M3 Pro - Frequent "the version of macos on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled"

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M3 Pro - Frequent "the version of macos on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled"

I purchased a Macbook M3 Pro a month ago. I don't remember if it was the first or second day, I got a crash, typical black screen with some log. I thought this is odd, a brand new computer crashing, but well, ignored it and restarted.

It was working fine until it restarted during the upgrade to Sonoma 14.2.1. This restart resulted in the error mentioned in the title: "The version of macos on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled". Ok, this wasn't cool. Ran the recovery and it failed again. Definitively, something was odd. The second time I ran the recovery, the installation was successful.

A few days later, it crashed again, this time with the purple screen and sudden shutdown. I couldn't boot up right away, it didn't respond. Plugging the charger in this state resulted in a blinking orange light (but it's not about the charger malfunctioning), it's like the Macbook is not responding at all.

After 5-10 minutes, it will boot up again, to the recovery message again... I discovered that I could ignore the message, restart, and it will normally boot. but definitively, this is something that shouldn't be happening.

So, I tried to reinstall again. After three failed attempts at recovery, I went a step ahead and followed the old fashioned way of actually erasing the volume group and starting over.

But this was no to avail, the issue is still happening, and pretty much I have pinpointed it. If I restart, it will end in the recovery message. If I shutdown, I will not be able to turn it on again for 10 minutes.

Diagnostic tests say there are no issues, so I'm afraid that when I stop by a store, they will just run the diagnostics, say there are no issues, recover again, and tell me that that's all...

What do you think could be happening? If diagnostics are good, hardware is good. As I did a hard reset, software should be good too... so I have no clue how to proceed.

Notice that I said I noticed this during the upgade to Sonoma 14.2.1, but probably it was happening since the beginning. I rarely restart or shutdown the device.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 14.2

Posted on Dec 25, 2023 1:25 AM

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Answer 1

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aliecat108

Level 1

21 points

Dec 26, 2023 1:44 PM in response to Ay0o

This happened with my brand new M3 Pro MacBook last month. I had pre-ordered so I received it in early Nov. Right out of the box it was having issues, like not being able to sleep and instead re-booting so every I turned it on there was was an error message "Your computer was restarted because of a problem".

Then about a week later I got the same error message you did - "The version of macOS on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled. Use Recovery to reinstall macOS or select another startup disk." I immediately took it to the Apple store and they replaced it. No issues with the replacement MacBook but now I'm running into a bunch of problems with my new iMac M3 that I preordered with the MacBook, which I'm using at the office.

Your MacBook is a lemon and Apple needs to replace it.

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Answer 2

Ay0o Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 28, 2023 12:50 PM in response to aliecat108

did they run any special diagnostics? Because Apple Diagnostics is showing that there are no hardware issues with my Macbook.

I think there is something odd with the preinstalled version of Sonoma. After the hard reset and installing from recovery (which now is always "Internet Recovery"), I was on 14.2.1 right away, no needed to upgrade. But I kept having issues.

So, as a long shot before stopping by the store (it's an official retailer but not an Apple Store, so they won't replace it right away but will send it over to Apple to assess and fix if needed), I decided to try to reinstall again from a USB. As I didn't have the directory "/Applications/Install macOS Sonoma.app", I had to download Sonoma again.

To my surprise, even though I was in the latest version, according to the Apple Store I didn't have Sonoma, so I downloaded it using the store. When it finished, the process resumed as if I didn't have Sonoma, notifying me that I needed to restart to perform the installation.

Once the "installation" finished, I haven't had any more issues so far. I can restart without ending in the recovery menu. I can shutdown and turn on right away. Other odd issues that I was having like Firefox tabs constantly crashing disappeared as well..

So, I don't know what the **** happened, but it looks like the preinstalled OS version was screwed up.

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Answer 3

Dec 26, 2023 3:14 PM in response to Ay0o

From MacOS 11 Big Sur onward, the system is on a Separate, crypto-locked System Volume, which is not writeable using ordinary means. Any unauthorized differences that appear to the crypto-locked volume are quickly detected and you are alerted.

That is the reason you get the "needs to be re-installed" message.

I do not know what exactly is behind all your other issues.

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M3 Pro - Frequent "the version of macos on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled"

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