Tonight after a routine MacOS update (10.13.2) disaster struck and my Mac got stuck in an update boot loop. After a few hours of panic, reading online and trial & error I managed to resolve it. Here’s what I did in the hope it also helps someone else.
Mar 14, 2016 We have two methods to fix this problems. The first method we are going to try is to scan your Mac hard drive using the Disk Utility, and if it doesn’t work we are going to re-install Mac OS X El Capitan through the Recovery Mode. Let’s get it started! First Method – Disk Utility. Power off your Macbook or iMac completely. Jun 19, 2020 Select the disk on which you want to install 'El Capitan' and press Continue (note that the icon and name of the disk will be different in your case) (there is usually only one option. If you have several options because the Time Machine drive is plugged in to your computer, make sure you select the correct drive and not the Time Machine drive). Go to the Applications folder. Open the program called “Install OS X El Capitan”. Follow the on-screen instructions. If this program is missing or will not run, then move it to the trash and empty the trash, followed by re-downloading it from the App Store. An alternative approach is to create a dedicated installation drive from the El. I updated two computers from Yosemite to El Capitan with no problem. Then I tried to update a friend's computer from 10.6.8 Snow Leopard to El Capitan and I got caught up in the limbo where it keeps downloading but won't install and worse yet, won't go back to the previous system.
Steps
From the “MacOS could not be installed on your computer” screen:
El Capitan Reinstall
- Press and hold “option” key and click restart
- In the “Startup disk selection” screen, use the arrow keys to select your main hard drive (not the MacOS update)
- Wait for your Mac to boot normally
- Download the latest combo update directly from Apple. (this is a full system image, not an incremental update)
- Open and install the update
- Grab a snickers, this will take a while
El Capitan Unable To Install
My environment: 2017 Macbook pro 15” Touch Bar with MacOS 10.13.1 (High Sierra) installed and tried to update to 10.13.2 using the App Store.
Hackintosh El Capitan Os X Could Not Be Installed On Your Computer
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