So I was trying to erase my mac drive so I can reinstall macos but I ended up deleted my entire hard drive and now when I try to install my mac again it always says “The recovery server could not be contacted”. what do I do? I bought a bootable disk and it’s still not working.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iMac 27″, macOS 10.13
Like many others, I ran into the dreaded “The recovery server could not be contacted” message when trying to do a restore of Mac OS High Sierra for a 2010 13 inch MBP that I was selling (yes I know it’s worth almost nothing, but someone wanted to buy it from me).
I tried all of the recommended fixes:
Check Internet / WiFi connection: They are fine
Check date to make sure it is current: It’s fine
Check to see if Apple’s OS Update Server is up: It’s fine
In the end the only way I was able to get around the “recovery server could not be contacted” issue was to install a bootable version of High Sierra on a flashdrive, then boot the 2010 MBP holding down the Option key to get the installation started. It was necessary to use Terminal to make it work.
The first step is to get a High Sierra Installer through the App Store. I downloaded it on another 13 inch MBP that runs Mojave, and after the download was complete there was a message that High Sierra was too old for this computer and will not be installed. Obviously I didn’t want to install it on that computer anyway. I never could figure out where the Installer file went; it wasn’t in Downloads.
Here are some other problems that had to be overcome.
The 2010 MBP had a 500 GB SSD. It was formatted as APFS, and everything I read seemed to indicate that it needed to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility would not give me the option of formatting in Mac OS Extended (Journaled), so that had to be done using Terminal:
In Terminal type:
diskutil list
to get a list of all drives. Identify the disk you want to format. For example, assume it is disk0.
Type this command in Terminal to format the SSD in Mac OS Extended (Journaled):
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ <your drive name> /dev/disk0
where <your drive name> is what you want to call the disk.
The flashdrive I was using also had to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This could be done in Disk Utility.
The procedure for transferring the Installer file to the flashdrive is described here:
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
The process will appear to stop after the flashdrive is erased and the High Sierra Installer begins installation, but give it time (about 15 minutes). Eventually the installation to the flashdrive will be completed and Terminal will advise it is complete.
Installation onto the 2010 MBP was straightforward: Insert the flashdrive into a USB port, boot with the Option key held down and follow the prompts.
Like many others, I ran into the dreaded “The recovery server could not be contacted” message when trying to do a restore of Mac OS High Sierra for a 2010 13 inch MBP that I was selling (yes I know it’s worth almost nothing, but someone wanted to buy it from me).
I tried all of the recommended fixes:
Check Internet / WiFi connection: They are fine
Check date to make sure it is current: It’s fine
Check to see if Apple’s OS Update Server is up: It’s fine
In the end the only way I was able to get around the “recovery server could not be contacted” issue was to install a bootable version of High Sierra on a flashdrive, then boot the 2010 MBP holding down the Option key to get the installation started. It was necessary to use Terminal to make it work.
The first step is to get a High Sierra Installer through the App Store. I downloaded it on another 13 inch MBP that runs Mojave, and after the download was complete there was a message that High Sierra was too old for this computer and will not be installed. Obviously I didn’t want to install it on that computer anyway. I never could figure out where the Installer file went; it wasn’t in Downloads.
Here are some other problems that had to be overcome.
The 2010 MBP had a 500 GB SSD. It was formatted as APFS, and everything I read seemed to indicate that it needed to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility would not give me the option of formatting in Mac OS Extended (Journaled), so that had to be done using Terminal:
In Terminal type:
diskutil list
to get a list of all drives. Identify the disk you want to format. For example, assume it is disk0.
Type this command in Terminal to format the SSD in Mac OS Extended (Journaled):
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ <your drive name> /dev/disk0
where <your drive name> is what you want to call the disk.
The flashdrive I was using also had to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This could be done in Disk Utility.
The procedure for transferring the Installer file to the flashdrive is described here:
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
The process will appear to stop after the flashdrive is erased and the High Sierra Installer begins installation, but give it time (about 15 minutes). Eventually the installation to the flashdrive will be completed and Terminal will advise it is complete.
Installation onto the 2010 MBP was straightforward: Insert the flashdrive into a USB port, boot with the Option key held down and follow the prompts.
Ok I had this same problem and I finally got High Sierra to install. Here is what I did.
Step one you will need to download a copy of the high Sierra dmg file.
Step two you will need to download the High Sierra Patcher tool
Step Three on the current Mac you will have to allow the patcher app to install for use through the security settings
Step four connect a blank thumbdrive to your Mac to install the High Sierra OS to needs to be over 16gigs
Step five run the High Sierra patcher program and point it to the .DMG file you downloaded earlier and tell it to install it on the thumb drive
This process takes some time to complete and failed the first time I tried it so try again. The second time the process finally completed.
Step six On the old Mac start the Mac while pressing command option and R
Step seven make sure the this Mac is not connected to the internet via wifi
Step eight go to utilities at the top of the screen and open the terminal app
Step nine type the command
date 0101010118 and press enter
this will set the date and time on this Mac.
Step ten close the terminal app, connect the usb stick you made to this Mac, and then restart the Mac while holding the option key.
Step ten select the thumb drive that has High Sierra operating system installed on it and go through the installation process.
So far this is the only way I have been able to get this to work. I ran all of the initial processes using my M2 MacBook Pro 13" so it should work for all of you if you need to create a usb Mac OS disk.
Hopefully this helps you guys it took me forever to get this to work!
I would like to add some clarity since this frustrating error could use a lot less of our time trying to get around it.
I have gathered the solution that worked for me from multiple forums beginning with the answer here from Gwopoppam, who started me on the path to success.
In Gwopoppa's instructions, skip the first step of downloading the High Sierra dmg file. You can do it from within the patcher app in step 2 and the patcher won't verify other downloads (or didn't for my 6 versions.)
Insert a Flash Drive (honestly 16GB minimum) and use disk utility to format MacOS Extended (Journaled) & GUID and name the drive MyVolume
Get that patcher app which will either open right up (on my mac mini) or require allowing it via Sys Pref-Security (my 2012 MBP and 2017 MBP TouchBar) where you will instruct your mac to open the file.
From another forum: when the patcher opens up and asks you to click the image to select a file, click Tools in the menu bar which will give one option of downloading the dmg right from apple. This method took 5 minutes as opposed to the 2 hours I waited for 2 different downloads that couldn't be verified by the patcher. When complete it will verify it and ask if you want to create the bootable drive. You don't because it will likely fail while making a drive that looks like it has the right contents. All you want is that download which you are to now copy from the downloads folder (the Install macOS High Sierra app) and paste into the Applications folder.
Open Terminal and follow the Apple link for the terminal commmand to create a High SIerra bootable installer flash drive:
Create a bootable installer - Apple Support
Here's the command and please note naming the drive MyVolume as well as copying the app into the applications folder helps this command work:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
After pasting the command in terminal enter your admin password (nothing will appear while typing) and press enter. The bootable drive will be created (8 min)
When it's finished eject the flash drive and remove it.
On the mac you are installing High SIerra on, insert the flash drive and power on holding the option key. Select the drive you just created. It will likely boot to the macOS Utilities screen. If it boots to the installer congratulations, but don't waste time clicking Install MacOS from the utilities menu if you get to that screen.
Disconnect any ethernet cable and/or turn off Wi-Fi.
Open disk utility and format the drive to install the OS on as MacOS Extended (Journaled) and GUID.
Go to Utilities in the menu bar and open Terminal.
Type Date 0101010118 and press enter.
Then type csrutil disable and press enter to turn off SIP.
Click the Apple icon and Restart. Just let it completely restart which should bring you back to the MacOS Utilities screen.
Restart the computer holding the Option Key. Select the bootable flash drive and follow the installation instructions.
Crazy fun!!!! 2 weeks I spent on this iMac. So glad I can hand it back to the owner now.
what finally worked for me:
I initially used Command+R to wipe the hard drive and re-install macos (giving me the High Sierra as default option).
I kept getting the "recovery server could not be contacted" message.
I'd already checked wifi and the date/terminal trick.
I finally restarted the computer and used Option+Command+R so it gave me an updated version of macOs (ventura) to install and it worked no problem
There is no 2016 iMac. There are 2017 models and there are Mid & Late 2015 models. Each one shipped with a different version of macOS and each one also has a different version of highest supported version of macOS. You can get the exact model of your Mac by entering the system serial number on the check coverage page here (please never post the serial number on the forums as it is considered personal information):
Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support
The best way to reinstall macOS is by booting into Internet Recovery Mode by using Command + Option + R to attempt to access the online installer for the most recent version of macOS that is compatible with your Mac. However, some Macs may only boot to the online installer for the older version of macOS which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory.
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
If you encounter large negative error codes trying to boot to Internet Recovery Mode, then it indicates some sort of network issue. Try power cycling the router (and modem if you have one) and connecting the Mac directly to the router using an Ethernet cable for a faster more reliable connection which bypasses any hard to troubleshoot WiFi issues.
If you have access to another Mac compatible with an OS your iMac, then you can use the other Mac to create a bootable macOS USB installer using the instructions in the following Apple article:
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
The other Mac can currently be running any version of macOS 10.6+. You can use the information in the following article to confirm which versions of macOS are compatible with various Apple hardware:
https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility
Had this issue,spent a couple of days messing around formatting hard drives, using wifi, ethernet, changing the time etc. Found an article on mr macintosh about looking at the installer log and seeing that the installer cant see the apple server, following the info about resetting the nvram using some copy and pasting into terminal (really straight forward,website is really clear) it worked straight away. Now happily downloading. https://mrmacintosh.com/how-to-fix-the-recovery-server-could-not-be-contacted-error-high-sierra-recovery-is-still-online-but-broken/
I followed this process as well but I was given errors "couldn't unmount volume" when trying to install onto the older mac. What worked for me was to restart and hold option, turn off wifi and then go into terminal and typing "date 1025000017" before attempting to install High Sierra from the thumb drive instead of changing the date before you restart the computer. (do step 10 before 7-9)
Aside from downloading the DMG file and installing anything, I tried all the other solutions I found in this community. The only thing that worked for me was using command-OPTION-r, not just command-r. Easy peasy.
See Reddit thread at https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/14xn7jt/cant_reinstall_mac_os_high_sierra/
I made it work and my MacBook installed OS Ventura vs High Sierra and everything is perfect. Now I'm able to sell it!
None of the above worked for me. What did work for me is using command option r instead of just command r.
See reddit post at https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/14xn7jt/cant_reinstall_mac_os_high_sierra/
This is what I'm currently trying to do. I've watched this video. Hopefully it'll help someone. It's going into terminal and changing the OS download link so it now works to download High Sierra.
I no longer received the “The recovery server could not be contacted” error
Hello! I was never able to contact the recovery server, but I was able to get this working on my machine (an M2 MacBook Pro) and create an installer for my old iMac. You will use 3 things:
1) a 16 gigabyte flash drive with a USB-C side and USB-A side, or some way of getting the media into both your apple silicon Mac and the target Mac
2) If you are trying to download "install MacOS High Sierra.app", it's in this weird position where it isn't available directly on Apple's website and yet the App Store won't let Apple Silicon macs download it. The free trial of MDS, an enterprise Mac tool, can allow you to download it. Install the trial from https://twocanoes.com/products/mac/mds/, then MDS > "Don't show again" and "not now" on key creation > Download MacOS (in the sidebar) > MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6 > Download > [choose your Applications Folder].
3) Once you download the installer to your applications folder, follow this reddit post to make your mac willing to run the "createinstallmedia" tool in the High Sierra installer: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/xobos7/createinstallmedia_wont_work_terminal_says_zsh/
Good luck!
APFS won't work for Sierra, Sierra needs MacOS Extended Journaled. High Sierra won't work fir APFS on earlier Macs.
What has often worked for others is to use this Restore Method instead of CMD+r keys...
Option-⌘-R
Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac.
2017 iMac failing to install Sierra in re… - Apple Community
Ok I had this same problem and I finally got High Sierra to install. Here is what I did.
Step one you will need to download a copy of the high Sierra dmg file.
Step two you will need to download the High Sierra Patcher tool
Step Three on the current Mac you will have to allow the patcher app to install for use through the security settings
Step four connect a blank thumbdrive to your Mac to install the High Sierra OS to needs to be over 16gigs
Step five run the High Sierra patcher program and point it to the .DMG file you downloaded earlier and tell it to install it on the thumb drive
This process takes some time to complete and failed the first time I tried it so try again. The second time the process finally completed.
Step six On the old Mac start the Mac while pressing command option and R
Step seven make sure the this Mac is not connected to the internet via wifi
Step eight go to utilities at the top of the screen and open the terminal app
Step nine type the command
date 0101010118 and press enter
this will set the date and time on this Mac.
Step ten close the terminal app, connect the usb stick you made to this Mac, and then restart the Mac while holding the option key.
Step ten select the thumb drive that has High Sierra operating system installed on it and go through the installation process.
So far this is the only way I have been able to get this to work. I ran all of the initial processes using my M2 MacBook Pro 13" so it should work for all of you if you need to create a usb Mac OS disk.
Hopefully this helps you guys it took me forever to get this to work!
Jojo_key you tube video fixes it.
It comes down to it needing http not https when looking for the High Sierra
How to recover a Deleted Hard Drive during macOS reinstallation
