System Restore not working. New machine rendered useless

[frustrated_user]

So I just bought a macbook pro (after years of being told that macs 'just work'). Given that I didn't want the previous user's large library of adult movies, I thought it might be a good idea to do a system restore. Clearly I was wrong.

I followed the instructions on the apple website, and erased the hard drive. Now when I try and reinstall Yosemite I get the message:

"could not find installation information for this machine"

I know there are plenty of other questions on this same question, but none gives a satisfactory answer.


Please note that I am in a country which offers no Apple support or official apple retailers, and a US phone number is not going to be any use.

The internet is not the fastest here, but I do have it and it works. I did a speed test and got a download speed of 3mpbs. There is no disk drive so I can't install from disks.

To top it all off, the apple forums are telling me that "You are not allowed to create or update this content", even though I am logged in to a valid apple account.

EDIT: If I try internet recover, I get error 4403F, which I understand may be due to firewalls, but I am not sure how I would actually address this. If I try with an ethernet cable I get error -2006F, and I can't find what this means.

 

[casperes1996]

Which model Mac is it?
The Yosemite installer - How did you get it? - How was it placed on its install media? - Do you have access to another Mac through a friend or similar?

 

[CoastalOR]

So I just bought a macbook pro

I followed the instructions on the apple website, and erased the hard drive. Now when I try and reinstall Yosemite I get the message: "could not find installation information for this machine"

EDIT: If I try internet recover, I get error 4403F, which I understand may be due to firewalls, but I am not sure how I would actually address this. If I try with an ethernet cable I get error -2006F, and I can't find what this means.

What instructions did you try to follow?

You can not Restore Yosemite unless you previously downloaded/purchased it using your current Apple ID since it is no longer available from Apple as a new download.

I agree with casperes1996, we need to know which year & screen size MBP you have. Your model MBP may not support Internet Recovery.

 

[Weaselboy]

EDIT: If I try internet recover, I get error 4403F, which I understand may be due to firewalls, but I am not sure how I would actually address this.

It sounds like you do have a new enough Mac that comes with Internet recovery. That error message is usually because your network is using a security setting like WEP that does not work with Internet recovery. If you can, just open the wifi temporarily with no password protection at all, then try Internet recovery again.

Once you open the wifi, do a command-option-r boot to recovery. Then use Disk Utility to erase the drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The quit Disk Utility and click reinstall OS X up top. It will be about a 8GB download.

That will get you on the OS X version that came from the factory. Then you can use the App Store app to update to Sierra if your system supports it.

 

[frustrated_user]

What instructions did you try to follow?

You can not Restore Yosemite unless you previously downloaded/purchased it using your current Apple ID since it is no longer available from Apple as a new download.

I agree with casperes1996, we need to know which year & screen size MBP you have. Your model MBP may not support Internet Recovery.

Thanks for your reply.

sorry, my mistake. It was macworld instructions I followed:
www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/reset-wipe-mac-restore-original-factory-settings-macos-sell-3494564/

The model is
Apple MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.0 15" Late 2013:
https://support.apple.com/kb/sp690?locale=en_GB

If your second point is true, that could be a problem. The software will have been originally downloaded by the previous user.

Since my original post, I have tried internet recovery in a few other locations; most get the same error message, but one did start to work and got about 10% of the way before crashing, though I can't remember the error code. I'm starting to think that it's just the internet not being reliable enough here, though I don't think I'm going to be able to find anywhere with a better connection
[doublepost=1487965484][/doublepost]

Which model Mac is it?
The Yosemite installer - How did you get it? - How was it placed on its install media? - Do you have access to another Mac through a friend or similar?

Thanks - I don't know anyone with a mac but I will look around as a USB install looks the best bet

 

[CoastalOR]

OP: I'm not sure of the available support in your country, but Amazon & eBay sell bootable USB installers for Yosemite. Go to the sites and search for "Mac OS X Yosemite USB installer".

BTW, did you do the clone backup (second bullet) in the instructions in your link? If yes, can you boot from your clone?

 

[casperes1996]

Thanks - I don't know anyone with a mac but I will look around as a USB install looks the best bet

If you can get access to another Mac, you can download macOS Sierra from the App Store under your Apple ID, and make a USB installer with it.

 

[frustrated_user]

OP: I'm not sure of the available support in your country, but Amazon & eBay sell bootable USB installers for Yosemite. Go to the sites and search for "Mac OS X Yosemite USB installer".

BTW, did you do the clone backup (second bullet) in the instructions in your link? If yes, can you boot from your clone?

Thanks but, unfortunately neither Amazon, eBay nor apple offer any support in my country. Besides, I'm not inclined to spend $70 to fix what is just bad design on Apple's part.

Though yes, I should have made the clone. I didn't based on thinking this would be straightforward and not wanting all the potentially harmful rubbish that came on the computer in the first place.
[doublepost=1488319613][/doublepost]Anyway, I tried all the suggestions in here that I possibly could, spending hours in various internet cafes and hotspots, but to no avail, so I'm just going to have to sell the thing, which is extremely frustrating, though on the plus side I will save myself money by buying any more overprice rubbish from apple.
[doublepost=1488319966][/doublepost]On a side note, it is really infuriating how apple don't seem to offer support outside a select few countries (correct me if I'm wrong, but the options seem to be: call a local number, or visit an Apple store), so there is literally no way for me to contact them.

 

[casperes1996]

On a side note, it is really infuriating how apple don't seem to offer support outside a select few countries (correct me if I'm wrong, but the options seem to be: call a local number, or visit an Apple store), so there is literally no way for me to contact them.

I generally disagree with your post, and have always had a brillant experience with all things Apple - however, this is indeed something that is rather frustrating. Aside from the countries that have Apple Stores, Apple's support is really quite poor. We have Premium Apple Resellers here in Denmark, so I have been able to take advantage of Apple's replacement programs through them when it's been necessary, but easier contact options including email would be nice.

 

[frustrated_user]

UPDATE: I managed to find an wifi spot that let me stay long enough (2 hours) to do the internet recovery. Once it finished, it went to the OS X Utilities menu. However, by this point I didn't have the time to install OS X as it was clear it was going to take several more hours (and I do actually have work to do).

I cancelled the installation and it indicated I could culd back later and resume it. However... if I Command + R boot now, it just goes straight back to the internet recovery screen, rather than to the Utilities screen

How do I get back onto the Utilities menu, or do I have to start all over again?

ie. other words, I stopped at point 4 in this tutorial, and I just want to be able to continue from that point, rather than starting again from 1

http://osxdaily.com/2014/12/14/reinstall-os-x-mac-internet-recovery/

 

[Weaselboy]

How do I get back onto the Utilities menu, or do I have to start all over again?

You will have to start over. That recovery image is loaded into a virtual image in memory and it not stored on the drive.

So you have step one with about 650MB to get the recovery utility in memory, then step two around another 8GB to download the OS to the drive.

 

[casperes1996]

ie. other words, I stopped at point 4 in this tutorial, and I just want to be able to continue from that point, rather than starting again from 1

When you boot into internet recovery, the Utilities aren't stored on your hard-drive. They are loaded into RAM from the internet. You can't skip downloading the OS X installer/Utilities screen, since it wasn't stored on your machine or anything. To skip to this bit, you need the installer on a USB flash drive

 

[frustrated_user]

When you boot into internet recovery, the Utilities aren't stored on your hard-drive. They are loaded into RAM from the internet. You can't skip downloading the OS X installer/Utilities screen, since it wasn't stored on your machine or anything. To skip to this bit, you need the installer on a USB flash drive

So if the first part took 2 hours, the whole thing is going to take a whole day?

 

[casperes1996]

So if the first part took 2 hours, the whole thing is going to take a whole day?

Well, with that connection speed, yeah, I'm afraid so. On my home wifi, getting into Internet Recovery takes about, what? 4 minutes? And installing macOS from it takes about an hour and 15. That's around 18-19 times longer than getting into the recovery screen. Now keep in mind that it's not all about download speed, and the above numbers don't necessarily give an accurate estimate, since the OS installation requires a fair chunk of work outside of just the download which in your case would significantly change the time ratio between installation and accessing Recovery, but as an overall hint of the time frame you're looking at, there you go