Intel MacBook Pro (Can't Boot from USB)

Probably Activation Lock. Clear that ➡️ If your Mac starts up to error -1008F - Apple Support

cortesr wrote:

Hi. I think I went a little too aggressive in Disk Utility. I'm trying to boot from a bootable USB drive (Catalina) on a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro.

I get to select my wifi network and it shows Install Catalina just fine but when it goes through the boot process I end up with apple.com/support message and the error -1008F. I've booted into Diagnostic mode and that actually worked and it said nothing was wrong. But I can't boot into Safe Mode and Recovery mode also ends with -1008F. Any help would be great.

About Startup Security Utility on a Mac with the Apple T2 ...

cortesr wrote:

Wow. I searched Google the past week and this URL never showed up:

…I was able to start installing Catalina. Thanks!

I generally don’t use Google, as I’ve had decreasing search accuracy, increasing ads, and increasing SEO’d dreck found with that tool.

There are other search tools available (and that tend to be less SEO’d, and less ad-heavy), including DDG.

As a workaround for search issues and for thr SEO’d content increasingly filling the search tools, use the site: keyword in either Google or DDG to better target the search. e.g.: site:support.apple.com

Good that you got the Mac working.