cannot get past internet recovery

A

arken79

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I cannot get past the internet recovery. I turned off my computer then turned it back on because it froze. This always worked before. This time I got a flashing folder with a question mark. I followed the instruction on the apple support website. I use ethernet and do not have a wifi username or password. I cannot connect to a wifi network because I do not have one. How do I get past the internet recovery? Is the a way to skip it and move to the next step?
 
If it's needed here is the information about my computer (copied from the Amazon page where a bought it from):

Brand Apple
Series MacBook Air
Screen Size 11.6 Inches
Color Silver
Hard Disk Size 128 GB
CPU Model Core i5
Ram Memory Installed Size 4 GB
Operating System Mac OS
Special Feature Backlit Keyboard, HD Audio
Card Description Integrated
 
The question mark only indicates that your MacBook does not have avalid boot/startup partition.

On Intel-based Macs, power on your Mac (or restart if already on), and press and hold the Cmd + Option + R keys immediately on hearing the startup chime.

This will boot your MacBook in Recoverymode and gives you the opportunity to (re)install MacOS.
 
I"ll give that a try. I didn't know about pushing the option key. The other sources
I looked at either didn't mention it or I missed it somehow.
 
Your list of information could be any 11-inch MBAirs sold from 2011 to 2015 (5 different models)
the Cmd+Opt+R is, in fact, Internet Recovery, which will offer a version of OS X that is probably older than what you have installed now, and can be the original system that came installed when it was new. If the version is different, then you will have to erase the drive, losing all your own files. I think you need to try booting to the Recovery system first, and not Internet Recovery
Either way, before reinstalling your macOS, be sure to open Disk Utility (in the Utilities menu), and check to see that your boot drive is showing. Select that drive, and then run First Aid - a quick test of the drive.
If that is good, Quit Disk Utility, then go to the Apple menu, which should have the Startup Disk choice at the top. Is your internal drive show there? Select it by clicking on the drive icon. Try to restart now. If you still get the flashing folder, restart while holding Command+R
That should boot your MBAir to the System Recovery partition. If THAT is successful, you should try to Reinstall OS X, or macOS (whichever way that is showing). The system install files will download, and then will reinstall your system. This might take 30 minutes to an hour, so be patient. The speed will depend on the speed of your internet connection.

If NONE of this works, because your boot drive is not visible, then we will need more information about which specific model, out of 5 different ones, is the MBAir that you have. There is a label on the bottom cover that can help. Look for a model number, starting with A, such as A1465, also EMC number, such as EMC 2471
 
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DeltaMac said:
the Cmd+Opt+R is, in fact, Internet Recovery, which will offer a version of OS X that is probably older than what you have installed now, and can be the original system that came installed when it was new.
Click to expand...
Sorry to correct, but:

Cmd-R lets you re-install the previously/currently installed MacOS on your Mac (not applicable in your case, since no bootable/recovery partition is available).
Cmd-Opt-R lets you re-install the most latest compatible version of MacOS on your MacBook.
Shift-Cmd-Opt-R lets you re-install the original MacOS on your MacBook.
 
OP did not say that recovery partition is not available, but cannot get past internet recovery. Also said that he apparently cannot connect to internet. No Internet Recovery is possible without any internet connection.
And, Internet Recovery does not offer the same version as the installed, or expected version, but an older version, which will require erasing the existing drive to install.
Just to summarize - You can't assume in this case that the OP can't boot to the recovery partition. (Cmd-R). Even if he can boot to Recovery, if there is no internet, then there is no system reinstall possible through either the recovery partition, or Internet Recovery.
Perhaps this is confusing. I don't mean it to be. But the OP likely is not telling us everything, such as what happens when booting with Cmd-R
 
OP claims that there's no internet connection. No MBAir has native ethernet, except with an adapter of some kind. Likely has an ethernet adapter that needs the boot software to work.
 
Is there a way to avoid internet recovery and just go straight to system recovery? Or at least a way to boot into a safe mode or its equivalent?
 
Internet recovery looks very much the same as the recovery system. You boot to a menu screen, with menus, such as Utilities. The menu window allows you to "Reinstall macOS" or run Disk Utility, and 3 other options.
Do you get to that menu screen?

You boot into Safe boot mode by holding down your shift key while booting. If you can't boot to the normal system (the flashing folder indicates that you cannot), then safe boot can't work either.
Internet Recovery is usually using Opt+Cmd+R. You need a working internet connection for that to work.
normal system recovery is holding Cmd+R. The recovery system is a hidden partiton on your boot drive, and does not need a connection to internet. It should work - but, it's on your boot drive, and if your boot drive is corrupted, or dead/dying, then you may not have acces to that, either. Best way from that point is to boot to a bootable installer, just to get to Disk Utility, for example, to find out if the boot drive is visible to your system (or not)
 
First question: Do you already have a bootable installer? Could be on a flash drive, or a partition on a USB external drive. Lots of choices there.
If you don't have a bootable installer, then you would need to get one, or make one yourself.

Apple has a support page with some info for creating a bootable macOS installer.

How to create a bootable installer for macOS

You can use an external drive or secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.
support.apple.com
 
Thank you to everyone who has advised me so far. I have now bought a bootable installer usb drive. On the plus side I'm not stuck at the internet recovery anymore. I can get to the terminal, and dick utility, but I'm not sure what to do next. Also I'm getting a message that there is not enough free space on the usb to install the operating system. I cannot remember how much space I had on my computer, but I know it wasn't maxed out. Any tips or advice will be appreciated greatly.
 
Now that you can boot up to a recovery system, you can open Disk Utility, select your drive. that will show you how large the drive is, and how much space is free. It's probably a 128 GB drive (very common on MBAir).
If you don't see your drive, but there is something with a name like macOS Base System (and appears to be much smaller than 128GB), then your boot drive is damaged, or has failed. it will need to be replaced. That "Base System" that you might see, is only for booting the system, you can't do anything with that. If your internal drive is bad, then what you see is the boot drive that you are using (the external installer that you have), and you can't install on that, definitely not enough space for anything, it's just the external system that you are now booted from.
 
DeltaMac said:
Now that you can boot up to a recovery system, you can open Disk Utility, select your drive. that will show you how large the drive is, and how much space is free. It's probably a 128 GB drive (very common on MBAir).
If you don't see your drive, but there is something with a name like macOS Base System (and appears to be much smaller than 128GB), then your boot drive is damaged, or has failed. it will need to be replaced. That "Base System" that you might see, is only for booting the system, you can't do anything with that. If your internal drive is bad, then what you see is the boot drive that you are using (the external installer that you have), and you can't install on that, definitely not enough space for anything, it's just the external system that you are now booted from.
Click to expand...
MacOS Base system is the only thing I can see, unfortunately. If I were to buy an external hard drive (compatible with mac computers) would I be able to install the operating system onto that and work of of it?
 
Yes, you could do that. You could also replace the internal boot drive. Depending on which of the 5 different MBAir models you have, that could be a faster replacement drive, using an NVMe drive in the PCIe slot. Pretty simple upgrade, but you would need to know for sure that the system that was running was at least High Sierra (macOS 10.13.6)
 
thank you. sierra sounds familiar. I think that may have been the operating system. I don't know if it was high sierra, but I do remember the number 11 in the version I had on my macbook air. I can't see anyway to get into the computer, it's a very thin model, but it's good to know that I do have the option of using an external hard drive.
 
There's 10 screws on the bottom cover.
So, the bottom cover comes off after removing the screws.
Then a single screw that holds the flash storage (which is an SATA device), and you can replace that with a PCIe card.
Install macOS system, and restore your apps and files. Again, it will depend on which MBAir you actually have, among the 5 possible models. There are some differences with which devices are compatible. There is an EMC number showing on the bottom cover (tiny characters, but it is there). That EMC number can help a lot.
 
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