MacOS High Sierra Problem

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.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on May 17, 2023 3:27 PM

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23 replies

Oct 10, 2023 8:54 AM in response to BDAqua

I am trying to install High Sierra on a Late 2009 iMac. I have erased the HD in GUID and Mac OS Extended Journaled, and I know the Wifi is working properly.

This is the most recent hurdle I faced. Before that, I was trying to create a bootable USB from a Sonoma Mac, and it did not work. Then I have to delete a plist file from the installer. And now that!!! I find that Apple' article about how to create a bootable USB is an utter .... won't write it though:-)

Oct 15, 2023 11:42 PM in response to denali182

I had the same issue and despite following the Alt CMD R option all I got was a blank Apple screen and no way to get to Disk Utility. On restart my options were renewed and I used my Time Machine Back Up to restore all operating systems including MS OS with High Sierra. I'll now start again using the instructions specifically for cleaning to sell with High Sierra.

Nov 19, 2023 1:36 PM in response to Kenneth Mclauchlan

How can I download a copy of High Sierra or Big Sur (trying to fix a problem on a 2017 MBP with touch bar) when my only working machine is a 2021 MBP running Sonoma? When I go via the App Store, it starts to download Big Sur but then tells me that it's not compatible with this machine and terminates the d/l. Well I don't want it for this machine; I want it to create a bootable flash drive! Any suggestions? Starting the 2017 MBP in recovery mode runs into "the recovery server could not be contacted."

Nov 21, 2023 7:19 AM in response to denali182

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!


Nov 21, 2023 8:06 AM in response to BDAqua

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!



MacOS High Sierra Problem

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