No disks are listed when trying to re-install OSX

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No disks are listed when trying to re-install OSX

I'm trying to roll back my mid-2014 rMBP back to an older OS (i.e. Yosemite or El Capitan). I followed instructions to wipe and reformat my hard drive to Mac OS Extended Journaled with the GUID Partition Map scheme. Since then, I've been having issues getting the any of the older installers to recognize my SSD when selecting a disk, but the Big Sur one recognizes it just fine in Internet Recovery mode and I am also able to select my SSD when restoring a Time Machine backup, which puts me back on Mojave. First Aid shows no errors with the disk, and I have tried to I have tried using the (shift + alt + cmd + r combo) recovery mode, as well as a USB Bootable Installer with El Capitan.

When I open the Disk Utility from the aforementioned Internet Recovery mode (not the alt + cmd + r combination), I don't see my reformatted drive or its accompanying Macintosh HD partition, even though they are corrected formatted. I only see disk0 and OS X Base System. The SSD does, however, show up in normal Recovery.

Any reason as to why this may be happening?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Dec 27, 2021 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,542 points

Dec 27, 2021 6:03 PM in response to StarSixtyNine

You won't be able to run the High Sierra installer from within Mojave, but you can create a bootable High Sierra USB installer using the link to the Apple article I provided earlier. If the link for High Sierra does not open the App Store, then try using Safari or a Chromium based browser such as Vivaldi or Google Chrome.

If the Mac you are attempting to use to download the High Sierra installer shipped from the factory with macOS 10.14+, then you will be unable to download High Sierra using that Mac.

You can install the original Apple OEM SSD into an OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure and use it as a destination for installing macOS 10.11. Do not install an NVMe SSD into the OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure as that may damage the SSD and the enclosure according to OWC.

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

60,542 points

Dec 27, 2021 1:40 PM in response to StarSixtyNine

Do you have a third party NVMe SSD installed? If so, then you must reinstall with macOS 10.13+ since earlier versions of macOS don't have the necessary NVMe driver to work with a third party NVMe SSD.

If you have an Apple original SSD installed, then you need to erase the whole physical drive instead of just the volume since older versions of macOS do not recognize the newer disk layout and file system used by macOS 10.13+. You may need to click "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. If you are reinstalling macOS 10.10 or earlier, then you actually need to partition and format the whole physical drive instead (assuming an original Apple SSD):

https://www.owcdigital.com/assets/support/support-formatting-and-migration/Mac_Formatting_6-10.pdf

If you have macOS installed on the laptop, then you can create a bootable macOS USB installer for the particular version of macOS you prefer to use:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Dec 27, 2021 2:47 PM in response to HWTech

That makes sense. I do have a third party NVMe SSD installed. Thankfully, I also still have the original SSD. Given the situation, do you think it'd be helpful to downgrade the original SSD to my preferred OS, do a Time Machine backup, and then restore it on the newer one?

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Answer 4

HWTech

Level 9

60,542 points

Dec 27, 2021 3:58 PM in response to StarSixtyNine

What is your preferred OS? If it is macOS 10.13+, then create a bootable USB installer for that OS and use the third party SSD.

If you don't have access to another compatible Mac to create a macOS 10.13+ USB installer (most Macs from 2010-2017), then you will need to re-install the original SSD if you are unable to access a macOS 10.13+ online installer from Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R. Or you can install macOS to a USB3 external drive instead of opening your Mac again.

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Answer 5

Dec 27, 2021 4:10 PM in response to HWTech

I would prefer to work on the most recent OS that allows me to install Windows 7 via Bootcamp. That appears to be High Sierra, but I had issues downloading that installer on Mojave via the App Store since it is technically "too old," so I made a bootable USB with El Capitan by downloading the .dmg file from Apple. The plan was to revert to EC, then update to High Sierra. From what I'm understanding, El Capitan is one of the operating systems that is not compatible with the third party SSD. Is that right?

It seems like the answer to this would be involving the older SSD, and you're right, I don't want to open up my computer again. Do you think using the older SSD with a separate enclosure would be an adequate workaround for this?

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Answer 6

Dec 27, 2021 6:11 PM in response to HWTech

Think I'll go with the latter suggestion. At least I'm able to understand why everything was happening the way it was, and I know that there's nothing faulty with my primary SSD. Thanks very much for your time and insight.

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Answer 7

HWTech

Level 9

60,542 points

Dec 27, 2021 6:31 PM in response to StarSixtyNine

You are welcome.

Good luck.

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No disks are listed when trying to re-install OSX

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