my Mac wouldn’t boot up anymore so I restored from time machine which worked great. But since then, I decided to buy a new Mac. I followed the instructions to erase and restore my old Mac to factory condition. I was able to erase all data, but now I’m left with just an OS X Base System. No other partition, and I can’t reinstall the operating system. Any ideas where I went wrong and how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.
iMac 27″, macOS 11.2
Has the drive maybe died?
Start up from macOS Recovery
To start up from macOS Recovery, turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold one of the following combinations on your keyboard. Command-R is generally recommended, especially if you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later… https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904#notupdated
Command (⌘)-R
Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.
Option-⌘-R
Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac.
Shift-Option-⌘-R
Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
2. Decide whether to erase (format) your disk
If you need to erase your disk before installing macOS, select Disk Utility from the Utilities window, then click Continue. You probably don't need to erase, unless you're selling or giving away your Mac or have an issue that requires you to erase. Learn more about when and how to erase.
3. Install macOS
After starting up from macOS Recovery, follow these steps to install macOS:
If your Mac restarts to a setup assistant, but you're selling or giving it away, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.
If you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4
If macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later was never installed on your Mac, macOS Recovery works differently:
Has the drive maybe died?
Start up from macOS Recovery
To start up from macOS Recovery, turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold one of the following combinations on your keyboard. Command-R is generally recommended, especially if you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later… https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904#notupdated
Command (⌘)-R
Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.
Option-⌘-R
Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac.
Shift-Option-⌘-R
Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
2. Decide whether to erase (format) your disk
If you need to erase your disk before installing macOS, select Disk Utility from the Utilities window, then click Continue. You probably don't need to erase, unless you're selling or giving away your Mac or have an issue that requires you to erase. Learn more about when and how to erase.
3. Install macOS
After starting up from macOS Recovery, follow these steps to install macOS:
If your Mac restarts to a setup assistant, but you're selling or giving it away, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.
If you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4
If macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later was never installed on your Mac, macOS Recovery works differently:
The disk says ST31000528AS Media, under that says OS X Base system. When I click on Partition from disk utility, it just shows the one partition as OS X Base System, formatted as Mac OS Extended, Size 1,000 GB. My hard drive is 1 TB. When I try to add a partition, nothing happens.
You can't use the Base System, no idea why it's even showing there. You may need to reformat it...
I get to the point to reinstall High Sierra and get a message that disk is locked. Doesn’t give me an option to unlock disk
What is the name of the partition you've chosen to install to?
I appreciate your help. I feel like an idiot. I tried to partition but it won’t let me. Unless I’m doing it wrong!
I know the feeling, but it doesn't help either of us... what was the name of the Disk you tried to install to?
Restore hard drive
