Problems formatting internal SSD

Question

Problems formatting internal SSD

I'm trying to completely format and reinstall macOS on a MacBook Air whose internal SSD I believe is badly hosed up. The hardware is probably fine, however.

Why do I think the disk is hosed up? Besides the fact that the machine cannot normally boot, this is the output of "diskutil list" as run from the Terminal of the Recovery partition:

The machine was setup up with 2 partitions (plus Recovery): One for macOS and one for BootCamp. I rebooted to Recovery partition (Lion version) and tried to re-do the partitions. Disk Utility won't let me do it, presumably because I'm booted from the same disk. I was able to format both partitions though.

So I created a bootable installer for macOS Sierra and rebooted holding down the Option key. Sure enough I was able to select the flash drive and reboot.

I believe the OS I'm booted from is indeed from the USB stick because while booting up in the text that flashes across the screen it says Darwin Kernel Version 16.7.0...

...but then I'm taken to the Lion recovery UI that resides (I assume) on the Recovery partition! And I'm back where I started. I don't even know how to launch "Install macOS Sierra.app" which I've verified is in the flash drive.

Any help is appreciated.

Posted on Aug 23, 2017 9:45 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 24, 2017 9:25 AM in response to Marcos Kirsch

Success! It wasn't straightforward.

I again created a macOS Sierra installer but this time using a different USB flash drive. I followed Apple's command line instructions. The MacBook Air was able to boot from this new Flash Drive and show me the macOS Sierra UI for recovery. Now I was finally able to redo the partitions and format the internal SSD using Disk Utility.

Then I tried to install macOS... and ran into Mac OS sierra app is damaged.

Next, I rebooted the MacBook Air whose SSD was now truly completely empty. Before I even inserted the "fixed" USB flash drive" to reattempt installation, I was given the option for Network Recovery. I went with that and installed Mac OS X Lion successfully.

After that, I again rebooted to USB Flash Drive #2 and was able to upgrade to macOS Sierra.

Thanks for all the help.

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Answer 2

Aug 23, 2017 10:35 AM in response to Marcos Kirsch

Hello Marcos Kirsch,

I recommend creating a new USB macOS installer using a different Mac with Sierra installed. This link should help with that

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Boot to the Sierra installer. Then in the installer, select the Internal SSD and click the Erase button and format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This should erase the recovery partition, the bootcamp partition, and the macOS partition on the Internal SSD. From there, reboot the computer to the USB Installer and select the Install macOS Sierra option. Follow the macOS install instructions and you should be all set. Hope I could help!

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Answer 3

Aug 23, 2017 11:29 AM in response to MacMaster128k

I recommend creating a new USB macOS installer using a different Mac with Sierra installed. This link should help with that

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

This is exactly what I did. In my post I even link to the same exact page.

Boot to the Sierra installer.

This too is what I did. Or at least this is what I think I did. Read original post.

The problem is once the computer is booted up, I am presented with the Lion UI.

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Answer 4

Aug 23, 2017 12:05 PM in response to Marcos Kirsch

I would try reinstalling Lion to get a fresh start if you can. Then from there try updating to Sierra from either the flash drive or the App Store. This is a very interesting situation. If you don't mind, keep me updated. I would like to see how this turns out.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,257 points

Aug 23, 2017 2:37 PM in response to Marcos Kirsch

Clarification questions - did you download the Sierra installer before making the USB drive? Try downloading the Sierra installer and then quit it. You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you.

Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X

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Answer 6

Aug 23, 2017 3:20 PM in response to Eric Root

Clarification questions - did you download the Sierra installer before making the USB drive? Try downloading the Sierra installer and then quit it. You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you.

I did, I downloaded Sierra on a separate Mac and created the bootable USB stick on it. The Sierra installer was not running.

I will try creating a new bootable drive using a different USB stick and the program you suggest.

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Answer 7

Aug 23, 2017 3:08 PM in response to MacMaster128k

I'll try reinstalling Lion. That may succeed in spite of what appears to be a corrupt partition scheme. I will report back.

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