Unable to put image on macmini Late 2014 A1347

patrycjusz130 wrote:

When I boot into recovery mode from the network (option key at startup) I connect to the network, approve the messages and when I try to start the imaging after a grab, it crashes with the error that it can't contact the server. I tried using advice from the net to set the time to the current or very old, which does not change the situation.

Sounds like you are accessing the online macOS 10.10 Yosemite installer. Setting the system date to some time between 2015 - 2017 should resolve the expired certificate issue, if indeed that is what that error message is referring. Very unfortunate that Apple doesn't specifically alert users to an expired certificate and instead mentions other confusing errors which may or may not apply. You can set the system date & time to Jan. 2, 2015 @ 11:33am using the following Terminal command:

date  -u  0102113315

Have you tried booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to see if you can access the online macOS 12.x Monterey installer? Unfortunately sometimes a Mac will only boot to the online installer for the OS which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory regardless of the keys used.

I tried to make a pen drive with high sierra on usb 3.0 and 2.0 and it does not see this pen drive, but I downloaded the image somewhere from the network.

How did you create the bootable USB installer? The only method known to work is the one in the Apple article @ku4x supplied.

Also, try using another USB stick (especially a different brand) since the quality of USB sticks is extremely poor. Plus Macs can be very picky about the USB sticks used for booting.

A macOS USB installer will not show up in the Start Disk System Preferences, but should show up on the Apple boot picker menu of the Option Boot screen assuming the installer was properly created & the USB stick is good.

I don't have any devices with an older system to create a pen drive with an old image. I only have Venture which doesn't even let me create Monterey. Any advice on how to deal with the problem?

Do you know anyone else with a compatible Qualifying Mac? You would generally need one from about 2008 to 2021 which would allow you to create a macOS 10.11 to 11.x USB installer. Here is an article showing which versions of macOS are compatible with various Apple hardware to help make the search for a compatible Qualifying Mac easier (the Mac can be running any version of macOS, it just needs to be compatible with the OS for the installer you want to create):

https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility

So is the problem in a nutshell that the server is not available? If that's the root problem, the solution is to wait as the problem could be net congestion, overloaded server and etc.

What Image are you talking about? The "Install macOS Monterey.app" file? If so have you tried simply double clicking on it? Every time I download the OS app, I get the install panel and have to do Command Q to quit and not start the install process.

My guess is somewhere along the line you deviate from the procedure to install the OS and your Mac doesn't want to (can't?) continue.

If all you want to do is install a newer version of the OS, you can do so by following this: Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Your post is a bit confusing as I think you're conflating various "Problems".