Installer Damaged error

Had an issue with upgrading iMac to Big Sur. Decided to make a bootable usb and do a clean install.


Install program errors with “Installer Damaged” notification.


Re-downloaded Big Sur and used different usb to create bootable usb.


same error message with 17 minutes remaining.


any ideas?


iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on May 4, 2021 7:53 PM

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Posted on May 5, 2021 9:21 AM

Discovered the problem - I was using 2 different 32gb thumb drives that were older tech - I think they are not USB 3.0 capable.


I saw a post somewhere that indicated that older tech USB drives would cause these errors for some reason. I used a USB 3.0 capable 16gb thumb drive and the installation proceeded as designed.


Thank you for the suggestions -


Sean


5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 5, 2021 9:21 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Discovered the problem - I was using 2 different 32gb thumb drives that were older tech - I think they are not USB 3.0 capable.


I saw a post somewhere that indicated that older tech USB drives would cause these errors for some reason. I used a USB 3.0 capable 16gb thumb drive and the installation proceeded as designed.


Thank you for the suggestions -


Sean


May 5, 2021 9:22 AM in response to DiZoE

Discovered the problem - I was using 2 different 32gb thumb drives that were older tech - I think they are not USB 3.0 capable.


I saw a post somewhere that indicated that older tech USB drives would cause these errors for some reason. I used a USB 3.0 capable 16gb thumb drive and the installation proceeded as designed.


Thank you for the suggestions -


Sean McCann


May 4, 2021 10:21 PM in response to stmccann

Currently the system downloads have been flaky but some voodoo to try: Delete any old macOS Installers from /Applications. No 3rd party virus apps, cleaners etc installed. At least 40(-50) GB free space. Ethernet-only. Log out from App Store. Reboot the router. Boot the Mac in safe mode and try to download from App Store while limiting other network traffic to the minimum). If it fails, try again.

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Installer Damaged error

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