Want to get back to macOS

P

pecanbrown

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Have 2015 Mac mini, 8g RAM, 1T HDD. Wanted to set up as a home server. Did some research about home servers, networks, linux distributions. Installed Unbuntu 20.04. LAMP. As I learned more info, I could not figure how to do, so I would reinstall the software several times. Everything worked fine until Ubuntu would NOT accept my password. I reinstalled Ubuntu several time with the same result.
Have tried getting into Recovery using CMD-R, option-cmd-R, shift-option-cmd-R with no result. End up going to <GRUB>.
Have tried redirecting files in system with (hd0,gpt1) not exactly sure if I got the info correct in the parentheses.
Have tried to install ‘wipe’, ‘Srm’ which GRUB do not understand.
I am LOST. PLEASE help.
Thanks in advance.
 
There is a 2014 Mac mini, or a 2018 Mac mini.
There is no 2015 Mac mini, although yours might have been originally sold in 2015.

If you have only ubuntu, and the Mac system is completely gone, you can go back to that by booting to a macOS bootable installer, anything from OS X 10.10 Yosemite to macOS 12 (Monterey).

But you should be able to erase and restore to whatever system might be offered when booting to Internet Recovery:
(this might work best if you are connected to internet through a wired-ethernet connection, better than wifi for that)
Reset by restarting while holding Opt-CMD-P-R
You should hear the boot chime sound. Keep holding those same 4 keys, until you hear the boot chime 2 more times, then release all keys, immediately moving to Option-Command-R. You should see the spinning globe (booting to remote servers), not an Apple icon.
When you get to the menu screen, open Disk Utility. Go to the View menu, and change that to Show All Devices. Choose the top item in the list, under Internal. Should be the manufacturer's model number for the hard drive. Erase that top item, which will then clean all the linux off, too.
Quit Disk Utility. Choose Reinstall macOS. Your Mac will download the offered system, and then install. The time will depend on the speed of your internet connection.
You said that you have a 1TB HDD, so don't expect wonderful speed until you replace that HDD with an SSD. Not quite as good, but will improve the speed over the HDD if you install macOS on an external SSD, connected through your USB 3 port, and use THAT for booting your mini.
 
thanks for your response. i cannot create an installer because I do not have a mac system on my usb drive. Besides that ubuntu is all i have installed on the drive. Any ctrl-r combo takes me to grub
 
The nvram reset (restart while holding Opt-Cmd-P-R) should allow you to boot to Internet Recovery.
Continue to hold those same 4 keys, until you hear the boot chime 2 more times, then immediately move to Option-Cmd-R
Review my post above yours.
Are you using a wired, or a wireless keyboard? (Wired USB would be better)
 
DeltaMac said:
The nvram reset (restart while holding Opt-Cmd-P-R) should allow you to boot to Internet Recovery.
Continue to hold those same 4 keys, until you hear the boot chime 2 more times, then immediately move to Option-Cmd-R
Review my post above yours.
Are you using a wired, or a wireless keyboard? (Wired USB would be better)
Click to expand...
Thanks so much Delta. I appreciate you answering my question and taking the time, I would have to disagree with you, there was a 2015 mac mini. Apple has been making them since 2005 and has not stopped.
I have managed to install another ubuntu OS
 
You can certainly disagree with me. Although the mini has been sold continuously since 2005, there have been some years when no new model mini was released, so the previous model continued to be sold as new. The mini model released in late 2014 is called a Late 2014 model. That same 2014 model was sold as new until the release of the Late 2018 model, in late 2018. You may have purchased your mini in 2015, but there was no new mini released in that year. (There were no new minis released in 2008, or 2013, as well as 2019. The 2018 Intel mini continues to be sold, no new models of that 2019-2021. The 2020 M1 mini is a different model, and also continues to be sold, no new release of the M1 in 2021.

Glad to hear that you were successful in reinstalling Ubuntu. I guess that means that you also were able to set your password properly.
 
DeltaMac said:
You can certainly disagree with me. Although the mini has been sold continuously since 2005, there have been some years when no new model mini was released, so the previous model continued to be sold as new. The mini model released in late 2014 is called a Late 2014 model. That same 2014 model was sold as new until the release of the Late 2018 model, in late 2018. You may have purchased your mini in 2015, but there was no new mini released in that year. (There were no new minis released in 2008, or 2013, as well as 2019. The 2018 Intel mini continues to be sold, no new models of that 2019-2021. The 2020 M1 mini is a different model, and also continues to be sold, no new release of the M1 in 2021.

Glad to hear that you were successful in reinstalling Ubuntu. I guess that means that you also were able to set your password properly.
Click to expand...
After more research, I take back my disagreement. Thanks for the info. Yes, I was able to set the password properly for now. However if I still have issues I will know who to ask for help again if you are willing. At least I know how to access the different partitions. Thanks again
 
I don’t if you solved it, but:

AFAIK using Shift-Option-Command-R starts up from macOS Recovery over the internet.

No Mac system/disk/partition needed! It should even work without SSD/HDD!

This article may be interesting!

www.macintosh-data-recovery.com

How to Restore Mac when Recovery HD Partition is Missing?

Don't panic if your Recovery HD partition is lost or deleted because this article will help you restore OS X even without the OS X Recovery partition.
www.macintosh-data-recovery.com www.macintosh-data-recovery.com
 
While I was able to install another ubuntu OS, my problems are still not solved. I am proceeding to wipe the drive and install macOS. Turn out I was using the wrong keyboard combinations. I have a win keyboard and the combos are different. Of course I was using the wrong ones which is why I could never boot into recovery. Glad I got that solved after feeling crazy or more crazier than I already am. haha.
Once again thanks for your help! Although I may need it again once I reinstall Ubuntu
 
Once you are back into Mac OS go into System Preferences-> Keyboard pane and put a checkmark into bottom box for 'Show Input menu in Menu Bar' . Once that is in your Finder menu click on it and select 'Keyboard Viewer' so you match to Windows keyboard!
 
Last edited:
Satcomer said:
Once you are back into Mac OS go into System Preferences-> Keyboard pane and put a checkmark into bottom box for 'Show Input menu in Menu Bar' . Once that is in your Finder menu click on it and select 'Keyboard Viewer' so you match to Windows keyboard!
Click to expand...
Hi, wish i had seem your message a couple of days ago and I would have implemented what you said. I quickly reinstalled Ubuntu. Maybe there will be similar configurations so I can do the same.
 
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