Can’t boot from USB 2012 Mac.

How did you create the bootable macOS USB installer? Did you follow the instruction in the following Apple article? If not, then that may be the problem since other methods rarely work.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

What version of macOS are you trying to install?

Try using another USB stick since the quality of USB sticks is extremely poor and Macs can be picky about the drives used for booting.

What problems were you trying to solve by reinstalling macOS? Those same issues could be why you are encountering issues with reinstalling macOS.

Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to attempt to access the online Catalina installer.

Disconnect all other external devices (except keyboard & mouse).

S Evans wrote:

I am trying to install Lion since that’s what this Mac came with new. I thought about going a little newer but that’s how I ended up here to begin with. I updated the OS a while back and it seemed to bog it down a bit.

Performance issues are not due to the newer OS, but either due to third party software issues or a hardware issue such as a failing hard drive (or perhaps both).

I tried using the online installer and it says it can’t download the files. I tried 2 different wifi networks and same result. I read something about changing the time on the Mac to back in 2018 but I don’t have a way to do that since it won’t boot to anything except the recovery options.

Are you able to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to access the online Catalina installer? Unfortunately some Macs may only boot to the online installer for the older OS which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory. Those older online installers tend to have issues these days because Apple doesn't really care to keep them working, but the Catalina online installer should still be Ok since I haven't heard of anyone having issues with Catalina.

You would need to use the command line in the Terminal app while booted into a macOS installer (online or USB) to change the system date & time. The following command will set the date & time to Jan. 2, 2018 @ 11:33am:

date  -u  0102113318

I don’t have a second Mac to use to make the boot drive, so I can’t use the Apple instructions. I only use this Mac for video editing and all of my other computers are windows based. I followed a YouTube video on how to do it that uses TransMac to make the boot drive.

The Apple instructions are the only reliable method for creating a bootable macOS USB installer. I have not seen anyone report success using TransMac in many years. Besides using the BaseSystem.dmg file as suggested by @piratx will just boot you into Internet Recovery Mode anyway which it seems you can already do, but are unable to access the online installer properly. Booting from a BaseSystem.dmg image will not change anything since that image does not include the full installer files as you still must rely on Apple's servers to deliver the installer files.

For a 2012 Mac, you can use almost any working Mac (generally from 2007 to mid-2020....there are a few exceptions) to make a bootable macOS USB installer using Apple's instructions. Are you saying you don't know anyone with a working Mac model from that time range? The model of the host Mac will determine which version of macOS installer you can create, but at least it would be enough to proceed.

I really think you most likely have a failing internal hard drive, so unless you have an external USB3 SSD to use for booting the Mac with an external drive, it won't make any difference even if you do find a way to access a macOS installer.

If you don't have access to another compatible Mac, then you may want to check with an AASP to see if they can assist you. I doubt Apple will help since a 2012 Mac is no longer supported by Apple.

Hello :)

Its a 2012 Mac, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a way and boot from a system disk or better, from an installer.

If your other computers are windows only, you need to get 8 or 16GB usb drive.

Then follow the instructions below:

Open CMD on windows and type

diskpart

find the usb drive or disk drive you have on your windows system using this

list disk

let's say the usb drive we need is Disk 1 then you type

select disk 1

then you type

clean

and then you need to convert it to gpt for mac so you do type

convert gpt

and finally we need to create primary partition so type

create partition primary

now exit cmd or just close the window

You then use TransMac or any other tool to get the BaseSystem.dmg which is what we need to make the usb ready to boot a system on Mac.

Actually, to extract all contents from dmg on windows you need 7zip and you can get this for free from 7zip.org. Also you can use utilities like: DMG Extractor for windows!

To make the usb drive macOS installer you will need TransMac as its the one that can do this work correctly. It shouldn't cause any problems, you just need to choose from the sidebar the usb drive and then choose BaseSystem.dmg (you need to go to All Files in the dropdown menu for the windows to show you dmg files) then wait until TransMac restores the dmg into your usb drive and you should be able to hit option/alt on Mac and see this usb drive as boot option.

Hopefully the guide above works for you

Oh! Just a quick question first before we go on with the issue. You made an SD card bootable macOS installer? Did I got that right?

I would say proper way is an old external drive or some usb stick. I know some SD cards can be fast (c10) but never tried myself to make installer of one of them!

I am thinking that the best way of going is before app MacOS installers. Last one was Mountain Lion and you can find it here Mac OS X Mountain Lion Installer - Apple Support

This should be easy to make it bootable usb stick or drive and every file is on it so, no need to move to internet for the whole installation.

Another question, since 2012, did this Mac ever got an upgrade? If no, maybe the HD on it is going bye bye and this is why installing stalling for you!

Let me know :)

You managed to get it work?

If you download Mountain Lion shouldnt be hard from there and then you update from Software Update!

Let me know if you need more help! :)

This is great news :) You made it and it's alive once again!

So you now are in Lion and use Software Update to made it to Catalina?