SOLVED Can't reinstall OS

[Mishiimin]

Hi.. l am desperate for help. I finally found some freelance work and now -No computer. I Have read many comments and tried the following..
Here is my dilemma..l have a MacBook Pro A1708 ( mid 2017 ) MPXQZLL/A
Original OS was Sierra 10.12 but l had been using Catalina
I erased the HD and reformatted to MacOS Extended - Journaled option.
When l went to restart l get flashing ? So, l tried the following
1. Rebooted in Recovery mode and then tried to use Disk Utility to install OS but had no luck with either OS . Got message " untrusted_cert_ title" after it tried to verify.
2. Watched videos that suggested l reset date....NO LUCK ...even tried to reset date back to 2018 and 2019 . I used correct format/ syntax - but again no success.
3. Tried to download OS with terminal prompts- again NO LUCK
4. Get message " The installer info. on the recovery server is damaged"
5. Tried starting up with suggestions ..option + command + R.
Shift. ( Safe mode) and Cmd. R
None of these made any difference.
I do not have access to another Mac to make a bootable disk.
Any ideas?
If l have to pay a company to make a bootable dis, then which OS should l ask for?
I really appreciate any help. I am a novice and have been reading for days..
Thank you..

 

[TonyAguila]

Hi.. l am desperate for help. I finally found some freelance work and now -No computer. I Have read many comments and tried the following..
Here is my dilemma..l have a MacBook Pro A1708 ( mid 2017 ) MPXQZLL/A
Original OS was Sierra 10.12 but l had been using Catalina
I erased the HD and reformatted to MacOS Extended - Journaled option.
When l went to restart l get flashing ? So, l tried the following
1. Rebooted in Recovery mode and then tried to use Disk Utility to install OS but had no luck with either OS . Got message " untrusted_cert_ title" after it tried to verify.
2. Watched videos that suggested l reset date....NO LUCK ...even tried to reset date back to 2018 and 2019 . I used correct format/ syntax - but again no success.
3. Tried to download OS with terminal prompts- again NO LUCK
4. Get message " The installer info. on the recovery server is damaged"
5. Tried starting up with suggestions ..option + command + R.
Shift. ( Safe mode) and Cmd. R
None of these made any difference.
I do not have access to another Mac to make a bootable disk.
Any ideas?
If l have to pay a company to make a bootable dis, then which OS should l ask for?
I really appreciate any help. I am a novice and have been reading for days..
Thank you..

Your MacBookPro14,3 should be able to run Monterey. It sounds like you are okay with losing your present data since you mentioned erasing your drive. And unless you had the drive replaced, it should be an SSD, correct?

If you’re ready to start from scratch, I suggest you first do a hardware test. Reboot and hold down the D key. If the diagnostic comes back positive, reboot into Recovery (cmd-R), open Disk Utility, select your internal drive (Macintosh HD, probably) and click on Erase.

Choose APFS. When the formatting is done, quit Disk Utility and go to install macOS Monterey and proceed with the installation all the way to entering your Apple ID, etc. If for whatever reason you need to install an older version of macOS, I can give you instructions to create a macOS installer. You will need a USB thumb drive. 16GB should be fine, not sure because all I have are 32GB.

 

[Mishiimin]

Thank you, l did the diagnostic test and it came back that everything is fine. I rebooted in recovery mode ( cmd.+R) tried to reinstall and still getting message " the installer info. on the recovery server is damaged"
Aaaahhh... Is there a terminal script that you are aware of? I tried one version but no luck.

 

[Mishiimin]

Also there is no option to reformat in APFS. Only Mac Extended..etc.. i have erased more than once and tried every selection offered. No luck

 

[Mishiimin]

Sadly, I do not have another computer to create a bootable drive..nor anyone l know.

 

[TonyAguila]

Also there is no option to reformat in APFS. Only Mac Extended..etc.. i have erased more than once and tried every selection offered. No luck

Are you trying to do the erase from Disk Utility (in Recovery)? This screenshot is from a normal state, but it should like pretty much the same as in Recovery.

To the left of Disk Utility, pull down the selector and select “Show All Devices.” Select the “APPLE SSD…” device (or you may have to select Container disk1) and “Erase” should come alive. (Please don’t even try Partition.) Click on Erase and it will offer the name of your disk. You can rename it if you like, and then select APFS for format.

When done, exit from Disk Utility and go into Install macOS …. I’m almost sure it will default to Monterey. Afterwards, follow the prompts from the installer.

 

[Mishiimin]

I did do the erase with disk utility. Unfortunately, there is no tab for " Show All Devices" . It looks as though Show all tab is greyed out? I have attached 2 photos. I shows the grey out- under Disk Utility menu and the other shows formatting options. Thank you for being kind enough to respond

 

[Lufbrarunner]

Also there is no option to reformat in APFS. Only Mac Extended..etc.. i have erased more than once and tried every selection offered. No luck

Try formatting as Mac OS Extended, then when that is done go to erase again and the APFS option should be available.

 

[TonyAguila]

I did do the erase with disk utility. Unfortunately, there is no tab for " Show All Devices" . It looks as though Show all tab is greyed out? I have attached 2 photos. I shows the grey out- under Disk Utility menu and the other shows formatting options. Thank you for being kind enough to respondView attachment 4210View attachment 4211

I don’t think those screens are from within Recovery. I will boot into Recovery myself and take photos of the screens.

 

[TonyAguila]

Here are photos of my Recovery/Disk Utility screens.

Select Disk Utility to get to…

and click on the pulldown to select Show All Devices.

Select the Container and click on Erase to get…

Notice that the offered name defaults to that of the main volume. If you intend to install Catalina or newer, it’s important that you select APFS. After the erase, you can exit Disk Utility to get back to the initial screen to reinstall macOS. I’m not certain if it will offer up Monterey in your case. Just install what is there in order to get your Mac up and running again.

 

[Mishiimin]

Hi..if you have a good look at the photos above, you will notice that it shows you that l am in DISK UTILITY. You will also notice in photos above, that the SHOW ALL is " greyed" out. You can also see that APFS is not an option for formatting in a photo. I am attaching the screen in Disk utility that shows that l can choose to restore OS Sierra. However, as previously stated , l get Untrusted _ cert_ title. l do appreciate your efforts to help.

 

[TonyAguila]

Hi..if you have a good look at the photos above, you will notice that it shows you that l am in DISK UTILITY. You will also notice in photos above, that the SHOW ALL is " greyed" out. You can also see that APFS is not an option for formatting in a photo. I am attaching the screen in Disk utility that shows that l can choose to restore OS Sierra. However, as previously stated , l get Untrusted _ cert_ title. l do appreciate your efforts to help.View attachment 4221

I don’t understand what it is that determines what connection you get to Apple’s servers to lead you to this page while my Recovery connects me to the previous examples I posted. Perhaps this issue, plus the error about “untrusted certificate” are gleaned from your machine ROMS or parameter RAM. The only other thing I can suggest is to zap (reset) your parameter RAM. Reboot and immediately hold down ⌘-⌥-P-R. Keep holding until you hear the second startup chime.

I assume that your data partition is gone at this point, so your next step is to restart into Recovery again, and see if things change. If this fails, another alternative is to boot into Internet Recovery (⌘-⌥-R). This can take a lot more time to load, but probably worth it if normal Recovery fails.

 

[Mishiimin]

Great ideas but l did all of these already after recommendations on You tube. Nothing worked which is why l am stumped. Driving me nuts. Looks like l will have to take it to a compter repair store or try and pay someone to make me a bootable disk. I will keep you informed. Many thanks

 

[Mishiimin]

 

[TonyAguila]

View attachment 4222

Only too happy to serve, even though I wish my suggestions worked for you. May you have been the wiser for all the effort.

 

[Mishiimin]

I really do appreciate all the thought that you put into helping me. Even though we didn't solve it ourselves, it was nice to be able to " think on it" with someone and feel supported. Perhaps, this thread will help someone else. Take care...