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Can't download High Sierra full installer.

Help. I'm currently running High Sierra, but I keep getting network related errors. Apple Support wants me to reinstall High Sierra to fix the errors. When I go to app store, High Sierra page, and hit "download", I get the error:


"macOS High Sierra failed to download / Use the Purchased page to try again."


Well, High Sierra isn't on my purchased page.

How do I get around this?


Thanks


MacBook Pro 17″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Oct 17, 2023 2:17 PM

Reply
34 replies

Oct 18, 2023 8:04 AM in response to John Galt

John Galt wrote:

Also, I don't see this mentioned in the thread, but have you tried to reinstall the High Sierra app by booting into Recovery? (Option-Command-R)
Reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Forget that method. As I've been telling you it won't work. The Recovery method of installing HS is gone.

Can you elaborate on this, please?

Is it deprecated or just broken?


Oct 18, 2023 8:42 AM in response to Scott Bernard

The unanswered question is why it works for some users and not others.


Please do the following. Control-click the High Sierra link in How to download and install macOS - Apple Support and choose Copy Link.


Paste it into a human-readable text field.


This is the result I get:

macappstores://apps.apple.com/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12


The "macappstores" prefix tells Safari to redirect to the App Store (which is the reason it might not work in other browsers). The numbers at the end tell the App Store what to offer.

Oct 18, 2023 9:29 AM in response to John Galt

John Galt wrote:

Please do the following. Control-click the High Sierra link in How to download and install macOS - Apple Support and choose Copy Link.

Paste it into a human-readable text field.

This is the result I get:
macappstores://apps.apple.com/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12


macappstores://apps.apple.com/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12


same as you


Just out of curiosity, I tried downloading SIerra from the same web page. I clicked and it went straight into my Safari downloads. After it finshed, I tried it and it runs without error.

Oct 18, 2023 7:04 AM in response to John Galt

That small installer just vanished between restarts.


I *did* actually start with that web page's link to the app store page. When you search the app store for "High Sierra", it won't ever find High Sierra. You have to use the web page's link to tell the app store where to find the High Sierra page.


There was no "...purchased page..." error on that alternate alternate alternate attempt, as it downloaded [the 22m] fine on the first try.


Yes, I have no explanations either for all the errors, or for the 22m installer, or it vanishing.


I already contacted support and they gave me step by step instructions for multiple methods, that all failed. And you'll love this... the screen sharing wouldn't work either. It showed good on my end, but not on support's end. We tried multiple times. I finally had to screen share my iPhone instead, put it in camera mode, and hold that up towards the laptop screen for the agent to see while I followed instructions. No idea why screen sharing failed, but it worked perfectly fine 3 weeks ago on a different Apple support call.


I tried Safe Mode already multiple times and had the usual errors. I tried it one more time just now, on normal account, and also with the alternate alternate alternate method that got me the small installer. Both accounts are now giving the "...Purchased Page..." error.


Oct 17, 2023 3:00 PM in response to Scott Bernard

I will save you the hassle. It is no longer possible to download and install High Sierra.


An Apple Store can probably install it though. They ought to have a variety of local (USB / NetBoot) installers.


Whether it will resolve the network-related problems is another story though. If you describe them perhaps a more viable solution can be suggested.

Oct 17, 2023 3:34 PM in response to Scott Bernard

Apple has not been forthcoming with the inability to download and install earlier macOS versions from Recovery. It is possible they do not even know enough to answer. The workaround will be to download the installer from the App Store as you tried, and it will require creating the "bootable USB installer" — a step you are not even able to reach.


At present, I am attempting to duplicate what you're doing and will come up with an answer either way. Unlike Apple.

Oct 18, 2023 6:18 PM in response to John Galt

John Galt wrote:

I can only surmise something is amiss with the MAS's content distribution network. What else could explain the fact it works "here" and not "there"?

I'm still suspicious of my various network gremlins. And I really don't like the inconsistency of the failures. Sometimes it's the "go to Purchased page" error, sometimes it downloads the 22m installer (which errors out when run), and I swear there were a few times when hitting the download button didn't do anything bat all. And one of those times, I don't know which, actually stared the download (which failed to complete), but never showed me it was downloading. For all I know, it would have downloaded fine, but my shutdowns and restarts to try other methods probably cut off that download.

Oct 19, 2023 8:08 AM in response to Scott Bernard

Scott Bernard wrote:
I have already downloaded and successfully run Apple's High Sierra installer with no issues. The installation is fully updated to latest version.

For the curious... I did a clean install on an external drive. Then I booted off of it, and used the link repeatedly mentioned above to go to the Mac App Store, High Sierra installer download page, and I tried downloading it again, now from the clean install. It gave me the same download error as multiple other attempts, and said to go to the "...Purchased page..." and try getting it from there. It's a brand new clean installation, so there is nothing on the purchased page.

Nov 9, 2023 9:06 PM in response to Scott Bernard

Scott Bernard wrote:

I'm still suspicious of my various network gremlins.


As it turns out, I really DID have network gremlins, accounting for quite a few forum threads I started recently. I'm not sure how many of the attempts in this thread would have worked if not for said gremlins.


The eventual answer was a new installation of High Sierra (ironic in this thread at least) and that killed them all. However, not all new installs are good. Some brand new High Sierra installations came with the same errors. Some (very few) did not. You have to test each HS installation


The easiest, but still painful way to explain all this, is to check out the other forum thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/nasty-mystery-high-sierra-connection-problem.2409308/


P.S. thanks again for all the help here.

Can't download High Sierra full installer.

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