User profile for user: Ztrader
Ztrader Author
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Unable to boot using USB Bootable drive on Mac

Hi everyone.

My dad has an iMac late 2011 with Mac OS x lion.

He has not used the machine for a while and the certification is out of date. He was unable to browse on the internet and occurring error popped up «Your clock is ahead of time»


researched it and came to the conclusion that certification is out of date. I tried to update certificate from this website here https://msfn.org/board/topic/175170-root-certificates-and-revoked-certificates-for-windows-xp/


this is of no help.




I'd rather factory reset the machine. I start the machine in recovery mode. I delete the volume on disk utility first.


Then I go back to reinstall Mac Os Lion x. I get this error message "Can't download the additional components needed to install Mac OS X»




When I try to start the machine it comes up with a blank white page. And when I try to boot the machine in recovery mode, it forwards me to internet recovery mode




I came across this website and tried all steps 1-4. None of the steps work. https://iboysoft.com/amp/howto/a-required-download-is-missing.html




I ran into some problems on step 4 for the bootable USB flash drive to install Mac OS. As I have windows computer I followed this guide here https://www.easeus.com/amp/computer-instruction/create-mac-bootable-usb-from-windows.html.


I have followed all the steps. When I try this I get this error message "this disk doesn't use the guid partition table scheme". I have made sure that the USB is GPT on my windows computer. Still same problem.




I come across a video where it is told that you go into disk utility, then press view all devices and press the hard disk/usb where you can select the scheme GPT to solve this problem. But I don't get this choice since I only enter internet recovery mode.




Spent several hours getting it fixed. To no avail. I would be very grateful if someone could help me as I’m stuck in internett recovery mode.


I would be really gratefull if someone could help me solving this problem. Tried to keep it as short as possible.


Sorry for my bad english.

Posted on Aug 5, 2023 3:13 PM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
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User level: Level 9
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Posted on Aug 9, 2023 10:02 AM

Some of those instructions are a bit out dated and in the case of the Easus link completely wrong in some parts.


To expand upon @BDAqua's advice for needing access to another Mac for creating a bootable macOS USB stick....you generally need access to a Mac from 2008 to 2018 so you can create a 10.11 or 10.13 USB installer. Generally a Mac from 2008 to 2015 can create a bootable macOS 10.11 USB installer, while a Mac from Late-2009 to 2018 can generally create a 10.13 USB installer. If macOS 10.13 has never previously been installed, then you may first need to install macOS 10.11 so the system firmware has been update before being able to upgrade to 10.13.


Here is an Apple article with instructions for creating a bootable macOS USB installer assuming you have a compatible Mac for the OS you want to create:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Here is an article which shows which versions of macOS are compatible with various hardware so you can locate a compatible Mac to use for creating a macOS USB installer. The Mac must be compatible with the OS you are trying to create.

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


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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
Community+ 2026
User level: Level 9
75,078 points

Aug 9, 2023 10:02 AM in response to Ztrader

Some of those instructions are a bit out dated and in the case of the Easus link completely wrong in some parts.


To expand upon @BDAqua's advice for needing access to another Mac for creating a bootable macOS USB stick....you generally need access to a Mac from 2008 to 2018 so you can create a 10.11 or 10.13 USB installer. Generally a Mac from 2008 to 2015 can create a bootable macOS 10.11 USB installer, while a Mac from Late-2009 to 2018 can generally create a 10.13 USB installer. If macOS 10.13 has never previously been installed, then you may first need to install macOS 10.11 so the system firmware has been update before being able to upgrade to 10.13.


Here is an Apple article with instructions for creating a bootable macOS USB installer assuming you have a compatible Mac for the OS you want to create:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Here is an article which shows which versions of macOS are compatible with various hardware so you can locate a compatible Mac to use for creating a macOS USB installer. The Mac must be compatible with the OS you are trying to create.

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


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Unable to boot using USB Bootable drive on Mac

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