Can't bring a Macbook Air back to life - please help

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible.

MacBook Air given to me because “the desktop won’t load”. I noticed that when booting, the apple logo will indeed get stuck (the bar won’t go pass 30% or so).

Since this was a recreational laptop, I went straight to Recovery Mode and wiped the drive.

Please note: I am new to the Mac world. PC guy.

Then tried to install via Internet Recovery. Mojave installer came up. Failed with error:

this operation couldn't be completed. (com.apple.installer.chunkeddownload error 2.)

(See Pic)

I then tried to reload the “regular” recovery. OS X Yosemite came up and I tried to install that.

Also got this error:

can't download the additional components needed to install os x

(Pic Imgur: The magic of the Internet)

Or sometimes it would just FREEZE:

Vid:

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

I then went to diagnostics and got no errors

“No issues found” (ADP000)

(Pic Imgur: The magic of the Internet)

At some point I run Disk Utility Verify and Repair:

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

At this point I went and found another Mac and downloaded Yosemite (I figured i’ll download Yosemite since it was I assume this is original OS this Air came with - to the best of my googling), installed it on a SANDISK USB DRIVE and booted to this drive.

I then got this error:

(Pic Imgur: The magic of the Internet)

I then went to a small repair shop to ask and open the bottom plate to see if perhaps something is loose (mainly I was thinking about the SSD).

Nothing seems broken/loose/weird.

Pics:

https://imgur.com/2pUtolT

https://imgur.com/riSpUjO

Since I am about to kill myself, I figured I'll post here again and ask.

Or can anyone help me with any advice? What am I doing wrong here?

Thanks you so much!

 

[pigoo3]

Can you tell us the exact model MacBook Air this is please? This may help with troubleshooting & OS details...especially since both Mojave & Yosemite were both mentioned...and there's quite a gap between these two versions of the masOS.

I realize this may not be super easy if you can't get to the desktop. There should be some info printed on the bottom of the computer.

Thanks,

- Nick

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

Can you tell us the exact model MacBook Air this is please? This may help with troubleshooting & OS details...especially since both Mojave & Yosemite were both mentioned...and there's quite a gap between these two versions of the masOS.

I realize this may not be super easy if you can't get to the desktop. There should be some info printed on the bottom of the computer.

Thanks,

- Nick

Thanks for responding.

It's a Macbook Air, early 2015, Model Model A1466
.

To my understanding, it's this model: MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.6 13" (Early 2015) Specs (Early 2015, MJVE2LL/A*, MacBookAir7,2, A1466, 2925): EveryMac.com

 

[MacInWin]

You can try deleting the previous downloads and then use another computer to get the Mojave installer from here:
macOS Mojave on the Mac App Store
It will be a large file (about 6Gb). It's not bootable, so you will need to make a bootable installer. The easiest way is to use DiskmakerX if you have a working Mac.

Or, you can try any of these again. About macOS Recovery - Apple Support or How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support
Sometimes installation gets interrupted if there is any glitch in the Apple store or the internet connection. Usually trying again later works.

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

You can try deleting the previous downloads and then use another computer to get the Mojave installer from here:
macOS Mojave on the Mac App Store
It will be a large file (about 6Gb). It's not bootable, so you will need to make a bootable installer. The easiest way is to use DiskmakerX if you have a working Mac.

Or, you can try any of these again. About macOS Recovery - Apple Support or How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support
Sometimes installation gets interrupted if there is any glitch in the Apple store or the internet connection. Usually trying again later works.

Thank you!

1. The problem with getting Mojave on a USB is that my other mac is not compatible with Mojave (too old) so I can't download the file.

2. Will a ETHERNET to USB adapter work in your opinion? I thought of buying one and connecting it to the Air and then trying (perhaps, as you said, it's a WiFi issue?)

Thank you!!!

 

[MacInWin]

It's worth a try, but the problem may not have been in your WiFi. Have you repeated the internet recovery since the original failure? It might be worth deleting the partial download and starting again clean.

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

It's worth a try, but the problem may not have been in your WiFi. Have you repeated the internet recovery since the original failure? It might be worth deleting the partial download and starting again clean.

Thank you for responding.

I did buy a USB/Ethernet adapter but the Air will not recognize it.

I keep doing internet recovery (sometimes with Shift key and sometimes without), but the **** thing keeps getting errors.

Here's the latest one with Mojave.
MacOS Mojave Error MacOS Mojave Error - Imgur

I'm beginning to think this might not be a WiFi issue. But if it's not WiFi, what is it?!

Here's the error I got with Sierra
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[MacInWin]

Maybe try a different network? Have a friend/neighbor/relative with a good high speed connection that would let you into their WiFi network? Or you could maybe take it to an Apple store and see if they would let you give it a go there using their WiFi?

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

Maybe try a different network? Have a friend/neighbor/relative with a good high speed connection that would let you into their WiFi network? Or you could maybe take it to an Apple store and see if they would let you give it a go there using their WiFi?

Thanks again.
I tried at the office as well, didn't work.

Here are a few pics. Perhaps you or someone technical can find something.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[MacInWin]

Just out of curiosity, does I boot into the recovery partition so that you might be able to reformat the hard drive? It might be that an earlier attempt at Mojave formatted the drive to APFS and that it's somehow mucked up. If you can get to the recovery partition and reformat the drive, that might release the rest of the operations.

Mojave formats SSD to APFS, Yosemite does not, but then Yosemite cannot read/write APFS drives, so that MIGHT be a contributor.

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

Just out of curiosity, does I boot into the recovery partition so that you might be able to reformat the hard drive? It might be that an earlier attempt at Mojave formatted the drive to APFS and that it's somehow mucked up. If you can get to the recovery partition and reformat the drive, that might release the rest of the operations.

Mojave formats SSD to APFS, Yosemite does not, but then Yosemite cannot read/write APFS drives, so that MIGHT be a contributor.

Oh my, a glimpse of hope!!!

Ok, so what do I do? Mommy giving me the instructions?

 

[pigoo3]

Ok, so what do I do? Mommy giving me the instructions?

- Boot into the Recovery Partition (command + r keys on startup). Keep holding these two keys down until you see something on the display. If you release them too soon...it may try to boot into the main partition.
- Launch Disk Utility
- Reformat the main partition.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

- Boot into the Recovery Partition (command + r keys on startup). Keep holding these two keys down until you see something on the display. If you release them too soon...it may try to boot into the main partition.
- Launch Disk Utility
- Reformat the main partition.

HTH,

- Nick

Thank you. What do you mean by the MAIN partition?
You mean the APPLE drive?
I'll take a picture

 

[MacInWin]

Nick got there before I could. His instructions are what you would do. If that doesn't work, another possible solution is to use another Mac to create a bootable USB drive and boot from there, format the internal drive and then do the Internet recovery to install the OS.

 

[MacInWin]

Thank you. What do you mean by the MAIN partition?
You mean the APPLE drive?
I'll take a picture

Once you have booted and are in Disk Utility, the MAIN partition will be the biggest partition that is shown as indented. The non-indented is the physical drive itself, but you can't format that if you are booted from the Recover partition as that is on the drive and you cannot format the drive from which you are booted.

However, if you boot from a USB drive, then you CAN format the entire internal drive because you aren't booted from it.

Make sense?

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

Once you have booted and are in Disk Utility, the MAIN partition will be the biggest partition that is shown as indented. The non-indented is the physical drive itself, but you can't format that if you are booted from the Recover partition as that is on the drive and you cannot format the drive from which you are booted.

However, if you boot from a USB drive, then you CAN format the entire internal drive because you aren't booted from it.

Make sense?

Is this the way?
Booted from external hard drive
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[MacInWin]

In the video, the device named "Apple SSD SMO128G Media" is the physical device and the indented MacintoshHD is the partition. You want to perform what you did in the video on the indented partition. Highlight it, then repeat the format steps (Erase and name as you did). I would suggest you leave the name at MacintoshHD, although 99.9% of software should not care. Once it is formatted, you can then install an OS to it either by Internet recovery or from your bootable drive if it has the installer on it.

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

In the video, the device named "Apple SSD SMO128G Media" is the physical device and the indented MacintoshHD is the partition. You want to perform what you did in the video on the indented partition. Highlight it, then repeat the format steps (Erase and name as you did). I would suggest you leave the name at MacintoshHD, although 99.9% of software should not care. Once it is formatted, you can then install an OS to it either by Internet recovery or from your bootable drive if it has the installer on it.

Can't thank you enough for your help.

Will do this now. But just curious, doesn't it do this automatically when I do this on the main/physical device?

Also, once I do this, I can go straight to installation, right? No need to reboot again I assume.

Did it. Video:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[pigoo3]

Thank you. What do you mean by the MAIN partition?

In case you're interested...here are more details on this. Storage devices (internal or external)...whether they are spinning hard drives or SSD's...can be setup to have multiple partitions.

For example...you could have a 500gig hard drive...and split it into 2 (or more) separate partitions of 250gig + 250gig...or any sizes you wanted. Even though it's just one drive...those two partitions can act as if they were two separate drives.

As far as almost all Apple computers sold over the past 8-9 years...almost all of the internal storage device in them (hard drive, fusion drive, or SSD) are formatted with 2 partitions:

- A very small "Recovery Partition".
- And a much larger "Main Partition".

It's this very small "Recovery Partition" we've been talking about booting into in this thread to try to fix things. Normally when you boot/use the computer...you're working within the larger "main partition".

When you're done working in the "Recovery Partition" (trying to erase/reformat the main partition...then installing a fresh copy of the OS)...then after finishing with this...and you reboot the computer...it will boot into the "main partition".

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. I have some hard drives that I've setup with as many as 5 separate partitions (for specific purposes).

 

[OOOOKDSJAKSDKLA]

In case you're interested...here are more details on this. Storage devices (internal or external)...whether they are spinning hard drives or SSD's...can be setup to have multiple partitions.

For example...you could have a 500gig hard drive...and split it into 2 (or more) separate partitions of 250gig + 250gig...or any sizes you wanted. Even though it's just one drive...those two partitions can act as if they were two separate drives.

As far as almost all Apple computers sold over the past 8-9 years...almost all of the internal storage device in them (hard drive, fusion drive, or SSD) are formatted with 2 partitions:

- A very small "Recovery Partition".
- And a much larger "Main Partition".

It's this very small "Recovery Partition" we've been talking about booting into in this thread to try to fix things. Normally when you boot/use the computer...you're working within the larger "main partition".

When you're done working in the "Recovery Partition" (trying to erase/reformat the main partition...then installing a fresh copy of the OS)...then after finishing with this...and you reboot the computer...it will boot into the "main partition".

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. I have some hard drives that I've setup with as many as 5 separate partitions (for specific purposes).

Thank you for your help and time!!!

So, manged to get a copy of Mojave.
Got this error

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Edit:

Is this the original SSD that shipped with this Mac?
I'm assuming it is, but want to make sure

Imgur: The magic of the Internet