Mac no startup disk appears in recovery mode

Question

Mac no startup disk appears in recovery mode

After upgrade to Catalina many programs are crashing. I tried checking in another post and attached the EtreCheck file but received no response. Reinstalling latest Mac OS didn't work. I don't have timeline backup.

I wanted to go back to the original OS and it shows me the name of the Original OS and asks to agree and continue. Then in the next window it asks to choose startup disk but nothing appears. I am not receiving any flashing question sign. The list is just empty.

When I start the Mac in a regular mode I see the disk in the list on the left pane of the finder and it gives me information about it but not sure how to "tell" Mac this is the startup disk.

Any idea?

Thank you,

Amir

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Nov 4, 2019 8:29 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,758 points

Nov 4, 2019 9:19 PM in response to amirfromdallas

If you don't have a backup, then backup your data now before doing anything else.

To revert back to a previous version of macOS you need to erase the whole physical drive and either reinstall macOS or restore from a pre-Catalina backup. With the more recent versions of macOS you will need to click "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show all devices" before the physical drive will be shown in the left pane of Disk Utility. Erase the drive as GUID partition and either APFS (top option) or MacOS Extended (Journaled).

If you do not have a bootable backup, then the next best option is to create a bootable macOS USB drive using the directions found here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

Another option is to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + Shift + R which will allow you to reinstall the original OS which shipped with your computer (or the oldest version which is still available). Erase the drive as I described earlier. Once you re-install the original OS, then you can use the links here to download your choice of the installer for macOS 10.11 through 10.14.

All of the options mentioned here will destroy all data on the drive.

Do yourself a favor and start backing up your system. Having a bootable backup makes things so much easier.

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 8, 2019 8:01 AM in response to amirfromdallas

Thank you!

i took a backup, erased the disk and started new installation of the OS with Apple support guidance on the phone. After this I have exactly the same issue. Looks like issue with the new OS na do don’t see any other choice but to go back to the original until Apple will release a fix. I noticed in other posts many have the same issue.

Reply

Mac no startup disk appears in recovery mode

Similar questions