You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: adnan0819
adnan0819 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Stuck at spinning globe (Macintosh HD partition lost - can only access Bootcamp) - USB installer takes to internet recovery

Hi,


So my situation is as follows (MacBook Pro 15 inch 2018):


  1. I had two partitions, Macintosh HD and Bootcamp and I have been using Windows for only 2 days after installing it from Boot Camp
  2. Now, I did a disk cleanup and when I go to Boot Menu (hold Option key), the Macintosh HD is gone. I did some diagnostics and realized that the MacOS partition somehow got deleted.
  3. So, I tried Internet recovery at boot but the globe kept spinning (without any progress bar) for a long time (even 6 hours++) so I moved to the next attempt below.
  4. I have a second Macbook Pro (which is an older one - mid 2012) from which I created a bootable USB installer following every guideline from Apple support) and created a High Sierra thumb drive.
  5. Then I plugged it into my 2018 MBP, pressed and held option and got 2 choices in the boot menu - Bootcamp and "Install Mac OSX High Sierra". I selected the second one.
  6. Option and got It asked me for my wifi password (just like internet recovery) - and reverted on doing the same spinning globe (OVERNIGHT!) - SPINNING GLOBE - NO PROGRESS BAR.
  7. One time I got this message, "Starting internet recovery. This may take a while." I waited 12 hours and the message never went away. From the support forum, I understand that a progress bar is expected after this but it doesn't even reach that.
  8. I thought this was a version issue - so I tried making USB installers for Mojave and Catalina - same situation.


I am very very lost at this point. I saw that there could be DNS issue or something, internet connectivity issues etc. on the forum but I highly doubt that is the problem because I can access the internet freely from the Windows partition and also my other Macbook - very easily.


So, I basically need to know - why am I being put into the internet recovery cycle even though I created a USB installer and how can I solve this problem.


Would really appreciate your help.

MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 26, 2020 2:31 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: adnan0819
adnan0819 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Posted on May 26, 2020 11:29 PM

Thank you SO MUCH! You're a life saver. The "installing Mac OS on an external disk" did the magic for me. However, by default the T2 chip would not let the computer boot from it but once I got to that point, I restarted - hit cmd+R and wallah - recovery utilities was back (no online intervention). Even the reps on the online chat from Apple couldn't fix it. THANK YOU!


For anyone who needs the info going forward:


What happened: I installed Windows using Bootcamp and then while expanding that partition, I made two partitions on MacOS and merged the smaller one to Windows. After this, the Macintosh HD was gone. Wouldn't boot to MacOS. After this, even with internet, with recovery options (internet recovery), the globe kept spinning and there was no progress bar.


How this was fixed:


  1. Downloaded MacOS (please do it from official Apple website) in a different Mac (yes, you need a different Mac for this)
  2. Followed the instructions from the link posted by BDAqua (insall macOS in external drive) and got a runnable macOS on a flash drive (this is NOT an installer - rather a full installation)
  3. Restart, hold option key and choose that USB drive as boot drive.
  4. It will boot but will say that it will not go through because of it is a new Mac with T2 chip. All you can do is restart. So, I restarted (the security is actually a good feature).
  5. Restart and hold cmd+r (recovery key) - went to disk utility - partitioned/formatted the broken space to APFS format with GUID scheme so it is bootable). Once done, choose reinstall MacOS Mojave. This will need internet but you are already in a GUI and can see all progress.


In my understanding, the whole point of the USB installation was to give the system a push to clear up any header byte of the boot partition. I cannot be sure.


Moral of the story: Please use a recovery drive or time machine even if it seems unnecessary until you reach a tough point. Cheers!


View in context

Similar questions

7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: adnan0819
adnan0819 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 26, 2020 11:29 PM in response to BDAqua

Thank you SO MUCH! You're a life saver. The "installing Mac OS on an external disk" did the magic for me. However, by default the T2 chip would not let the computer boot from it but once I got to that point, I restarted - hit cmd+R and wallah - recovery utilities was back (no online intervention). Even the reps on the online chat from Apple couldn't fix it. THANK YOU!


For anyone who needs the info going forward:


What happened: I installed Windows using Bootcamp and then while expanding that partition, I made two partitions on MacOS and merged the smaller one to Windows. After this, the Macintosh HD was gone. Wouldn't boot to MacOS. After this, even with internet, with recovery options (internet recovery), the globe kept spinning and there was no progress bar.


How this was fixed:


  1. Downloaded MacOS (please do it from official Apple website) in a different Mac (yes, you need a different Mac for this)
  2. Followed the instructions from the link posted by BDAqua (insall macOS in external drive) and got a runnable macOS on a flash drive (this is NOT an installer - rather a full installation)
  3. Restart, hold option key and choose that USB drive as boot drive.
  4. It will boot but will say that it will not go through because of it is a new Mac with T2 chip. All you can do is restart. So, I restarted (the security is actually a good feature).
  5. Restart and hold cmd+r (recovery key) - went to disk utility - partitioned/formatted the broken space to APFS format with GUID scheme so it is bootable). Once done, choose reinstall MacOS Mojave. This will need internet but you are already in a GUI and can see all progress.


In my understanding, the whole point of the USB installation was to give the system a push to clear up any header byte of the boot partition. I cannot be sure.


Moral of the story: Please use a recovery drive or time machine even if it seems unnecessary until you reach a tough point. Cheers!


Reply
User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
245,261 points

May 27, 2020 7:40 AM in response to adnan0819

Whoot... good news, thanks for the report. :)


About Startup Security Utility

Use Startup Security Utility to make sure that your Mac always starts up from your designated startup disk, and always from a legitimate, trusted operating system.


Available only on Mac computers that have the Apple T2 Security Chip, Startup Security Utility offers three features to help secure your Mac against unauthorized access: Firmware password protection, Secure Boot, and External Boot.


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208198

Reply
User profile for user: adnan0819
adnan0819 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 26, 2020 3:46 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi,


I don';t think this is a HDD issue because I can investigate everything from Boot Camp Windows and the hard drive seems fine - it's just that some headers must have gotten deleted in the Macintosh HD partition. Do you think I should just "delete" the original MacOS partition (from Windows - as that's the only thing I have access to)?


Thanks again.

Reply

Stuck at spinning globe (Macintosh HD partition lost - can only access Bootcamp) - USB installer takes to internet recovery

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up