What does this mean? I’m trying to reinstall macOS High Sierra! Can’t get past this error message “the recovery server could not be contacted”
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Solved.
In my case I was trying to do a re-install of the OS form the startup utilities and kept getting this error.
The trick was to set the clock. Start the Terminal app from utilities to get a bash terminal. Type `date` to display the current date/time. In my case it was set to January 1st. I remember it was common with Windows Update to fail to update your system if the system clock was not "close" to the correct time.
Set the date with:
date 1114125317
(this example sets the date to November 14th, 12:53 2017)
Re-run the recover OS option and it should work.
It won't let me change the time...
iMac:~ joncancelino$ ntpdate -u time.apple.com
6 Nov 17:54:35 ntpdate[1353]: Can't adjust the time of day: Operation not permitted
This is exactly what worked for me. Thank you so much!
Nice post, thanks.
thanks Bdaqua
same problem with the new admin account
yes Bdaqua I have the 10.13.6
So, you can or cannot download that?
Are you still having connection problems?
Hello! Was just going through this thread as im currently facing a similar situation. Does the date thing still work for a 2013 laptop? Or do i use the current date?
Thanks, I do think they messed up on updates/upgrades lately.
Hello. Dear. How it work for date of today or how i would write the date
Wow! This actually worked! Thank you so much!!!!!
Great to hear! :)
Hey hope this alternative solution helps...
While in recovery mode...
1) Open terminal and type the following...
ntpdate -u time.apple.com
2) Quit Terminal, and try to reinstall MacOS again
This worked like a charm for me 🙂 Link to article solution below:
https://becomethesolution.com/blogs/mac/the-recovery-server-could-not-be-contact ed-mac-os-sierra
SOLUTION:
1.Boot Mac while holding Command and R(enter recovery mode)
2.Once the loading bar appears you can let go of Command and R
3.Once at the recovery screen go to Utilites in the top menu Bar
4. Open Terminal
5. Type
ntpdate -u time.apple.com
6. Press enter, wait for a response, then go to Finder Quit Terminal
7. install Mac OS
8.Need more help? Check out the link below
REASON AND ISSUE:
The time on your Mac is off, mine was off by .00356 sec or something and this solved it
SOURCE:
https://becomethesolution.com/blogs/mac/the-recovery-server-could-not-be-contact ed-mac-os-sierra
I just had the problem and the solution was quite simple... it happened that when I erased the Macintosh drive it deleted the saved password to my wifi. So I simply clicked on the top right corner on the wifi symbol and reconnected.
This worked for me. (Manually trying to set the time in Terminal using the date ############... thing that someone suggested didn't work for me.)
https://becomethesolution.com/blogs/mac/the-recovery-server-could-not-be-contact ed-mac-os-sierra
"Recovery server could not be contacted" Error Message
