Factory resetting 2015 MBA causing problems

[trailmonkey]

Hi everyone

I've just sold my MBA and am trying to factory reset it for the handover, but I'm having problems.

• erased Mac HD to APFS
• started reinstalling Mojave but it timed out and failed to complete
• re-erased Mac HD to APFS
• started reinstalling Sierra and got the “An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.” at the end
• then had issue with internet recovery mode
• then had blue "Recovery ... Your PC/Device need to be repaired ..." blue screen error which is odd as I thought this was a Bootcamp issue? I ran Parallels a year ago but that's all
• Anyway, ended up resetting the time via Terminal and reconnecting wifi ... now I'm faced with multiple drives in Disk Utility - what should I do next as I want to avoid messing anything else up.

BTW, I'd like to get Mojave back on there as that's the OS I was running faultlessly. But the buyer is happy with Sierra etc.

Thanks

 

[SaSaSushi]

Not sure why the Mojave install failed but APFS requires High Sierra or later and is not supported by Sierra. Format the drive HFS+ for Sierra.

 

[zeppo2]

Don't know if it's related to your issue, but I have a 13" mid-2014 macbook pro that was running High Sierra, and I was planning to wipe it and do a clean install of Mojave. But when I went to the apple store page for Mojave 10.14.6 thinking of downloading it to a thumbdrive and clicked on the option to download, I got a pop up message saying:
"This copy of the Install macOS Mojave.app application is damaged, and can't be used to install macOS".
It wouldn't even allow me to update my High Sierra to Mojave (that is, even without wiping the macbook). So neither of those being an option, I opted to forgo the wipe of the macbook for now and update to Catalina. That it did without a hitch.

 

[brianmowrey]

I'm going to go with your drive was in the middle of being erased for install when the installer quit, and now the format is a mess.

Not sure what's safe to do at this point. Showing us the results of

diskutil list

in terminal would be helpful since Disk Utility is irrational.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Why is the drive formatted "case sensitive"? With HFS+, that was a no-no. Not sure about APFS, but likely similarly an issue.

I would select the entire drive (AppleAPFSMedia), not a container, and reformat again, being sure it is not "case sensitive". Even safer:

Format it GUID HFS+, and run the installer. It will automatically convert to APFS if required...and correctly. Easy peasey.

 

[brianmowrey]

I would select the entire drive (AppleAPFSMedia), not a container, and reformat again, being sure it is not "case sensitive". Even safer:

Format it GUID HFS+, and run the installer. It will automatically convert to APFS if required...and correctly. Easy peasey.

I think it's just as plausible that "AppleAPFSMedia" is the container, and "Apple SSD" is the drive itself. That's why diskutil -list results would help clarify the current setup.

 

[hobowankenobi]

I think it's just as plausible that "AppleAPFSMedia" is the container, and "Apple SSD" is the drive itself. That's why diskutil -list results would help clarify the current setup.

Actually, you are correct. I used the wrong word. AppleAPFSMedia is the Container. The three things we used to call partitions are Volumes.

And yes, Apple SSD is the drive.

The main point—to the OP—is that the case sensitive volume may be the issue. Again, I am not sure about APFS, but I would be suspect.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Don't know if it's related to your issue, but I have a 13" mid-2014 macbook pro that was running High Sierra, and I was planning to wipe it and do a clean install of Mojave. But when I went to the apple store page for Mojave 10.14.6 thinking of downloading it to a thumbdrive and clicked on the option to download, I got a pop up message saying:
"This copy of the Install macOS Mojave.app application is damaged, and can't be used to install macOS".
It wouldn't even allow me to update my High Sierra to Mojave (that is, even without wiping the macbook). So neither of those being an option, I opted to forgo the wipe of the macbook for now and update to Catalina. That it did without a hitch.

FYI, Apple seems to do that with all older installers. Some sort of signing or validation, not really a corrupt installer. I have had good luck drilling down into the installer, and running the main installer manually, apparently bypassing the validation or signing process. Worth trying.

 

[trailmonkey]

Thanks for the replies guys. I managed to get it sorted and have been crazy busy since hence no response here.

After speaking with another Apple support guy - who didn't entirely know what he was doing - I managed to do another clean erase and finally get Sierra to install. He was also confused about the Windows blue screen 'error' as it didn't make sense for Parallels to be behind that or Bootcamp. He also felt that if the normal methods continued to then a store visit would be the only option Anyway, it worked in the end and I did a health check after setting up Sierra for the buyer and it came back all clear.

Hopefully he'll be happy as it's a cracking little machine ... and I'm now on day 2 of MBA M1 ownership