Erasing “Macintosh HD” and creating “Macintosh HD” stuck on Deleting Volume process

You should boot into Intnernet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R. In Internet Recovery Mode, you can then use Disk Utility to erase the physical drive (Apple SSD SM0128G). After erasing the drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled), then quit Disk Utility and select the "Reinstall macOS" option.

Edit: You should backup everything before erasing the drive.

This is why everyone should always have current verified working backups. I just wanted to warn you and anyone else reading the post that erasing the drive will destroy the data on the drive.

Assuming your original attempts did not destroy the "Macintosh HD" volume when you originally mentioned "deleting volume", then you would either need to attempt booting the SSD in other ways (Safe Mode, Single User Mode, Recovery Mode), repairing the volume from Recovery Mode using Disk Utility First Aid, or booting to an external macOS drive, or connecting your laptop to another Mac using Target Disk Mode. Safe Mode and Target Disk Mode are the easiest methods since the other methods involve using the command line to copy your data which is difficult for those not accustomed to using the command line.

Since you already tried to repair the SSD from Recovery Mode and were unable to unlock the volume, there may be no way for you to back up the computer yourself. You may need to see if an independent Apple Authorized Service Provider could assist you in accessing your data, or you could contact a professional data recovery service such as Drive Savers or Kroll OnTrack for a free estimate. Both of these vendors are recommended by Apple and other OEMs.

Otherwise you will just have to erase the SSD and lose all your data if you don't have any copies or backups. If you still have trouble erasing the drive there is one other option that might be able to erase the drive, but it doesn't work on all Apple SSDs. I'll provide instructions if needed, but please give the exact errors listed when you attempt to erase the physical Apple SSD SM0128G drive.

If this happens when selecting and erasing the physical drive "Apple SSD SM0128G", then you may have a problem with the laptop's SSD. About the only thing left is to try a hardware based Secure Erase if the SSD supports it, but not all Apple SSD's support this feature.

Probably the easiest way to do this is by creating a bootable Parted Magic USB drive using Etcher (Mac/Windows/Linux). Option Boot the Parted Magic USB drive and select the orange icon labeled "EFI". There should be an icon on the Parted Magic desktop for erasing drives. Within the app there are several options to erase the drive. You need to select the "ATA Secure Erase" option and not the "long" option. Only the "ATA Secure Erase" will reset the SSD to factory defaults and maybe fix any odd issues with it. The "long" option will not reset the SSD and will just cause undue wear to the SSD and might make things worse. The ATA Secure Erase option should only take a few minutes to complete. Make sure to remember the exact password you use just in case the erase operation is not completed as you will need this password to disable the security lock on the SSD before the SSD can be used again. If an error is encountered, take a picture of the error message.

If the secure erase operation fails or is interrupted, then open a terminal app from one of the icons on the desktop or one of the menus and issue the following command (press the Return key at the end of the line):

sudo  hdparm  --usermaster u  --security-prompt-for-password  --security-disable  /dev/sda

When prompted, type the exact password you used when performing the ATA Secure Erase (press the Return key after entering the password).

The last free version of Parted Magic can be downloaded from a mirror link from the MajorGeek's website here.

What is the exact model of your computer? You can get this information by clicking the Apple menu and selecting "About this Mac" or by entering your serial number here.

In Disk Utility are you trying to erase the "Macintosh HD" volume or are you erasing the physical drive? To see the physical drive in Disk Utility, click on "View" and select "Show All Devices". The physical drive should now show up in the left pane of Disk Utility. Erase the physical drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled).

Spyroboy1 wrote:

When I select show all, two more disks appear. Which one do I erase?

APPLE SSD SM0128G...

or

Container disk2

Erase the "Apple SSD SM0128G" one which is the physical drive.