Can’t restore MacOS from recovery
I messed up my Macbook pro 16 inches in the following way:
- it came installed with Catalina
- I upgraded to Big Sur Beta
- Wanted a fresh install, tried to reinstall from recovery but didn’t install fresh OS
- Went to recovery and deleted all volumes
- Created one APFS volume
- Went to internet recovery, tried to install Catalina, it gives me "Downloading installer information to the target volume failed" (tried multiple networks/hotspot with google dns, but same)
What can I do to un-mess this situation ?
Edit: downloaded Catalina dmg and restored it to flash disk, booted into recovery but says security settings do not allow booting from external devices, when I try to change the settings it tells me no administrator account found to log in !
This is pretty easy if you have a network that works or a second Mac.
I’m not sure you have either based on the initial version of your question. You may have both based on the edit.
The erase install process works great for us on the hardware you have. I wouldn't mess with bootable media if you can download from Internet Recovery.
Instead - erase the disk, which returns you to the Catalina installer. While it's running - look for Command-L and Command-3 to show the log file and show all logs.
- Since you’re between versions: - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 - use Shift - Option - Command - R.
- This is the most reliable erase process: - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496
- This is the most reliable recovery process: - https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-configurator-2/revive-or-restore-mac-firmware-apdebea5be51/mac
It's unlikely you need Apple Configurator, but know you can bypass everything and start by restoring the T2 chip and then write a new BridgeOS if needed on T2 Macs.