Deleting Install MacOS Mojave.app

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Level 1

142 points

Deleting Install MacOS Mojave.app

I wanted to create a bootable installer on an external drive and I wanted Mojave on it. I got it from the app store and used createinstallmedia in terminal. After that I wanted to delete the installer. I moved it to the trash. Then I wanted to install it again on another drive because the other one was too slow. So I download Mojave again and repeated. I moved the installer to the trash and when emptying the trash, I got an alert box saying the installer was in use.

I tried 5 methods to delete it and I couldn't start the 6

th one.

Put the installer back and use delete immediately. – It asked me to get info and do something which I did do and then I got the same alert of get info.
Move the installers to the drop box of another user and delete that user. – The file was still in /Users/thatuser/.Trash
Deleting it then did the same thing as how it was when I did it in the beginning
Use sudo -rm R /Users/thatname. That gave this weird thing "override rw-r--r-- root/wheel restrict" and some other stuff.
Move the folder to an external drive and erase it. It couldn't move it, it just copied.
Going into /Users/Sahasvat/.Trash/thatname/.Trash/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/SharedSupport, InstallESD.dmg is there. When deleting that it shows an alert saying that it is required by macOS. So I had to disable SIP, which is something I don’t want to do and I also couldn’t. When using command R during boot, instead of getting the utilities window, I see a progress bar, which goes around 20% and then 10%. Then I am in an interface with a window that says “examining volumes” in the center, restart with a left arrow, and something with a right arrow. It is very similar to the window when installing Catalina and Big Sur. The menu bar has apple logo with “Startup Disk…”, Restart, and shut down. There is “Recovery Assistant” near it which I assume is the app or utility running. The status menus have, Input Source, battery, and WiFi. I can’t disable SIP with this.

Some additional information:

both the installers aren’t openable

Both of them have the same DMG inside them

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Feb 12, 2021 12:37 AM

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Answer 1

Sahasvat_V Author

Level 1

142 points

Feb 12, 2021 4:06 AM in response to dialabrain

This image is from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

It is very similar to what I get after the volumes are examined. And I have to click on my user. I just want to know where this takes me, according to the article, it should take me to utilities, but I don’t think a progress bar is needed for that.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

208,529 points

Feb 12, 2021 10:48 AM in response to Sahasvat_V

Boot into Safe Mode by booting with the Shift key held down and try to delete the file from there. Then reboot normally.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

208,529 points

Feb 14, 2021 9:46 AM in response to Sahasvat_V

See if this Apple document can help: If your Mac doesn't start up all the way - Apple Support

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Answer 4

Sahasvat_V Author

Level 1

142 points

Feb 12, 2021 3:48 AM in response to dialabrain

this is what I see

after sometime it asks for admin password, which I think is to reinstall Big Sur which is not what I want it. If you are wondering those lines near the arrow buttons are just covering my surroundings. There is nothing important on the screen there

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Answer 5

Androish

Level 8

39,475 points

Feb 12, 2021 5:10 AM in response to Sahasvat_V

It will take you to utilities if it is able to(able to unlock the disk)

The reason why you get this first and not straight to recovery mode, where you can reinstall mac OS, go into disk utility etc is because the disk is encrypted with filevault.

It needs to decrypt the disk with your admin password to continue.

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Answer 6

Feb 12, 2021 10:30 AM in response to Androish

I have the same problem. I wanted to do the m -rf "Install macOS Mojave” .

But when I boot to recovery mode try using Terminal to navigate to the .Trash folder in my Users folder it tells me that my user folder does not exist. Using ls -a confirms this. I also tried going via the Volumes but no progress...

Can anyone help me here?

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Answer 7

Sahasvat_V Author

Level 1

142 points

Feb 12, 2021 10:57 PM in response to Old Toad

I need my login items and things to work properly

But SIP fixed the problem, is there any way to empty the trash while in recovery so I don’t have to reboot 2 more times. As I want to use a bootable installer for different versions without affecting my Mac internal drive

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