What happened is that you didn't actually erase the entire drive, because Disk Utility's GUI is dumb. The Preboot volume is a new system partition, created when updating to macOS High Sierra to support booting to an APFS volume.Copying from the last time I answered this question: If you want to act on the startup disk - Macintosh HD, you need to boot into Recovery mode. On the box next to Format choose OSX Extended/macOS Extended (Journaled) and click Erase. Find Disk utility through Spotlight search, open it, select the drive in demand, and then click Erase to convert the format. Using the built-in tool Disk Utility, you can convert APFS to OSX Extended or macOS Extended (Journaled). It is mainly used on macOS High Sierra and later.Ģ.
Then follow these steps again.įAQ about the Issue "could not create a preboot volume for APFS install"Īs the successor of Mac OS Extended (HFS+), APFS is optimized for SSD performance with increased speed, better data security and less power and space consumption. Also, you can unmount the container, Macintosh HD, and other volumes under the hard drive by selecting it and clicking the Unmount option.
Then exit Disk Utility and click Reinstall macOS to install the latest macOS version compatible with your Mac. Step 4: On the pop-up window, name the drive Macintosh HD, format it as APFS, and choose GUID Partition Map as Scheme.Step 3: Click View > See All Devices, select the main hard drive with a brand name like 215 GB APPLE SSD SM256E Media, then hit Erase.
One of the reasons that you can’t create a preboot volume is that you’ve only quick-erased the system partition (the default name is Macintosh HD) instead of creating a blank APFS container. Solution 2: Create a Blank APFS Container Then you can turn off Disk Utility and select Reinstall macOS to try it again.
How to Fix the "could not create a preboot volume for APFS install" Error It is a new system partition created before installation to build communication between APFS and the macOS version such as High Sierra, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey etc. Technically speaking, this issue arises when Preboot Execution Volume (PXE) can't be installed on APFS. The "could not create a preboot volume for APFS install" error occurs when macOS fails to change the boot disk format from HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) to APFS, the new file system that Apple released as part of macOS 10.13 High Sierra. What Does "could not create a preboot volume for APFS install" Mean? This post will explain the cause of the error and the solutions people use to resolve the problem successfully. It typically appears when the installation process is about to finish after hours of waiting. The "could not create a preboot volume for APFS install" error happens when you reinstall macOS 10.13 High Sierra.