older (mid 2011) MacBook Air 121.12GB was trying to install update and now the Apple disk image is saying "Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting." I cannot even get the computer to boot up now unless I have a USB install disk in trying to install new OS X El Capitan. Is there any way to delete the update and get my files back?
OR do I have to wipe the whole thing and install new OS?
MacBook Air 13″
If you have a bootable USB installer, you can boot with that.
Then launch Disk Utility and run First Aid on the internal startup drive and its partitions.
With luck that might get the partition map problem fixed and let you reboot properly. Maybe.
If you cannot get the MBA to reboot properly, you might alternatively pull the SSD from the computer. You could then install the SSD in an external enclosure and access your data from another Mac. Finally, just recycle the rest of the fifteen (!) year old, obsolete Mac. Maybe.
I am hoping I have caught you before the computer goes to "recycling".
I’m not clear what you have done or able to do. But just in case ----
How did you manage to get disk utility to open?
You say you have kept backups of other computers. Were they time-machine backups or bootable clones e.g. using Carbon Copy Cloner?
If clones, are any of the OS compatible with your MBA?
If so you may be able to boot from the clone(s). You might then be able to recover data, then clone the clone (before or after erasing the disk.) Then reboot your MBA and, if necessary, go through updates.
If you have removed the internal SSD and have an enclosure for it you may be able to use one of your other Mac's to repair/clone too???.
jamkk7 wrote:
Is there any way to delete the update and get my files back?
Did you make a bootable clone backup before you installed the upgrade? If you had done that, you would be able to erase the internal drive and then clone your backup back to it.
If you did not make a backup of some sort, you are about to learn why keeping backups is a good idea.
I have made constant backups of my other computers but, unfortunately, not this utility one. I was just hoping there was some way to at least get it back to where it was before Apple's update. Until then it was running great. Appreciate and thank you for responding.
Nothing is working to fix this. I have now gone into Disk Utility to erase all to allow a brand new install of El Capitan 10.11.6 but Disk Utility wont let me erase anything either. I now know how to pull the SSD from the computer and guess I will do that and recycle as suggested. Bummer, it was really working just fine before Apple's update. Appreciate and thank you for responding.
older MackBook Air after update not booting up at all
