El Capitan. no packages were eligible for install.

Took me forever to figure this out and ive got it dialed in and want to help people with the same issue it happens every time you do a clean restore

no usb needed

1. use disk utility and clean drive you will install on...
2. Connect to a wifi or plug in ethernet and download os x (second option I believe ..) It will download and then try to install itself and then fail with no packages were eligible message with option to restart ....
3. shut off wifi (top right) or unplug ethernet cord
4. go to utilities -terminal- type this and only this, date 0115124517
5. it will show new date with new time it should be jan 1 12:45 2017
6. now hit restart ( wifi will reconnect automatically)- if using ethernet hit reset and connect ethernet cord

——it will now do its thing and you will notice a different screen then previous—- thank you for everyones input I figured a simplified straight to the point version would be beneficial to everyone- no usb needed

Thanks for that tip. Also you have to make sure you will disable WIFI not to change date automatically.

To do that press option key on keyboard and click wifi with your left button.

Thank find your WIFI network name and just underneath it, there will be new line called 'Disconnect from (your name) network.

Click that and hit restart. Make sure when Mac will reboot WIFI is still dibbled in top right corner.

There are newer instructions and steps available in Apple installer page for use.

• How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan (10.11.6) - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

There is a newer installer in the above; this also upgrades firmware.

newer installosxinstaller.pkg package within download site link

(this site content + link was recently updated 24 Oct 2019)

As Narcinems noted, I change the date, download the installer and get as far as the screen to start installation, whereupon I get an error message that tells me to start all over again - and when I do I get the same issue. The only way to bypass that error is to set the date to today's date and I did try a couple of suggested dates from 2016 through 2018. So, still stuck with a laptop that was working that is now imitating a brick.

for Helder98 - when you get to therecovery screen - one of the dropdown menu tools is a command line window. if you type "date" you'll see whatever date your systems thinks it is. You can change the date by typing "date mmddhhmmyy" i.e month day hour minute year two digits each

Thank you, jmaiers! I finally got it to work by following your steps.

I couldn't get it to work by just changing the time. I had to also disable the wifi otherwise the internet would just automatically change the time back to the current time again.

Macbook Pro 15" (mid 2015) - I've tried everything in this thread so far and nothing is working.

@jmaiers, when I follow your instructions, I run into a problem at step #2, when I receive a message "Can't download the additional components needed to install OS X" and cannot go any further.

I've also tried bootable USB created with this instructions: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886 as well as an older bootable USB I created in 2017. Have tried date changes ranging from 2015 - 2019. No luck.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

And a Happy Thank You for this information. I used jmaiers directions with complete success. The only difference i used was to leave the ethernet cable disconnected until install was complete. Thanks to all others for additional help.

no usb needed

1. use disk utility and clean drive you will install on...
2. Connect to a wifi or plug in ethernet and download os x (second option I believe ..) It will download and then try to install itself and then fail with no packages were eligible message with option to restart ....
3. shut off wifi (top right) or unplug ethernet cord
4. go to utilities -terminal- type this and only this, date 0115124517
5. it will show new date with new time it should be jan 1 12:45 2017
6. now hit restart ( wifi will reconnect automatically)- if using ethernet hit reset and connect ethernet cord

——it will now do its thing and you will notice a different screen then previous—- thank you for everyones input I figured a simplified straight to the point version would be beneficial to everyone- no usb needed

This 2019 date worked! The other date did not.

the date worked but what I had to do was

1. shut off WiFi
2. Go to Utilities Terminal
3. Set the date
4. Close Terminal
5. Hit continue and accept the EULA
6. It then completed the install

Just letting you know what I did

1. Boot El Capitan installer from your bootable USB drive.
2. Before pressing anything, move your mouse to the top left and locate ( Terminal ).
3. Open Terminal and set date by typing ( date 0101010116 ) command. Press enter.
4. This should have changed the date clock to 2016.
5. Close Terminal and continue the installation process. ENJOY!

Apple software releases are a mixed bag — the old installers aren’t available officially for easily fixing this kind of problem, there are some security mechanisms or just something that prevent users to fix by ourselves, and even I don’t want to fix it myself, their own services just don’t fix it.

Here's the link I learned and fixed the problem from.

https://medium.com/@mixth/a-journey-of-reinstall-el-capitan-in-macbook-mid-2009-a140743a0d15

yeni_torres... this is the info I back in Dec. the solution worked for me after 2 weeks of fighting to get it reinstalled. I hope this helps with your installation.

And a Happy Thank You for this information. I used jmaiers directions with complete success. The only difference i used was to leave the ethernet cable disconnected until install was complete. Thanks to all others for additional help.

no usb needed

1. use disk utility and clean drive you will install on...
2. Connect to a wifi or plug in ethernet and download os x (second option I believe ..) It will download and then try to install itself and then fail with no packages were eligible message with option to restart ....
3. shut off wifi (top right) or unplug ethernet cord
4. go to utilities -terminal- type this and only this, date 0115124517
5. it will show new date with new time it should be jan 1 12:45 2017
6. now hit restart ( wifi will reconnect automatically)- if using ethernet hit reset and connect ethernet cord

——it will now do its thing and you will notice a different screen then previous—- thank you for everyones input I figured a simplified straight to the point version would be beneficial to everyone- no usb needed

Had this issue and it drove me nuts, one comment helped me but still didn't work since, here was my list i followed

1. use disk utility and make new user disk, ex "Mac HD"
2. Connect to a wifi or plug in ethernet and download os x It will download and then try to install itself then itll turn off then boot back up and hit you with that error saying contact apple and stuff and give option to restart
3. shut off wifi (top right) or unplug ethernet cord AND make sure you hold option on key board when you click wifi and click disconnect from your wifi AND then TURN OFF WIFI
4. go to utilities -terminal- type this and only this, date 0115124517
5. and Press ENTER
6. now hit restart
7. it'll continue downloading

notice when it starts it'll look a little different then before :)

I did the steps as previous comments, but found I have to disable the wifi after changed the date to 2017. I did some minor changes based on previous comments and it works for me.

no usb needed

1. use disk utility and clean drive you will install on...
2. Connect to a wifi or plug in ethernet and download os x (second option I believe ..) It will download and then try to install itself and then fail with no packages were eligible message with option to restart ....
3. shut off wifi (top right) or unplug ethernet cord
4. go to utilities -terminal- type this and only this, date 0115124517
5. it will show new date with new time it should be jan 1 12:45 2017
6. (modified) I changed the wifi password, so that the macbook will not be able to connect to the network after the reboot. Actually wifi is not required in the next step because all required packages have been downloaded. If still connected to the network, the system time will be reset to the real time after reboot
7. now hit restart ( wifi will reconnect automatically, but failed due to the wrong wifi password remembered previously)- if using ethernet , please pull out the cable

——it will now do its thing and you will notice a different screen then previous—- thank you for everyones input I figured a simplified straight to the point version would be beneficial to everyone- no usb needed

P.S. you should change the wifi password back when the installation goes to the step asking for the user info, the internet is required now