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User profile for user: DesignedByNino
DesignedByNino Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Tried to erase and reset Mac, ended up deleting the Macintosh HD Volume.

Hi 👋🏻 community, I need help because while erasing and trying to reset my MacBook Pro 2016 - 15” in disk utility, I accidentally deleted the main Macintosh HD volume from the - (minus) icon.


Now when I try to boot the computer, it shows a folder with a question mark. I tried shutting it down and doing a PRAM reset and then booting it in recovery or internet recovery. It just gets me to the Disk Utilities Window.


From here trying to reinstall macOS Sierra fails, and the startup disk shows as “Update”.


If I open Disk Utility, the top item/ volume on the list is Apple APFS Media, then underneath and greyed out is an item/ volume called Preboot, underneath this is Recovery, also greyed out, underneath it is a volume called “Update” which is not greyed out, underneath it is VM which is greyed out, and underneath it but not indented as the other ones (Preboot, Recovery, Update, VM) is an item/ volume called Apple SSD SM0512L Media, not greyed out. I ran FirstAid on every single one of them and besides the very last one Apple SSD SM0512L all returned an error - Storage system check exit code 8, Storage system verify or repair failed.


I would very much appreciate any feedback or advice as this issue is beyond me and has never happened to me.


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.4

Posted on Jul 9, 2022 7:02 PM

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User profile for user: DesignedByNino
DesignedByNino Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Posted on Jul 11, 2022 7:38 AM

I've talked on the phone with Apple Support and the solution to restore the volume was to first Shut Down the computer, then start it by pressing OPTION(ALT) + COMMAND + R at the same time and holding them until a request for wifi network access appeared and after that a spinning Earth globe. This was the entrance to internet recovery mode, but interestingly enough it used the macOS Monterey version of recovery, not the macOS Sierra version I was getting by just starting it with COMMAND + R.


Anyway, from here (mac utilities) we went into Disk Utility, ran first aid on pretty much every single selectable item from that list. After that, we saw that reinstalling macOS still didn’t show up any start-up volume, so we went back to Disk Utility, selected from the Disk Utility top bar > view > show all devices, and selected the very first item on top, shown in the pictures I linked here as Apple SSD SM0512L Media, and used the option to erase it and named it Macintosh HD, format APFS simple, and as GUID Apple Partition. After that, quit out of Disk utility and tried reinstalling macOS from Mac Utilities, but now, finally, the installer showed up the start-up volume as Macintosh HD, and the os installed further without any problem, providing me with a functioning MacBook to write this response :)

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User profile for user: DesignedByNino
DesignedByNino Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Jul 11, 2022 7:38 AM in response to DesignedByNino

I've talked on the phone with Apple Support and the solution to restore the volume was to first Shut Down the computer, then start it by pressing OPTION(ALT) + COMMAND + R at the same time and holding them until a request for wifi network access appeared and after that a spinning Earth globe. This was the entrance to internet recovery mode, but interestingly enough it used the macOS Monterey version of recovery, not the macOS Sierra version I was getting by just starting it with COMMAND + R.


Anyway, from here (mac utilities) we went into Disk Utility, ran first aid on pretty much every single selectable item from that list. After that, we saw that reinstalling macOS still didn’t show up any start-up volume, so we went back to Disk Utility, selected from the Disk Utility top bar > view > show all devices, and selected the very first item on top, shown in the pictures I linked here as Apple SSD SM0512L Media, and used the option to erase it and named it Macintosh HD, format APFS simple, and as GUID Apple Partition. After that, quit out of Disk utility and tried reinstalling macOS from Mac Utilities, but now, finally, the installer showed up the start-up volume as Macintosh HD, and the os installed further without any problem, providing me with a functioning MacBook to write this response :)

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,650 points

Jul 10, 2022 8:25 AM in response to DesignedByNino

I have seen that phantom device item a few times. See if you can delete it (seen in first picture). Since it appears you have no "Data" volume left on the SSD, your best option is to erase the whole physical SSD (the top most item in the first picture) as GUID partition and APFS (top option). That phantom device shown may make it tricky to erase the actual physical SSD so you will need to figure out how to let macOS let you do this. It has been a while since I had to deal with the phantom device so I don't recall exactly how I did it.


After erasing the physical SSD as GUID partition and APFS (top option), quit Disk Utility and select the "Reinstall macOS" option.


This process destroys all data on the SSD.


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Tried to erase and reset Mac, ended up deleting the Macintosh HD Volume.

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