Error when installing MacOS Sierra after erasing hard drive

I'm trying to prepare my Macbook Air 2017 for reselling. I've followed these instructions and now it's time to install a fresh copy of MacOS but I've encountered several errors including getting stuck on 16 seconds left. Can someone give me step-by-step instructions on how I might be able to troubleshoot? I'm completely at a loss.

Additional info: When selecting a hard drive to install MacOS Sierra, "Macintosh HD" does not come up; instead the hard drive says "Untitled."

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Feb 22, 2023 4:21 PM

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1 reply

ku4hx

Level 7

23,786 points

Feb 23, 2023 2:53 AM in response to ohkaaaye

I suggest you start from scratch and do it all over again. What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support

The "untitled" name suggest you formatted the drive but did so without the "Macintosh HD" name. Boot from the flash drive, open Disk Utilities and format (erase) the disk giving it the name "Macintosh HD". This is not usually necessary, but something in your original process went wrong.

Once you get the disk erased and properly named, the installation process should be straight forward.

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Error when installing MacOS Sierra after erasing hard drive

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