Home Forums Hardware Mac Desktops & Notebooks Erased my laptop to sell, now folder with ?

I did erase of my hardrive on my old macbook air to sell it, (using Recovery drive)' but when I do a reboot, all see is a light grey folder with blinking question mark. Should I sell it like this or..?

I thought it would reboot with dock there and all.

You erased the drive, so it's got no OS to boot into, hence the question mark.

When I sell a Mac I install a fresh OS so the purchaser gets a functional machine, and I suggest that you do the same.

You can d/l an assortment of OSs via Recovery. I think How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support covers all bases.

Thanks can't catch a break, Here is where I am: I did command R, got internet up, continue greyed out:


https://imgur.com/0rSadYj

You should install the latest OS that can be installed on the machine. What model MacBook Air do you have?

You are not getting it: It cannot see any startup disk anymore to install to.

I am getting it! What you are experiencing is typical when folks don't prepare properly, ie, you needed to have the OS to install on an external "device", like a flash drive. Then you could install it from there.

FIXED googled and had to to DU and do another erase drive and then could install.

Before you get rid of your old computer, be sure you have removed it from your Apple ID and turned off Find My Mac otherwise anyone you sell it too will be unable to update it. You can do that from your new computer in System Preferences > Apple ID or by going to Icloud clicking on your name and the Account Settings.

Thanks Joe! Wow did not think of that. Ok from new computer, the offering seems to be just: "remove from account." That should knocked those 2 items you mentioned out?

Yep.. needed 2 rounds of ID, apple and the computer.. pass.

BTW Joe all smooth but on new laptop I do see a "relocated" item folder Library Assestsv2? ANy idea on that?

Actually, your answer is in the doc to which I linked - "If the installer doesn't see your disk, or it says that it can't install on your computer or volume, you might need to erase your disk first." - but it's altogether ambiguous/confusing.

But all's well that ends well, so kudos to Google.

Good luck selling your old MBA. I've done well selling two Macs on eBay, but I go to an immense amount of trouble writing my listing and taking pics. It always helps if you've saved the original packaging.

Recovery is, at least in part, designed to compensate for Apple's no longer releasing freestanding installers...to save users from having to "manufacture" their own.

A flash drive installer is really the workaround for those instances in which you find yourself needing to reinstall your OS but haven't got Internet access, which is required by Recovery.

What I always do is have the latest full installation file for the Mac OS I am running saved in another folder on my Mac. It also is on my (weekly) SuperDuper! backup. When I get ready to sell a machine, I just boot it up from that SuperDuper! backup (on an external SSD, of course), run Disk Utility from there to completely erase the internal SSD on the machine I am getting ready to sell, and then do a clean, fresh installation of that Mac OS I have. That's all I do (no migration of anything, of course). That has always worked smoothly for me.

The key is to get prepared. Again, I do that by always having the latest version of the full Mac OS Installer file. I don't have to bother with Recovery, and it is much, much faster. Plus, I have much more control over the process.

BTW, here is how I get the full installer file for the latest version of the Mac OS:

1. Start with https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-big-sur/id1526878132?mt=12. When you get the pop up, click on "Open in App Store".

2. A screen will appear that shows macOS Big Sur, along with a "Get" button. Click on that, and it will download the latest full version of Big Sur (OS 11.2.2 right now) to your Applications folder.

3. Once that is done, copy that file to another location on your Mac (myself, I have a folder entitled "Updates" within my Users folder, and within Updates I have one for OS 11. I copy it to there).

I'm not exactly sure how to get a prior version of any Mac OS, but maybe someone can "chime" in and provide the instructions for that. I just know how to get the latest version of the current Mac OS.

ok Marty bit too much work for me, but clearly more efficient!

Once you get used to it, it becomes a piece of cake! Also, if you ever need to recover from a disaster, having a bootable backup is certainly the way to go. And of course it is always wise to have a copy of the latest Mac OS Installer file somewhere on your machine.

I can tell you for a fact that having much more control over the process is certainly the way to go. Again, besides the local control, it is much, much faster than doing it over the internet, via Recovery.

Not sure the installer you can get these days like old days right? Just updates on the fly.

In my post above, I provided clear instructions on how to get the latest Big Sur Installer file from the App Store (currently V11.2.2). When a new version of the Mac OS arrives (like for example, when OS 11.3 is released), some folks just want to update "in place", that is, just install the update. Others, like myself, prefer to do a clean, fresh installation. I typically do that when a "full" version of the Mac OS is released, along with being the first time I am moving to that new OS. OS 11.3 will be just such an example. However, when I "move" to Big Sur (again, plan on doing that when V11.3 is released), and say V11.4 arrives, unless there are some real significant changes, I will just download and install the Combo Updater. But even when I do that, I still download the latest full installer.

Marty, will notate and keep thanks!

You're of course correct that having the installer in hand makes the installation process considerably faster than waiting for it to d/l via Recovery, but please explain precisely what "much more control over the [installation] process" having the installer in advance gives you over d/l'ing it on demand?

Beginning with Big Sur, Apple is apparently no longer releasing standalone, d/l'able Deltas or Combos - Apple no longer offers delta and combo macOS updates - so your only options will likely be to update with the Delta via Software Update, run the full installer over your existing installation, or do a clean install and migrate your data.

You can download full install copies of the current release version of Big Sur from the App Store. Then following these instructions create a bootable installer on a 16GB thumb drive. The end product is for all intents and purposes a Recovery Drive installer where the installer has already been downloaded. While this is arguably not exactly the same thing as the combo updater the functional result is the same or even better.

NOTE: As a beta tester I cannot discern any difference in the updates and full installs either in effect or download size so it appears they are all full installs, but YMMV.

Yes, I previously pointed to that first link about downloading the full installer from the App Store. And I also have this link for making the bootable installer on a flash drive:

https://www.macworld.com/article/3566910/how-to-create-a-bootable-macos-big-sur-installer-drive.html

If there was an easy way to resize the partitions on my two external SSDs that I use for my SuperDuper! backups, I would not need to create a bootable installer on a thumb drive. But alas, with APFS, that is no longer possible.

It might be best to wait a little longer, as V11.3 is currently in the final stages of beta testing. Right now, one will get V11.2.2 from the App store. I am waiting for V11.3 to be released.

Along with a clone from which I can initiate installations, I've got an archive of installers going back to Yosemite on my external, so the drive is, essentially, a bootable installer.

And likewise, since you've got a copy of the installer stashed on your internal, making it , similarly, a bootable installer from which you can erase, repartition, and repopulate your SSDs, why do you need the thumb drive?

All you need is the installer to run from your boot volume. Why spend money on a thumb drive?

I don't see any need for a thumb drive installer other than to take along when traveling either out of Internet range or to a location that hasn't got reliable Internet service.

You're of course correct that having the installer in hand makes the installation process considerably faster than waiting for it to d/l via Recovery, but please explain precisely what "much more control over the [installation] process" having the installer in advance gives you over d/l'ing it on demand?

Cool about having all those installers, and wise move. Myself I only have the one for OS 10.15.7, as I do not need to go back any further in case of an issue.

And yes, I really do not need a thumb drive for "taking care" of my 2 external SSDs that I currently use for my SuperDuper! backups. (By "taking care", I mean the task I'll need to complete for re-sizing the partitions). All I would need to do after installing Big Sur is to attach the external SSD to my machine, launch Disk Utility, and proceed with the re-sizing. I will, though, do 1 SSD at a time, as I will need to 1) completely Erase and Format the SSD, 2) allocate the partitions, and 3) make aCarbon Copy Cloner Backup of my Big Sur-based system to the applicable partition. And I'll need to do the backup separately for each of my Macs. I will then of course attempt to restart the applicable Mac from the just completed CCC backup. If all is well, I can then work on the other SSD.

As for thumb drives, I actually have 4 of them, and they do come in handy. One slick use is that I can copy Movies and/or TV series from my Mac (actually stored on my recently purchased Samsung T7 1 TB external SSD) to a Thumb Drive, remove the thumb drive, and then plug it into either one of our Roku devices that are used with our TVs. Great way to watch a movie and/or a TV Series that is not on Netflix (which we subscribe to). And of course for such shows that leave Netflix, can watch them.