Help... hoping to recover startup disk

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Level 1

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Help... hoping to recover startup disk

In a moment of stupidity I downloaded El Capitan from my purchased apps (I was already running El Capitan) and now it’s trying to install over my startup disk. It fails to install each time, but keeps trying to install with every restart and I can’t get out of this vicious loop. When I go to select a startup disk I don’t see one so I hope I’m not past the point of no return. However when I go into disk utility and first aid it appears to be still there, or at least the data hasn’t been overwritten yet (?)

I figured I best reach out for some advice before I do any more damage. Thanks in advance...

Mac mini, OS X 10.11

Posted on Dec 14, 2020 5:25 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,596 points

Dec 14, 2020 10:17 PM in response to m2m2m

Your screenshot shows you have connected your mac to the Apple Recovery Servers

In the left panel under Disk Images next to OSX Base System click on the Eject arrow to

disconnect you from the service. If Apple disk image is still visible highlight it and click

on Unmount at the top of the Disk Utility window.

Quit Disk Utility. Power down your mac. Disconnect it from the internet.

Now restart your mac and see if it will start up.

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Answer 2

m2m2m Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 15, 2020 5:25 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Ok, I’ve clicked on the eject button a few times however the OS X Base System won’t eject... I also tried the Eject option under File, still no response.. Unmount is greyed out.

Here’s another screen shot...

Thanks for your assistance!

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Answer 3

m2m2m Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 15, 2020 9:31 AM in response to Eau Rouge

I’m at work now but I’m pretty sure I highlighted both and Unmount was greyed out either way.

Looking at the original screen shot, the MacMini startup disk still seems intact so I’m hoping there’s still a way to get around this OS X Base System and boot to the MacMini startup disk..

It also looks like there are some first aid options but I haven’t clicked on that..

Thanks again

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Answer 4

HWTech

Level 9

60,380 points

Dec 17, 2020 9:03 PM in response to m2m2m

What is the install error message?

If you Option Boot (hold the Option key just after the startup chime) do you see your "Macintosh HD" and another option for the "installer"? If so, then just select the "Macintosh HD".

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Answer 5

HWTech

Level 9

60,380 points

Dec 18, 2020 4:31 PM in response to m2m2m

That is the local recovery partition used for Recovery Mode. You can try it so you can run Disk Utility First Aid on the drive in case the file system has any errors.

I was hoping you might have the main boot volume listed here, but it seems the "installer" volume has taken over your main "Macintosh HD" volume. I think you will need to post the exact error message you get when the installer fails and perhaps at what point the installer fails. Maybe we can figure out why the install is failing.

Otherwise you will need to restore from a backup made before the mistake. If you don't have a backup, then you will have to figure out how to transfer your data from the hard drive/SSD so you can perform a clean install of macOS by first erasing the drive.

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Answer 6

m2m2m Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 19, 2020 3:04 PM in response to HWTech

Good news - I dug out my old 2008 MacBook which I actually have the right FireWire cable to go to the Mini, and I fired up Target disk and all looks ok. I’m grabbing a hard disk and doing a backup and then I’ll start experimenting once I’ve got nothing to lose; will report back later... 🥲

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Answer 7

HWTech

Level 9

60,380 points

Dec 20, 2020 1:41 PM in response to m2m2m

If you have your data, then a clean install is going to be the easiest and fastest way to get back up and running.

If you wanted to try to recover it on your own, then you could try to see if you can find the installer log file to get more details on the failure. I'm not sure where Apple would store that log file though. Most likely it would be in the "Library/Logs" folder or perhaps the "private/var/log" folder on the Mac's internal drive. I really wish Apple wouldn't have such cryptic error messages.

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Answer 8

m2m2m Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 20, 2020 2:53 PM in response to HWTech

Yes, I just needed you to second that notion. I almost always do clean installs without time machine or CC Cloner type file restorations as I usually skip 2 or 3 OSX versions between upgrades and have a lot of baggage by then, so I’ll start from scratch and go straight to Catalina from here. I was just nervous cuz there was a gap between backups and I would have lost a lot of photos and documents. Thanks for your insight and support!

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