Reinstall Catalina Mac

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Jul 05, 2021 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

Catalina

There are many issues that people may encounter while installing the macOS update. One of the common problems is that the recovery server could not be contacted. When trying to install macOS High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina, there is an error message popping up: The recovery server could not be contacted.

If your macOS update is also stopped by this error, you will find this post helpful. From this post, you will learn why the recovery server could not be contacted and how to fix it.

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What Does It Mean When the Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted?

Press and hold Command + Option + R.This allows you to reinstall the latest version of macOS that is compatible with your Mac computer from the internet. Press and hold Shift + Command + Option + R. This option allows you to reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available. Press and hold Command + R. The Catalina split. The Catalina installer renames the startup volume to “Macintosh HD – Data” (assuming your boot volume has the default title “Macintosh HD”) and assigns it the Data role. The installer also creates a brand new volume with the System role. The interesting part is, these two volumes appear in the Finder and throughout. Users who are plagued by Safari issues usually want to uninstall and reinstall the app to resolve them. While this might work for a lot of apps out there, it doesn’t quite solve Safari problems. In fact, you can’t simply click and delete the app since it is an in-built feature of the macOS and a permanent part of it. Then restart your Mac and hold the Option key until you see the Apple logo. In the Startup Disk, click the external drive name. When the boot resumes, you should boot into macOS Catalina installation wizard. At this stage, you should pick up the external SSD to install Catalina. Another way to boot Catalina is from System Preferences. Prepare Your Mac for Reinstallation. Make enough room for Big Sur or Catalina reinstallation, at least 36GB, so the reinstallation process won't pause or stopped for insufficient space. Also, quit all apps or programs under work, so your Mac is fully geared to reinstall.

When installing a macOS update with a macOS installer, your Mac needs to reach the Apple server. When it says 'the recovery server could not be contacted, it means that your Mac failed to build a connection with the Apple server.

There are multiple culprits behind this issue.

  • Your Mac is disconnected from the network. A stable network connection is required for your Mac to successfully contact the Apple server.
  • The date and time on your Mac are not properly synced with the Apple recovery server.
  • The Apple server is overloaded with too many users trying to installing the new update at the same time. Whenever there is a macOS update recently released, the Apple server usually experiences a busy time.

Solution 1: Check Network Connection on Mac

Firstly, you need to check if your Mac is connected to a proper internet connection. If your Mac is on a wired internet connection, you can re-plug the Ethernet cable to check.

If your Mac is using a Wi-Fi, you can access the Wi-Fi option from the top right corner of your screen to check it is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network.

The faster the internet, the quicker you can access the Apple recovery server.

Solution 2: Sync your Mac' Date and Time to Apple Recovery Server

If your Mac's date and times are not synced to the Apple recovery server. You can update these settings by utilizing these steps;

Step 1: First of all, close the error. This will open the macOS Utilities window.
Step 2: Next, you are required to choose the option 'Utilities' on the top menu bar.
Step 3: You will see the option 'Terminal', double click on it.
Step 4: Then type the following command line: 'ntpdate -u time.apple.com' and press enter.
Step 5: The above step might take some time. Once the process is completed, you can try reinstalling the macOS update again. Hopefully, your problem will be solved.

Also if the 'ntpdate -u time.apple.com' command-line failed to fix the recovery server could not be contacted on your Mac, you can try the following command.

  • Open Terminal.
  • Enter date. And hit Enter key. This will show the date of your Mac.
  • If the date and time are wrong, you should enter the current time with the following command line: date mmddhhssyy. For example, if it is July 20, 09:00 am, 2020, you should enter: date 0720090020 (July 20, 09:00 am, 2020,).
  • After that, quit Terminal and click Reinstall macOS to run the Catalina/Mojave installer again.

Solution 3: Install the Full Version of Mojave/Catalina Installer

Some users found that when they try to install a macOS update with the update installer from App Store, it just showed the error message 'the recovery server could not be contacted. However, after downloading a full version of the macOS installer, the installer can run without any error. Here is how you can get a full version of the macOS Catalina update.

Step 1Run Terminal.

Mac

Step 2For example, to download the full version of the macOS Catalina 10.15.3 Installer Application, enter the command line as below.

  • softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 10.15.3

Step 3The installer will be downloaded in the Application folder.

Step 4Run the installer to install the macOS without the recovery server error.

Solution 4: Erase Your Disk and Reinstall macOS

In case you have utilized all the above methods and have not received any good results. Only then, you can erase your hard disk and reinstall macOS. You can enter the recovery mode to erase the hard disk. After that, reinstalling macOS can solve your problem. Follow the steps properly erase your hard disk and reinstall macOS;

Step 1Firstly, you need to restart your Mac.

Step 2When the Mac is starting, you need to press and hold CDM + R keys to enter the recovery mode.

Step 3In the Recovery mode, click Disk Utility and erase the Macintosh HD volume. This will delete all your data on your Mac so make sure you have backed up your important data.

Step 4After erasing your disk, you can reinstall macOS. This time, you won't see the recovery server could not be contacted error.

If you have important data missing after the macOS update, you can get it back by using Recoverit Data Recovery software. The program is designed to recover photos, documents, videos, emails, etc. from the Mac computer after the data are deleted mistakenly or lost because of macOS reinstallation, factory reset, or virus.

Lost data can be recovered in 3 simple steps by Recoverit: select the drive of lost data, scan the drive, recover the files.

Download the free trial version of Recoverit Data Recovery to scan and find your needed files.

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Conclusion

Many users complained about the recovery server could not be contacted error. Every error is solvable, only if you apply proper solutions. And to tackle the incidents that may happen in the macOS update, you need to back up your data before implementing any of the steps. In case your data is lost, you can recover it using Recoverit Data Recovery.

Reinstall Catalina Mac Os

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Summary: This page is about how to reinstall macOS in macOS Recovery mode. Based on if you want to keep the original data on the startup disk, you can either choose to clean reinstall macOS or to reinstall macOS without data loss.

Reinstalling macOS gives your Mac a fresh start especially when you are frequently bothered by some issues, such as Mac not turning on, Mac hanging on the beach ball, apps frozen on your Mac, slow performance, or pink screen on Mac. Most of the time, such issue results from some system-level problems, while reinstalling macOS can easily save your life.

• How to reinstall macOS on an M1 Mac?

How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery mode?

Reinstall Macos Catalina From Internet

When you need to reinstall macOS on your Mac, macOS Recovery mode makes this process easy and quick. By the way, if you want to learn more about macOS Recovery mode, you can watch this video.

To reinstall macOS in macOS Recovery mode:

Step 1: Make sure your Mac is connected to a stable Internet within all the following steps.

Reinstall Catalina Mac Os

Step 2: Identify it's an Intel or M1 Mac, and immediately do one of the followings.

  • Press and hold Command + Option + R.This allows you to reinstall the latest version of macOS that is compatible with your Mac computer from the internet.
  • Press and hold Shift + Command + Option + R. This option allows you to reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
  • Press and hold Command + R. This allows you to reinstall the version of macOS stored on your built-in recovery disk, including any updates that you installed.

• How to Boot into & Use M1 Mac Recovery Mode

Step 3: Release these keys when you see an Apple logo, spinning globe, or the Utilities window.

Step 4: Enter the requested password if you are prompted to enter a firmware password or the administrator's login password.

• Recover/reset your forgotten Mac password

• Mac won't accept correct password, what to do?

Step 5: Decide if you want to clean install the system, or just reinstall macOS without losing your original data.

If you want to factory reset the Mac for selling or giveaway, or the startup disk becomes corrupted, you might want to erase the startup disk before reinstallation. This guarantees a fresh and clean installation as it wipes all your personal data on the disk.

• How to factory reset your Mac?

• How to reset your M1 Mac to factory settings?

If you only want to reinstall macOS because the original operating system is not working as you expect, you might want to keep your personal data intact. In case files are deleted or lost by accident during macOS reinstallation, you should have a backup of your data or getting files off first.

• How to get files off a MacBook that won't turn on?

Step 6: Either after erasing the startup disk or getting files off the Mac, you can then go back to macOS Utilities and choose Reinstall macOS. Check this post to find all macOS versions and know which one you are going to reinstall.

Step 7: Follow the on-screen instructions and choose a disk to reinstall the OS.

Reinstall Catalina Mac
  • If the internal startup disk is not showing up, or the installer says that it can't install macOS on your computer or volume, you might need to back up files and then erase your disk.
  • If the installer asks you to choose Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data when installing macOS Catalina, choose Macintosh HD.

Reinstall Macos Catalina Without Losing Data

Other ways to install macOS

Apart from reinstalling macOS from macOS Recovery mode, you have other options according to your situations.

Reinstall Catalina Macbook Air

  1. Get released macOS versions or updates by App Store or Software Update preferences.
  2. Get macOS beta (such as macOS Monterey that might be buggy now) through Apple’s developer website.

Reinstall Catalina Mac

Whatever your situation of reinstalling macOS is, you should always retrieve your data from the Mac before any further movement. After all, you can't tell if you want it back or not in the future.