Catalina install issues & recovery to Mojave issues

Hi TheWalkers,

I should be able to carry on from what @david braun said.

The message "cannot connect to recovery server" you are receiving means that time/date on your machine is not being synchronized. When the MacBook tries to reach out to the recovery server, the certificates do not validate and we get this error message.

Let's try command r one more time and see if you can boot into Recovery mode. Also, make sure you are connected via a hard wire connection, an ethernet cable, not over Wi-Fi if possible.

If command r doesn't work try try Option-⌘-R to boot into internet recovery. If somehow this doesn't work let's continue.

To expand on what david braun said, if you have another Mac you can create a bootable installer of MacOS.

If you have another Mac, launch the App Store and search for MacOS Catalina or MacOS Mojave to download the installer. Once downloaded, you can use Disk Maker X to create the USB installer of MacOS. You should have at least a 16GB USB drive.

Once the installer is created, eject it from the other Mac and plug it into the USB port of the MacBook Pro. Boot your Mac and immediately hold down the option key to launch the boot manager.

To boot from the USB installer, click the arrow under the USB installer on the boot manager screen. Once booted, click Reinstall MacOS to reinstall MacOS Catalina or MacOS Mojave.

I hope this helps.

ouch. Looks like the Mac is in desperate state. (the circle with diagonal through indicates it doesn't find a bootable system...)

Try to get a bootable hard disc/usb stick with a complete installer on it. (That's being discussed quite often these days). Plug it in, boot/reboot with alt key pressed just after the startup-sound, release when the selector appears. Select it and let it boot. Install MacOs onto the hard disc/USB-Stick to have a fully functional system on it. Keep the Installer. Shut down/reboot the Mac, eject the harddisc.

Plug it in your Mac and boot (don't press any key). It should boot into the external disc. Secure your data first of all. Then you're free to mingle. Try to install from the external, or start from scratch, delete the hard disc and install Catalina (or Mojave)...

Since I'm not a professional tech, I suggest you wait for one of the Level 9/10 to chime in, to get a second opinion...

hth

david

Good evening Soren

In a situation TheWalkers seems to be, wouldn't the first target be the recovery/backup of all files?

...

david

@David,

Thanks for responding.

I agree with you that first and foremost would be to get the their data back. Without an operating system or if the operating system is corrupt, the prohibitory symbol they are receiving. This means that the Mac contains an operating system but the Mac is unable to use it or boot to it. If they reinstall MacOS their files and settings will stay intact.

I hope this is helpful.