MacOS won't install after disk erase

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Level 1

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MacOS won't install after disk erase

Hi

I'm prepping my Macbook Air 2015 for sale. Followed the Apple guide on how to prep. Signed out etc and then rebooted into recovery to use disk utility to erase the disk.

All done, then the next step is to reinstall the OS. This is where I've hit a wall as it keeps failing at the last second. I've tried multiple time to get this completed, including erasing disks again and attempting disk repair (first aid via disk utility). Please see below images for where I am.

Any help would be appreciated.

Error I face when installing macOS via recovery

Screenshots of various areas of disk utility to help you help me

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jan 31, 2023 6:31 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

68,858 points

Jan 31, 2023 3:12 PM in response to LordTopley

It was in case the certificate of the installer was expired. Apple seems to like cryptic error messages with no details.

See if you can access the online macOS 12.x Monterey installer by attempting to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R. Unfortunately with some Macs it will only boot to the online installer for the OS which originally shipped with the laptop from the factory (for your 2015 Mac that would be macOS 10.11).

I think part of the problem may be due to the out of order nature of the items on the left pane of Disk Utility. Normally the item "Apple SSD SM05..." should be the top most item, followed by the hidden Container, then "Macintosh HD". You need to erase the physical drive "Apple SSD SM05..." as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled) if installing macOS 10.13 or earlier, otherwise if installing macOS 12.x Monterey, then erase the whole physical SSD as GUID partition and APFS (top option). Currently you are using the MacOS Extended file system within an APFS container which macOS 10.12 Sierra does not completely understand. I missed this small detail the first time.

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