Unable to install OS on Mac Mini (Late 2014)

[RagmanZL]

Good morning. Newbie here. Looking to learn more about Mac's as I have been a Windows user most of my life.
Ive used a few Macs before but never knew a whole lot about them.

I have a friend who lost her son. She found a Mini Mac when going through his things and would like to use it herself.
She said the Mac needed his password which she didnt have so she asked if I could get the computer working for her.

I told her I would take a look and asked if she wanted me to try to recover any of his files or data and she said no, she just wants a computer to use.

So I followed instructions online to hold Option-R and enter the disk utility tool, I erased the main hard drive but left the receovery partition alone. I then tried to reinstall Sierra but it continues to fail. I am plugged into ethernet but i get either a download error or an error stating it cant be installed and I need to visit the purchase page. I have tried several times. I also tried creating a bootable USB of Big Sur OS using TransMac but when I try to boot to USB it just wants to install from the internet which always fails.

Id really like to help her out with this but Im afraid I may be in over my head.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Fishrrman]

This may or may not work.
But give it a try.

You want to boot to INTERNET recovery:
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.

If you're connecting via wifi, you'll need your wifi password.
The internet utilities take a while to load, be patient.
(ethernet is better than wifi -- IF it's available)

When the utilities are loaded, open disk utility.
VERY IMPORTANT STEP, DO NOT SKIP: go to the view menu and choose "show all devices".

Look at "the list on the left".
You should be able to see the drive inside on the TOP line.
We need to erase it COMPLETELY and start over.

Click the top line (internal drive), then click "erase".
Erase it to "APFS, GUID partition format".
When the erase is done, quit disk utility.

Now open the OS installer.
I -think- it's going to offer you OS 12 "Monterey". That's ok.
Start clicking through.
The Mini will restart one or more times, and the screen will go dark for a minute or more, with no other indication of activity. Just be patient.

When done, you should see the initial startup screen "choose your language".
Start clicking through -- create an account for your friend's mother, etc.

IMPORTANT:
Consult with her before choosing a user name -- this IS NOT easily changed afterwards.
The password can be whatever she likes, even a temporary one that you assign to her.
That CAN be easily changed later, if she wishes.

PRINT OUT this reply and keep it for reference.
Good luck!

 

[RagmanZL]

Thank you for the reply Fishrrman.
I followed your steps as far as I could. here is where I stand now.

I pressed Command Option R and got a window that asked for wifi only - EVEN though I had an ethernet cable plugged in from a known good cable modem. ANyway I unplugged the ethernet cable, turned on my wifi hotspot on my phone and connected to it.
I then selected Internet Recovery and it took its time with a status bar below a globe. THen it went to an apple logo with a status bar then it opened to the 4 choices. I chose Disk Utility but I do not have a VIEW menu option. At the top all I have are the apple symbol, Disk Utility, File, Edit, Images, Window, and help. There is no view option within any of those drop downs. Any ideas?

 

[DeltaMac]

In your Disk Utility window, click on the topost item ( the "Apple HDD ... " line.)
That's the one you want to erase!

 

[RagmanZL]

In your Disk Utility window, click on the topost item ( the "Apple HDD ... " line.)
That's the one you want to erase!

So you think that is the problem - cause when I click on that it shows its pretty full. Could that be the issue with the install? No space? I did erase the Macintosh HD before I started all this - did I delete the wrong partition?

 

[RagmanZL]

ok so I erased that partition and tried another install of Sierra from the recovery partition. It fails with the attatched error. This is what was happening before which is why I have attempted to create a bootable USB disk with a .dmg file on it. The problem is that the system wont boot from it, always wants to connect to internet recovery which just ends up booting me back out to the main disk util/restore OS/Recover from backup screen.

 

[DeltaMac]

I wonder why internet recovery offers you Sierra. Option-Command-R should offer you Monterey, as the latest version that is compatible with the 2014 Mac mini.
Try another boot, while holding Shift-Option-Command-R
That should offer you an older version of OS X, probably Yosemite.
Reboot, this time holding only Option-Command-R (no shift key this time_
That SHOULD offer you Monterey - although it's possible that the mini has never had something newer than Sierra installed, which might explain why nothing newer than Sierra is offered. (There's firmware updates for support of APFS volumes with High Sierra and later, which Sierra did not need at the time, so that might be the issue)
The "Apple HDD HTS545050A7E362 Media" line in your Disk Utility is NOT a partition, it is the device that the partition(s) are using.
You choose THAT line to erase, which removes ALL partitions on that device. (I recommend not naming your new partition "Apple HDD", as it is a bit confusing. Name it something else. Even "Something Else" would be a better name. factory default name is "Macintosh HD", but that's your choice, in the end.

 

[RagmanZL]

Restarted holding down Shift-Option-Command-R and I get the status bar with a globe, then it goes to a stauts bar with the apple symbol. then it comes right back up to the Mac OS Utilities screen (4 choices.)

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes, that's exactly where you want to be. Choose "Reinstall macOS". Might say "Reinstall Mac OS X", which will be an older system version.
Make that choice to reinstall. Your goal at this point, is not to instal, but simply to see which version is being offered.
You will get to an install screen, which will show you which version is offered.
Back out of that, or simply quit by pressing Command-Q.
Restart, using the other key combo for internet recovery (Option-Command-R), and do the same choice to run the installer, again, just to see which version is offered with that option.

 

[RagmanZL]

ok so the version it offers is Sierra. I hit Command-Q and restarted holding down Option-Command-R and I get a Flashing folder with a question mark.

 

[DeltaMac]

The flashing ?/folder means that no boot system was found, and, of course, you have erased the system, so no local boot. That also means that you missing the timing to hold the Option-Command-R.
Try again, by making sure the mini is shut off. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds or so, or just temporarily unplug the power cord, then plug back in. Hold Option-Command-R, then press and release the power button. That should do the trick.

 

[RagmanZL]

ok - so I unplugged the Mini Mac for about 10 seconds. I plugged it back in. Pressed and held Option-Command-R and pressed the power button. The screen showed a globe and said Internet Recovery This may take awhile, I then let go of the buttons and have a spinning globe with a status bar and some kind of timer underneath. The globe then showed a caution triangle with an exclamation point and said underneath apple.com/support - 5101F So Im guessing the recover boot sector is corrupted??

 

[DeltaMac]

N0. your local drive is not used for booting. When booting to internet recovery, you are really booting to a remote server that belongs to Apple.
The 5101f code means there is a problem with the internet connection.
Here's a few troubleshooting tips to try to get around that error - https://appletoolbox.com/fix-macboo...F usually occurs,solution to restore your Mac.

 

[RagmanZL]

So I read the article and the 1st option I could not try as it will not restore the OS from the recovery partition and I do not have another running machine with Sierra on it to use the Carbon Copy Clone program. So I pressed Option-Command-P-R to reset the NVRAM which ended up booting to the folder with the question mark. Powewred down mac and powered back up pressing Option-Command-R and got the -5101F error. Shut down Mac, plugged my ethernet cable directly into the cable modem, bypassing the router and powered mac on holding Option-Command-R and still received -5101F error. FInally I shut down the Mac, unplugged ethernet cable, powered Mac on holding down Option-Command-R and connected to my phones hotspot this time. REceived same -5101F error.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Do you by any chance have access to ANOTHER Mac?
Not the broken Mini, but a Mac that actually boots and runs?

 

[RagmanZL]

I found an old MacBook Pro and after several unsuccessful attempts I was finally able to get into it. It is running Sierra.

 

[untfan]

I found an old MacBook Pro and after several unsuccessful attempts I was finally able to get into it. It is running Sierra.

You can follow the instructions here to make a bootable USB for the Sierra installer and use that to install on the Mac Mini 2014. There’s a bug in Sierra to create the USB.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-it-possible-to-go-back-to-high-sierra.2381584/?post=32027218#post-32027218

Once done, I would download the latest Monterrey on the 2014 mini and install that as it would install the updated firmware/boot rom (when creating the Monterey usb you can use the downloadassets tag to include the firmware on the USB) once Monterrey is installed you can then wipe and install Sierra or your desired OS.

Edit - or if the old MacBook is new enough you can try skipping straight to Monterrey USB installer and then reverting to Sierra USB installer.

 

[RagmanZL]

You can follow the instructions here to make a bootable USB for the Sierra installer and use that to install on the Mac Mini 2014. There’s a bug in Sierra to create the USB.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-it-possible-to-go-back-to-high-sierra.2381584/?post=32027218#post-32027218

Once done, I would download the latest Monterrey on the 2014 mini and install that as it would install the updated firmware/boot rom (when creating the Monterey usb you can use the downloadassets tag to include the firmware on the USB) once Monterrey is installed you can then wipe and install Sierra or your desired OS.

Edit - or if the old MacBook is new enough you can try skipping straight to Monterrey USB installer and then reverting to Sierra USB installer.

Yeah so I waas able to get into the old MacBook but it has a policy enabled that I cannot remove and trying to reinstall the OS on it give me an error. I really dont understand why Im having such a hard time here.

 

[untfan]

No, use the MacBook to download the Sierra/Monterrey installer and create the bootable USB (using the instructions I provided above) on the MacBook and then use the bootable USB to install the macOS on the mini.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Since you have a MacBook and it's working, I'm going to offer my suggestions.

First you need to download the Mac OS Mojave Patcher from here:

macOS Mojave Patcher

We ARE NOT going to "patch" Mojave.
Once you have the Patcher, launch it and go to the "tools" menu.
There is only one choice -- download Mojave.
So... choose it.
Now you have Mojave downloaded as a .dmg file.
I'd move this to the desktop.

NEXT STEP:
Get a USB flash drive that is 16gb or larger.
Don't even worry about the formatting.

NEXT STEP:
Download BOTH of these tools. You only need one of them, but download both of them anyway. If one doesn't work, TRY THE OTHER ONE.
1. DiskMaker X:

http://diskmakerx.com/downloads/DiskMaker_X_803.dmg

2. Install Disk Creator:

https://install-disk-creator.en.softonic.com/mac?ex=DINS-635.3

Either of these should be able to create a BOOTABLE USB flashdrive installer using the .dmg file you downloaded above.
AGAIN -- if you try one and it doesn't seem to work, TRY THE OTHER ONE.

When you have your bootable flash drive ready, take it to the Mini.
Power off
Connect the flashdrive
Hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN
Press the power on button
Wait until the Startup Manager appears (now let go of the option button)
Do you see the flashdrive?
If so, select it with the pointer and click ok.
Do you get a good boot?

PRINT OUT this reply for future reference.

 

[RagmanZL]

OK Fishrrman. I followed your instructions and was able to create a Mojave USB boot disk. I unplugged the power cord from the Mini and plugged it back in - Inserted Mojave USB and held down Option key while pressing the power button. After the Apple tone I got a drop down to choose a network then a few seconds later (Im still holding down the option key) I get a globe that says Internet Recovery. Clicking on that just takes me thru to the same loop it keeps doing where it ends up bringing me to the MacOS Ultitlities screen. Its like no matter what I cannot get the mini to boot from a USB.

 

[RagmanZL]

No, use the MacBook to download the Sierra/Monterrey installer and create the bootable USB (using the instructions I provided above) on the MacBook and then use the bootable USB to install the macOS on the mini.

Yeah, sorry untfan. I know what you mean, I typed wrong - I wasnt trying to install the OS on the MacBook. The Macbook had a policy enabled that wouldnt allow me to change the date and time. Without being able to change the date and time I could not use any browser. I finally found the admin credentials and was able to bypass the policy and change the date and time, which allowed me to browse. I was able to create a bootable usb stick but unable to get the Mini to boot from it - always wants to go to intertnet recovery.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I was able to create a bootable usb stick but unable to get the Mini to boot from it - always wants to go to intertnet recovery."

Well, internet recovery is a "starting point".

Can you get back to internet recovery?
(you will see the "internet utilities" window).

If you can, what happens if you:
- open disk utility?

Does it open?

If it does, look in the menu bar (top of screen).
Is there a "view" menu?

If there is, go to it and choose "show all devices".
(If there is NOT a "view" menu, don't worry about it, just go to the next step)

Can you get this far?

If you can, look towards the left (in disk utility).
The topmost item should be the physical drive inside.
Do you see it?

If you can, what happens if you click on it, and then click erase?

 

[RagmanZL]

OP wrote:
"I was able to create a bootable usb stick but unable to get the Mini to boot from it - always wants to go to intertnet recovery."

Well, internet recovery is a "starting point".

Can you get back to internet recovery? -YES
(you will see the "internet utilities" window).

If you can, what happens if you:
- open disk utility?

Does it open? - YES

If it does, look in the menu bar (top of screen).
Is there a "view" menu? - NO

If there is, go to it and choose "show all devices".
(If there is NOT a "view" menu, don't worry about it, just go to the next step)

Can you get this far?

If you can, look towards the left (in disk utility).
The topmost item should be the physical drive inside.
Do you see it?

If you can, what happens if you click on it, and then click erase?

It sees my external USB in the Utility itself but I cannot find a VIEW option.

 

[allan.nyholm]

So you think that is the problem - cause when I click on that it shows its pretty full. Could that be the issue with the install? No space? I did erase the Macintosh HD before I started all this - did I delete the wrong partition?

That AppleAPFSMedia drive -- if you were to create a bootable USB stick with macOS on it, it has to be formatted as JHFS+ not APFS

Also, try the combo Command+Shift+Option+R as well

But really, I think it's the APFS USB stick