You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

how to create bootable USB disk for El Capitan from latest macOS Catalina

Hi There,


while trying to reset my old iMac (early 2009), I tried to "Reinstall macOS" from the recovery mode, and got the "Mac OS X could not be installed on the computer", without giving me any specific reason or details. Apple suggests I create a bootable USB, which can be used to install, but I am unable to as I am hitting deadends. For example, the instructions here do not cover my need

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201372


when I download disk image for the "Install Max OS X" all (that creates bootable installer) for OSX El Capitan or Yosemite, I can not run it on my MacBook with Catalina (don't know why.. backward incompatibility perhaps?).. and my iMac can not run anything newer than El Capitan.. What can I do?


I'm avoiding having to create a new partition on my latest MacBook for El Capitan, just to create a bootable image disk.. it would be ideal if I can download it from somewhere..


Thanks much for your help.

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on Aug 30, 2020 7:11 AM

Reply

Similar questions

3 replies

Aug 30, 2020 5:59 PM in response to PradeepReddy

In order to access the macOS installers you need to have access to a Mac that is actually compatible with the OS you are trying to create. For example if you are trying to create a bootable macOS 10.11 installer, then you need a Mac that is actually capable of running macOS 10.11.


Otherwise you will need to use a retail version of the OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD installer, then once OSX 10.6 is installed you will be able to access the later macOS installers.


For some unknown reason Apple won't provide macOS installers in a platform independent format.



how to create bootable USB disk for El Capitan from latest macOS Catalina

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.