MacBook Pro 2017 – no OS can be installed (but can accept a clone)

Background

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro from a local club here in NW Tasmania. They are trying to sell it, and as part of that, the operator tried to do a clean install. During that process, something happened that won't allow it to accept any new OS except from an external drive, which can then be cloned to the internal drive. I'm supposedly the Mac expert in the club, so now I'm working on it.

I have tried everything Apple suggests (all those keys that you hold down during startup). I've tried installing from a Monterey DMG file, but that stalls after a while. I've tried Software Update – fails everytime. And I've tried downloading Monterey and Ventura (the "Get" thing in the App Store), but also no go.

My latest attempt was to boot into Monterey from an external SSD (which worked), shut down, and then hold Shift-Cmd-Opt-R during startup. I entered the password for the wi-fi, the Globe appeared, but about 10 minutes later an exclamation mark appeared in the Globe with the words:

"support.apple.com/mac/startup -2022F"

I've been there before, and have tried every suggestion and every link.

What works

What I can do, as I said, it boot from an external SSD into Catalina and also Monterey. I can clone from Catalina to a working OSX on the internal drive, but I'm pretty sure trying to clone Monterey with CCC won't work.

Question

So, given that the MacBook can boot from an enternal drive, can boot into a cloned OS on the internal drive, but seems unable to accept a restoration via the internet, what else can I try? Ethernet instead of Wifi? The internet is definitely working for various websites (speedtest.net gave 40Mbps download speed, 7MB up).

Any suggestions?

Another question

While I was trying to load a new OS, I was shutting down and starting up lots of time. However, when I shutdown and left the lid open, then tried to restart by pressing the power button (and holding down various keys) – nothing happened. I'd wait and wait and wait. I finally cottoned on that maybe I have to shut the lid.

Is that normal – that a MacBook Pro won't boot after a shutdown, if the lid is left open?

MacBook Pro 13″

Posted on Nov 5, 2024 5:07 PM

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

141,901 points

Posted on Nov 5, 2024 6:18 PM

<< "support.apple.com/mac/startup -2022F">>

In Internet Recovery, these low negative thousands error messages (between -1000 and -7005) indicate that your provided Wi-Fi Network is inadequate in some fashion, and cannot be used (for this purpose) in its current state.

Common problems include:

Hidden Network-name

required use of a proxy server to get Internet access

required use of a login page to get Internet access

Use of a login server or certificate to get Internet access

Use of PPPoE in the Mac to get Internet access (typically only applies to DSL)

Use of Fixed IP address rather than good old DHCP

Variance of the Time by more than five minutes. if your battery has run flat, the time will likely be wonky and have to be specified with a Terminal command

Failure of Router to provide workable DNS server addresses, or providing 0.0.0.0 [may produce -2002f]

If you have an Ethernet port, you may in some cases be able to move your Mac close to the Router and connect to the Router using Ethernet.

The higher the number, the more obscure the problem.

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MacBook Pro 2017 – no OS can be installed (but can accept a clone)

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