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Ventura killed my MacBook Air

sirroderick

sirroderick

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 13, 2018
143
9
London
Ventura turned out to be a nightmare for me. Would connect to Wi-fi hub but not to the internet and LAN effectively rendering my 2019 laptop bricked. Spent hours trying to get to the bottom of it but eventually decided to just get rid of the damn thing and downgrade to Monterey. Sadly Apple don't make that easy. None of the usual methods worked so resorted to a boot installer which has always done the trick in the past. Recovery mode doesn't seem to work like in Monterey though and when I select the Monterey boot installer it goes straight to a Ventura install via Wi-Fi. After a couple of frustrating attempts I went to Disk Utility in recovery mode and deleted the Ventura drive. I hoped that might stop there silliness but now when I select the Monterey installer it still tries to download Ventura via Wi-Fi but fails with a warning sign over the spinning globe and an Apple link that doesn't help at all. Good old Apple. I've seen some hostile OS releases over the years but this one really takes the biscuit.
 
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If you have a Time Machine backup, it should be a simple restore to a previous state. I could be wrong on this because I’ve never actually tried it but that’s what I’ve read. Someone please correct me if this is incorrect.
 
Sorry this is happening to you. Ventura installed without a hitch on my 2020 MBA (as well as my 2020 Mini and 2019 iMac). In fact, since I started using Macs "full time" in 2005, I've never had a macOS upgrade go sour. Hopefully someone with more experience with macOS restores will chime in to be able to guide you to the next step.

Sounds like it may be something to do with your specific hardware (not just MBA but router, etc.)
 
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sounds like an internet connection issue. and since ventura is not bricking macbook airs generally... might have been worth getting it installed instead of trying to downgrade.

have you tried an internet recovery? and you can always call apple, they're the gods when it comes to these things.
 
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I agree this sounds more like an internet problem, not a Ventura problem. Basic troubleshooting would include turning wifi off and on, rebooting the router, etc.
 
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sirroderick said:
Ventura turned out to be a nightmare for me. Would connect to Wi-fi hub but not to the internet and LAN effectively rendering my 2019 laptop bricked. Spent hours trying to get to the bottom of it but eventually decided to just get rid of the damn thing and downgrade to Monterey. Sadly Apple don't make that easy. None of the usual methods worked so resorted to a boot installer which has always done the trick in the past. Recovery mode doesn't seem to work like in Monterey though and when I select the Monterey boot installer it goes straight to a Ventura install via Wi-Fi. After a couple of frustrating attempts I went to Disk Utility in recovery mode and deleted the Ventura drive. I hoped that might stop there silliness but now when I select the Monterey installer it still tries to download Ventura via Wi-Fi but fails with a warning sign over the spinning globe and an Apple link that doesn't help at all. Good old Apple. I've seen some hostile OS releases over the years but this one really takes the biscuit.
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Very similar issues here & still an ongoing PITA ... not just Ventura tho', in particular, the recent 12.6.1 macos & iOS 16.1 updates. These were both recenty applied to my wife's M2 macbook air & iphone. Net result was that neither would connect to the Internet although yes to local Synology mesh wifi. This at first appeared to be a DHCP problem, and sure enough, by re-setting & re-booting the local network, her Apple devices eventually got going. Problem is however, all of my other devices including Windows 11 convertible, Android phone and others including Synology NAS, Netgear switch, TVs, Plex and others are still having problems now. I might add all of the other non-Apple devices had zero issues to begin with, was only the two Apple devices as mentioned & after the updates. PITA. Apple seems to have zero regard for co-existing with other devices than Apple (& they don't even make a wifi network system these days).
 
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russell_314 said:
If you have a Time Machine backup, it should be a simple restore to a previous state. I could be wrong on this because I’ve never actually tried it but that’s what I’ve read. Someone please correct me if this is incorrect.
Click to expand...
Sadly no. I use CCC to back up my desktops and drives but haven't really bothered with this laptop as I just use(d) it for browsing and email. Ventura has wasted a load of my time so I've kind of taken against it I'm afraid.
 
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fisherking said:
sounds like an internet connection issue. and since ventura is not bricking macbook airs generally... might have been worth getting it installed instead of trying to downgrade.

have you tried an internet recovery? and you can always call apple, they're the gods when it comes to these things.
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Everything else is connecting to Wi-Fi fine but I did power cycle the Modem/Router a few times. Really doesn't look like it's that. I think deleting the system drive was maybe a mistake. Certainly wouldn't have been on my old desktops but I guess recent apple laptops aren't designed for tinkering with like that.
 
profdraper said:
Very similar issues here & still an ongoing PITA ... not just Ventura tho', in particular, the recent 12.6.1 macos & iOS 16.1 updates. These were both recenty applied to my wife's M2 macbook air & iphone. Net result was that neither would connect to the Internet although yes to local Synology mesh wifi. This at first appeared to be a DHCP problem, and sure enough, by re-setting & re-booting the local network, her Apple devices eventually got going. Problem is however, all of my other devices including Windows 11 convertible, Android phone and others including Synology NAS, Netgear switch, TVs, Plex and others are still having problems now. I might add all of the other non-Apple devices had zero issues to begin with, was only the two Apple devices as mentioned & after the updates. PITA. Apple seems to have zero regard for co-existing with other devices than Apple (& they don't even make a wifi network system these days).
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Most of my smart friends NEVER install a macOS release until it's reached the end of it's development cycle and the next one's out. Makes a lot of sense. All your software's been upgraded to run on it by then too. Hindsight is 20/20.
 
For intel mac, try starting in original OS internet recovery CMD + SHIFT + OPTION + R. Should load Mojave recovery. The manually upgrade to Monterey aftwerwards
 
iLG said:
For intel mac, try starting in original OS internet recovery CMD + SHIFT + OPTION + R. Should load Mojave recovery. The manually upgrade to Monterey aftwerwards
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Tried that this morning. Just goes straight back to the spinning globe/Wi-Fi select. Think I've successfully used that on my old desktops though.
 
chabig said:
I agree this sounds more like an internet problem, not a Ventura problem. Basic troubleshooting would include turning wifi off and on, rebooting the router, etc.
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Can confirm not a router/wi-fi problem. Just took it round to a friends and tried the boot loader there
 
When you say connect to the LAN, I assume you mean via WiFi. Reinstall Ventura. Connect to the router via cable and use that to manually download Monterey. Make a USB installer from that.
 
sirroderick said:
Tried that this morning. Just goes straight back to the spinning globe/Wi-Fi select.
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That is how it's supposed to work. You currently have no OS installed, any MacOS version will have to be downloaded from the internet via Internet Recovery. You can try booting with cmd+alt+r and with cmd+alt+shift+r, this should load different MacOS versions, the one with shift should give you Ventura whereas the one without shift might give you an older one.

I have seen the error code pop up on that globe screen before, had to use a usb thumbdrive then to get anything installed. If you can install Ventura again you can create a USB thumbdrive with the MacOS version of your choice, that was just mentioned before I see. It's tricky to get it to boot, you might need to boot to recovery first and allow external media.
 
Can’t install Ventura OR Monterey. That’s the problem. The laptop is effectively bricked? I made the Monterey USB boot loader on one of my Mac Pro’s via Ethernet. Obviously there’s no Ethernet port on MacBook Air but even if I got yet another adapter or hub an OS can’t be installed via Ethernet as far as I’m aware.
 
okkibs said:
That is how it's supposed to work. You currently have no OS installed, any MacOS version will have to be downloaded from the internet via Internet Recovery. You can try booting with cmd+alt+r and with cmd+alt+shift+r, this should load different MacOS versions, the one with shift should give you Ventura whereas the one without shift might give you an older one.

I have seen the error code pop up on that globe screen before, had to use a usb thumbdrive then to get anything installed. If you can install Ventura again you can create a USB thumbdrive with the MacOS version of your choice, that was just mentioned before I see. It's tricky to get it to boot, you might need to boot to recovery
Click to expand...
 
To clarify I've tried all of the above recommendations before I even posted... with the exception of connecting the laptop ethernet via a hub/adapter. Worth a shot I suppose but I'm not optimistic. Are you saying that if it's connected via ethernet you don't get the wi-fi selector alongside the globe?
 
sirroderick said:
To clarify I've tried all of the above recommendations before I even posted... with the exception of connecting the laptop ethernet via a hub/adapter. Worth a shot I suppose but I'm not optimistic. Are you saying that if it's connected via ethernet you don't get the wi-fi selector alongside the globe?
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Correct, if you have Ethernet you would not get prompted for a Wi-Fi connection. It needs Ethernet or Wireless connection to reach Apple’s servers to download the OS. Cmd+Shft+Opt+R should load the installer for the OS that shipped with your machine
 
There is also the issue that internet recovery does not support WPA3, so if your Wifi is WPA3-only internet recovery will simply fail to connect to Wifi, it will not tell you that it's because of WPA3. Last time I had to use the recovery I spent half an hour with this before randomly disabling WPA3 and finding it out. It's always very annoying when you get random failure codes and then you google them and all that comes up is "verify your internet connection works"...

Again, internet recovery can become unusable -on Intel Macs- where you get some error code and cannot get past it. In that case you absolutely will need a USB thumbdrive to get the Mac into a working state again. If you don't have a thumbdrive right now, you'd need another Mac to create one.
 
diggy33 said:
You do, it’s called Internet Recovery. It needs Ethernet or Wireless connection to reach Apple,s servers to download the OS.
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OK if you're sure it doesn't just default to Wi-fi. Just tested the USB boot loader I made on another machine and it installed Monterey without issue so that can be eliminated as a potential culprit. Ordered an adapter. I guess I'll know straight away if it asks for a wi-fi password again.
 
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okkibs said:
There is also the issue that internet recovery does not support WPA3, so if your Wifi is WPA3-only internet recovery will simply fail to connect to Wifi, it will not tell you that it's because of WPA3. Last time I had to use the recovery I spent half an hour with this before randomly disabling WPA3 and finding it out. It's always very annoying when you get random failure codes and then you google them and all that comes up is "verify your internet connection works"...

Again, internet recovery can become unusable -on Intel Macs- where you get some error code and cannot get past it. In that case you absolutely will need a USB thumbdrive to get the Mac into a working state again. If you don't have a thumbdrive right now, you'd need another Mac to create one.
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I already have a USB thumb drive boot loader which is definitely working. Do you think ethernet will enable me to use it to downgrade to Monterey?

TBH I've never attempted internet recovery before. I've always had back ups in the past but haven't bothered with my laptop cos it's just for email and browsing mostly. Only a handful of apps on it. Mind you having it bricked is not welcome.

Disabling WPA3 sounds interesting. Might have to get my head around that damn Virgin Media hub.
 
sirroderick said:
To clarify I've tried all of the above recommendations before I even posted... with the exception of connecting the laptop ethernet via a hub/adapter. Worth a shot I suppose but I'm not optimistic. Are you saying that if it's connected via ethernet you don't get the wi-fi selector alongside the globe?
Click to expand...
what happened when you called apple?
 
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