That’s not all, now macOS Sierra 10.12.6 Recovery & Internet Recovery are also broken! Keep in mind, the is NOT the date and time issue. This is different issue that can be reproduced every single time. If attempt to install Sierra in recovery, the full installer will download (4.7GB) and then fail with this error:
An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.
What the heck could this be? What’s going on?
Table of contents
What is the root problem?
How to fix the issue?
Fix #1 Boot to a NEWER version macOS Internet Recovery!
Fix #2 Create a macOS Sierra 10.12.6 bootable installer USB (NOTE: this has additional problems as thecreateinstallmediainstaller is BROKEN!)
Fix #3 Download the ONLY working version of macOS Sierra from Apple to recovery and use it to install Sierra!
Contrary to popular belief, Apple did not take down the High Sierra Internet Recovery server.
macOS High Sierra Internet and local recovery is Broken! An investigation with OpenCore Legacy Patcher Co-Developer dhinak
UPDATED 01/30/26 Mid 2023, I started to see multiple posts about macOS 10.13 High Sierra recovery not working. We all know about the certificate expiring and date and time issues, but this issue was DIFFERENT. Near the end of 2023, I started investigating the issue. I was able to reproduce it every single time. Sure enough, Local hard drive command R and Internet Recovery are broken with the same “The Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted” error. What does this mean and can it be fixed?
While I was able to identify the issue and reproduce it, I was not able to come up with an actual fix other than the #2 fix listed below and creating a macOS High Sierra Bootable install USB. Wonder if you only have 1 Mac and can’t create a recovery disk? You are stuck!
So I reached out to OpenCore Legacy Patcher co-author dhinakg. For those that don’t know dhinakg is an expert in all things involving Apple Software Update Server. After some time, he replied with the root issue and a perfect workaround solution! Jump to #1 for an explanation of what the problem is and # for the URL fix.
Thank You
I would like to thank dhinakg for helping me investigate this issue! You can follow him on twitter here = https://twitter.com/dhinakg
Up next? macOS Sierra Recovery install is also broken! who knows if we can also fix this issue.
My full demonstration walkthrough video on how to fix the recovery issue.
Table of contents
What is the root problem?
How to fix the issue?
Fix #1 Boot to a newer version macOS internet Recovery!
Fix #2 Create a macOS High Sierra bootable installer USB
If you installed the Big Sur 11.6.1 Update, Recovery OS will be upgraded Monterey on your M1 Mac.
Normally when you install a macOS update, recovery gets updated so it matches the OS version.
Example: You have an M1 Mac that has Big Sur 11.5.2 on it. Then you installed the 11.6 update. The following happens.
M1 Mac
MacOS is updated to 11.6
Recovery OS is updated to 11.6
Fallback Recovery stays on 11.5.2
Intel Mac
MacOS is updated to 11.6
Recovery OS is updated to 11.6
Big Sur OS and Monterey Recovery on M1?
MacAdmin @nstrauss first reported something strange last week.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 Command + R vs Option + Command R. The OS that shipped with your Mac vs the latest available supported version. What’s the equivalent to this on Apple silicon? If I’m not ready to move to Monterey, but recovery is only offering Monterey, what can I do?
How could you have an M1 Mac with Big Sur installed but Monterey as the recovery OS?
There is one way you can get into this situation.
Upgrade an M1 Mac to Monterey
Boot to recovery with Big Sur USB Installer
Erase the drive
Install Big Sur
You now have an M1 Mac with Big Sur OS and Monterey Recovery.
The only way to fix this is to use Apple Configurator 2 + DFU mode. You can restore macOS and Recovery back to Big Sur with the 11.6 IPSW.
This was not what happened in Nathaniel’s situation.
The Big Sur 11.6.1 update changed the normal process.
EDIT: This happens with ANY Big Sur update!
Example: You have a Software Update deferral in place. You are offered the 11.5.2 or 11.6 update, you will also get Monterey Recovery.
I started talking with someone who knows the recovery system very well. He was just as confused as I was.
I decided to test on my M1 that was on 11.6. I Booted into recovery, and recovery OS was on 11.6. Then I booted into fallback recovery and it was on 11.6.
The version was 11.6 because I used AC2 and the 11.6 IPSW to restore.
I then installed the 11.6.1 update in System Preferences > Software Update.
When the update was complete, the OS was on 11.6.1. I then booted into recovery and found this.
macOS recovery is now on 12.0.1 Monterey after installing the 11.6.1 update on an M1 Mac.
Recovery is on macOS Monterey 12.0.1 …. ok
Let’s try Fallback Recovery. If you are not familiar with FBR this is what Apple says about it.
Fallback Recovery = From a shutdown state, double- press and hold the power button. The same process as recoveryOS boot, except that it boots to a second copy of recoveryOS that is kept for resiliency. However, LLB doesn’t lock an indication into the Boot Progress Register saying it is going into recoveryOS, and therefore the fallback recovery OS doesn’t have the capability to change the system security state.
Apple Platform Security
The idea here is FBR is a 2nd copy of recoveryOS that is one version behind. This a great troubleshooting tool that you could use if you installed an update but something went wrong.
So I booted into FBR and it was on 12.0.1 Monterey.
How can you confirm that you are booted to FBR? From the Apple Security Guide, you should not be able to modify system security.
M1 Mac on 11.6.1 booted to Fallback Recovery Mode
Once in Fallback recovery, I attempted to modify the Startup Security Utility and got the message above.
Howard Oakley wrote an excellent article on Fallback Recovery if you would like to learn more.
We now know that installing the 11.6.1 update will update recoveryOS to Monterey. What about the Big Sur 11.6.1 full installer?
1st test – 11.6 installed = 11.6.1 Full Installer
After using the 11.6.1 Full installer, macOS recovery will be updated to Monterey 12.0.1
2nd test – 11.6 installed – 11.6.2 Beta Update
The update showed up in system preferences as a full 11GB update. After updating, recoveryOS was Big Sur
3rd test – 11.6.1 installed – 11.6.2 Beta Update
Maybe the issue was just in the 11.6.1 update? After installing the 11.6.2 Beta update, recoveyOS was on 12.0.1 Recovery. You would think that the 11.6.2 Beta update would have installed 12.1 Beta recoveryOS but that was not the case.
If you still need to Reinstall Big Sur.
This is where the new M1 Recovery system comes in handy. All you need to do is create a Big Sur USB installer.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
Boot to M1 Boot Picker by holding down Power.
Select Install macOS Big Sur.
You are now in recovery and can use the Big Sur USB installer to reinstall macOS Big Sur.
Conclusion
So what is the deal with this situation? We have a few possibilities.
This is a bug or mistake on Apple’s part. This is unexpected behavior that we have not seen before.
There is a technical reason behind the change.
Apple wants users to upgrade to Monterey when reinstalling macOS.
I’m not pointing in any one direction because I don’t know why this is happening.
I’ve submitted a ticket to Apple Enterprise Support to find out. I will update you when I hear back.
Thanks
Hat tip to someone who reached out to help clarify the situation.
2nd hat tip to Howard Oakley, Mark Buffington and Pico for additional confirmation plus answering some of my questions.
have more than 20,000 files your upgrade could fail.
In some situations users have reported 500,000 – 2,000,000 files!!!
This is the reason why the problem could never be reproduced.
If you build a fresh system the file counts for spotlight will be very low. You might have 20-400 entries. This would allow the upgrad to finish properly.
Table of contents
Different situations. The macOS stuck progress bar issue has many different situations.
How can I check how many mdworker files my system has before an upgrade.
I have more than 20,000 files. How do I clear them out before the upgrade?
The files have been deleted! Now what?
What if you booted your failed Mac into safe mode after having the issue?
How to remove the firmware password on 2011-2020 Macs + New way for 2018-2020 T2 Macs!
You can now remove the firmware password (+ erase all data) on a T2 Mac without Apple Support if you forgot it.
In this article, I will go over the history of the firmware password on Intel Mac computers. After that, I will show you a new way how to remove the firmware password (and erase your data) on a T2 Mac from 2018-2020. (Scroll to section 6).
NOTE: This information is only for 2006-2020 Intel Mac computers. Apple Silicon M1 Mac Devices do not have a firmware password.
I will also go over my recommendations on how you can protect your data at the end of this article.
I will answer the following questions.
What does setting a firmware password on a Mac do?
What are the differences in firmware passwords from the following years – 2006-2010, 2011-2017 & 2018-2020?
How to you set the firmware password in recovery.
How to Enable & Disable Firmware Password in macOS.
What can you do if you forget the firmware password?
How to remove the firmware password with Apple Support.
Removing the firmware password on a T2 Mac with Apple Configurator 2.
How long was this new way possible? Does anyone at AppleCare know about this?
What does this mean for education, small & large companies, home users, computer recyclers, and criminals?
Starting in early December, macOS Big Sur Internet Recovery was replaced by Catalina as the newest version available.
UPDATE 01/10/21: Apple has restored access to macOS Big Sur Recovery and it is now available to all compatible Intel Macs again!
Some of the first reports came from MacAdmins Slack members Calvin Cliff, Marcus Ransom and Eric Holtam. They confirmed that only Catalina Internet Recovery was available on Big Sur Compatible Macs. Any Mac that has Big Sur installed on it should be able to boot Big Sur Internet Recovery.
Note: This issue is only for Intel Macs. Apple Silicon M1 Macs do not have Internet Recovery.
Mr. Macintosh Video that goes over the Big Sur internet recovery issue.
How is the macOS internet recovery version determined?
It all depends on what model Mac you have and the keyboard command used.
From Apple
By default, macOS Recovery installs the latest macOS that was previously installed on your Mac.* You can get other macOS versions using one of these methods: On an Intel-based Mac, you can use Option-Command-R at startup to upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
Exceptions
If macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later was never previously installed, you will receive the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
If your Mac has the Apple T2 Security Chip and you never installed a macOS update, you will receive the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
If you use Option-Command-R you should get the latest macOS version of Internet Recovery*
2013-2017 Mac = Big Sur 11.1
2018-2020 T2 Macs = Latest version of OS that is installed. (Example if Catalina 10.15.5 is installed, you will get 10.15.5 recovery) The version is based on the version of BridgeOS Installed.
Another example would be if you have a 2019 T2 Macbook Pro with Big Sur 11.0.1 installed. If you used Option-Command-R you should get 11.0.1 Big Sur Recovery.
Problem – All Macs are now getting Catalina Internet Recovery.
Why did Apple make this change? I didn’t report on this earlier because I figured it was a server side issue. Apple would probably fix it pretty quickly. The problem is it’s been almost a month now. Could this be a permanent change or is Big Sur Internet Recovery still having issues?
MacAdmins forum user gepeto42 had some information to share on this issue.
Apple is aware, they are telling me it is a server side issue that is being worked on right now. No ETA at all, on my side I will try when I get back from Holidays around Jan 4-5.
gepeto42
This sounds like Apple is aware and is working on fixing this issue. I will keep you updated as more info comes in.
