The recovery server could not be contacted

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Senecio

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#311658 5-Feb-2024 09:11

Anyone else come across this before?

I'm trying to do a clean install of MacOS onto a 2017 Intel based Macbook Pro (original OS was High Sierra) and I keep getting this error message at the early stages of the internet recovery process. I've done this dozens of times before (different hardware) and never come across this error before. I've searched and there seem to be plenty of other people with the same issue, some provide "fixes". None of which have worked for me.

Any help appreciated.

bagheera

539 posts

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#3190777 5-Feb-2024 09:38

looking at this, the mac is to old

https://support.apple.com/en-nz/guide/apple-configurator-mac/apdebea5be51/mac

and not on the list for the current OS

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/macos-14-rumored-name-release-date-and-latest-news

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Senecio

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#3190782 5-Feb-2024 09:50

I'm not trying to install the latest OS (Sonoma), just trying to reinstall the original OS it was shipped with. From there I will upgrade to the latest OS that was compatible for this machine (Ventura).

RunningMan

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#3190934 5-Feb-2024 11:35

What ISP?

Senecio

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#3191020 5-Feb-2024 13:28

RunningMan:

What ISP?

Bigpipe.

RunningMan

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#3191026 5-Feb-2024 13:51

Assuming Bigpipe are using the same network as Spark, I wonder if it's the issue discussed here.

@Hemi88 @cbrpilot may have more details.

Looks like a DNS issue with Spark's servers, so changing the DNS server on your router to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 would be a workaround.

Behodar

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#3191030 5-Feb-2024 13:58

Another option, if you have a spare USB drive available, is to use the createinstallmedia tool and then install from that.

Senecio

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#3191033 5-Feb-2024 14:09

Thanks, I'll give that a go when I get home tonight. I hadn't connected my issue to that thread as I've had no issues with other Apple services update from this recovery server issue.

Senecio

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#3191235 5-Feb-2024 18:50

Ok, I think this is fixed now. At least I hope so as OSX Ventura is currently being installed. Posting the fix here in case it might help someone else.

I found this article that provided the fix.

Mr Macintosh

Long story short, the internet recovery tool for High Sierra is broken and Apple haven’t bothered to fix it. You would normally use Command-R at boot to use internet recovery. But for High Sierra the URL links are broken which is why the server check fails. Instead you need to use Option-Command-R to boot into a newer version of internet recovery. From there you can install the latest version of OSX that is compatible with your hardware.