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User profile for user: idiosynkrasi
idiosynkrasi Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Can't upgrade Macbook Pro after factory reset/erase

Hello!


I'm not able to upgrade my laptop after a factory reset/erase. I may have reset this wrong initially when I didn't select APFS. I can't upgrade to the latest OSX and currently stuck on Mountain Lion.


  • An error message occurs in iTunes when I try to do a software upgrade from there.
  • I've tried to download different OSX installs and upgrade from there.
  • I also tried to restore from an old backup I had saved. Did not work - estimated time went past 200hrs.
  • When I went back to the Disk Utility at restart (command-option-shift-R) and try to erase the laptop again, I no longer see the option to format with APFS.
  • There are no issues that come up after running "Repair Disk."
  • And I think I'm seeing a second disk called "disk1 > Mac OS X System" on the side panel for the first time. But going off memory.


Specs:

  • Retina, 15" Early 2013
  • 16GB
  • 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7


Here are the images of the Disk Utility:


Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Mar 30, 2023 11:37 AM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,428 points

Posted on Mar 30, 2023 7:25 PM

Are you able to boot to macOS on the internal drive or only from Recovery Mode? After properly preparing the internal SSD (yours looks to be Ok assuming you "erased" it and the "idiosynkrasi" volume is now a new empty volume), then quit Disk Utility and select the "Reinstall macOS" option. With Mountain Lion, you may need to change the system date to some time in 2017 or perhaps even earlier because the installer may be using expired certificates (you may get an error during installation saying "not available at this time, try again later", or even some other error message).


Did this laptop ever have macOS 10.12.6+ installed on it in the past? If so, then try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to see if you can access the online macOS 11.x Big Sur installer. Unfortunately sometimes a Mac will only boot to the older online installer such as Mountain Lion.


If you have access to another Mac from 2008 to 2020, then you can create & use a macOS USB installer by using the instructions in this Apple article:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Generally a Mac from 2008 to 2015 can create a bootable macOS 10.11 USB installer, while a Mac from 2013 - 2020 can create a Big Sur USB installer.


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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,428 points

Mar 30, 2023 7:25 PM in response to idiosynkrasi

Are you able to boot to macOS on the internal drive or only from Recovery Mode? After properly preparing the internal SSD (yours looks to be Ok assuming you "erased" it and the "idiosynkrasi" volume is now a new empty volume), then quit Disk Utility and select the "Reinstall macOS" option. With Mountain Lion, you may need to change the system date to some time in 2017 or perhaps even earlier because the installer may be using expired certificates (you may get an error during installation saying "not available at this time, try again later", or even some other error message).


Did this laptop ever have macOS 10.12.6+ installed on it in the past? If so, then try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to see if you can access the online macOS 11.x Big Sur installer. Unfortunately sometimes a Mac will only boot to the older online installer such as Mountain Lion.


If you have access to another Mac from 2008 to 2020, then you can create & use a macOS USB installer by using the instructions in this Apple article:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Generally a Mac from 2008 to 2015 can create a bootable macOS 10.11 USB installer, while a Mac from 2013 - 2020 can create a Big Sur USB installer.


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Can't upgrade Macbook Pro after factory reset/erase

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