macOS could not be installed on your computer

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Level 1

15 points

macOS could not be installed on your computer

"an error as occurred installing macOS. To use Apple Diagnostics to check your Mac hardware, shutdown, press the power button, and immediately hold 'D' key until diagnostics begins. Quit the installer to restart your computer and try again."

This is the message I get when attempting a clean install of High Sierra from the bootable USB drive. I have formatted the HD and started clean install. It loads up, screen flashes black, and start installing. At "11 minutes remaining" error message appears.

I tried holding 'D' key, but it always went to Internet recovery.

Note, that I had a clean Sierra install on the computer (I was unable to download full High Sierra image otherwise) and all worked well using the same procedure: format HD, install.

One thing that might be important: It is not clear to me if I should repartition the disk using the disk utility ... if so, steps to do that in High Sierra would be appreciated.

Computer: late 2012 Mac Book Air, 256GB SSD drive, and 8GB memory (both standard). Hardware requitrments seems same as for Sierra which worked fine.

Suggestions?

Thank you,

Radek

Edit: After I restart the computer after the error message holding "opt" key I still see my "Install macOS High Sierra" USB and "mac OS installer" (later had internal HD icon).

MacBook Air, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2), Does not install / troubleshooting

Posted on Dec 15, 2017 1:14 PM

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Answer 1

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Radek_42 Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 15, 2017 11:19 PM in response to Radek_42

Hi,

Re-creating the bootable drive seemed to resolve the issue. IIRC installation screens seemed a bit different, but everything went well.

Two things that might have helped:

1. I ran dd to zero internal SSD (entire drive was zeroed wiping EVERYTHING including recovery partition. When I booted from USB drive, the internal disk did not even show up. Once the pre-install ran (I guess SDD got formatted) it appeared as a destination for installation.

2. As I was creating the bootable USB I was wondering if I have used the --applicationpath switch ... I might have forgotten (if that makes any difference ... I saw both on the net).

Thank you all for comments ...

Cheers,

Radek

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Answer 2

xmetienne

Level 2

192 points

Dec 15, 2017 1:30 PM in response to Radek_42

Hi Radek,

For some reasons macOS High Sierra is giving some headaches around, but hey positive thinking there is always a solution!

Here are is an important question, did you do create a new USB media install with macOS High Sierra you're installing or does it come from another image? That could be one reason...

Otherwise if you're stuck, I would suggest to reboot with the option key and get out of the macOS install drive and reboot on your normal drive, it you still can and go to App Store download the macOS High Sierra available and recreate a USB media install...

Otherwise internet recovery is a safe option...

Normally I would have suggested to use DiskWarrior but I know for a fact that it doesn't function properly on macOS Sierra...

Push comes to shove, if you've got an Apple store nearby, then make an appointment with a Genius, these guys are real wizards and most of the time, they can resolve issue so easily that it is really worth it not to forget about them!

Good luck...

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Answer 3

xmetienne

Level 2

192 points

Dec 15, 2017 1:33 PM in response to Radek_42

Radek,

Sorry but I just realized something... If you don't mind me asking? Why do you want to do a macOS High Sierra clean install if you were running on macOS Sierra before?

Why not simply upgrade to macOS High Sierra rather than to do a clean install?

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Answer 4

Dec 15, 2017 1:33 PM in response to Radek_42

Hi Radek,

Have you tried making a new bootable installer? It could be that that one is corrupted somewhere such that it doesn't recognize your hardware. My first bootable attempt for Sierra didn't work.

Failing that, have you tried booting in safe mode and running diagnostics?

Jen

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Answer 5

Radek_42 Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 15, 2017 1:45 PM in response to xmetienne

Thanks for the reply.

I keep playing around with it ...

This is how I got my installation media:

I had (old) bootable USB with Sierra. I wiped my ageing Yosemite install and got pristine Sierra running on my MBA. Updated to the latest Sierra version (except Safari and iTunes). Downloaded High Sierra from app store (full 5GB image). Used "createinstallmedia" to create bootable USB drive as I did before for Sierra. Restarted with option key and selected my USB media. After progress bar filled up once, screen flashed black and second progress bar appeared. With 11 minutes remaining it crashed ....

I was thinking to stop by at Apple store ...

One would say there is not much to it ... I also just tried to boot from "mac OS installer" mentioned in the original message. It seems like basic files on the internal drive. Once it "boots" it starts to copy files and fails again at 11 minutes remaining.

Frustrating ...

Radek

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Answer 6

Radek_42 Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 15, 2017 1:52 PM in response to pyroandice

Hi Jen,

Faulty USB is a possibility. I will have to get home to make another one.

I have formatted the internal drive so I have no way starting the computer at this point. I could also go back reinstalling Sierra ...

I have tried pressing D right after reboot but I did not get any diagnostics ... not sire if I pressed it too early/late/not-long-enough ... not sure ... it always goes to internet recovery.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Radek

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Answer 7

Radek_42 Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 15, 2017 1:58 PM in response to xmetienne

xmetienne wrote:

Radek,

Sorry but I just realized something... If you don't mind me asking? Why do you want to do a macOS High Sierra clean install if you were running on macOS Sierra before?

Why not simply upgrade to macOS High Sierra rather than to do a clean install?

I was not planning on using Sierra at all. I just could not download the full High Sierra installer; I was getting 13MB file instead. I used Sierra to play around with different installs, Adobe CC (decided to avoid it), macports, X11/xQuartz ... I did not want to leave any of that behind ...

I was also looking at advantages of High Sierra over Sierra ... I guess the new file system seemed like a good feature (which now cost me more than a day w/o working computer :-) .

Thanks.

R>

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