Reinstalling Mac OS using Recovery Mode fails, need assistance

Apple M2 Macbook Air 2022

Apple Silicon Mac


The Macbook was unable to sign into the User Account, after entering the User password the Mac would attempt to sign in.


After a few seconds of loading the Mac would flash purple then go black, before restarting & booting back to the Login screen.


This happened in Safe Mode & Normal boot mode. Guest account is currently disabled, I contacted AppleCare to see if I could enable the Guest Account via terminal all the methods using “sysadminctl” & “dscl” could not create a new User or enable Guest Accounts on Mac OS Sonoma.


I used Disk Sharing to copy all data from my Mac to a backup drive using another Mac.


I attempted to perform a Mac OS reinstall in recovery mode. The installation was successful no errors, I tried to login & it fails exactly like above.


I go into Recovery Mode, then Disk Utility, completely Format my Mac.


Click “Erase Mac”, Mac restarts to completely erase, Mac boots into recovery, I enter my credentials to unlock & activate the Mac.


I use “Install Sonoma” while my Mac is connected via ethernet to USB-C adapter.


Mac OS installs, no errors, no crashes, restarts.


I get “Cannot Verify Startup Disk”


I create a Bootable USB with a fresh download of Mac OS Sonoma from the App Store.


I use the USB as my Startup Disk, attempt the installation once again.



"Cannot verify Startup Disk" error again.


I've ran first aid on every Volume & Every device, performed Apple Offline Diagnostics, & contacted AppleCare to perform Apple MRI Diagnostics. Everything passed every single time.


I redid all previous steps including erasing my Mac 10+ times now. Used Wifi instead of Ethernet, entirely different networks too.


I've gone to Disk Utility, used "Show All Devices" to completely erase the Mac.


Time Machine does not work because there is no Mac OS installed, so that's not an option.


Sources:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility - Apple Support

Use an external storage device as a Mac startup disk - Apple Support

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Transfer files between a Mac with Apple silicon and another Mac - Apple Support

tl;dr

MacOs installation using Recovery Mode using all available methods & complete data wipes have failed despite no crashes, shutdowns, or connection issues.


At this point I need help beyond "Run first Aid" or "format the drives". I was as thorough as possible, so please I'm more than willing to dig into this further to fix this Mac, there's no physical damage, & no concern for data loss.

MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

Posted on Jul 1, 2024 1:12 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 1, 2024 2:38 AM

A Lot of work has been done


The only other options appears to be >>


How to revive or restore Mac firmware


Read through all the article before considering the Revive or Restore in this document


One missed step in the order that are presented could render the computer a paperweight or a journey to the Apple Genius Bar to be fixed


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 1, 2024 2:38 AM in response to Troubleshooting_Mac

A Lot of work has been done


The only other options appears to be >>


How to revive or restore Mac firmware


Read through all the article before considering the Revive or Restore in this document


One missed step in the order that are presented could render the computer a paperweight or a journey to the Apple Genius Bar to be fixed


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Reinstalling Mac OS using Recovery Mode fails, need assistance

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