instructions. I wasn't having a password problem at that time, and I thought that didn't apply to me. After I eventually got a tech involved, they told me to do that part, in fact I had to do that twice.
If you get a personalization error when reinstalling macOS on your Mac with Apple M1 chip
While reinstalling, you may get a message that an error occurred while preparing the update.
web.archive.org
I have found a new way to install Big Sir. The entire process takes only around 20 minutes from start to finish!
In fact the entire process went so fast that I couldn’t believe it was actually installing anything, but it appears it did. When it was completed I checked the version, and it was 11.1, so I went to System Prefs and clicked on update to bring it to 11.2.2. What was strange was that it was a much smaller update. In the past it would try to update the entire OS and take me around an hour to download, but this time it was just a small (4 Gig) update, which completed in under 20 minutes.
I can’t believe the entire process was so effortless, dare I say it was Mac-like (pre-Big Sur). I have to get ready for work tomorrow so I can’t write up the process tonight, but I’ll make a full step-by-step in a new thread tomorrow. I think using Terminal made all the difference (not in Recovery). I’ll put a link to it in this thread also. First I need to run some test (and pinch myself) because I can’t believe how fast this new install process was 😁
In fact the entire process went so fast that I couldn’t believe it was actually installing anything, but it appears it did. When it was completed I checked the version, and it was 11.1, so I went to System Prefs and clicked on update to bring it to 11.2.2. What was strange was that it was a much smaller update. In the past it would try to update the entire OS and take me around an hour to download, but this time it was just a small (4 Gig) update, which completed in under 20 minutes.
I can’t believe the entire process was so effortless, dare I say it was Mac-like (pre-Big Sur). I have to get ready for work tomorrow so I can’t write up the process tonight, but I’ll make a full step-by-step in a new thread tomorrow. I think using Terminal made all the difference (not in Recovery). I’ll put a link to it in this thread also. First I need to run some test (and pinch myself) because I can’t believe how fast this new install process was 😁
So forgive my previous reply for being confidently wrong, lol.
Now that I recollect, I should move the time scale much earlier, it was probably during Big Sur 11.1 update (December) when my M1 Air bricked on me that I desperately searched for solutions, and found no such thing on Apple's support articles. Of course it was entirely possible that this article already existed but I just couldn't get to find it back then.
That's the thing. I had it bookmarked and had been through the procedure before, I spent several hours dealing with the problem and referencing that page many times, but when this latest problem of failed account creation occurred, I had no way to know that the solution for that problem was the same solution as the personalization error. I thought that solution was for a very specific problem.
It wasn't until I saw the first comment in this thread from you that it occurred to me that my problem might be due to being incorrectly erased/formatted. The password issue was also a clue pointing towards the resetpassword procedure. I thought it was definitely worth a try. The solution takes about an hour (for me anyway), so it's not something anyone would try like a reboot or any other standard troubleshooting.
I would extend further to say, the current "setup" of wipe and restore while the original user accounts still persist must be an oversight. In what scenario would a total restore that already delete all user data and system settings would have the user expecting the user accounts to be intact. The irony is not only the accounts stay, but they are invisible to the user upon setup and setup assistant comically tells you the same user names cannot be used twice, lol.
It seems to me the change in how macOS behaves in the firmware / kernel level for Apple Silicon has led to this state. The underlying security enclave, boot protection etc are all departure from the EFI scheme in Intel Mac era. Perhaps the user credentials are stored securely inside a sort of ROM that a volume wiping wouldn't delete that portion of the system, by design. But when in recovery mode the user is already surely wanting to purge even user accounts then this "resetpassword" step should be already baked in the process. Along with a few major bugs that Big Sur is currently experiencing, Apple will need time to iron all these out.
I don’t know what different scenarios they were envisioning when designing this recovery system. It’s way beyond my skill level. I’m certainly not qualified to second-guess these people. It seems like they are still trying to maintain security after erasing. I can’t imagine the need for that, but there may be a reason beyond my understanding. It might be intentional, it may be an error, I couldn’t say. What you are saying makes perfect sense though.
Regardless of that, the documentation and support issues still remain. I think I’m qualified to judge them on that.
Re reply 43 above:
"CCC can't release that feature, because Apple won't tell developers how to do it. SuperDuper is in the same boat."
I'm thinking that maybe Apple isn't going to release this info, period.
Perhaps because Apple thinks there could be "security issues" involved.
If so, it could mean the end of "bootable clones" on the Mac.
I believe CCC offers a "workaround" in which CCC "clones" the contents of the m1 drive (or at least the "data") partition on it, and the user then re-installs the OS through Apple. Thus, an external drive that is bootable, but not a "clone" per se.
There may be a pathway forward to actually achieving bootable clones of m-series Macs in the future, but I'm thinking that to produce one, it might require some kind of "jailbreaking" first...
"CCC can't release that feature, because Apple won't tell developers how to do it. SuperDuper is in the same boat."
I'm thinking that maybe Apple isn't going to release this info, period.
Perhaps because Apple thinks there could be "security issues" involved.
If so, it could mean the end of "bootable clones" on the Mac.
I believe CCC offers a "workaround" in which CCC "clones" the contents of the m1 drive (or at least the "data") partition on it, and the user then re-installs the OS through Apple. Thus, an external drive that is bootable, but not a "clone" per se.
There may be a pathway forward to actually achieving bootable clones of m-series Macs in the future, but I'm thinking that to produce one, it might require some kind of "jailbreaking" first...
Last edited:
I'm literally in the same boat as you right now. I'm in the process of making some Time Machine Backups and am thinking about reinstalling macOS 11.2.3 via Configurator from my other MBP.
Ok, a blind leads a blind
I have all my files on external drive and iCloud. I'm more worried about the issues stated in this, and other, threads.
These are the latest instructions from Apple that I can find and it looks to be good to me
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212030
There aren't any problems with Apple Configurator 2 as far as I'm aware. This worked a couple of days ago for me.
Seems like I can't do a reinstall after all
"To complete these steps with a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, or trackpad, connect it with a USB cable, if possible."
I only have the Magic Mouse & Keyboard.
Ah. You have a mac mini.Seems like I can't do a reinstall after all
"To complete these steps with a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, or trackpad, connect it with a USB cable, if possible."
I only have the Magic Mouse & Keyboard.
That would be a problem then unless you can find a wired mouse/keyboard.
Maybe they didn't think of that
If you have a USB-C to Lightning cable, that will work.Seems like I can't do a reinstall after all
"To complete these steps with a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, or trackpad, connect it with a USB cable, if possible."
I only have the Magic Mouse & Keyboard.
I think I do. There is a USB-A / Lightning that came with the Magic mouse as well. Didn't know that the keyboard worked as a wired with that attached, only thought it was for charging.
If you have charging cables, you should be good to go. DFU restore is the best way, in my opinion.
My Magic Mouse plug is in the bottom of the mouse so can't be used whilst plugged in.
I presume the keyboard is different.
I presume the keyboard is different.
Yep, for the internal drive that’s the best way to go.... very simple, and actually works
I wiped the discs everything went smooth until now, it’s stuck on "Create a computer account" after a while an errormsg pops up stating "Computer account creation failed"
Dont know what to do here. How do I get past this screen?