“The recovery server could not be contacted” whilst trying to factory reset.

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Level 1

4 points

“The recovery server could not be contacted” whilst trying to factory reset.

I went to restart my mac so that I could have a clean install excerpt when I try and reinstall high sierra it comes up with the “the recovery servers could not be contacted” message. I have been looking all around and the ‘solutions’ provided have not been sufficient. I have set my date/time correctly using the terminal and my phone clock. I am indeed connected to the internet which is good. Furthermore I have used the cmd+option+r internet recovery state to do this and nothing seems to be working. Please help much appreciated guys.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Aug 8, 2023 5:14 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

83,959 points

Aug 18, 2023 5:46 AM in response to John Galt

For what its worth, I downloaded El Capitan installer from How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

and ran internet recovery on an external hard drive and got Yosemite on it. Then tried to run El Capitan installer on that. It said it completed, but when I went to boot the El Capitan installation, it still said it was running Yosemite.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

145,946 points

Aug 18, 2023 1:49 PM in response to a brody

I also confirmed we can download the various installer apps from How to download and install macOS - Apple Support, but you attempted to use the El Cap installer and determined it was ineffective?

That would be bad.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

145,946 points

Aug 17, 2023 6:19 PM in response to shiloh227

Numerous recent reports essentially identical to yours cause me to suspect Apple's Recovery servers are no longer providing older macOS versions, although I would like to be wrong about that.

I just tried it myself and encountered the identical problem.

The condition may be temporary.

Which model MacBook or MacBook Pro do you have? Your profile indicates a MBP but this is the MacBook forum. I'll ask the site Hosts to move it to the appropriate place.

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Answer 4

a brody

Level 10

83,959 points

Aug 17, 2023 5:41 PM in response to shiloh227

Try command-option-shift-R.

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“The recovery server could not be contacted” whilst trying to factory reset.

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