Prepare a bootable installer flash drive for MacOS Monterey completely on Windows?

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Level 1

4 points

Prepare a bootable installer flash drive for MacOS Monterey completely on Windows?

Hi,

I shut down my MacBook when it was reinstalling the operating system via the built-in recovery mode (in order to attempt to restart the installation, because the process would take 10 hours long!), and when I launched my MacBook again it showed a question mark on a folder icon, indicating that no bootable partition could be found. So my MacBook is totally unbootable now.

Then, I shut down my MacBook by holding the power key and restarted, after which I immediately held Command + R, trying to enter the built-in recovery mode again, but I could only enter the internet recovery (the built-in recovery isn't available anymore). I chose a Wi-Fi to let it connect to the internet and then waited for about 15 minutes. However, an exclamation mark was shown, with an error code -1008F.

Then, following If your Mac starts up to error -1008F - Apple Support, I tried holding Option + Command + R to open the latest version of internet recovery. However, after waiting another 15 minutes the error code -2100F was returned and I have no idea how to get rid of it.

Then, I tried entering the internet recovery by holding Command + R again after disabling the activation lock via my iPad. That didn't help - After waiting another 15 minutes, still, the error code -1008F was shown.

Seeing that the internet recovery seems not to work, I considered preparing an installer flash drive for MacOS. But I only have one MacBook, which is already broken, and a laptop running on Windows. So I decided to make an installer drive for MacOS (Monterey) on Windows.

However, I can't find any downloadable DMG file for the system offered by Apple officially, and unfortunately I don't have any backup for such DMG files.

My questions:

Are there still other ways to fix the internet recovery?
Is it still possible to prepare a flash drive for booting MacOS on Windows, without any given DMG file? (Where can I obtain a DMG file for installing MacOS on Windows?)
If both of these approaches wouldn't work, what should I do alternatively?

Please help ASAP!!!

Thanks,

Lutalli

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jul 8, 2022 4:17 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,668 points

Jul 8, 2022 4:42 AM in response to Lutalli

Take you MacBook to another network and try internet recovery from there. There is something wrong in your network, so it cannot create a connection to Apple’s servers.

You can try restarting your modem and router.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

210,591 points

Jul 9, 2022 9:19 AM in response to Lutalli

Find someone with a may that you can use and follow this Apple document, right: How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support?

You might even take a USB flash drive to the nearest Apple store and see if they will make one for you.

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Answer 3

Lutalli Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 9, 2022 7:18 AM in response to Lutalli

I am correct - Waiting patiently is the way out. At the beginning it said "12 hours" or "11 hours" left, but only after about 2 hours it suddenly turned into "3 hours", and after a short while suddenly into "15 minutes", and soon the installation was finished! So that horrible duration was just a confusing, incorrect estimation.

Summary:

The error "-1008F" that occurs when you try to enter the Internet Recovery probably indicates a problem with your internet connectivity (speed). Try place your MacBook next to your router, or use an ethernet cable (if you have one) to maximize the data transmission speed.
If you see an estimation of an unbelievably long installation time, like 12 hours, just try waiting a couple of hours patiently to see if everything turns normal in a sudden.

Problem solved. Thanks for everyone who replied me!

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Answer 4

Lutalli Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 8, 2022 3:33 PM in response to dialabrain

Currently there's no one near me who can help with preparing a bootable installer. I will try to contact Apple Support first, if that doesn't help, I will probably consider taking my MacBook to a local store or somewhere to repair it. I don't really like to leave home for that, though.

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Answer 5

Lutalli Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 8, 2022 3:37 PM in response to Barney-15E

Currently I am only able to connect two different WiFis, both of which work well on their own, but the internet recovery works with none of them.

Rebooting the router doesn't help.

In addition, resetting NVRAM doesn't help.

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Answer 6

Lutalli Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 9, 2022 3:28 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Sadly I don't have an ethernet cable.

However, since many people are saying that the error "-1008F" could be due to an internet connectivity problem, I conjectured that the error appeared because my internet speed is not good enough. Thus I tried - which is a pretty simple way - placing my MacBook directly near my router and entering Internet Recovery again. Surprisingly it worked - I entered Internet Recovery successfully!

Nevertheless there's still a problem: During the system installation, it keeps saying something like "About 11 hours and 55 minutes remaining" and stuck there. I don't understand why it would take so long (my network connection is not so slow). That's actually the problem I encountered for the first time I was trying to reinstall my system and that's why I shut down my computer (I didn't have that patience), as described. Any solution to that?

What I am going to do now is to wait firstly 1 - 2 hours and see what happens, because that 11-hour is probably an initial estimation which could be unprecise and it might change afterwards.

I'll come back to this thread if it keeps getting stuck.

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Answer 7

Jul 9, 2022 6:23 AM in response to Lutalli

> 10hours remaining

What Mac do you exactly have? Does it have HDD? Or a newer SSD?

FWIW I have used some 5400 rpm HDDs cannibalized from old laptops as test drives for Mojave-Monterey and with APFS that old spinning rust is VERY slow and AFAIR some update took about 4-6 hours. I have now updated my test rig to SSD.

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