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2012 15inch MBP | Trouble Performing Clean Install

AveryWrubleski

AveryWrubleski

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 24, 2018
17
2
An old MacBook Pro that I am trying to repair had White Screen upon startup symptoms. (No Apple Logo) Possibly a beep or two.

I replaced the internal SSD with a new SSD. Formatted it before hand on another Mac.

Created a bootable el cap USB installer.

When selecting COMMAND R at startup of the refurb mbp: Loads with the apple logo then takes me right to the installer.
I follow through with the accepting of agreements then the install fails. Like so.

osx fail.jpg
osx fail 2.jpg


Any tips here would be greatly appreciated. I know there are tons of clean install videos to watch and I have been. But I must be missing something!
 
Last edited:
Hi there!
2012 MBP supports Catalina, since you have an SSD it should work OK speed-wise.
Try with a Catalina installer and see what happens.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

Also, try a diagnostic first (press and hold D immediately after power on).
 
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El Cap?
If you want to try the El Cap installer again, boot to the menu screen in the installer, then open the Terminal (it's available in the Utilities menu), then type
Code: 
date 1116211618
and press enter.
El Cap has often been the subject of date "manipulation", and that command will change the sytem date to one that should let El Cap install now (assuming that the date is still an issue.)
 
Last edited:
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DeltaMac said:
El Cap?
If you want to try the El Cap installer again, boot to the menu screen in the installer, then open the Terminal (it's available in the Utilities menu), then type
Code: 
date 1116211618
and press enter.
El Cap has often been the subject of date "manipulation", and that command will change the sytem date to one that should let El Cap install now (assuming that the date is still an issue.)
Click to expand...
I entered --> date 1116211618

This almost seemed to work, but unfortunately went back to the same screen "Unable to unmount volume for repair".

I might be wrong about this computers age. Could very Well be a 2011. In the past I have given this computer a new SSD from HDD. Made a bootable el cap installer and everything went well.

My stepfather has been using if for basic computing for 2 years and eventually had the white screen problem.

I am wondering now if I formatted the new SSD incorrectly OR messed up the partition on the USB. Going to try those procedures out again.

Will also try a Catalina installer!
 
I'd suggest trying the following.

Boot to INTERNET recovery:
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.

You'll need your wifi password.
The internet utilities take a while to load, be patient "as the globe spins".

When you get to the utilities...
Open disk utility.
VERY IMPORTANT STEP -- go to the "view" menu and choose "show all devices".
(if there isn't a "view" menu, skip and keep going)

Look at the list on the left.
The topmost item should be the physical drive inside.
Click on it and ERASE IT to "Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format".

When the erase is done, quit disk utility and open the OS installer.
I would accept whatever version of the OS the installer offers. An OS that boots is better than one that doesn't.
Start clicking through.
The Mac will reboot one or more times, and the screen will go dark for a minute or more with no other indication of activity. Be patient.

When done, you should see the initial startup screen (choose your language).
From here, either create a new account, OR, plug in your backup drive so setup assistant can find and use it when prompted.
 
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serial.jpg
I finally found this Macs serial number. Turns out this mbp is a lot older than I remembered!

I am not able to open traditional internet recovery mode. I get the (folder question mark) icon.

No matter which command I enter upon startup, the folder question mark icon appears.

However, entering Command-R / Command-Option-R / D does surpass the bad icon when the OSX dongle is attached. "To set up the instillation of OS X, click continue" screen appears.

Since the installation process does not work, I open Utilites instead.

In utilities I have tried to erase my internal SSD. That fails! But I did format the SSD externally before hand.

I think making a bootable USB with High Sierra will be my next step.
 

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AveryWrubleski said:
View attachment 2140034I finally found this Macs serial number. Turns out this mbp is a lot older than I remembered!

I am not able to open traditional internet recovery mode. I get the (folder question mark) icon.

No matter which command I enter upon startup, the folder question mark icon appears.

However, entering Command-R / Command-Option-R / D does surpass the bad icon when the OSX dongle is attached. "To set up the instillation of OS X, click continue" screen appears.

Since the installation process does not work, I open Utilites instead.

In utilities I have tried to erase my internal SSD. That fails! But I did format the SSD externally before hand.

I think making a bootable USB with High Sierra will be my next step.
Click to expand...
You need to make an El Capitan installer, it's the latest macOS version supported by your Mac.

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

If you have an older conventional HDD (not SDD), try to swap the one inside and formatting again before doing anything else.
 
if you have a snow leopard era MacBook you need a copy of snow leopard to start from scratch.
my 2010 MacBook Air needs a snow leopard usb drive to start up a new ssd card.

Macs were more protected back then.
 
E80E5263-507F-4B92-B222-C563A50DDA2B.jpeg
Oh man, I had forgotten about that USB stick! Turns out I still have mine though.
 
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