Q: Re-install OS X El Capitan, continue button not clickable
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Apr 14, 2016 7:00 AMby brenden dv,Hi Spartacles,
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities! I'm sorry to hear that you are having these issues with your iMac. If you continue to have issues or unusual behavior with an attempted reinstall from Recovery, and your iMac is a reasonably recent model, you may want to try using Internet Recovery, as outlined in the following articles:
OS X Internet Recovery
Newer Macs include the ability to start up directly from an Internet-based version OS X Recovery. Your Mac automatically uses this feature when the Recovery System on the startup drive isn't available. For example, if your startup drive encounters an issue, or if your startup drive has been replaced or erased. Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's servers. Starting up from this system performs a quick test of your memory and hard drive to check for hardware issues.
Internet Recovery initially asks you to select a Wi-Fi network and enter a network password when needed. Next, Internet Recovery downloads and starts from a Recovery System image. From there, you are offered the same utilities and options as the Recovery System on a startup drive.
Some Macs that came with OS X Snow Leopard can use Internet Recovery after installing OS X Lion or later and a software update.
OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support
Command-Option-R Start up from OS X Recovery over the Internet. Startup key combinations for Mac - Apple Support
Regards
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Apr 14, 2016 10:10 AMby Spartacles,Thank you but predictably, that does not address my problem.
I can access the OS X Recovery process without issue.
As I wrote as clearly as possible above, the obstacle lies with the final screen where I cannot press the "Install" button. It does not work with the mouse or a combination of the tab, down arrow and spacebar.
This is the screen I am stuck at. The button I cannot press is bottom right.
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Apr 14, 2016 10:44 AMby keg55,Your original post says you want to reinstall OS X El Capitan but your screen shot shows you're trying to install OS X Yosemite. Appears to me that you didn't download El Capitan. Instead you just restarted with Command+R which will put you into the Recovery HD of your current OS.
Or you do have El Capitan installed and for some reason you have a Yosemite Recovery HD. This is why the buttons are greyed out. You're trying to install OS X Yosemite over El Capitan and you can't.
You need to restart back to your desktop and re-download El Capitan (~6GB download) from the App Store. Go to the Purchases tab and you should see it in your list of Purchases assuming your previously downloaded it. Then click the Continue button to start the install. This will correct your Recovery HD by replacing what is out there now with the OS X El Capitan Recovery HD.
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Apr 14, 2016 10:46 AMby Spartacles,Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I did originally download El Capitan from both the App Store and directly from the manual update on the Apple site. I went through the installation process and got stuck at the final step as detailed above.
I then used the OS X Internet Recovery process, which is where the screen shot was taken. This process attempts to install the version of the operating system which was originally on the Mac when it was shipped, in this case it was Yosemite, from which I then upgraded to El Capitan.
And just to repeat my point made above, I CAN click on the Continue button to go through the process. Where I am stuck is on the final screen (seen above) where no combination of mouse clicks or keystrokes will allow me to press the "Install" button.
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Apr 14, 2016 10:53 AMby keg55,Spartacles wrote:
Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I did originally download El Capitan from both the App Store and directly from the manual update on the Apple site. I went through the installation process and got stuck at the final step as detailed above.
I then used the OS X Internet Recovery process, which is where the screen shot was taken. This process attempts to install the version of the operating system which was originally on the Mac when it was shipped, in this case it was Yosemite, from which I then upgraded to El Capitan.
Ok, now I understand.
Since you restarted into Internet Recovery (Command+Option+R) your shipped OS was Yosemite. If you do have El Capitan on, you need to erase your Macintosh HD then install Yosemite, go through setup and you can use Setup Assistant to migrate your user accounts, settings, apps and data. THEN you can download El Capitan again and upgrade over Yosemite. Again, if El Capitan is still on your Macintosh HD, you can't install an older OS (Yosemite) over it. You HAVE to erase it first. Make sure you have a current back up as erasing will erase everything.
When you restart using Recovery Mode (Command+R) are you not getting to the OS X Utilities menu for El Capitan? Is that mode throwing you into Internet Recovery? If so, this means you either have a corrupted El Capitan Recovery HD or no Recovery HD at all. The default for no Recovery Mode is to restart into Internet Recovery if your Mac is able to do Internet Recovery.
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Apr 14, 2016 11:07 AMby keg55,Is the screen shot you show from when you restarted with Command+R? If so, it's the Yosemite Recovery HD, not El Capitan. If it were El Capitan, you would have the 2nd selection on the menu for Reinstall OS X as El Capitan and THAT OS's icon.
So, it appears you're either restarting into Internet Recovery when you use Command+R or you have the OS X Yosemite Recovery HD on your hard drive.
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Apr 15, 2016 1:26 AMby Spartacles,Thanks for your perseverance in helping me with this issue.
I think I've found the cause of the problem and it's not obvious. My Magic Mouse is at 100% strength but there appears to be something in it that's preventing me from clicking on certain dialogue boxes.
I began to suspect it after I completely logged out at one point last night and tried unsuccessfully many times to log in again - nothing was clickable but I could use the keyboard to move the cursor to certain places and click certain boxes.
Fortunately I have an Apple trackpad as well so have tried it this morning and found that all the OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery + all the Disk Utilities functions that were not working for me previously are now available.
It's a complete mystery to me but I'm just happy to have resolved the issue.
Thanks again for your input and patience!
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Jun 20, 2016 1:53 AMby Lexiepex,It is a bit unclear what you want o do.
1. If you want to re install the existing OSX: you did correct: CMD+R and "install OSX" from there.
2. If you had an older OSX on the machine and now have Yosemite: CMD+Alt(option)+R will NOT be the correct method: it will re install the original OSX.
3. If you want to Upgrade from Yosemite to ElCapitan: just go to the Appstore and download and intall ElCapitan.
Assuming you want to do the #1 thing:
Just download the Yosemite Combo Update 10.10.5 and install it: it will not re install OSX completely but will re install all updates after the first release. After that you will probably succeed to re install completeley from the Recovery Partition.
Lex
