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I wanted to do a clean install and booted from OS X recovery partition. In disk utility I selected "erase" option. SSD was working correctly before that.

Now, if i startup, the only way to proceed is with Internet Recovery since I cannot boot from hidden recovery partition. After I wait several hours for the recovery image download, I cannot see the SSD either in disk utility or OSX reinstallation.

In terminal

diskutil list

Shows only recovery image 1.8 Gb or so.

So did erase option destroy my ssd?

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    Can you try running Apple Hardware Test (AHT). Hold the D key while booting from a powered off state with the AC adapter connected. You can also try to Reset the SMC (Different procedure depending on Mac Model). You can also try to reset the NVRAM Cmd+Opt+P+R while turning on the computerand continue holding until you hear the chimes twice.
    – Allan
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 11:03
  • Thank you. I've already tried to reset NVRAM and SMC and it didn't help.I have MacBook Air 13' Mid 2011, which ships with Lion (10.7). Holding D during start-up process opens up Internet Recovery with rotating globe. Im waiting for it to complete, since in the article about AHT it says models with 10.7 come only with internet version of AHT. Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 11:21
  • Let me know what happens.
    – Allan
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 11:24
  • After some time, screen went black with flashing symbol "_". It was like that for 5 minutes and then MacBook restarted and started to show flashing question mark and folder Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 11:41
  • You may need Disk 2 of the original installation disks
    – Allan
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 11:46

2 Answers 2

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I had the same problem as you. After I erased via Disk Utility, I reset my Mac Air (what was i thinking, right LOL). Now it won't boot again. (Folder with question mark keeps blinking on a black screen). I waited for the Internet recovery to finish (waited half an hour or so). Disk Utility pops back up again. i click reinstall OS. it doesn't show an option on which drive i'm supposed to reinstall the OS to. Uh-oh. I looked at "erase", it senses the drive. it's there. i can verify and repair it under erase, but when i try reinstalling a new copy of the OS, no SSD option shows up (where i can install the OS).

WHAT WORKED FOR ME:

I found that my problem was that I did not give a name to my SSD when I erased it the first time. i erased the SSD again (when the internet recovery was finished, but THIS TIME, i made sure to write a name for the SSD i was erasing. when i started the reinstall option again after erasing was finished, my SSD showed up as an option.

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Yes - internet recovery fails to see an internal drive (or external drive), it's almost always time to swap hardware / repair things.

You could on some rare instance need one last SMC / NVRAM reset and try again on a different network internet recovery if you think the checksum / validation that the boot image is correct was somehow failing at the same time as the download failed, but this almost always is a hardware service needed situation.

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