wiping the disk was a bad idea

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Level 1

4 points

wiping the disk was a bad idea

hello community

I want to fix my old MacBook Air 2012 11". I wiped the disk, but apparently macOS Recovery thinks theres no disk. So basically I wanted to wipe the disk to erase my data but it erased even macOS, and only macOS Internet Recovery is available.

I tried re-creating the Macintosh SSD (or whatever) partition on disk2 but it says the disk is busy. The disk2 disk has only two partitions, macOS Base System and some cache untitled partition.

I also tried Disk Utility. Another fail. Completely didn't work, showed only macOS Base System with around 2 GB and when i tried to go outta it it glitched the screen with random rainbow colors, completely made me scared.

Tried macOS force to do something, at least see some disk but didn't work.

And finally, tried installing macOS Catalina from App Store on the USB Drive. Soon i realised its the same recovery mode but with a feature to install macOS not from Apple's servers, I think.

So this is the last hope, Community support. Appreciate all help 🙏

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Sep 20, 2024 9:28 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

146,522 points

Sep 20, 2024 11:40 AM in response to markusia69

There are at least two challenges. The first one is primary. Boot Recovery mode again and choose Disk Utility. In its View menu you should see a selection "Show All Devices". That fundamental requirement is not described in Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support, but it is necessary if you upgraded macOS to Catalina or later since your Mac as shipped did not have the ability to recognize a disk format that did not exist at the time. That's the reason DU thinks there is no disk.

You need to erase that device. "Device" in this context means a hardware component with an immutable name such as "APPLE SSD... MEDIA".

That's what you need to select, and erase.

The next challenge is the fact that Mac's originally installed operating system is no longer available from Apple's Recovery servers. There is a workaround, but please write back after you manage to erase that Mac's startup disk for a link to those instructions.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

146,522 points

Sep 22, 2024 9:29 AM in response to markusia69

It's hard to believe Apple actually sold Macs with only 64 GB storage but back in 2012 they did. That is what you need to select, and erase.

I am still not certain if something else may be amiss so a photo of what you're seeing may be helpful. Use the "Image insertion" icon shown below:

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

245,489 points

Sep 21, 2024 11:40 AM in response to markusia69

Base System is in Firmware.

Get an external SSD or HDD to istall to.

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Answer 4

markusia69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2024 12:11 AM in response to John Galt

that's the problem - when I boot to macOS it shows a sad file icon, that means that the device is fully empty and the Internet Recovery is the only left thing on the MacBook. so I don't have anything to erase except macOS Base System. there is no disk available, only two partitions on it but I can't allocate the disk to one more Macintosh SSD partition (disk2).

so erasing something here is basically not real.

thanks for all help 😃

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