Trouble after Factory Reset.

[smcvey]

Hello there. MacBook air ~2013

I have factory reset this computer few times because it is so low on storage space that it is the easiest way to wipe it clean and start fresh.

This time though when I go to "Reinstall OS X" there is no disc to select from to install to %90 of the time.

The other %10 of the time there is a disc to install to but when I run the install I get an error saying "Cant finish because of APHBS" error or something along those lines. Im sorry thats not exactly what it says but its pretty close. If I can replcate this again I will update.

No I do not have a back up on USB. Yes I know this is not a smart deceision. But since I have never had this problem before I became a bit to cocky.

Any hints or insight on how I may be able to resolve this? I will continue to do reserach online but I fear its to nitpicky to find an answer to.

I will gladly give any information that you may need that I have not all ready given in order to resolve this.

Thank you.

 

[honestone]

OK, some questions, along with some suggestions:

1. First, is your MacBook Air a mid 2013 model? And does it have a 252 gig SSD, or 123 gig SSD? I used to own one until December, and I never had any issues with it.

2. What exact Mac OS are you running? And no matter which one, how did you get to that OS? Did you just upgrade "in place"?

3. Have you ever done an disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective? By that I mean have you ever run any disk-related software to help with those tasks? There are some excellent products available (both free and commercial) that can help you with that.

4. Not having a backup is bad. If you had one, you could get out of this "mess" easier.

5. What third party (ie, non-Apple) software are you using? Along with that, it is important to insure that such software is compatible with whatever OS you plan on upgrading to. This site can help you with that:

https://roaringapps.com/apps

6. As "part" of #3 above, do you have either CleanMyMac or MacKeeper? If you do, they are bad, and you need to get rid of them immediately. There are some excellent, free products available that do the same tasks (some do more), and they are safe, reliable, and trouble-free.

7. And along with #3, why is disk space so tight? I guess if you have the model that only has a 123 gig SSD (they advertise it as having a 128 gig SSD, but that is flat out wrong), while that could explain the tight disk space issue, it also means you need to be a lot more proactive with disk cleanup.

If you do not need any thing on your internal drive, then you should be able to boot to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition, select Disk Utility from there to Erase and Format your internal SSD, and then select Reinstall macOS. This link explains what is on that partition:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

If you need to have some (or all) the stuff on your internal SSD, then it is imperative that you make a backup to an external device.

 

[smcvey]

Hey honestone. Give me a few minutes while I gather all of the releveant information you asked for.

Thank you for your response.

 

[honestone]

OK, no problemo!

 

[smcvey]

#1. Yes my mac book air is mid 2013 model here is a page that is relevant

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Apple_MacBook_Air_13"_(Mid_2013,_A1466)

#2. I think it was 10.13..... I just let the computer upgrade itself. Im struggling to find exactly which OS I was running.

#3 No I have not. But the situation I am in it would not seem to really help.

#4. I know. Like I said I have done this before with no issues. this was completely unexpected. I feel like my best solution would be to find someone with a copy of mac os X on USB and snag it off of them but thats just my air head idea.

#5 the only thing I used this comp for was gaming from Blizzard. I hardly think they would want to sabotage my computer.

#6/7I did have mackeeper for awhile but ended up deleting it. (maybe not entirely?) but disk space is tight because if you install a game like WoW (world of warcraft) that takes up a lot of space.

.......

Im confused are you suggesting this as a course of action to fix this?

"If you do not need any thing on your internal drive, then you should be able to boot to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition, select Disk Utility from there to Erase and Format your internal SSD, and then select Reinstall macOS. This link explains what is on that partition:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

If you need to have some (or all) the stuff on your internal SSD, then it is imperative that you make a backup to an external device."

 

[honestone]

Yes, that is a course of action to fix this tight space issue. If you start up Disk Utility from that hidden Recovery HD partition, you can then have it Erase and Format your internal SSD. Then, after the installation of OS 10.13.3 (will take some time, as 1) it depends on the availability of the servers at Appel, and 2) installation is done somewhat "remotely"), that will be the only stuff that will be on the machine. Not sure how much space it will take up, but certainly less than 50%. However, without a backup, you will then need to go through all the initial setup business like when you first got the machine. That is time consuming.

And yeah, 128 gig (actually more like 123 gig) of space is definitely tight. That is one of the main reasons why when I purchased the mid 2013 13" MacBook Air, and the mid 2017 13" MacBook Air I just got in December, I got a 252 gig SSD with each machine. In actuality, I am really only using about 73 gig of space on it, and thus I could possibly get by with a 123 gig SSD. But I did not want to do that, as that could inhibit my ability to download some large files.

Even if you do what I suggested above, you will need to be much more proactive in managing space.

And again I must emphasize that without a backup, this strategy is filled with risks.

I guess the other thing to do is do some actual disk cleanup, starting with "disconnecting" from Blizzard. I actually have no idea what all that entails (gaming "with" Blizzard). Also, get rid of some of those games. And there could still be some "rogue" files from MacKeeper, as just dragging it to the Trash and deleting it does not get rid of all of its associated files.

I still think the first thing you need to do is at least make a backup.

 

[smcvey]

Im sorry but can you explain what i need to do again? Are you saying I need to get an external drive?

Im not reall sure what you are saying.

 

[honestone]

In order to make backups, you need an external drive. Then, you need to decide what software you want to use for backups. This thread I started back in November discusses the choices available, and the pros and cons of each:

https://www.mac-help.com/threads/backups-backups-backups.223959/

As that discussion makes clear, with either a SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner backup, you would be doing all the tasks locally, and also have much more control with the process.

However, no matter which backup program you use, you need to make a concerted effort to do as much disk cleanup as possible. Besides doing a good amount of it on your own, there are some excellent products available (both free and commercial) that would be beneficial.