startup disk problem

Question

Level 1

4 points

startup disk problem

Hi all,

thanks in advance for your help and excuse the long message...

I woke up two days ago with my MacBook Air starting up to a file sign with a question mark on it.

I’ve since tried restarting pressing: shift, option, coption+command+P+R, carried out first aid via disk utilities, performed a force unmount of disks1&2 vía terminal (which I think made the startup disk disappear, as even though I couldn’t access it before, I could still see it. I think it also made all the partitions disappear , as on the first diskutil list I ever created, I could clearly see all the partitions in disk2s1, disk2s2 and others). See the current diskutil list:

I’ve since also tried differentvrepairs via disk utilities and terminal and have performed a force mount via terminal. The below photos show the diskutil info list for disk1:

And disk2:

I could only see the Mac OS base system on the volumes list.

Additionally, I can now only access Mac OS utilities with internet recovery mode and not normal recovery, even when I presss command+ R only.

I suppose I should erase the disk, but I fear I might be doing something wrong, so before doing so, I would rather ask someone who knows.

Besides, I’m really not sure which disk/s I should erase.

From the below disk utility photo,s, should I erase 121.33 GB Apple SSD, disk2 and disk1 and leave the Mac OS X Base System only?

Disk1:

Apple SSD:

disk2:

Mac OS X Base system:

Please help!!!!

Posted on Jul 10, 2022 6:09 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 13, 2022 3:37 PM in response to Fimodo

Thanks for the screenshot! Unfortunately... your data could be dead. None of the expected APFS volumes are showing up inside the container :(

Do you have a backup of your data by chance? If not, and if the data is very valuable, I'd strongly recommend powering off your Mac and contacting a professional data recovery service. Unfortunately their services will likely be quite expensive.

If you'd like to proceed with erasing all data on your Mac and reinstalling macOS fresh, let me know and I can provide the steps for that.

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Answer 2

Jul 25, 2022 7:48 AM in response to Fimodo

Glad to help! Sorry that this reply took a while as well.

To erase all data on your Intel-based Mac and reinstall macOS, follow these steps:

Start up from macOS Recovery.
If you're prompted for an administrator password, enter it to continue.
The list of utilities should appear. Select Disk Utility and click Continue.
In Disk Utility, select View -> Show All Devices.
Select the top level of the internal drive (usually APPLE SSD) and click Erase. Choose these options, then click Erase to confirm:
1. Name: Anything you want, but the default is Macintosh HD
2. Format: APFS
3. Scheme: GUID Partition Table/Map
When the erase is complete, quit Disk Utility and select Install macOS. Then, follow the onscreen instructions. You will need a strong Internet connection for this.

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Answer 3

Fimodo Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2022 5:12 AM in response to Encryptor5000

Hi Encrytor5000,

thanks so so much for your reply and explanation, and excuses for taking long to reply.

Aha! i knew I was acceding a strange recovery mode that wasn’t allowing me to do all I wanted, but I kept on getting this initial page with an earth sign on it and a text message informing I was entering internet recovery mode and it totally threw me back, making me think that whatever I pressed I was being directed to the same page, so desisted trying anything else than command+R, which of course, always led me to the Yosemite version..

I’ve now had the patience to wait until the end and I’m back in the normal recovery mode I was accessing at the very beginning.

The disk called Apple SSD is now missing and only has the container disk2. I’ve trued mounting, as first aid was grayed out and get the following message:

Should I try force mount on terminal?

The diskutil list shows the following (still not looking like the first time at all):

These are the diskutil info list for disk1:

Disk0:

And disk2:

Thanks so so much for your help

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Answer 4

Fimodo Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2022 6:27 PM in response to Encryptor5000

Thanks so much for your reply!

I've been reading quite a lot today and now understand a bit more than I did this morning, but still not enough to know what’s happening as a whole.

I actually already tried first aid on disk0s1 (what I kept on thinking was disk2), but it’s grayed in.

I also tried diskutil repairVolume of the same on terminal and it did it, but nothings changed. I’ve made photos of all I’ve done in case you want to see it.

For now,, there goes what you’ve actually requested plus the diskutil list internal:

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Answer 5

Jul 10, 2022 7:42 PM in response to Fimodo

Hi Fimodo,

Thanks for the detailed post!

It looks like you started up in a really old version of macOS Recovery (OS X Yosemite 10.10 or earlier). I can explain what is happening.

In macOS High Sierra (10.13), Apple introduced the Apple File System (APFS), as an upgrade from Mac OS Extended Journaled. Because you're running an old version of macOS Recovery, it doesn't recognize the APFS data, and shows the APFS partition type code instead (7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC).

disk0s2 is an APFS partition, better termed an APFS Container. It contains several volumes inside, including your startup disk. These volumes aren't visible right now because the old macOS Recovery doesn't understand APFS.

disk1 is the mounted macOS Recovery disk image. Mac OS X Base System is the recovery system itself inside that disk image.

Can you try starting up your Mac while holding down Option-Command-R? This requests the latest supported macOS Recovery from Apple servers, and that should be able to properly understand APFS.

If that doesn't work, you'll likely need to create a bootable installer (macOS Recovery on a flash drive). Do you have a second Mac by chance?

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Answer 6

Fimodo Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2022 11:13 AM in response to Fimodo

btw- I’ve already realized that I hadn’t changed the view to show all, hence could only see the volumes.

Also, I’ve tried restoring disk2 with Fisk utility and the restore from location is not available. The diskutil info list for disk2 shows the mount location as private/bar/log, which I’ve found when I press image on the restore page, but it’s also grayed in. I shouldn’t have uncounted it, as think that’s what’s made the volumes found in disk2s1, disk2s2 and so forth disappear or merge.

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Answer 7

Jul 11, 2022 5:24 PM in response to Fimodo

Fimodo wrote:

Also, I’ve tried restoring disk2 with Fisk utility and the restore from location is not available. The diskutil info list for disk2 shows the mount location as private/bar/log, which I’ve found when I press image on the restore page, but it’s also grayed in. I shouldn’t have uncounted it, as think that’s what’s made the volumes found in disk2s1, disk2s2 and so forth disappear or merge.

o.O

As long as you didn't actually start the restore operation, hopefully the data should still be ok.

Try running "diskutil info disk0s2" in Terminal to see what data Disk Utility can report on from the APFS Container.

Also, try running First Aid on disk0s2 in Disk Utility. Hopefully the data can be recovered!

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Answer 8

Fimodo Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 21, 2022 8:36 AM in response to Encryptor5000

Hi Encryptor5000,

Please excuse me for taking so long to reply. I had a few busy days...

I really really appreciate your reply and the time taken to help me out!

I think the missing volumes are in this private folder that was created when I unmounted disk2, but, anyway, let’s go ahead with deleting all data and reinstalling macOS. I was about to do that before I even contacted you, but I didn’t want to do it alone in case I cocked it up. Look forward to your instructions....

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