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Recently I tried to factory reset my Mid 2012 MacBook Air. In order to do that:

  1. I booted into Recovery mode with Command + R.

  2. Then navigated to Disk utility and Erased Macintosh HD.

  3. Then I restarted the Mac and booted into Recovery mode again (Command + R). Now clicked on Reinstall macOS.

  4. It asked me to log in with Apple ID. I logged in with my Apple ID. (Before resetting, MacBook is running OS X El Capitan, and logged in with my friend's Apple ID).

  5. After logging in, it shows an error: This Item is Temporarily Unavailable.

  6. I tried to install via Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R). But not able to enter Internet recovery mode.

    I also created a bootable USB drive and tried to install macOS High Sierra. Tried to open boot options by holding Option key while starting the Mac. But still boot option was not available.

  7. I really ran out of options, so I followed the procedure outlined in the link, which involves simply making a bootable USB drive and restoring it to Macintosh HD.:

  8. Then I tried to boot again, got prohibitory symbol.

  9. Then tried to boot into recovery mode, but unable to boot into recovery or to macOS.

enter image description here

Now, I do not have any other option to fix my Mac. Please advice on how can I fix this. I'm in desperate need to fix this.

I tried all the above using an external USB keyboard as well.

Updated:

I even tried to clear NVRAM with Option + Command + P + R. but not luck at all.

Looks like most of the key combinations are not working while booting.

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  • I can't recommend a solution, but here are my tips: Boot wit Option key from Install macOS USB stick, but unplug any other USB devices. Macbooks tends to behave finicky when booting from Installable media. Also try this several times. I also get STOP symbol several times, booting from Install media with usb mouse AND first boot after I unplugged the mouse. Also, clear NVRAM with Option+Command+P+R altogether at boot time. Does the Install macOS High Sierra boot on other macbook?
    – Vladimir
    Commented Apr 29, 2019 at 20:23
  • I have tried with/without other USB devices like keyboard. Even tried Option + Command + P + R still no luck. I haven't tried to install in other macBooks but the copy of High Sierra I downloaded was from Apple Appstore and followed instructions from Apple Help articles to create a bootable media. Looks like key combinations on boot isn't working.
    – A.Bretto
    Commented Apr 30, 2019 at 3:34
  • Need a hotfix for this. Ready to add more details on request.
    – A.Bretto
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 10:04
  • I hope you did not download the torrent file?! Use this method to create a boot USB: support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372 and make sure it works on another Mac. What error do you get in step 6 (Internet Recovery)?
    – n1000
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 11:05
  • I did the same method in support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372. But the problem is i"m not even able to load boot options. While trying Internet Recovery I'm just entering Recovery mode. Connected to Wi-fi, tried with external keyboard.
    – A.Bretto
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 4:18

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I think I had one such MacBook Air. It was permanently resolved by replacing the LCD assembly at AASP as the warranty was active - it did essentially qualify for DOA (wtf? - still do not know the possible answer to that)

Workaround was to get the system in the target mode (T at startup and connect with a Thunderbolt cable to some other Mac) and install the MacOS from a good source. ASD may help to point the finger to the dead part in need of replacement.

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There is a very good possibility that if you had a external drive with a version of OS X (macOS) that is compatible with your Mac, then your Mac would boot from this external drive. The reason is that when the default operating system is not bootable, then the firmware will try to find an alternate operating system to boot. This would happen without you needing to hold down any keys.

This would require for you to have an external HDD or SSD and another Mac. You would use the other Mac to install the OS X (macOS) operating system onto the external drive.

Once you have booted from an external drive, you could proceed with installing a OS X (macOS) on the internal drive.

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