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Restoring macos El Capitán fails without error message

I'm trying to restore my 2010 Mac Mini with restoring macos El Capitán, by holding command+R at startup, using the disk utilities to erase the destination SSD, and then selecting Reinstall macOS El Capitan. The restore goes well for about 30-40 mins at which time the screen jumps back to the main Recovery screen with all of the options to restore from timemachine, Reinstall macOS, Get help online, and Disk Utilities. from here selecting Reinstall produces the same results, and restarting brings me back to the recovery screen. my SSD does not have a bootable image on it at this time, and the only way to continue is to restore from a time machine backup. I've tried booting from an installation USB which results in the same behavior.

Posted on Jan 13, 2023 1:07 PM

Top-ranking reply

BDAqua

Level 10

244,949 points

Posted on Jan 13, 2023 2:41 PM

Just checking in passing... the drive is formatted MacOS Extended, not APFS right?

1. Start up from macOS Recovery

To start up from macOS Recovery, turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold one of the following combinations on your keyboard. Command-R is generally recommended, especially if you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later… How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Command (⌘)-R

Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.

Option-⌘-R

Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac.

Shift-Option-⌘-R

Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

2. Decide whether to erase (format) your disk

If you need to erase your disk before installing macOS, select Disk Utility from the Utilities window, then click Continue. You probably don't need to erase, unless you're selling or giving away your Mac or have an issue that requires you to erase. Learn more about when and how to erase.

3. Install macOS

After starting up from macOS Recovery, follow these steps to install macOS:

Choose Reinstall macOS (or Reinstall OS X) from the Utilities window.
Click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions to choose your disk and begin installation.
If the installer asks to unlock your disk, enter the password you use to log in to your Mac. If it doesn't see your disk, or it says that it can't install on your computer or volume, you might need to erase your disk.

Please allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. During installation, your Mac might restart and show a progress bar several times, and the screen might be empty for minutes at a time.

If your Mac restarts to a setup assistant, but you're selling or giving it away, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

If you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4

If macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later was never installed on your Mac, macOS Recovery works differently:

Command-R is still the recommended way to start up from macOS Recovery. This combination makes sure that the installation isn't associated with your Apple ID, which is important if you're selling or giving away your Mac.
Option-Command-R installs the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
Shift-Option-Command-R isn't available.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

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Restoring macos El Capitán fails without error message

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