I am unable to reinstall macOS Monterey on to my MacBook.

Elder millennial. I wipe my laptop and do a fresh install of the operating system every few years. It's probably been about four years since I've done it on my 2016 Pro.


I restarted in Recovery and used Disk Utility to erase my Mac (like this). When I tried to Reinstall macOS, I got a SMART error (my computer was working perfectly fine before this, just a little slow, hence the fresh install).


So I rebooted my computer into Internet Recovery, and I can't reinstall High Sierra from there because "The recovery server could not be contacted" This is the error I get when trying to install--I can accept the agreement but then it can't download the os I'm guessing? Which is weird because I could use my other laptop on the same wifi to download the Monterey installer.


When I got stuck not being able to download the OS via Internet Recovery, I created a bootable installer (like this). I downloaded Monterey from the App Store on my 2015 Air also running Monterey and followed the instructions. However, I cannot actually *use* this bootable installer. I connect the installer and boot up the computer from shut down, press option to get into Recovery mode. Select "Use the attached installer," press continue, accept the license, and get... "This disk has SMART errors."


Right now I'm trying to start the installer from the bootable drive using Terminal. I found a few older posts that seemed relevant here and here but I can't seem to put it all together and locate the file startosinstall within the application.


From this post:

/Install\ macOS\  --agreetolicense --volume /Volumes/Macintosh\ HDMonterey.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall

Terminal response:

/Install macOS Monterey.app/Contents/startosinstall: No such file or directory


I'm kind of lost now. I really don't want to go into the Apple Store for this, and I feel like I just need to find out how to reinstall (any) operating system. Would appreciate some guidance on my approach using Terminal and creating the bootable installer, and any other advice that may be pertinent! I can do basic stuff with Terminal but that's about it so I am not sure if my syntax is correct and/or where the files I am looking for are. I am not even sure if the files I need are in the installer I made (even though Apple's page says to download from the App Store). Some other stuff I read made me think the file may not be in there. How can I check? Am I making this too complicated?


when trying to install from the bootable installer:


[Re-Titled By Moderator]

MacBook Pro 13″

Posted on Jul 2, 2024 12:59 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 5, 2024 2:27 AM

The later macOS installers now check the internal drive's SMART status and will refuse to install if the SMART status is "failed" which usually indicates the drive is failing, although with some SSDs this may not always be the case.....it doesn't matter to the installer though. macOS will ignore the SMART status is "failing" designation when booted normally into macOS (may not allow an OS update patch to be installed). I did stumble upon another post where it seems the macOS installers may have been performing this check for much longer than I realized.


What is the exact model of your Mac? You can get this information by entering the system serial number on the check coverage page here (do not post the serial number on this forum as it is considered personal information):

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support



oryyx wrote:

From this post:
/Install\ macOS\ --agreetolicense --volume /Volumes/Macintosh\ HDMonterey.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall
Terminal response:
/Install macOS Monterey.app/Contents/startosinstall: No such file or directory

As for creating the bootable macOS USB installer, the Reddit post you linked is incorrect or at least very misleading, plus you didn't enter the line correctly from the Reddit post and you also entered the path incorrectly since you did not "escape" one of the spaces in the path (at least from what you posted....I'm not sure what you posted is actually what you typed since it does not seem to really match the error message posted). I found a much more detailed & well written version on the Stack Exchange forum here where it appears you run the command you listed from Internet Recovery Mode or while booted to the USB installer:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/457698



Here is what you should have typed while booted into Recovery Mode or from the USB installer assuming you erased the internal SSD with the name of "Macintosh HD" (highly recommended):

/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall  --agreetolicense  --volume  /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD


Notice the path to the internal SSD named "Macintosh HD" after the "--volume " part of the command. This is very important. Erasing the internal SSD with any other volume name than "Macintosh HD" is not recommended unless you are familiar with the command line. The command line is very unforgiving. Paths and volume names must be entered properly which becomes complicated when a path or volume name contains a space or other non-alpha-numeric characters. Plus macOS Monterey does not make it easy to properly rename the boot volume so it is best to make sure the boot volume has a proper name before installing macOS these days. "Macintosh HD" is the default boot volume name that your Mac had when it shipped from the factory. I actually copied & pasted the Terminal command directly from the Stack Exchange post I linked since it is so easy to make a mistake typing it. I have not tried that command myself to know whether it will work.



If you do get macOS installed, then I highly recommend running the third party app DriveDx (free trial period) and posting the complete DriveDx text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper on the forum editing toolbar. DriveDx will likely show the SSD failing as well, but an SSD's health must be manually interpreted from its health report since not all "Warning" or "Failing" notices related to an SSD are "bad". You really do need to know how bad this SSD failure may be. Even if the SSD is truly showing a failing SMART health attribute, the SSD may be perfectly safe to continue using for some time, but it would definitely need to be monitored for any changes and you must make sure to have very frequent & regular backups so as not to lose any critical data.


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1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 5, 2024 2:27 AM in response to oryyx

The later macOS installers now check the internal drive's SMART status and will refuse to install if the SMART status is "failed" which usually indicates the drive is failing, although with some SSDs this may not always be the case.....it doesn't matter to the installer though. macOS will ignore the SMART status is "failing" designation when booted normally into macOS (may not allow an OS update patch to be installed). I did stumble upon another post where it seems the macOS installers may have been performing this check for much longer than I realized.


What is the exact model of your Mac? You can get this information by entering the system serial number on the check coverage page here (do not post the serial number on this forum as it is considered personal information):

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support



oryyx wrote:

From this post:
/Install\ macOS\ --agreetolicense --volume /Volumes/Macintosh\ HDMonterey.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall
Terminal response:
/Install macOS Monterey.app/Contents/startosinstall: No such file or directory

As for creating the bootable macOS USB installer, the Reddit post you linked is incorrect or at least very misleading, plus you didn't enter the line correctly from the Reddit post and you also entered the path incorrectly since you did not "escape" one of the spaces in the path (at least from what you posted....I'm not sure what you posted is actually what you typed since it does not seem to really match the error message posted). I found a much more detailed & well written version on the Stack Exchange forum here where it appears you run the command you listed from Internet Recovery Mode or while booted to the USB installer:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/457698



Here is what you should have typed while booted into Recovery Mode or from the USB installer assuming you erased the internal SSD with the name of "Macintosh HD" (highly recommended):

/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall  --agreetolicense  --volume  /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD


Notice the path to the internal SSD named "Macintosh HD" after the "--volume " part of the command. This is very important. Erasing the internal SSD with any other volume name than "Macintosh HD" is not recommended unless you are familiar with the command line. The command line is very unforgiving. Paths and volume names must be entered properly which becomes complicated when a path or volume name contains a space or other non-alpha-numeric characters. Plus macOS Monterey does not make it easy to properly rename the boot volume so it is best to make sure the boot volume has a proper name before installing macOS these days. "Macintosh HD" is the default boot volume name that your Mac had when it shipped from the factory. I actually copied & pasted the Terminal command directly from the Stack Exchange post I linked since it is so easy to make a mistake typing it. I have not tried that command myself to know whether it will work.



If you do get macOS installed, then I highly recommend running the third party app DriveDx (free trial period) and posting the complete DriveDx text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper on the forum editing toolbar. DriveDx will likely show the SSD failing as well, but an SSD's health must be manually interpreted from its health report since not all "Warning" or "Failing" notices related to an SSD are "bad". You really do need to know how bad this SSD failure may be. Even if the SSD is truly showing a failing SMART health attribute, the SSD may be perfectly safe to continue using for some time, but it would definitely need to be monitored for any changes and you must make sure to have very frequent & regular backups so as not to lose any critical data.


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I am unable to reinstall macOS Monterey on to my MacBook.

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