Unable to reinstall macOS High Sierra on my iMac with "About -405 seconds remaining" error

I had the same problem with a 2012 Mac mini: I had erased the disk and tried to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery, as described in this document: How to reinstall macOS – Apple Support (UK). I consistently got the “About -405 seconds remaining” error.

This is how I could solve it:

• I used Shift-Option-Command-R during startup, which gave me the option to install Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), this is the version of macOS that came with my Mac.
• I then downloaded the disk image for the Mac OS I needed (macOS Sierra) and installed it from there.

EX-FAT will never work, may even stop a successive install attempt rom working. has to be MacOS Extended Journaled.

What has often worked for others is to use this Restore Method instead of CMD+r keys...

Option-⌘-R

Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac.

I tried this solution, and now instead of the apple logo appearing in the white background, there is a blinking file with a "?" on in. Please advise how this issue could be solved? I simply want to factory reset this. Thank you!

Of course you may need to make a USB installer...

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support...

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

PlumpWaif wrote:

factory reset this

Try Internet Recovery. With High Sierra you need to do this workaround in the Terminal (I hope Apple finally fixes this...):

https://mrmacintosh.com/how-to-fix-the-recovery-server-could-not-be-contacted-error-high-sierra-recovery-is-still-online-but-broken/

it aint working that way too