Can't install MacOS, always fails. So: how to install MacOS from another Mac, via a cable?

[Vento]

Hi. I am a newbie to Macs. I've got a Macbook Air 2017, and it will not install any OS - it gets so far and then says "An error occurred preparing the software update". Long story short - I've tried erasing the HD, doing First Aid, using internet recovery, trying a USB stick, using different and older versions of MacOS... nothing works. (Sometimes it hangs on "Less than a minute remaining...", too.)

I want to try installing MacOS from another Mac via a cable, but I can't find a simple guide online about how to do this, for a total Mac newbie (I am experienced with Windows though - I am techy, but not Maccy!)

What cable will I need? This Macbook has a Thunderbolt port, but it's one of the old types, not USB-C. I have access to two other Macs - an M1 Mac Mini, and a Macbook Air M1 2020, but I think their Thunderbolt ports are USB-C, and I can't find anyone who makes an "old" TB to USB-B TB cable... so maybe I can't connect them that way?...

This Macbook Air 2017 should be able to go up to Monterey, but that doesn't install (Big Sur doesn't either). I wondered if trying High Sierra would work - but I can't download the installer for that on one of my other Macs, in order to make a bootable USB stick, because those Macs don't support it. But I only want to download it, not install it on the M1 Macs - how frustrating!!

Any help gratefully received. Right now, this thing is effectively bricked

Thanks. Phil

 

[Vento]

Another weird thing, that might be relevant: when I try and boot it into safe mode, by pressing and holding Shift after powering up, it keeps powering back off again and cycling round (while the Shift key is held). It doesn't look healthy!

 

[gilby101]

I don't think connecting to another Mac will help - just use a bootable installer on a USB flash drive.

For downloading use MIST. It has options to create bootable USB installer (flash drive at least 16GB). Can run this on any Mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

gilby has it right in the reply above this one.

Use Mist to create the flashdrive.
Note: Mist may not run on an older Mac using an older OS, as it's relatively "recent" software.
Actually, this is the page you want to go to:

Release 0.10 · ninxsoft/Mist

Mist now ships logs to the unified logging system! You can view the Mist Log window via the: ⌘ + L keyboard shortcut Mist > Window app menu Show Mist Log toolbar button Logs can also be monitor...

github.com

And... download the "dmg" file.

You will need a 32gb flashdrive, minimum.
Do not use anything smaller, may not work.

Also...
BEFORE you use Mist, erase the flashdrive to HFS+ (Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format).

Once you have the flashdrive ready, boot the MBair from it.
But... don't run the installer yet.

If the installer opens, quit it.
Go to disk utility and open that.
IMPORTANT: go to the view menu and choose "show all devices"

Now, look at the "list on the left".
The very topmost item you should see is the internal drive on the MBair.
We need to ERASE it.
You ARE backed up, right?

Click on the physical drive, then erase to APFS, GUID partition format.
NOW open the installer and start clicking through.

Does it go any better this way?

 

[Vento]

gilby has it right in the reply above this one.

Use Mist to create the flashdrive.
Note: Mist may not run on an older Mac using an older OS, as it's relatively "recent" software.
Actually, this is the page you want to go to:

Release 0.10 · ninxsoft/Mist

Mist now ships logs to the unified logging system! You can view the Mist Log window via the: ⌘ + L keyboard shortcut Mist > Window app menu Show Mist Log toolbar button Logs can also be monitor...

github.com

And... download the "dmg" file.

You will need a 32gb flashdrive, minimum.
Do not use anything smaller, may not work.

Also...
BEFORE you use Mist, erase the flashdrive to HFS+ (Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format).

Once you have the flashdrive ready, boot the MBair from it.
But... don't run the installer yet.

If the installer opens, quit it.
Go to disk utility and open that.
IMPORTANT: go to the view menu and choose "show all devices"

Now, look at the "list on the left".
The very topmost item you should see is the internal drive on the MBair.
We need to ERASE it.
You ARE backed up, right?

Click on the physical drive, then erase to APFS, GUID partition format.
NOW open the installer and start clicking through.

Does it go any better this way?

Hi! Thank you for the advice. I tried that to the letter, and it failed again with "An error occurred preparing the software update."

That was with Monterey. I will try again with Big Sur...

 

[LinMac]

Are you trying Open Core Legacy Patcher?

Have you tried using the Internet Recovery feature if available on the model? That would download the internet recovery software via wifi, boot, and give you options to install.

 

[Vento]

Are you trying Open Core Legacy Patcher?

Have you tried using the Internet Recovery feature if available on the model? That would download the internet recovery software via wifi, boot, and give you options to install.

Hi! I tried the Internet Recovery several times, and it failed every time.

I am not aware of the Open Core Legacy Patcher - can you tell me how that would help and how it works?

After I erase the drive, it is still showing as two partitions of equal size, and if I try to merge them, it fails. Is that normal? Could that be a root cause?

 

[LinMac]

Open Core Legacy Patcher updates out of support Macs to newer unsupported versions of MacOS. If you don't need it, don't use it.

For your issue, the following might help:

- Take backups of all data via Time Machine or similar like Carbon Copy Cloner etc. One copy of data is not a backup is common industry wisdom.

- After you have backups that you know are good and will restore, boot from WiFi using Internet Recovery. This is the best option because it avoids any mistakes with USBs. It also avoids using the disk you are working with. It should boot smoothly with no errors.

- After you are in Internet Recovery, select Disk Utility.

Note: Deleting partitions erases the data on them. Make sure you have good backups!

You want to delete all partitions. Leave none on the disk. After you have deleted all partitions, you should just see Apple SSD /dev/disk2 or similar. Once that is all you see, create a new Macintosh HD to install into and reinstall the OS. Reddit has some additional instructions if you need them.

It sounds like you might have some legacy partitions and data that could be causing problems. Starting fresh avoids complications. If starting fresh doesn't work, that hints that there might be a hardware problem.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Some tidbits:

There are a few different Recovery boot options:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

• Command-R: When you press and hold these two keys at startup, Recovery will offer the current version of the most recently installed macOS.
• Option-Command-R: When you press and hold these three keys at startup, Recovery might offer the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
• Shift-Option-Command-R: When you press and hold these four keys at startup, Recovery might offer the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

My guess is you haven’t tried the third one listed above.

When in Recovery, you should go to Disk Utility and erase the entire drive. To ensure you’re erasing the entire drive, as @Fishrrman mentioned, go to the View menu and select Show All Devices — it should now have a checkmark beside it. Within Disk Utility, look in the left column, and select Apple SSD. You can ensure this is the root level three ways:

• The drive sub-header will read something such as “PCI-Express Internal Physical Disk”
• In the drive details table, there will be Connection with a value such as “PCI-Express"
• If you right-click on the drive (or go to the File menu) and select Get Info, the Volume Type should be Physical Device.






Select the Apple SSD, click Erase, enter a name (default for Macs is still the outdated "Macintosh HD”), select APFS as the Format and GUID Partition Map as the Scheme.

After verifying you’ve successfully erased the drive — yes, it should only be a single partition — quit Disk Utility and go through the installer (i.e., Reinstall macOS [OS_moniker])

NOTE: Ignore the Base System volume in Disk Utility.

macOS Internet Recovery is a NetBoot-like service. Basically, a bootable image is downloaded via HTTP (from an Apple or an Akamai server) into RAM and your Mac boots to it afterwards.

Lastly, a good to know option:

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

Apple Diagnostics, formerly known as Apple Hardware Test, can check your Mac for hardware issues.

support.apple.com

 

[Vento]

Some tidbits:

There are a few different Recovery boot options:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

• Command-R: When you press and hold these two keys at startup, Recovery will offer the current version of the most recently installed macOS.
• Option-Command-R: When you press and hold these three keys at startup, Recovery might offer the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
• Shift-Option-Command-R: When you press and hold these four keys at startup, Recovery might offer the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

My guess is you haven’t tried the third one listed above.

When in Recovery, you should go to Disk Utility and erase the entire drive. To ensure you’re erasing the entire drive, as @Fishrrman mentioned, go to the View menu and select Show All Devices — it should now have a checkmark beside it. Within Disk Utility, look in the left column, and select Apple SSD. You can ensure this is the root level three ways:

• The drive sub-header will read something such as “PCI-Express Internal Physical Disk”
• In the drive details table, there will be Connection with a value such as “PCI-Express"
• If you right-click on the drive (or go to the File menu) and select Get Info, the Volume Type should be Physical Device.

View attachment 2389853


View attachment 2389854

Select the Apple SSD, click Erase, enter a name (default for Macs is still the outdated "Macintosh HD”), select APFS as the Format and GUID Partition Map as the Scheme.

After verifying you’ve successfully erased the drive — yes, it should only be a single partition — quit Disk Utility and go through the installer (i.e., Reinstall macOS [OS_moniker])

NOTE: Ignore the Base System volume in Disk Utility.


Lastly, a good to know option:

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

Apple Diagnostics, formerly known as Apple Hardware Test, can check your Mac for hardware issues.

support.apple.com

Hi - thank you for all the advice! I followed all of your advice, but it still failed. This is what happened:

* I ran Diagnostics, and it found no problems.
* I booted while pressing Shift-Option-Command-R and erased the drive, using Disk Utility, exactly as described above. There was 1 partition at the end; all as described.
* I rebooted while pressing Shift-Option-Command-R and selected Install MacOS. It decided to install Mojave (despite this machine supporting Monterey...). I let it proceed with Mojave.
* It seemed to be installing - until it crashed with an error message, and an Installer Log. I've attached a couple of screenshots of the error messages here, in case these are helpful to see what's going wrong.

It says "KERN_MEMORY_ERROR" - is that the smoking gun, here? But the Diagnostic app didn't pick anything up...

Thanks for any help you can give. I am now going to try installing Monterey again using a brand new, branded USB stick... one last try, before this thing gets thrown out of the window!!!!!

Phil

 

[Vento]

(Update: Monterey installation crashed too, after another disk erase as above, and using a new 128GB branded USB stick, created using MIST on another Mac...)

 

[gilby101]

Right now, this thing is effectively bricked

The longer this thread goes, the more it seems likely you have a hardware issue.

Apple Diagnostics does a very basic check of hardware. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102550
Does your MBA pass that?

Even if that shows nothing you may have an intermittent issue or one that only shows up when Mac is running's - e.g. memory.

 

[LinMac]

If you can isolate the failing hardware, you can potentially get it repaired.

There are some videos like this showing shops that replace/upgrade ram chips. It's a bit more involved than just slipping a new chip into a slot. Still, it's offered as a service so it's not entirely a lost cause yet

 

[MacCheetah3]

Hi - thank you for all the advice! I followed all of your advice, but it still failed.

Sorry this isn’t going smoothly, but I do have a few more suggestions.

* It seemed to be installing - until it crashed with an error message, and an Installer Log. I've attached a couple of screenshots of the error messages here, in case these are helpful to see what's going wrong.

It says "KERN_MEMORY_ERROR" - is that the smoking gun, here?

Maybe. However, sometimes, errors/diagnostic can be misleading as they may not catch underlying problems to alerts. Beyond the general “it’s complicated,” checks can be performed in many different paths and at a multitude of scopes — I have years of (frustrating) experience in both hardware diagnostics (i.e., PC repair) and software debugging. If you want an entertaining perspective of the process, check out something like:

Fix or Flop

In this playlist, I fix local viewer PCs for free (and occasionally upgrade them in the process)! If you live near Orlando, FL and have a broken computer, su...

www.youtube.com

ANYWAY…. Back to your installation log...

I noticed the date and time appear to be set accurately. The date and time are important because macOS installers use certificates valid for a certain time period.

One other value caught my attention “System Integrity Protection: disabled.” I haven’t experimented or otherwise done a lot of hands-on with SIP. Although, as I noted previously, macOS can be fickle when it comes to modified default security settings. Admittedly, I don’t know what state SIP is during the different Mac boot states, including recovery. Nonetheless, I feel it would be worthwhile for you to ensure the setting is set to at least medium.

About Startup Security Utility on a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Use Startup Security Utility to make sure that your Mac always starts up from your designated startup disk, and always from a legitimate, trusted operating system.

support.apple.com

Circling back to earlier points:

* I ran Diagnostics, and it found no problems.

* It seemed to be installing - until it crashed with an error message, and an Installer Log. I've attached a couple of screenshots of the error messages here, in case these are helpful to see what's going wrong.

It says "KERN_MEMORY_ERROR" - is that the smoking gun, here? But the Diagnostic app didn't pick anything up...

The longer this thread goes, the more it seems likely you have a hardware issue.

Apple Diagnostics does a very basic check of hardware. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102550
Does your MBA pass that?

Even if that shows nothing you may have an intermittent issue or one that only shows up when Mac is running's - e.g. memory.

Unfortunately, it seems the extended testing, part of AHT, is not/no longer included in Apple Diagnostics. Even so, a more thorough RAM/memory test is available, if you’re willing to put in the extra time:

Any good memory test for newer Macs (2015 and later)

I'd like to be able to test memory thoroughly in Macs (2015 and later, for older Macs I use Apple ASD tests). I tried Memtest but it won't boot from a thumbdrive for some reason.

apple.stackexchange.com

Lastly, one of the common Mac troubleshooting steps — I forgot to originally note:

Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If one or more settings stored in NVRAM don't work as expected on an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM might help.

support.apple.com

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Do you live anywhere near a brick n mortar Apple Store?
If so, have you considered making an appt for the genius bar?

They should be able to identify a true "hardware error" if there is one.

At that point, if it IS "bad hardware", it will be up to you as to whether you wish to pay to repair it (probably not worth it on a 7-year-old MBa), or start considering replacements.

 

[Vento]

Sorry this isn’t going smoothly, but I do have a few more suggestions.


Maybe. However, sometimes, errors/diagnostic can be misleading as they may not catch underlying problems to alerts. Beyond the general “it’s complicated,” checks can be performed in many different paths and at a multitude of scopes — I have years of (frustrating) experience in both hardware diagnostics (i.e., PC repair) and software debugging. If you want an entertaining perspective of the process, check out something like:

Fix or Flop

In this playlist, I fix local viewer PCs for free (and occasionally upgrade them in the process)! If you live near Orlando, FL and have a broken computer, su...

www.youtube.com

ANYWAY…. Back to your installation log...

I noticed the date and time appear to be set accurately. The date and time are important because macOS installers use certificates valid for a certain time period.

One other value caught my attention “System Integrity Protection: disabled.” I haven’t experimented or otherwise done a lot of hands-on with SIP. Although, as I noted previously, macOS can be fickle when it comes to modified default security settings. Admittedly, I don’t know what state SIP is during the different Mac boot states, including recovery. Nonetheless, I feel it would be worthwhile for you to ensure the setting is set to at least medium.

About Startup Security Utility on a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Use Startup Security Utility to make sure that your Mac always starts up from your designated startup disk, and always from a legitimate, trusted operating system.

support.apple.com

Circling back to earlier points:




Unfortunately, it seems the extended testing, part of AHT, is not/no longer included in Apple Diagnostics. Even so, a more thorough RAM/memory test is available, if you’re willing to put in the extra time:

Any good memory test for newer Macs (2015 and later)

I'd like to be able to test memory thoroughly in Macs (2015 and later, for older Macs I use Apple ASD tests). I tried Memtest but it won't boot from a thumbdrive for some reason.

apple.stackexchange.com

Lastly, one of the common Mac troubleshooting steps — I forgot to originally note:

Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If one or more settings stored in NVRAM don't work as expected on an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM might help.

support.apple.com

Thanks again for all this info!

I'm still no further forward. I did Memtest86 and launched it from a USB stick. It did the full suite of tests, with no errors.

But still I can't install an OS - same error message.

I wonder if it's something to do with the HD. Just bizarre and really frustrating. I am going to look for a bootable USB stick version of an HD diagnostic test.

 

[Vento]

OP:

Do you live anywhere near a brick n mortar Apple Store?
If so, have you considered making an appt for the genius bar?

They should be able to identify a true "hardware error" if there is one.

At that point, if it IS "bad hardware", it will be up to you as to whether you wish to pay to repair it (probably not worth it on a 7-year-old MBa), or start considering replacements.

Hi! There is one, but it's 30 miles away in the next city - bit awkward to get to. But it's the last option I have! Ta!