Error when reinstalling Sierra on recovery mode

I followed all the instructions to return my iMac 27" (late 2013) to a state of factory reset.

After erasing my Macintosh HD drive I can only boot it in recovery mode.

When trying to reinstall Sierra, I get the error: "error occurred while preparing the installation Try running this application again"

Nothing I do seems to solve this. I've been at it for days.

Please help.

PS: Note that I cannot access a user session, I am only able to work with recovery mode at this point.

iMac 27″

Posted on Mar 8, 2023 7:50 AM

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Posted on Mar 8, 2023 10:25 AM

Check if the Disk might be APFS format which Sierra doesn't understand, Sierra would need MacOS Extended Journaled format.

Or...

Start up from macOS Recovery

To start up from macOS Recovery, turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold one of the following combinations on your keyboard. Command-R is generally recommended, especially if you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later… How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Command (⌘)-R

Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.

Option-⌘-R

Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac.

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