High Sierra/Catalina on MacBook Air

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Level 1

8 points

High Sierra/Catalina on MacBook Air

Hello folks, pretty new here and I have a problem I cannot solve.

I have a Mid 2013 MacBook Air, 1.3 GHz i5, 4GB 1600 MHz DDR2 currently running Catalina. The auto update was set and I kind of accidentally installed Catalina before I realized what I was doing. It really doe snot work well with this MacBook. So I need it removed.

I have tried everything I can fine online and just cannot get this think to go back to High Sierra which I prefer for the MacBook.

Currently I have a High Sierra boot disk prepared and ready to use. What I try to use it all goes well until I get to the point of picking a drive to install High Sierra and then I am told there is a higher OS installed and I cannot install High Sierra.

Can anyone help me with this and help me get Catalina off and High Sierra installed? I would really appreciate any help anyone can offer.

Thank you in advance!

MacBook Air

Posted on Sep 24, 2019 1:14 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

dialabrain

Level 10

136,067 points

Oct 10, 2019 6:09 PM in response to 213Tony59

Probably your best bet is to boot into Internet Recovery using Option-⌘-R which will allow you to reinstall the version of macOS that came installed with your MacBook Air.

See: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support

From there, see: How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra - Apple Support

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

136,067 points

Sep 25, 2019 4:50 AM in response to 213Tony59

You didn't erase the disk completely. You need to boot into Recover Mode and in Disk Utility, make sure to set "View" to Show All Devices", select the top level of the drive and Erase.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

136,067 points

Oct 10, 2019 5:55 PM in response to 213Tony59

Well if you have no backup you will have lost all your apps and files.

To erase the top level of the drive, click on the "View" icon in Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" and select the drive name at the top.

However, how did you reinstall High Sierra?

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

250,253 points

Sep 24, 2019 3:22 PM in response to 213Tony59

You have to erase the Disk first, hopefully you have your data Backed up!?

Do you have a Time Machine Backup?

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Answer 5

213Tony59 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 25, 2019 2:56 AM in response to BDAqua

Thank you! Yes I figured that is wha I needed to happen but could not get the disc to erase for some reason. Tried several times but finally it erased and I have High Sierra installed. Thanks for the reply!

I do have a new issue. After the install I now have two discs that are called "Macintosh HD - Data" and one disc called "macOS High Sierra" see the attached picture. Not sure why but all my data is on one of the "Macintosh HD - Data" discs and the computer boots up to the "macOS High Sierra" drive? Really weird and not sure what to do with that?

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Answer 6

213Tony59 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 10, 2019 5:43 PM in response to dialabrain

Thank you, I did this and obviously did something wrong. Now I get a flashing question mark at start up and nothing else. If I reboot with command R I get disk utilities and I see my HD but cannot do anything. There is not start up disk to start up from?

Did I really screw up my Mac Air bad?

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Answer 7

213Tony59 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 10, 2019 5:58 PM in response to dialabrain

Thanks I will give that a try. I realize I have lost all that was on the drive. I do have my important documents backed up on my iMac but I could never get Time Machine to work properly. This is a subject for another time. I need this Mac Air o just work, lol.

Thanks for your advice so far, I really appreciate it.

Do you know once I get the top drive erased how I reinstall High Sierra?

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Answer 8

213Tony59 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 10, 2019 6:11 PM in response to dialabrain

Hey thanks again! That is actually what I was trying to do but the system would not install OS X Mavericks. It keep telling me there was no start up disk?

I just tried once more and it appears tone reinstalling Mavericks right now. About an hour away to find out for sure. If that works then I am sure I can get back to High Sierra from there.

Thank again I really do appreciate your advice!

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