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Redownloading OSX El Capitan Error 403 Forbidden.

I got this Mac from my brother and he wiped it clean before giving it to me, however when I go to install OS X it gives me 403 Forbidden after I type in my Apple ID. Nothing on recovery disk, I have tried to set the date and time in terminal and tried to connect it direct via Ethernet and no luck.


Anyone figure this out? Its a 2007 Mac

Posted on Nov 15, 2023 7:01 PM

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Posted on Feb 1, 2024 4:38 PM

I’m in the same problem on the same iMac but I also already erased my drive. Please help. I’m trying to use this for my needs (it was my dads before)

17 replies

Nov 15, 2023 7:19 PM in response to JBest1

what model-year MacBook Pro?


signing in error suggest Your Apple-ID is not authorized to receive that version MacOS . that may be caused by the Recovery HD is still showing your brother's Apple-id. You may be able to load the original "shipped in the box" version of MacOS, then upgrade from there.


Shift-Option-Command-R: When you press and hold these four keys at startup, macOS Recovery might offer the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available. 




Dec 2, 2023 9:37 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I finally figured out what I need to do here. I have opened the Mac Pro and removed the clear SSD boot drive. I have a USB enclosure that I've put it into. I will install 10.5.4 from the system DVDs onto the SSD and reinstall it into the Mac Pro and that should be the end of things! So painful and convoluted these last three days have been. Not a good use of my time off. Will report back on my findings.

Dec 2, 2023 2:28 PM in response to JBest1

Forbidden happens when you do not have the proper credentials to get access to the specified items.


The likely culprit is the Apple-ID you have associated with your computer at the moment is not qualified to receive that download, perhaps if you never previously "purchased" that version from the Mac App Store using that EXACT Apple-ID..

Dec 1, 2023 4:32 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

This exact thing is happening to me as I have spent TWO DAYS I took off work to take a revved up MacPro 3,1 to a wiped and rebuilt state for a resale. It's been a waste of the two days I took off from work to get this and some other old apple HW on ebay to move it off the shelves. It's been like an endurance test I can't beat! The Mac Pro shipped with 10.5. Was upgraded to 10.11.6 ultimately, and not used for the last three years. Time to sell it off. I had original system discs for 10.5 as well as the 10.6 install disc, but I can't install either of these because the installer on the DVD is 32-bit! My only option is Recovery mode, where I was -finally- able to erase the SSD, and the partition was put there to reinstall El Capitan from the web, but the process hangs after I login with the iCloud account info associated with this computer. Then I get the same image at the head of this thread. 403 error from the server. My next thought is to turn off the Mac Pro, reboot, and start again, but with a blank SSD, will the recovery partition still be there after power is cut? The Mac is in a precarious state and the act of erasing and reinstalling before a sale has been a grinding, painful process of multiple hurdles to try [and fail] to overcome. Any help here?



Dec 2, 2023 8:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

BUT... the Mac Pro 3,1 shipped with 10.5 and has been upgraded to EOL in El Capitan. The installer on the DVD it shipped with I'd love to clean install to but it's a 32 bit installer. (/) then what? I'm in recovery mode having wiped the SSD boot drive and can't re-install El Cap since it seems to be missing from the App store. So I made a bootable installer with the DMG from Apple Support.... carefully typed in Terminal the sudo command Apple specified for the OS and it tells me "command not found." Where do I go from here? Whoops. Logged in with wrong profile for work instead of home. Am still Jim Donato

Feb 5, 2024 10:17 AM in response to chellelhendrix

<< it never gives me a choice of internal drive to install to. >>


The drive, onto which you wish to install, must be ERASED of all NEWER versions of MacOS. You can NEVER install older over newer, but you can install older over<ERASED>.


The bootable USB Stick Installer has a Utilities menu, and Disk Utility is available there, and will allow you to ERASE the internal drive.


You can try backing out of the Install process, but it may require a re-boot and selecting the Utilities menu EARLY in the process. Generally, you select ONLY the preferred language, wait about a quarter minute, and the Utilities menu appears.

Dec 2, 2023 6:03 AM in response to Jim Donato

when you sell an old Mac, you install the original, shipped-in-the -box version, or the nearest still available. Once you have MacOS of any flavor installed, seller's job is DONE -- your buyer will want to use their own Apple-ID to perform the updates, otherwise they are all tied to YOUR Apple-ID, and can not be upgraded.


So you boot it up into the start of the shipped-in-the-box MacOS, and quit out of everything and shut it down without even creating a User-name.

Jan 17, 2024 8:59 PM in response to JBest1

Here’s how I solved this problem:

  • [Not sure if needed] Booted on the recovery volume, to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP).
  • Downloaded El Capitan’s installer from the App Store, on another Intel-based Mac.
  • Created a USB boot disk from the installer, using the command line utility included with it.
  • Booted the Mac with that USB disk.
  • Installed El Capitan from that disk.

Redownloading OSX El Capitan Error 403 Forbidden.

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