I read on another site that you can use macOS Internet Recovery to install macOS on a blank SSD? Where would the files be stored? On the firmware? If there any way that the firmware could be erased? (I.e. would running sudo rm -rf / on the disk also wipe the firmware or is it more complicated than that? Is there any way that the firmware could be erased?). I'm working on a disaster recovery plan incase I ran a stupid command like sudo rm -rf /
.
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My biggest concern is whether it's possible to delete the firmware and therefore internet recovery. (assuming it's stored on the firmware)– user244412Jul 21, 2017 at 4:21
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Have you tried using Command+R to start Internet Recovery when booting up the machine?– chungonionJul 21, 2017 at 4:44
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I don't need to use it at the moment, I'm working on a disaster recovery plan. My main question is it possible for the 'root' user to delete macOS Firmware (not wipe the disk but the firmware itself) from terminal?– user244412Jul 21, 2017 at 4:47
1 Answer
Long Version: The code which permits Internet Recovery Mode (i.e. a slightly modified TFTP client) is stored in the computer's firmware. (In fact, it is a part of it). It's similar to the BIOS chip on Windows computers. When you boot through Internet Recovery, it will download a recovery partition image and load it into the computer's RAM. After this process, you will be able to boot into the normal macOS Recovery interface.
Short Version: If you were to wipe/replace your hard drive, Internet Recovery would automatically download and load a recovery partition image into the RAM, so you would be safe (as long as you have a backup of your data).
PS.
Also, it is impossible to wipe the laptop's firmware with a simple sudo rm -rf /
command.
Source: Chat with Apple Support
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So just to confirm it's impossible to wipe the firmware even if I'm flat out stupid with my root account?– user244412Jul 21, 2017 at 5:42
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1This answer is in parts wrong! Internet Recovery Mode boots to a macOS netboot image hosted by Akamai (as of today) and doesn't install anything on your hdd/ssd! It's only loaded into RAM. The code to allow a net boot is indeed located in the firmware but is rather small (compared to the netboot image). Jul 21, 2017 at 11:55
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@NathanielSuchy Yes. You can't wipe the firmware without opening your computer, Jul 23, 2017 at 8:53
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@klanomath Is this "firmware" is a NVRAM chip or something else? (another chip f.e.)– m8labsNov 21, 2021 at 1:30