1) Sequoia M3 Can't Fully Erase or Reinstall - (2) Sequoia M4 has Media Disk Image like (1) that won't eject or unmount - malware?
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[Edited by Moderator]
MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.6
Short answer: this isn’t malware. That “Media” disk image is almost always a stuck installer or disk image helper, and it can block erase/reinstall.Here’s the quickest clean-up path that actually works. First try the easy reset. Restart the Mac, then open Disk Utility, choose View > Show All Devices. If you see a volume with a little disk-image icon, select it and click Eject.Now do the erase the modern way. If the Mac boots, go to System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. That wipes user data and reprovisions the system correctly on Apple silicon.
If you can’t boot or the erase fails, use Recovery. Shut down, then press and hold the power button until “Loading startup options” appears. Choose Options > Continue, sign in, open Disk Utility, View > Show All Devices, select the top internal drive (Apple SSD Media), erase it as APFS (GUID), name it Macintosh HD, quit Disk Utility, then Reinstall macOS.
If reinstall keeps failing or the internal storage refuses to erase, do a “Restore” with Apple Configurator 2 from another Mac. That’s the factory-fresh route for M3/M4 and fixes stubborn firmware or seal issues. You connect USB-C to USB-C, put the problem Mac into DFU, then in Configurator choose Restore. If you want, I’ll lay out the exact DFU steps for your specific model.
If you’re unsure whether the “Media” thing you see is the internal drive or a disk image, tell me exactly how it’s labeled in Disk Utility (and whether it has the little disk-image icon), and I’ll point you to the right target so you don’t erase the wrong thing.
Sequoia M3 and M4: Unable to erase, reinstall, or eject media disk image
