Unable to reinstall OS

[Mariajones]

Helllo,

I own a Macbook Pro from 2017, which I'm attempting to factory reset. As instructed from tutorial, Ive eased the hardrives using the disk unity application. When I go to reinstall MacOS (Sierra) at the very end I keep getting the message 'an error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again. I cannot seem to get pass this stage. Ive gone to repair (first aid) the disk, but agin this has not fixed the problem. Any advice would be welcomed.

 

[MacsBug]

How are you installing the OS. Are you using the recovery partition, or are you booting from an external drive?

Is there a reason that you are installing such an old version of macOS? The 2017 can run the newest version of macOS.

 

[Mariajones]

Please find images that show this issue further.

How are you installing the OS. Are you using the recovery partition, or are you booting from an external drive?

Is there a reason that you are installing such an old version of macOS? The 2017 can run the newest version of macOS.

Using the recovery partition. Its defaulted to Sierra. Before the reset is was running the latest OS. I have no idea why this has happened, other than this could be the original OS when brought.

 

[TonyAguila]

Helllo,

I own a Macbook Pro from 2017, which I'm attempting to factory reset. As instructed from tutorial, Ive eased the hardrives using the disk unity application. When I go to reinstall MacOS (Sierra) at the very end I keep getting the message 'an error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again. I cannot seem to get pass this stage. Ive gone to repair (first aid) the disk, but agin this has not fixed the problem. Any advice would be welcomed.

First, reset your SMC. If I remember right, on a MacBook Pro, from shutdown press the control-option-shift keys on the left corner of the keyboard then press the power button. Then reset your parameter RAM (PRAM) by powering up and immediately pressing on command-option-P-R and holding until you hear the startup chime TWICE before releasing.

Shut down and then try booting into Recovery. This will require a wifi connection. Power up and immediately press the command and R keys simultaneously. If this does not work, try command + option + R, although this might take more time, so be patient. If you are successful, launch Disk Utility and erase the drive as APFS, giving it the “Macintosh HD” name. Then you will be given a choice to reinstall macOS, which in your case will probably be macOS Ventura. It will only offer the newest version of macOS that your Mac will support.

If all goes well, after the installation is completed, DO NOT proceed to restore/migrate your old data. Instead, simply exit and shut down. To test if the installation was successful, start up once again. You should be greeted with the welcome screen like you would be if you fired up a brand-new Mac.

If in the end, you encounter the same error message as before, the problem is probably hardware-related and needs to be serviced. Good luck.

 

[MacsBug]

If you were to startup your Mac while holding down the Command Option R keys, it will start up the latest Recovery via the web allowing you to reinstall Ventura.

 

[Mariajones]

If you were to startup your Mac while holding down the Command Option R keys, it will start up the latest Recovery via the web allowing you to reinstall Ventura.

Ive done all of that. It's still defaulting to Sierra not Ventura with the error.

 

[TonyAguila]

Ive done all of that. It's still defaulting to Sierra not Ventura with the error.

That’s what resetting the SMC (system management controller) is for. It purges whatever firmware settings there were so that Recovery will have a fresh start, without picking up on your previous settings. Zapping the PRAM (parameter RAM) further clears other presets that are not governed by the SMC (TRIM setting, for example). It’s one reason why Recovery defaults to your previous wifi connection as well as other history. After the resets, chances are, you will be asked to choose your internet server and provide the password.