MacOS Montery Corrupted and Won't Re-Install

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Level 1

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MacOS Montery Corrupted and Won't Re-Install

I'm having an issue with my Macbook Air. It started when the computer crashed while installing the latest software update. Since then, I've had consistent crashes every 20-30 minutes of use, many if not most of my applications won't open, and, most recently, I can't even turn the computer on without it automatically starting in recovery mode. I've tried using first aid on every single disk partition. It recognizes that there is an issue in the "Data" partition, but says that it is unable to repair it and recommends reinstalling OS Montery. I tried doing that from recovery mode as well, and it also failed. Any ideas as to how I could fix this? I really can't lose all of my files but I have no opportunity to get into the computer and back everything up.

Note: I have log files of the attempt to reinstall the Operating System. One is an error log and the other is a full log with everything in it that are linked here: ***

[Link Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Oct 19, 2022 5:12 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,086 points

Oct 20, 2022 9:21 AM in response to treohr

What is the exact model of this Mac? You can get this information by entering the system serial number here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

If you are trying to reinstall macOS over top of itself and it fails, then you will likely need to perform a clean install by first using Disk Utility to erase the drive before using the "Reinstall macOS" option followed by restoring from a backup.

If you have a 2018+ model, then you can also perform a clean install by "Restoring" the firmware which will erase the drive and push a clean OS onto the internal drive:

Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator - Apple Support

Revive or restore an Intel-based Mac using Apple Configurator - Apple Support

FYI, a clean install or erasing the drive will destroy all data on that drive, so make sure you have a good backup before proceeding. Backing up data now that there is a problem will be very tricky, difficult, and time consuming.

You should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data.

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Answer 2

Ronasara

Level 6

14,965 points

Oct 20, 2022 9:11 AM in response to treohr

It sounds like when you did the OS update the downloaded file was corrupted in transmission. When it installed, it then corrupted the OS. Yes you should replace Monterey. I'm going to guess that you have been using Wi-Fi for these downloads. Sometimes that works and sometimes it is too slow for these very large files resulting in corruption. Try downloading a clean copy of Monterey using a wired Ethernet connection. That should work fine.

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MacOS Montery Corrupted and Won't Re-Install

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