How to recover a Deleted Hard Drive during macOS reinstallation

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!

As _marcjd said very early in this thread, the link below is a very straightforward fix. No messing with downloads, patchers, USB sticks. Follow the instructions and, providing your Mac is connected to the internet, you're in business.

Posting again as many seem to have missed it.

https://mrmacintosh.com/how-to-fix-the-recovery-server-could-not-be-contacted-error-high-sierra-recovery-is-still-online-but-broken/

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

I'm experiencing the same issue. I reformatted a new SSD to MacOS Extended Journaled, and I am booted into Option-⌘-R. The time has been updated, and my network is stable, but every try has failed with "The recovery server could not be contacted."

Same with me! Experiencing this same issue with trying to do a fresh install, tried all the methods I could find on google etc, and nothing! It’s like it’s not connected to the internet. But it definitely is, as I used Network Utility to double check and can also use Safari!

Really is hard work and it just shouldn’t be to do a fresh reinstall

So I have a 2017 MacBook Air. I’m wanting a fresh start so I erased the whole thing. I’ve erased the discs and now when I try to reinstall macOS it’s saying could not connect to the server. At first I was trying to reinstall macOS Catalina and it was trying but about halfway through it would say unable to connect to the server. Then the next time I tried it had the blinking file folder with the question mark and it had a link so I went to the link and followed the instructions and now it has macOS High Sierra but each time I try to reinstall it it’s saying unable to connect to the server. The connections fine but I’m not sure what to do. Has anyone had this problem or know what I could do to help?

Try disabling all your iCloud syncing, if that doesn't work,

Are you running any VPN, Anti-Virus, or Cleaning apps?

We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/

Thanks for Old Toad’s etrecheck instructions…

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255121100?answerId=259529290022#259529290022

Use the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

Earlier versions of etrecheck...

https://macdownload.informer.com/etrecheck/versions/

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

Thank you jojo_key

you are a genius. This absolutely works.

i didnt find the url in the log, but i typed looking at your video and voila! It worked

thanks a tonne.

This option definitely solves this problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouNQS36dIBw&t=95s follow the steps.

It involves using terminal but is explained is friendly way.

Followed instructions from jojo_key comment and reposting the youtube link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouNQS36dIBw&t=95s

Recommended

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.

macOS.High.Sierra.10.13.6.dmg

Step two you will need to download the High Sierra Patcher tool

here

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!

fix #3 saved me! the terminal ram fix was so easy to do, thank you so much.

I thought I had messed something up when I was trying to erase my mac to prepare to sell it, looks like it was apple's fault!