Macbook Air will not reinstall macOS Sierra

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Level 1

4 points

Macbook Air will not reinstall macOS Sierra

So, I wiped my MacBook Air to give to my 75 year old father to use to check his email, pay his bills, and do FaceTime. I followed the Apple instructions on how to do it if you are turning / selling / giving away your Mac.

I can reboot into internet recovery (when I turn on the Mac normally it shows a file with question mark in it flashing on the screen).

In internet recovery, I check the disk utility and see that there is the SSD with unformatted disk space, and there is Base OS X that says the same.

I run the disk repair to make sure that there is nothing wrong in either spot, and it comes back as all good.

When I click on Reinstall macOS Sierra, which is what is prompted in disk utility (OS that is compatible with the Mac, etc, etc.) is starts the guide, I agree to the terms and conditions, and then it goes to a page asking which disk to download the OS to.

At this point, I can not get any further because there is no disk shown to pick. Macintosh HD is not there anymore.

Does anyone know what I can do from here to get the OS installed so I can give the laptop to my father?

Posted on Mar 4, 2023 7:47 AM

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Answer 1

MrTrump1

Level 1

22 points

Mar 5, 2023 2:13 AM in response to TonyinOhio

If your MacBook Air is not reinstalling macOS Sierra, here are some steps you can try to troubleshoot the issue:

Check your internet connection: Make sure that your MacBook Air is connected to a stable internet connection. A slow or intermittent internet connection can cause issues with the reinstallation process.
Restart your MacBook Air: Sometimes, a simple restart can help resolve the issue. Try restarting your MacBook Air and see if you can reinstall macOS Sierra.
Boot into recovery mode: If your MacBook Air is still not reinstalling macOS Sierra, you can try booting into recovery mode and reinstalling the operating system from there. To do this, follow these steps:

Shut down your MacBook Air and wait for it to turn off completely.
Press and hold the Command + R keys on your keyboard and press the power button to turn on your MacBook Air.
Release the keys when the Apple logo appears.
Select "Reinstall macOS" from the Utilities menu and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the reinstallation process.

Try a different internet connection: If you are still having issues with the reinstallation process, you can try connecting to a different internet connection, such as a mobile hotspot, to see if it resolves the issue.
Contact Apple Support: If none of the above steps work, you may need to contact Apple Support for further assistance.

By following these steps, you should be able to troubleshoot the issue with your MacBook Air not reinstalling macOS Sierra.

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Answer 2

WheelieNick

Level 8

45,759 points

Mar 4, 2023 7:55 AM in response to TonyinOhio

macOS Sierra does not support APFS (Apple File system) the internal SSD is most likely formatted as APFS.

Try to boot in to internet recovery, go to disk utility, select your SSD and click erase. For the file system, select macOS Journaled instead of APFS. After that try and install Sierra again. Hope this helps!

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Answer 3

TonyinOhio Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 4, 2023 7:08 PM in response to WheelieNick

Thank you for walking me through that to bring back Macintosh HD. I did the that, shut the computer off, restarted in recovery, and then tried to reinstall Sierra, which is the one that is listed. When I do, the install does it's thing, it shows an error in downloading the macOS.

I have done the Utility - repair thing, and all gives me a green light, but the macOS is not downloading.

Any idea on THAT?

Thank you in advance.

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Macbook Air will not reinstall macOS Sierra

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