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Unable to create bootable installer for Mac OS Catalina

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


I followed the article line by line on My MacBook Air 2017. And I'm still getting the error saying "There was an error parsing the Info.plist for the bundle at URL <0x7fcd3c7ad600>: NSCocoaErrorDomain - 3840". Any idea why is it so?


I'm using Mac OS Catalina 10.15.7. Install disk has 32 GB of disk space available.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 6, 2021 5:24 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 6, 2021 5:53 PM

Try creating the macOS USB installer while booted into Safe Mode in case some third party software is interfering with the normal operation of macOS (typically it would be anti-virus apps, cleaning apps, and third party security software -- none of which are needed on a Mac).


Perhaps the installer is corrupt. Delete the installer from the Applications folder and empty the Trash. Download the Catalina installer again to try creating the USB stick again.


You may even want to run Disk Utility First Aid on your macOS volume (even better to run it on the hidden Container). Within Disk Utility click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the hidden Container appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid shows everything is "Ok" click "Show Details" and manually scroll back through the report to see if there are any unfixed errors listed. If there are any unfixed errors listed, then you can try running First Aid from Recovery/Internet Recovery Mode, but if the errors still cannot be fixed, then you will need to erase the whole physical drive before restoring from a backup or clone. Disk Utility will give an error if you attempt to scan the Container after scanning any of the individual APFS volumes so you will need to reboot the computer to scan the hidden Container first.


As a last resort try using a different USB stick especially a different brand since the quality of USB sticks are extremely poor. I doubt this is the cause of the error you have listed since I would expect the error to be related to the downloaded Catalina installer app.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 6, 2021 5:53 PM in response to parabdarshan

Try creating the macOS USB installer while booted into Safe Mode in case some third party software is interfering with the normal operation of macOS (typically it would be anti-virus apps, cleaning apps, and third party security software -- none of which are needed on a Mac).


Perhaps the installer is corrupt. Delete the installer from the Applications folder and empty the Trash. Download the Catalina installer again to try creating the USB stick again.


You may even want to run Disk Utility First Aid on your macOS volume (even better to run it on the hidden Container). Within Disk Utility click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the hidden Container appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid shows everything is "Ok" click "Show Details" and manually scroll back through the report to see if there are any unfixed errors listed. If there are any unfixed errors listed, then you can try running First Aid from Recovery/Internet Recovery Mode, but if the errors still cannot be fixed, then you will need to erase the whole physical drive before restoring from a backup or clone. Disk Utility will give an error if you attempt to scan the Container after scanning any of the individual APFS volumes so you will need to reboot the computer to scan the hidden Container first.


As a last resort try using a different USB stick especially a different brand since the quality of USB sticks are extremely poor. I doubt this is the cause of the error you have listed since I would expect the error to be related to the downloaded Catalina installer app.

Nov 7, 2021 10:10 AM in response to parabdarshan

parabdarshan wrote:

Finally I decided to give a try with Monterey installer and I was able to create the installer. I mean at least the process completed successfully. However I am unable to see bootable USB drive in the bootable devices.

Try Option Booting by holding down the Option key immediately after hearing the startup chime in order to access the Apple boot picker menu. See if you can see the Monterey USB installer. If you don't see it here, then try creating the USB installer again using a different USB stick (another brand may be best) since Macs can be very picky about the USB sticks/drives used for booting.

Unable to create bootable installer for Mac OS Catalina

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