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Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

giuliomagnifico.medium.com

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Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#71

Post by varispeed »

PurpleFoxy wrote: post #43
digi59404 wrote: post #25

This is because the author didn't delete the entire volume group. You have to delete the whole volume group, i.e. erase the entire drive and it's partitions to reinstall OSX. This isn't new with the M1 Macs. This has been a thing since they introduced APFS. When they went into disk utility after the cli - Then they could delete everything and kick off the OSX Install. If the APFS Volume Group still exists the install…

I was kind of shocked at how hard it is to factory reset a MacBook. I had one at work and I had to pass it on and the guide is a multi step process which I messed up the first time and ended up reinstalling with my user account still there. Had to start again which takes hours. Why does the recovery not just have a button called factory reset which unlinks your apple account, deletes the volume and then sets it all u…

They obviously want people to buy a new one (and disposing of their current one) instead of doing a factory reset. If it is increasingly harder to do, this means that eventually factory reset will not be possible and you won't even be allowed to sell "your" mac when you want to switch or upgrade.

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#72

Post by my123 »

wtallis wrote: post #64
my123 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as you don't shoot yourself in the foot by touching other NVMe namespaces (and even that should be recoverable) and the SPI flash onboard, things can be restorable through DFU.

While it would make a lot of sense for Apple to use NVMe namespaces in this manner, it appears from information posted elsewhere in this thread by marcan_42 that Apple is not doing so, and is just using regular GPT partitions within a single NVMe namespace to store the stuff that isn't on the motherboard's NOR flash.

I can tell you that devices with Apple CPUs _do_ have multiple NVMe namespaces.

The recovery OS and 1TR are not data needed to be saved permanently (as in serial number and such, without which you cannot restore the device), you can recover them through DFU.

Data critical for being able to restore is in the SPI flash. (and it's assumed that some of it might be in other NVMe namespaces too)

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#73

Post by [deleted] »

rvz wrote: post #11

Interesting. These are all the issues I will avoid from early adopters when I eventually get a newer Apple Silicon based Mac computer. I have no time to go through the thorns and landmines over incompatible systems or buggy system software tools from Apple as described by the blog post. Again, I will wait until the software on Apple Silicon is mature and the developer ecosystem catches up to it which by then I'll be…

[deleted]

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#74

Post by wil421 »

Not sure what happened with this guy but I was able to erase my brand new M1 Mac 5 times. My Mac had issues with the recovery process and wasn’t transferring all the files.

I was able to fully erase and install OS X from recovery 5 times. My biggest issue was time machine. I opened a support ticket and they took a bunch of logs.

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#75

Post by giuliomagnifico »

galad87 wrote: post #12
giuliomagnifico wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But at least with an intel Mac you can boot in target mode using cmd - t and then clone/mount/erase/whatever the disk from another Mac! Instead with ARM you can’t mount the disk as an external drive. That’s why this mess started!

A M1 Mac can be restored from Apple Configurator, the same as any other iPhone or iPad.

Yes but to me looks a bit overkill use another Mac to restore a Mac with a restore partition. It was my last way, fortunately I solved without use it.

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#76

Post by PurpleFoxy »

tinyhitman wrote: post #46
PurpleFoxy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was kind of shocked at how hard it is to factory reset a MacBook. I had one at work and I had to pass it on and the guide is a multi step process which I messed up the first time and ended up reinstalling with my user account still there. Had to start again which takes hours. Why does the recovery not just have a button called factory reset which unlinks your apple account, deletes the volume and then sets it all u…

While I'm not disagreeing that this should be possible to (easily) factory reset a device, it also shouldn't be possible for just _anyone_ with physical access to completely reset the device either. Easy resets also mean more interesting to steal

It should just ask for your Apple ID password when you do the reset. It’s not that hard. Honestly it should even be an option within the main OS

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#77

Post by southerntofu »

tinyhitman wrote: post #46
PurpleFoxy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was kind of shocked at how hard it is to factory reset a MacBook. I had one at work and I had to pass it on and the guide is a multi step process which I messed up the first time and ended up reinstalling with my user account still there. Had to start again which takes hours. Why does the recovery not just have a button called factory reset which unlinks your apple account, deletes the volume and then sets it all u…

While I'm not disagreeing that this should be possible to (easily) factory reset a device, it also shouldn't be possible for just _anyone_ with physical access to completely reset the device either. Easy resets also mean more interesting to steal

I strongly disagree with your opinion. For economic reason, i'm using (and supporting many users from my neighborhood of) second-hand hardware. Some systems like Apple's make our life incredibly difficult and most times people will just have to pay a shady phone store to have the device they purchased unlocked, adding 20-30€ to the bill.

It's important to note that most people are incredibly gullible when it comes to technology, and they won't hesitate to buy a second-hand iPhone (whether stolen or not) for a few bucks assuming they'll be able to use it, because that's what a phone does, only to find themselves trapped in iCloud lock.

Locking devices does not protect users (contrary to encrypting the local storage), and does not deter anyone from stealing. It simply adds one layer of mafia to deal with (iCloud unlock shady companies) when you're just trying to find a second-hand phone.

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#78

Post by PurpleFoxy »

superhuzza wrote: post #70
user-the-name wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Erasing the drive doesn't let you do this, the Apple ID of the owner is stored elsewhere and you have to log in to restore the machine.

This was a response to a comment about a potential feature as described: "Why does the recovery not just have a button called factory reset which unlinks your apple account, deletes the volume and then sets it all up like new." So yes, it currently does not work like that. But such a feature would allow Macbooks to be easily stolen and reused by others.

The unlink stage would require your password. The recovery partition requires internet to reinstall already.

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#79

Post by matsemann »

Theodores wrote: post #63

Genuine question, but do Apple users upgrade to the latest version of the OS or is that optional? Just asking for a friend.

MacOS upgrades are often heavily breaking stuff. So developers will have to release new versions of their software fixing various bugs or be compliant with some new demand from MacOS for running. This often also leads to the new versions not being compatible with older OS versions or at least not being maintained. So as a user you're often forced to upgrade the OS if you want to use the newest versions of various software.

Every MacOS update is a minefield. We have a dedicated Slack channel at work where people discuss if they dare to upgrade yet, and share which software now is breaking on their computers, warning others to wait.

Re: Don’t format a drive of M1 Macs from recovery mode

#80

Post by southerntofu »

PurpleFoxy wrote: post #76
tinyhitman wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I'm not disagreeing that this should be possible to (easily) factory reset a device, it also shouldn't be possible for just _anyone_ with physical access to completely reset the device either. Easy resets also mean more interesting to steal

It should just ask for your Apple ID password when you do the reset. It’s not that hard. Honestly it should even be an option within the main OS

Why, though? Physical access to the hardware should prevent you from accessing existing files (encryption at rest) but should not prevent you from resetting/reusing the device.

Does your fridge come with FridgeID? Or a book? Introducing such mechanisms is really hostile to users, especially poorer users of second-hand hardware who have to go through extra (shady) hoops to get a device running just because some rich Silicon Valley start-uppers thought locking hardware down was a feature.

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