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Time Machine and Recovery Disk failures

I'm trying to restore my startup drive from Time Machine. It has succeeded (takes 30 hours which seems like a long time) but when I try to boot from it, it says "Can't bless the system files." and won't start up.


Then when I try to use Recovery Disk to reinstall High Sierra, it says "Can't install MacOS on this drive, it contains an existing OS or a damaged OS." This seems very odd, the fact that the system is damaged is exactly why I'm trying to reinstall.


Is there a workaround for this? The files seem to be there, but I need to reinstall High Sierra.

MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.1), The round Mac Pro 2014

Posted on Mar 12, 2018 3:01 PM

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5 replies

Mar 12, 2018 3:05 PM in response to triglyph

Try this. You will need an Internet connection, preferably, Ethernet.


Internet/Network Recovery of El Capitan or Later on a Clean Disk


  1. Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the (Command-Option-R) keys until a globe appears.
  2. The Utility Menu will appear in from 5-20 minutes. Be patient.
  3. Select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button.
  4. When Disk Utility loads select the drive (usually, the out-dented entry) from the side list.
  5. Click on the Erase tab in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
  6. Set the partition scheme to GUID.
  7. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  8. Click on the Apply button, then click on the Done button when it activates.
  9. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  10. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.


Note:

1. To install the version of OS X that was currently installed use Command-Option-R.

2. To install the original factory version when the computer was new use Command-Option-Shift-R.

Mar 12, 2018 8:47 PM in response to triglyph

It depends. If you cannot boot your computer or otherwise gain access to the drive, then how would you be able to access the files. Time Machine wants to restore your backup which requires erasing the drive because it will be installing macOS. You can try the following that doesn't erase the drive:


Reinstall El Capitan or Later Without Erasing Drive


Please be sure to back up if possible.


  1. Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
  2. Select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button.
  3. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.
  4. Click on the First Aid icon in the toolbar. Wait until the Done button activates, then click on it.
  5. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  6. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

Time Machine and Recovery Disk failures

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