"Recovery server could not be contacted" Error Message

I had the same issue, now i've solved it easily.

My macbook pro 15 inches Core i7 was out of battery (Broken) that's why the date wasn't updated then i could not be connected to server, so I applied the process below:

Start your mac pressing Command R for 20 seconds, when recovery utility is able, open terminal and type the actual date on the next command:

date 0204100518

Was on feb (month 02) day 4 (04) at 10:05 am (1005) year 2018 (18), then press enter and that's it, just go to install os x without any problem. I hope it works for you too.

Hi friend

Thanks. This was very helpful. We were on the brink to toss the **** thing out of the window. It feels like we've tried everything. Imagine that it was a stupid thing like entering a date that solved the problem.

Cheers from Denmark

It does feel like Apple could do a better job of suggesting solutions right in that message, which is itself misleading. Having a wildly wrong clock time appears to be a common occurrence when someone needs to do an OS restore, not surprisingly.

Is it your problem solved ?

I got same problem where after i erase (format) the hd, i tried to reinstall the OS but "The recovery server could not be contacted" appeared. Someone please help me to solve this..or got any ideas for bootable via usb.

That error also pops up in my screen everytime I intend to upgrade my mac to high Sierra.... Many attemps and call from apple support... And after several days of trying... I finally did upgrade my mac... Since i dont have an adaptor from thunderbolt to ethernet... My option is only wifi... The upgrading needs a stable internet connection(just try and try with your wifi) and internet recovery command:

1. Shutdown your computer

2. Press alt+command+R

Internet recovery was my last option... And lucky me the download tooks only awhile.. Maybe the time i was downloading; the internet was at its peak (wifi only)... Then in mac utility.. Install the downloaded data... If you failed.. Just try again... Your patience is strongly needed... Hope this helps...

Get a terminal window, frome the recovery menu. The menu bar at the top, not the window dot in the middle. Then enter the date command and you should see some some old date at January 1st. My MBP has a battery problem and wasn’t plugged in for a while so the system date got reset.

To fix type

date 1016200017

which is October 16th 20:00 (or 8pm) 2017.

So mmddhhmiyy

all two digits.

After that recovery worked. Must have something to do with certificate validity or something maybe.

That error also pops up in my screen everytime I intend to upgrade my mac to high Sierra.... Many attemps and call from apple support... And after several days of trying... I finally did upgrade my mac... Since i dont have an adaptor from thunderbolt to ethernet... My option is only wifi... The upgrading needs a stable internet connection(just try and try with your wifi) and internet recovery command:

1. Shutdown your computer

2. Press alt+command+R

Internet recovery was my last option... And lucky me the download tooks only awhile.. Maybe the time i was downloading; the internet was at its peak (wifi only)... Then in mac utility.. Install the downloaded data... If you failed.. Just try again... Your patience is strongly needed... Hope this helps...

That error also pops up in my screen everytime I intend to upgrade my mac to high Sierra.... Many attemps and call from apple support... And after several days of trying... I finally did upgrade my mac... Since i dont have an adaptor from thunderbolt to ethernet... My option is only wifi... The upgrading needs a stable internet connection(just try and try with your wifi) and internet recovery command:

1. Shutdown your computer

2. Press alt+command+R

Internet recovery was my last option... And lucky me the download tooks only awhile.. Maybe the time i was downloading; the internet was at its peak (wifi only)... Then in mac utility.. Install the downloaded data... If you failed.. Just try again... Your patience is strongly needed... Hope this helps...

First we need to connect to a internet network and then the Installation will be carried out.

I too got this problem at first and then I realised that I haven't connected to a network.

On top right WiFi logo can be seen click it and select a network and proceed to the installation.

I just met the same problem today.

The solution is go to the top right corner and click the WIFI connection, choose the correct network and enter your password. Once it shows connection, try again the whole process and it will go through.

When I started the system (with the alt key holding down), I already selected with network connection and enter the password. But it seems that the system did not use the network settings you specify when you select the recovery disk. So you have to do it again when you see the starting options.

Hope it helps for other users.

I hope this will help those who don't have the clock issue.

It's really very simple but Apple somehow doesn't make it clear.

You need to log onto your WiFi, if not using an Ethernet cable. To do so click the icon in the top right corner of the screen, choose your network, and enter your password...

Cheers all

This was extremely helpful. However you have to type “date 0315200018” if that is what today’s date is like it is right now for me. After typing this in the terminal I was able to finally download macOS High Sierra after hours of trying to figure out why the recovery server couldn’t be contacted. The date configuration is weird though. First two digits are the month then the second two is the day and finally the year is whatever year it is with an extra two zeros in it as shown above in my example as well as Jo Desmet’s. Thanks Jo!

I think it has been said before, but without some fine details that make the difference.

Get a terminal window, from the recovery menu by going to the menu bar on top of the screen. Then simply type in the word date and press enter. You will see your system date in the following format: MMDDHHMMYY, probably an old date.

From here, type in the current time/date for example 0322215618 (03 for March, 22 for the date, 2156 for the time 24/hour format and finally 18 for year). Ensure the time you’re entering is in UTC Zone. Then simply press enter and close out and go back to install a fresh copy and it should work. It did for me.

Hope this helps!

For me it was that my WiFi was not connected along with my Bluetooth mouse so I got a usb mouse and clicked on the WiFi symbol in the top right and went thru the steps to connect including typing in the pw.

But I had the same problem and there was nothing wrong with my system clock; the time was already correct. So the explanation can't be as straightforward as you say.

In my case, luckily, the problem cleared up on its own in the time it took me to read this far down into this thread.