MacBook Air 2017 keeps blowing air after failed macOS Monterey upgrade

Hi guys,


I tried to update my MacBook Air 2017 from Catalina to macOS Monterey yesterday, turns out I didn’t have enough storage space. Fine. Next thing I know my the air fan thingie is non stop blowing air (no pun intended), the battery status in the menu bar has disappeared and even when I select it in settings it still doesn’t show up, also my cable charger no longer shows the green light so I don’t know if it’s charging or if it’s going to die. All that thanks to this stupid failed update :(


Can anyone help, has anyone ever experienced this?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 18, 2025 1:41 PM

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Mar 18, 2025 9:36 PM in response to dimiszygo

Make sure you have a good backup.


Have you tried rebooting the laptop again? If so and you still have the problem, then you can try booting into Safe Mode to see if that makes any difference. Unfortunately completely running out of Free storage space usually ends up with a corrupted system or being locked out since it can be impossible to delete items from an APFS volume that has no Free space at all.


If Safe Mode doesn't help, then you will need to perform a clean install of macOS by booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to access the online macOS installer. Launch Disk Utility to erase the whole physical drive (Intel Macs only) as GUID partition and APFS (top option). Within Disk Utility you will need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical SSD appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Quit Disk Utility and select the "Reinstall macOS".

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Mar 24, 2025 12:50 AM in response to HWTech

Hi,


I did a the whole process you explained, which freed up storage space. Then I tried to reinstall Monterey, which worked.


But now when I try to log in I get the apple sound and then the screen goes black. I rebooted, restarted, etc but problem persists. And the fan keeps blowing air.


this has gone from bad to worse haha.


What should I do? Reopen in safe mode?


thanks for any advice.

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Mar 24, 2025 6:15 PM in response to dimiszygo

dimiszygo wrote:

But now when I try to log in I get the apple sound and then the screen goes black. I rebooted, restarted, etc but problem persists. And the fan keeps blowing air.

this has gone from bad to worse haha.

It happens sometimes, but it usually means there is something more going on.


What should I do? Reopen in safe mode?

Yes.


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MacBook Air 2017 keeps blowing air after failed macOS Monterey upgrade

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