M1 Macbook Air Bricked? - Firmware Revive

[jdb8167]

thanks

cant you just use usb A to USB A or do you have to use the C on the new mini?

I believe it has to be USB-C.

If you have a bootable installer on a thumb drive it can be USB-C (or USB-A with an adapter). How To Create Bootable Installer. I would suggest everyone with an M1 Mac pick up a 16 GB thumb drive and create a bootable installer and keep it around for disasters. They are like $5.00. Way more convenient than using Apple Configurator.

 

[daystar]

thanks

cant you just use usb A to USB A or do you have to use the C on the new mini?

I just revived my Macbook Air m1 with a Macbook Air 2014 using a Usb-a to Usb-c cable so no problems

Edit: Oh i though it was about usb-a to usb-c so forget this

 

[seebul]

I just revived my Macbook Air m1 with a Macbook Air 2014 using a Usb-a to Usb-c cable so no problems

Edit: Oh i though it was about usb-a to usb-c so forget this

Nice one, was the MacBook unbootable? How did it get in that state? Seems to be quite a few people that have corrupt firmware on these. The Apple tech I eventually spoke to definitely sounded like he'd come across it before.

If you have a bootable installer on a thumb drive it can be USB-C (or USB-A with an adapter). How To Create Bootable Installer. I would suggest everyone with an M1 Mac pick up a 16 GB thumb drive and create a bootable installer and keep it around for disasters. They are like $5.00. Way more convenient than using Apple Configurator.

Would this work if the firmware was corrupt & the mac had to be put into DFU mode to fix it? I got no 'Options' of booting anything when holding down the power button.

 

[Quackers]

If you can get to the boot picker window with the USB installer showing as an option you should be ok.

 

[chrixtopher]

in this state (exclamation point at boot) you are dead in water. cant get to boot option as firmware is toast.

 

[vokimtri]

you need to erase the ID, then you shutdown your Macbook and next day you turn it on. It will let you restore or recover the OS.

 

[seebul]

you need to erase the ID, then you shutdown your Macbook and next day you turn it on. It will let you restore or recover the OS.

Can you elaborate on this for other people that might find this thread?

So far the only way I've confirmed is using Apple Configurator

 

[vokimtri]

Can you elaborate on this for other people that might find this thread?

So far the only way I've confirmed is using Apple Configurator

i really have no idea of what precisely Apple M1's devices were into, but i can briefly filter it out:

1. I shutdown the Macbook totally.
2. I turn it back with the long press on the power.
3. I get to the disk Utility to delete the partition to reinstall the Mac OS.
4. Then i turn it back, it did not find the SSD.
5. I shut down it and then i turn it back on.
6. I get to the terminal to erase my Apple ID Password
7. It automatically restarted.
8. It showed a kinda error of "No Disks..."
9. I shutdown it. (because i do not have 2 Macs to use Configurator)
10. The day after, i turned it back on, it let me choose "Internet Wifi"
11. it appeared the Utility - erased the disk again and back out to reinstall it.

These are crazy steps that Mac M1 had got me on nerves.

 

[Quackers]

i really have no idea of what precisely Apple M1's devices were into, but i can briefly filter it out:

1. I shutdown the Macbook totally.
2. I turn it back with the long press on the power.
3. I get to the disk Utility to delete the partition to reinstall the Mac OS.
4. Then i turn it back, it did not find the SSD.
5. I shut down it and then i turn it back on.
6. I get to the terminal to erase my Apple ID Password
7. It automatically restarted.
8. It showed a kinda error of "No Disks..."
9. I shutdown it. (because i do not have 2 Macs to use Configurator)
10. The day after, i turned it back on, it let me choose "Internet Wifi"
11. it appeared the Utility - erased the disk again and back out to reinstall it.

These are crazy steps that Mac M1 had got me on nerves.

Because you used disk utility to erase the disc.
Don't do that on a M1. It can have horrible consequences.
Admittedly Apple could have publicised the proper procedure better than it has to stop people using the "old" way of doing this.

 

[daystar]

Nice one, was the MacBook unbootable? How did it get in that state? Seems to be quite a few people that have corrupt firmware on these. The Apple tech I eventually spoke to definitely sounded like he'd come across it before.



Would this work if the firmware was corrupt & the mac had to be put into DFU mode to fix it? I got no 'Options' of booting anything when holding down the power button.

I deleted the old user and data the wrong way (intel way) and after that the m1 air did not let me create a new user no matter what i did and in the end it unmounted the hard drive so i could not even install Bid Sur again. Had to go to terminal and type "resetpassword" and the click "erase mac" from the menu. Actually apples advice was to do this twice and after that use another mac to revive it with apple configurator 2. Got it to DFU-mode by holding option+command+right shift+power button for 10 seconds and after that released everything else but the power button and held that for another 10 sec while connected to another mac with configurator open. Finnish apple support knew about this problem and it was caused by me emptying the machine wrongly.

 

[Quackers]

I deleted the old user and data the wrong way (intel way) and after that the m1 air did not let me create a new user no matter what i did and in the end it unmounted the hard drive so i could not even install Bid Sur again. Had to go to terminal and type "resetpassword" and the click "erase mac" from the menu. Actually apples advice was to do this twice and after that use another mac to revive it with apple configurator 2. Got it to DFU-mode by holding option+command+right shift+power button for 10 seconds and after that released everything else but the power button and held that for another 10 sec while connected to another mac with configurator open. Finnish apple support knew about this problem and it was caused be me emptying the machine wrongly.

Method 2 in this link has worked twice for me. Second time there were problems but it did work in the end
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211983