Erasing an M1 before return

[Zazoh]

I've restored twice using the restore after a recovery reboot holding down the Power button from a cold start. No issues at all. Need to know the last account you were logged in under and have WiFi.

This method does not install (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Garage Band, or iMovie)

1. Power off the M1
2. Press and hold the power button to enter recovery mode
3. Click the Options icon and then press continue
4. In the upper left corner select Recovery Assistant
5. In that drop down menu, select Erase Mac
6. Follow the on-screen steps from there

 

[Quackers]

It's not bricked if it's fixable in a couple of different ways.

 

[ADGrant]

I bet. When reinstalling the OS, there are a few ways to run headlong into some non-user-friendly error messages/roadblocks. It def needs to be streamlined/improved. After erasing and reinstalling the OS on my MI Air, I ran into several installation and other process-related unfriendly dead-end error messages. I was able to work around all but you get a little "beta tester" feeling every once in a while.

The "beta tester" feeling is not surprising. This is the first gen of a brand new architecture, bound to be a few bumps.

 

[Madmischief]

I had the same challenge as @johnalan when returning an M1 MBP to Apple last week.

The store team were confused too and one of them ended up finding the solution @Lumpydog & @Zazoh mentioned.

It erased in front of me and I then returned it.

 

[johnalan]

Looks like using disk utility to wipe drive and reinstall causes a strange issue where users cannot be created after the installation completes. I do a lot of app testing and configuration changes, it’s a big minus for me if there is the chance to brick my m1 machine at every reinstall.
I don’t have another mac to do the Apple Configurator 2 restore, and there is no apple store in my country. This is disappointing.

This on 11.1?

what’s you’re processs and where can’t you make users?

 

[johnalan]

I had the same challenge as @johnalan when returning an M1 MBP to Apple last week.

The store team were confused too and one of them ended up finding the solution @Lumpydog & @Zazoh mentioned.

It erased in front of me and I then returned it.

Could you not use disk utility on 11.1?

 

[RvXtm]

This on 11.1?

what’s you’re processs and where can’t you make users?

Hello,

This thread details more about the issue, even on 11.1, after a wipe, after installation is done and you go though the first startup of the new install, location, etc etc, the creation of your user fails.
Sometimes going on icloud.com and deleting the device helps, sometimes you end up using DFU and restore in order to get your machine up and running.

Installing Big Sur Clean on M1 Macs "Computer account creation failed"

So I installed the 11.1 RC 2 yesterday and it was running fine until this morning the Mail app decided it would no longer open up. I tried everything to fix it and resorted to formatting the drive and reinstalling 11.1 RC 2 clean. Everything went find until I got to the part where you create a...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[rhymeswithfelony]

Yes - with Mac OS 11.0.1 here are the steps I used to successfully Erase my M1 Mac and reinstall the baseline OS:

1: Shut down your M1 Mac
2: Press and hold the power button down to enter recovery mode
3: Click the "Options" Gear-cog icon and then press the "Continue" button that appears below it
4: On the next screen, STOP. Look to the upper left corner - to the right the Apple Logo in the menu bar, select "Recovery Assistant" (it is the only menu item)
5: In that drop down menu, select "Erase Mac..."
6: Follow the on-screen steps from there

Note - you will need wifi access. From what I can tell, using this process completely reformats the Mac hard drive to a single partition, downloads a fresh copy of Big Sur, creates a new recovery partition and a new OS partition with an OS only install (no Garage Band, iMovie, Pages, Keynote, etc - which you can install later). The process took about an Hour and ten minutes.

Per Apple's instructions - After the OS re-installation is complete, your Mac might restart to a setup assistant. If you're selling, trading in, or giving away your Mac, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

BTW, in step 4 above, if you continue and log into the recovery workflow with Admin credentials - further along in the recover workflow are the more classic recovery options - including Disk Utility. As of 11.0.1, I do not recommend using the Disk Utility to erase the M1 Mac. Even with 11.0.1 installed, I initially erased the hard drive using Disk Utility and it ended up creating problems. I'd dead-end at a "No users available for authorization" error message when I went to subsequently use recovery mode's "Reinstall MacOS Big Sur" option. To recover from that dead-end, I used the steps described above and that "Erase Mac..." process accomplished what I needed - a fresh baseline install of the OS without the Apple bloat-ware.

The obscure "Erase Mac..." selection in the Recovery Assistant drop down menu is the easy button to wipe/reset your Mac's OS.

Just used this fix, thank you!! I have two questions:

1. Could you further explain the partitioning? Does this reformatting the hard drive to single-partition, then creating new partitions etc---is this how it is normally, or does this change the OS's traditional factory settings/operations? Is the only difference bloatware, or is there actually a different way in which the hard drive will function going forward?

2. When using this fix, my hard drive on the install page was now listed with the name Untitled (rather than Macintosh HD, etc). There was also only one disk image instead of two. What does that mean, and do I need to rename this for any future function?

 

[RobbieTT]

Yes - with Mac OS 11.0.1 here are the steps I used to successfully Erase my M1 Mac and reinstall the baseline OS:

1: Shut down your M1 Mac
2: Press and hold the power button down to enter recovery mode
3: Click the "Options" Gear-cog icon and then press the "Continue" button that appears below it
4: On the next screen, STOP. Look to the upper left corner - to the right the Apple Logo in the menu bar, select "Recovery Assistant" (it is the only menu item)
5: In that drop down menu, select "Erase Mac..."
6: Follow the on-screen steps from there

Note - you will need wifi access. From what I can tell, using this process completely reformats the Mac hard drive to a single partition, downloads a fresh copy of Big Sur, creates a new recovery partition and a new OS partition with an OS only install (no Garage Band, iMovie, Pages, Keynote, etc - which you can install later). The process took about an Hour and ten minutes.

Per Apple's instructions - After the OS re-installation is complete, your Mac might restart to a setup assistant. If you're selling, trading in, or giving away your Mac, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

BTW, in step 4 above, if you continue and log into the recovery workflow with Admin credentials - further along in the recover workflow are the more classic recovery options - including Disk Utility. As of 11.0.1, I do not recommend using the Disk Utility to erase the M1 Mac. Even with 11.0.1 installed, I initially erased the hard drive using Disk Utility and it ended up creating problems. I'd dead-end at a "No users available for authorization" error message when I went to subsequently use recovery mode's "Reinstall MacOS Big Sur" option. To recover from that dead-end, I used the steps described above and that "Erase Mac..." process accomplished what I needed - a fresh baseline install of the OS without the Apple bloat-ware.

The obscure "Erase Mac..." selection in the Recovery Assistant drop down menu is the easy button to wipe/reset your Mac's OS.

Thanks - this made it quick and simple.

 

[AppleFeller]

The fact that Apple has no relevant M1 reinstall MacOS instructions is baffling, we all had to discover the hidden "Erase Mac" option in that toolbar. I hope Apple doesn't just expect everyone to just have another Mac for DFU Configurator restores.

 

[Boroko-sama]

So... this is the right way if your M1 mac is working right now, but you want/need to do a factory reset for a clean install, right? Or this method is intended when already bricked?

1: Shut down your M1 Mac
2: Press and hold the power button down to enter recovery mode
3: Click the "Options" Gear-cog icon and then press the "Continue" button that appears below it
4: On the next screen, STOP. Look to the upper left corner - to the right the Apple Logo in the menu bar, select "Recovery Assistant" (it is the only menu item)
5: In that drop down menu, select "Erase Mac..."
6: Follow the on-screen steps from there

 

[RvXtm]

So... this is the right way if your M1 mac is working right now, but you want/need to do a factory reset for a clean install, right? Or this method is intended when already bricked?

1: Shut down your M1 Mac
2: Press and hold the power button down to enter recovery mode
3: Click the "Options" Gear-cog icon and then press the "Continue" button that appears below it
4: On the next screen, STOP. Look to the upper left corner - to the right the Apple Logo in the menu bar, select "Recovery Assistant" (it is the only menu item)
5: In that drop down menu, select "Erase Mac..."
6: Follow the on-screen steps from there

This is the correct way, in all scenarios.
If the device is bricked, DFU should be used.

 

[dieselm]

The 11.2 beta is very "sticky" on the recovery partition and blocks DFU recovery.
DFU recovery errors out when using Apple Configurator 2 to get back to 11.1.

I used an external installer after following the "Erase Mac..." instructions above.
Even then, the recovery partition stays at 11.2 Beta and isn't replaced with 11.1.
You do get a successful clean install of 11.1 though.

Note: Installing 11.1 over the system after unenrolling from 11.2 Beta will also partial fail. Safari and other system apps won't revert to 11.1 versions and you'll be stuck with versions of Safari, Photo Libraries, etc which still require 11.2 to run. Making a Time machine backup and trying to get back to 11.1 from 11.2 won't work either, as you'll bring over 11.2 versions of the applications back into 11.1.

It's a mess.

 

[AppleFeller]

Anyone else erase and notice the returned MacBook also becomes stuck in your list of iCloud devices. It will not remove itself.

 

[RobbieTT]

No, all my device info has gone from iCloud and the M1 Mac is sitting in it's box, awaiting the courier pick-up.

Did you forget to log out of iCloud, Find My etc before doing the erase?

 

[turbineseaplane]

This probably should be obvious, but make sure you log out of iCloud (so Find My Mac is off) first also.

They'll send you back home to plug it all back in and do that if you forget and won't allow a return until you've done so.

That's in store only. Returns by shipping it in are different as they can un-do the Find My situation at Corporate.

 

[RvXtm]

The 11.2 beta is very "sticky" on the recovery partition and blocks DFU recovery.
DFU recovery errors out when using Apple Configurator 2 to get back to 11.1.

I used an external installer after following the "Erase Mac..." instructions above.
Even then, the recovery partition stays at 11.2 Beta and isn't replaced with 11.1.
You do get a successful clean install of 11.1 though.

Note: Installing 11.1 over the system after unenrolling from 11.2 Beta will also partial fail. Safari and other system apps won't revert to 11.1 versions and you'll be stuck with versions of Safari, Photo Libraries, etc which still require 11.2 to run. Making a Time machine backup and trying to get back to 11.1 from 11.2 won't work either, as you'll bring over 11.2 versions of the applications back into 11.1.

It's a mess.

Oh, that's bad news. You would think they got it right after 2 major updates.
I really find my hackintosh waaay easier to manage and re-install. It should not be like this, the hack needs lots of ACPI editing and stuff, but once you do that, the os just works. Can't make this s*** up ! lol

 

[turbineseaplane]

I really find my hackintosh waaay easier to manage and re-install. It should not be like this, the hack needs lots of ACPI editing and stuff, but once you do that, the os just works. Can't make this s*** up ! lol

You're not lying!

My Hack on Big Sur is running un-effin-believably well. OpenCore really changed the Hack game.
So so so much better than Clover was (for me).

I'm blown away. Everything was "working" on Catalina, but it's so much faster and smoother on Big Sur on the same hardware.

I don't have quite the Geekbench scores of the M1's (but very close), but I do have a dGPU and can dual boot to Windows for gaming (which is a lovely feature to have).

 

[RvXtm]

You're not lying!

My Hack on Big Sur is running un-effin-believably well. OpenCore really changed the Hack game.
So so so much better than Clover was (for me).

I'm blown away. Everything was "working" on Catalina, but it's so much faster and smoother on Big Sur on the same hardware.

I don't have quite the Geekbench scores of the M1's (but very close), but I do have a dGPU and can dual boot to Windows for gaming (which is a lovely feature to have).

Haha, I was an old school clover user, i just found out about OpenCore 3 days ago. Took some time to read the entire website and understand the config parameters. Took me under one hour to get my haswell fully running on big sur. Including the 12GB download of big sur

 

[hndxx]

Yes - with Mac OS 11.0.1 here are the steps I used to successfully Erase my M1 Mac and reinstall the baseline OS:

1: Shut down your M1 Mac
2: Press and hold the power button down to enter recovery mode
3: Click the "Options" Gear-cog icon and then press the "Continue" button that appears below it
4: On the next screen, STOP. Look to the upper left corner - to the right the Apple Logo in the menu bar, select "Recovery Assistant" (it is the only menu item)
5: In that drop down menu, select "Erase Mac..."
6: Follow the on-screen steps from there

Note - you will need wifi access. From what I can tell, using this process completely reformats the Mac hard drive to a single partition, downloads a fresh copy of Big Sur, creates a new recovery partition and a new OS partition with an OS only install (no Garage Band, iMovie, Pages, Keynote, etc - which you can install later). The process took about an Hour and ten minutes.

Per Apple's instructions - After the OS re-installation is complete, your Mac might restart to a setup assistant. If you're selling, trading in, or giving away your Mac, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

BTW, in step 4 above, if you continue and log into the recovery workflow with Admin credentials - further along in the recover workflow are the more classic recovery options - including Disk Utility. As of 11.0.1, I do not recommend using the Disk Utility to erase the M1 Mac. Even with 11.0.1 installed, I initially erased the hard drive using Disk Utility and it ended up creating problems. I'd dead-end at a "No users available for authorization" error message when I went to subsequently use recovery mode's "Reinstall MacOS Big Sur" option. To recover from that dead-end, I used the steps described above and that "Erase Mac..." process accomplished what I needed - a fresh baseline install of the OS without the Apple bloat-ware.

The obscure "Erase Mac..." selection in the Recovery Assistant drop down menu is the easy button to wipe/reset your Mac's OS.

i just received mine and need to erase. but there is no option shows "erase mac" i have reinstalled macos bigger. would you be able to assist?

 

[Quackers]

i just received mine and need to erase. but there is no option shows "erase mac" i have reinstalled macos bigger. would you be able to assist?

It should be the only option in the drop down menu if you click on Recovery Assistant.

 

[Quackers]

But you have to first click outside the window that allows you to re-install macOS ?

 

[hndxx]

It should be the only option in the drop down menu if you click on Recovery Assistant.

under the recovery next to apple show about recovery highlighted and unhighlighted. unhighlighted shows hide others show all. am i looking wrong place?

 

[Quackers]

Click outside the central window and the menu bar will change to Recovery Assistant.

 

[hndxx]

Click outside the central window and the menu bar will change to Recovery Assistant.

I am not sure this is the place you are directing me to? otherwise where can i find recovery assistant?