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Cannot rebuild MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

I am trying to rebuild my old MacBook Pro to give to my step-mom. The last time I rebuilt it was about a year ago and I deleted the disk and then asked it download the latest OS, which was Catalina. I am now trying to rebid it again to pass it on. I deleted the disk and then realised that the only operating system option I was getting was for Lion! I therefore decided to restore from last backup. Everything seemed OK and I left it running overnight. It was still stuck on the same screen in the morning. I have tried several times and the same thing happens. I therefore tried to install Lion from the menu. That just starts installing and then gives me an error to say that it can't get all the components that it needs.


Can anyone suggest how I can sort this out and get it working?


Thanks.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 16, 2022 2:56 PM

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Posted on Mar 16, 2022 3:39 PM

Try creating a bootable installer of any compatible macOS version using a different computer. Then use the installer to install that version of macOS on the computer. Just follow the steps on the attached article to create and use a bootable installer. You will need to be connected to wifi or Ethernet to use the installer.

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 16, 2022 3:39 PM in response to mandy212

Try creating a bootable installer of any compatible macOS version using a different computer. Then use the installer to install that version of macOS on the computer. Just follow the steps on the attached article to create and use a bootable installer. You will need to be connected to wifi or Ethernet to use the installer.

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Apr 10, 2022 8:53 AM in response to mandy212

Is the Macbook Pro still on 10.7 "Lion"?


If so, you may need to do an intermediate upgrade per the Apple artice the Martin R linked:


Note only the ones I highlighted can upgrade a computer running 10.7 Lion. Once you are at at least Yosemite, you should be able to use the Catalina installer and, presumably, create the USB installer. The latter may not be needed.

Apr 10, 2022 12:33 PM in response to Allan Jones

The last time I rebuilt it was about a year ago and I deleted the disk and then asked it download the latest OS, which was Catalina. I am now trying to rebid it again to pass it on. I deleted the disk and then realised that the only operating system option I was getting was for Lion! I therefore decided to restore from last backup. Everything seemed OK and I left it running overnight. It was still stuck on the same screen in the morning. I have tried several times and the same thing happens. I therefore tried to install Lion from the menu. That just starts installing and then gives me an error to say that it can't get all the components that it needs.

Apr 11, 2022 8:16 PM in response to mandy212

There is no opening of the Catalina installer if you downloaded it directly from Apple as the Catalina installer should be an app bundle titled something like "Install macOS Catalina". As long as you have this full (almost 6GB) app, you should be able to use the Terminal commands to create the bootable macOS USB installer. If you don't have the full 5-6GB installer or you acquired the installer from somewhere besides Apple, then it will not work.


As for installing Lion, you can try changing the date & time on the Mac to 2017, or perhaps you will need to try 2016, 2015, etc. You will need to launch the Terminal app from the Utilities menu while booted to the Lion installer and use the following command to set the date & time to Jan. 2, 2017 @ 11:33am (change as appropriate to 2016, 2015, etc.):

date  -u  0102113317


If this does not produce any errors, then quit the Terminal app and select the "Reinstall macOS" option.


Unfortunately sometimes Internet Recovery Mode will not boot the expected newer version and will instead boot the oldest compatible online installer.


Cannot rebuild MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

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