The problem with installing mac os El Capitan by internet

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Level 1

4 points

The problem with installing mac os El Capitan by internet

I've an old 24-inch intelmac, which is used by member of family just for internet etc. it's slow and someday then I'll buy new instead of main will be swapped (main is a bit newer intel imac from 2017, it's my third imac btw) this one with el capitan will be abandoned, but for at least few months this old one must be alive. Recently this worn-out colleague experiencing gray screen, system not starting, old DVD with installation of snow leopard is probably too old and stopped cooperating with dvd drive. I'm trying installer from Apple.com by the internet but it stopped working with 403 error, and info that access or installer is forbidden, it's pretty annoying that ever for this installer I've to be logged into icloud, it's kind of embarrassing. Installator from How to download and install macOS - Apple Support is useless because it's not compatible with my newest mac, I can't download it by appstore too. What with my right to repair? Guys, please be serious, business is business but sometimes people need have older macs alive, You have to respect the old customers because they will stop persuading new ones to buy Macs, it's one reason, but good one I think. Of course, I don't have to write anymore that there are bitter people who return to windows while remaining even more bitter, but they have no choice, because if there are no more decent computers anyway, it's better to buy cheaper ones.

I am writing this with the hope that there are some serious people here who are more experienced and will save me some time by suggesting a few helpful lines of code or something similar. I used to have an application to make such installations, but I don't think it's there anymore, the developer disappeared from the web, or I can't find it because this page dropped in the google ranking. Please help!

Posted on Sep 3, 2024 9:33 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

84,077 points

Sep 14, 2024 2:20 PM in response to przm

It is a well known issue that some of these older installers available by internet restore are no longer available due to bad certificates. You can try playing with the system clock via the terminal, as is suggested on my tip:

El Capitan System (10.11) requirements fo… - Apple Community

Or talk with the folks at http://www.lowendmac.com/ to find out if they have anybody who keeps the old installers.

Macs that couldn't run Sierra or later are becoming scarcer, and fewer browsers are available that can run on those old systems.

If you have any older systems that are running it, clone them and see if your Mac can take a clone from them.

Making matters really difficult is that Sierra is the first Mac OS that supports MFA fully. Earlier Macs you need to insert the MFA code immediately after the password when logging in the AppleID on AppleIDs with MFA enabled. MFA is multifactor authentication which requires having two devices, or at least an email of a code to login a device for the first time.

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

60,758 points

Sep 14, 2024 5:41 PM in response to przm

Chances are the hard drive is failing on that older iMac. What is the exact model of this iMac? You can get this information by clicking the Apple menu and selecting "About This Mac", or if it cannot boot, then enter the system serial number on the check coverage page here (please do not post the serial number on the forum since it is considered personal information):

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

If you can boot to this old iMac, then you can check the health of the internal drive by using DriveDx. Post the complete DriveDx text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper on the forum editing toolbar.

A failing hard drive could prevent booting to external media as well if the failure is severe enough. Or perhaps there is some other hardware issue (memory or power supply issue).

I would suggest installing Linux Mint onto this older iMac. This would give you an up to date non-Apple OS which has access to the current versions of the popular browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Vivaldi, etc. Of course this requires learning a new OS, but it is a great way to extend the useful life of older computers. However, Linux is not for everyone. Of course, if the hard drive is failing, then this may or may not even install. If Linux Mint installs, then you can still check the health of the drive by using GSmartControl (may be installed by default, or it is available to be installed from the Linux Mint software repository).

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