.AppleSetupDone won't delete no matter what i try
10:45 17 Feb 2026

MacOS Monterey 12.7.6

First I go into Recovery Mode (hold ⌘+R upon restart).

Do an integrity check for good measure:

/sbin/fsck -fy
warning: option -f is not implemented, ignoring
error: container /dev/rdisk2 is mounted.

Ok? That's weird. Moving on,

Next I mount the root file system:

/sbin/mount -uw /

It gives me a popup outside of the terminal saying that my disk space is critically low, even though I have 135/250GB free. I ignore it.

rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: no such file or directory

maybe a different command?

rm "/Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone"
rm: /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone: no such file or directory

Can I at least do an integrity check now?

/sbin/fsck -fy
error: container /dev/rdisk2 is mounted with write access.

So that /sbin/mount -uw / must've done something?

Alright. Maybe Single User Mode (hold ⌘+S upon restart) will work.

/sbin/fsck -fy
same warning
same error + repairs in a mounted container are not supported yet.
/sbin/mount -uw /
mount_apfs: volume could not be mounted: permission denied
mount: / failed with 66
/sbin/fsck -fy
same warning
same error + repairs in a mounted container are not supported yet.
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: no such file or directory
rm "/Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone"
rm: /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone: no such file or directory
echo kill me
kill me

Should I repost this on r/fuckyouinparticular?

bash macos terminal