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User profile for user: attrex2013
attrex2013 Author
User level: Level 1
11 points

Multiple failed MacOS restore attempts

Trying to restore a MacBook Pro that was wiped clean. Have been using the standard "Reinstall macOS" utility in from a recovery reboot.


At least four attempts have been made, each one ending with an unspecified error at the very end.


Immediately prior to most recent attempt, I had booted the machine from an external drive and had reformatted the internal SSD with Erase.


I just ran First Aid on the internal drive and it's now showing storage system check exit code 8.


One of the earlier failed restore attempts mentioned problems with the Preboot volume. Since I suspect that Erase does not touch the Preboot volume, this may be the culprit.


Appreciate any insights/suggestions.


Thanks,


Henry

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Aug 29, 2020 2:57 PM

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User profile for user: rcosta887
rcosta887
User level: Level 4
3,604 points

Posted on Aug 29, 2020 3:01 PM

Did you specifically erase the "Apple SSD" or "Apple HDD" item in the list of drives? By default it may not be showing and you'd have to go to View menu > Show All Devices to erase everything, including the hidden partitions (like the preboot volume)


You'd need to be doing this from Internet Recovery mode (Option Command R) where you see the spinning earth globe on boot up, and not regular recovery.


If you did that, or it still doesn't work, you'd want to repartition the drive as a FAT32 drive with Windows-style MBR, for a moment, then re-erase it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) to really clean up any low-level garbage that could be interfering with the normal reinstall.

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User profile for user: rcosta887
rcosta887
User level: Level 4
3,604 points

Aug 29, 2020 3:01 PM in response to attrex2013

Did you specifically erase the "Apple SSD" or "Apple HDD" item in the list of drives? By default it may not be showing and you'd have to go to View menu > Show All Devices to erase everything, including the hidden partitions (like the preboot volume)


You'd need to be doing this from Internet Recovery mode (Option Command R) where you see the spinning earth globe on boot up, and not regular recovery.


If you did that, or it still doesn't work, you'd want to repartition the drive as a FAT32 drive with Windows-style MBR, for a moment, then re-erase it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) to really clean up any low-level garbage that could be interfering with the normal reinstall.

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Multiple failed MacOS restore attempts

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