How to install El Capitan on an Erased Macbook Pro when Recovery and Internet Recovery don't work?

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How to install El Capitan on an Erased Macbook Pro when Recovery and Internet Recovery don't work?

I have a 2013 Macbook Pro that I'm about to give away so in preparation, I erased the hard drive via Disk Utility and intended to reinstall OSX in Recovery Mode. However in Recovery Mode, it will try to download El Capitan and install it but it will fail each time. It'll go through the process of logging me into the App Store, and download El Capitan, but at some point, it will say it's unable to install it.

I've tried Internet Recovery Mode and that too goes through some downloading process but spits out an exclamation mark and some 510 or 501 error (some error starting with 5 that I can't remember exactly).

I've managed to download the El Capitan installer DMG and have extracted that into the PKG file which is on a USB plugged into that Macbook Pro

My question therefore is how do I run this installer on that Macbook Pro when there's only a basic operating system running? Or more broadly, how do I get El Capitan installed again?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks :)

Posted on Feb 8, 2021 12:31 AM

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Answer 1

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Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Feb 8, 2021 12:39 AM in response to terobot

If you have the InstallMacOSX.dmg that is a start you need to develop that to get the

Install OS X El Capitan.app, then you can create a bootable USB installer which you use

to install El Capitan on your reset MBP.

Double click on the InstallMacOSX.dmg to get the InstallMacOSX.pkg,

The next section can only be done on a mac that is capable of running El Capitan.

This includes macs that have the potential to run El Capitan but have been upgraded to a newer OS.

A mac that came preinstalled with an OS later than El Capitan will refuse to do the next bit.

With the InstallMacOSX.pkg, double-click on

it and an installation window will open, this does not install El Capitan

but converts the InstallMacOSX.pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which

you will find in your Applications folder, it should be 6.2GBs in size.

(If the installation window asks which disk you want to install to, you must pick

the disk that you are booted to at the time. Not any internal or external disk that

you want to eventually install El Capitan on, that is for later.)

To start the installation of El Capitan double click on the Install OS X El Capitan.app.

The copy of the install app self deletes after installing El Capitan, so make sure you keep a copy of the

InstallMacOSX.dmg if you need it in future, or you could just make a copy of the Install OS X El Capitan.app

prior to installing and moving it to an external drive for safe keeping.

It is also possible to create a bootable USB installer disk using the Install OS X El Capitan.app in the Applications

folder and the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal app.

Read the instructions here,

How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support

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Answer 2

terobot Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 8, 2021 2:12 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks Eau Rouge for that reply. I have another late 2014 iMac which is currently running Catalina. I did read that article you linked to prior to me posting the question, but I was concerned that running the InstallMacOSX.pkg installer on my iMac would stuff up my Catalina.

Are you saying that when I double click on the InstallMacOSX.pkg, and then click Continue past the Introduction step of the installation, I should see the Install OS X El Capitan.app in my Applications folder at that stage? Or do I need to run through all the steps in the El Capitan installer before Install OS X El Capitan.app will appear in my Applications folder, and Catalina will remain untouched?

I'm just a bit nervous running through the all the steps of the installer because everything on my iMac is running smoothly on Catalina right now and I really don't want to install El Capitan on it!

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Answer 3

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Feb 8, 2021 2:40 AM in response to terobot

Double-click on the InstallMacOSX.pkg.

The installation window will open, follow the instructions

and when finished you will have the Install OS X El Capitan.app in your Applications folder.

This does not affect your installation of Catalina in any way whatsoever.

With the Install OS X El Capitan.app in your Applications folder you can then use

that to create a bootable USB installer, click on the link at the bottom of my first

post to read how to do that.

It is all incredibly simple.

Have fun.

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Answer 4

terobot Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 9, 2021 4:11 PM in response to Eau Rouge

It took a few attempts to get Terminal to copy the files to the USB, as the copying process seemed to hang after a couple of minutes. But after trying different USBs, it eventually worked, and my old Macbook Pro now has a clean install of El Capitan. And as you said, running the El Capitan installer on my Catalina iMac didn't affect Catalina in any way. So all is good now, and thanks for your help and clear instructions!

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Answer 5

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Feb 9, 2021 10:58 PM in response to terobot

Yes the Terminal dialogue starts off giving you some useful information but then falls silent,

this can give you the impression that it is not doing anything or stuck, but no it is working away.

The process of creating the bootable USB usually takes 20 to 30 minutes.

It is always best to use well known brands of USB sticks with macs,

I use SanDisk USBs.

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Answer 6

terobot Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 9, 2021 11:16 PM in response to Eau Rouge

That's exactly what happened. I used a couple of lesser known brand USBs to start off with and after a few minutes, couldn't tell if Terminal was doing anything as there was no progress indicator with the copying. I could see in Finder that the space available on the USB wasn't decreasing and so assumed the process had stalled. Eventually I used a Sandisk USB and could see the available space consistently decreasing, and after about 30 minutes of copying, Terminal produced a dialogue box and completed the process.

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How to install El Capitan on an Erased Macbook Pro when Recovery and Internet Recovery don't work?

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