Mac internet recovery mode has the exact same options as normal recovery mode but there is a difference in the functionality. For example, when you select “Reinstall macOS” on internet recovery mode, your Mac will download the older version or the macOS that came with the Mac during the time of purchase. The correct way to reinstall macOS Catalina is to use your Mac’s Recovery Mode: Restart your Mac and then hold down ⌘ + R to activate Recovery Mode. In the first window, select Reinstall macOS Continue. Agree to the Terms & Conditions. Select the hard drive you’d like to reinstall mac OS Catalina to and click Install.

Catalina Internet Recovery Not Working


Catalina on (1) 2011 MacBook Air 13″, buttery smoothly. Only 4GB’s but works buttery smoothly. Catalina on (1) 2008 iMac 24″, internet, mail photo’s, and all default apps work fine, but only 4GB ram so it can be a tad slow. 8GB’s might be better. Catalina on (1) Late 2012 iMac 27″, buttery smoothly (officially supported machine). MacOS Catalina, aka macOS 10.15, is an older version of the operating system that runs on the Mac. MacOS Catalina's name was inspired by Santa Catalina Island, popularly known as Catalina and one. How to create a bootable macOS Big Sur USB install drive Step 1: Download macOS Big Sur. After Big Sur launches later this year, you’ll be able to download it directly from the Mac App Store.

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

What you need to create a bootable installer

Macos Catalina Usb Restore

  • A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage
  • A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan

Download macOS

Mac Os Catalina Recovery Usb Flash Drive

  • Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra
    These download to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
  • Download: OS X El Capitan
    This downloads as a disk image named InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

  1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.

Big Sur:*

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

High Sierra:*

El Capitan:

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this is done in the command for El Capitan.

Macos Catalina Recovery Usb Windows


After typing the command:

  1. Press Return to enter the command.
  2. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
  3. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the volume is erased.
  4. After the volume is erased, you may see an alert that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed.
  5. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

Use the bootable installer

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

Mac Os Catalina Recovery Usb Stick

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes and a gear icon labled Options.
  3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.

Macos Catalina Usb Restore-v1.1.dmg

Intel processor

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
  3. Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.
  4. Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return.
    If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure that the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility is set to allow booting from external media.
  5. Choose your language, if prompted.
  6. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

For more information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:

  • Big Sur: /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • Catalina: /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • Mojave: /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • High Sierra: /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • El Capitan: /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia

A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.


Apple simultaneously released new Mac hardware, a new OS (Big Sur), and transitioned to a new processor (Apple Silicon) on a single day. We have been tracking the changes with Big Sur builds and the Developer Transition Kit (DTK), but with the release of Big Sur and the new Macs, we are able to test on shipping hardware with a shipping OS. This applies to both Intel Macs and the new Silicon Macs. We tested with a 2020 MacBook Air (Intel) and the new 2020 MacBook Air (M1). Our focus was deploying Macs using MDS for this hardware and Big Sur. This article outlines the issues discovered, feedback filed, and some recommendations for mitigating these issues.

Intel Mac Big Sur Issues

Issue #1: Intel Macs upgrading to Big Sur from Catalina Recovery

MDS deploys Macs by running workflows from macOS recovery to wipe, install macOS, and install packages (either when the workflow is running, after the OS is installed, or at first boot). Every recent macOS installer has a command line tool called “startosinstall” that provides a command line way to install macOS on a target volume and specify packages to install after the OS is installed. In prior versions of macOS, booting to a recovery that is newer than the OS that is being installed has been problematic (e.g., booting to a Catalina recovery and installing Mojave). However, installing a newer OS (like Catalina) when booted from a older recovery (like Mojave) has worked fine. With Big Sur, it was discovered that running startosinstall from a Big Sur installer on a Catalina recovery partition cause the installer to crash.

This issue was filed Aug 18, 2020 as FB#8454260 and has not been responded to by Apple.

The same issue applies to a Catalina external drive trying to upgrade to Big Sur using a Big Sur installer. Both environments are the same.

Workaround: Boot from a Big Sur internet recovery before running an MDS workflow.

Update: Apple is aware of the issue and a fix is in the works.

Issue #2: Big Sur Internet Recovery not always available

In order to workaround the issue of upgrading to Big Sur in a Catalina recovery, it is recommended to boot to Big Sur internet recovery by holding Command-Option-R (⌘-⌥-R) on a Mac that supports Big Sur. However, some Macs will not boot to Big Sur even if the Mac is compatible. It has been suggested that a firmware/bridgeOS is required in Catalina, but we have seen a Mac that has Big Sur installed on it with the most recent version of bridgeOS not able to boot to Big Sur recovery. It is unknown why Big Sur was not available in Internet Recovery; however, manually reinstalling Catalina, then upgrading to Big Sur from Catalina in the booted OS, allowed the Mac to successfully boot to Big Sur Internet Recovery.

Force Catalina Internet Recovery

Issue not filed with Apple since it can no longer be replicated with test hardware. If this issue affects you, please file a feedback issue and let me know the FB#.

Workaround: Install Catalina, then Big Sur from Catalina. Once Big Sur is installed, boot to Big Sur recovery and run MDS workflow to install Big Sur and packages.

Issue #3: Missing WiFi in Big Sur Recovery

Internet

On the 2020 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, it has been reported that when booting to Big Sur recovery, Wi-Fi is not available. It does not show up in recovery, Internet Recovery, or when booting externally; the Wi-Fi menu does not appear, and using networksetup to join by SSID is unsuccessful, returning a hardware not available message. Wi-Fi works fine if booted to Catalina. Attempts to re-install Big Sur fail due to lack of network since a network connection is required.

Issue filed by Joseph Chicote FB#8901618

Os X Catalina Internet Recovery

Workaround: use a USB ethernet dongle to provide network.

Update: Apple is aware of the issue and a fix is in the works.

Apple Silicon Mac Big Sur Issues

Issue #1: Cannot run startosinstall

In Apple Silicon Macs, the recovery environment requires the user to press and hold the power button to enter in recovery. Once booted to recovery, the Terminal is available. However, as of macOS 11.1 beta, when startosinstall is run from a valid Big Sur installer, a message is printed that this tool is not supported in Apple Silicon recovery. Without this tool, it is not possible to automate the re-install of macOS from recovery. Apple provides other methods (such as Apple Configurator 2 or MDM/DEP workflows), but those methods do not allow a Mac in an unknown state to be wiped and macOS reinstalled in a timely, efficient manner. It is common for people upgrading from one Mac to another to “turn in” the old Mac when receiving the new Mac. It is critical for large organizations to be able to wipe and reinstall macOS on a large number of Macs.

Filed as Issue FB#8923918

Workaround: Use Apple configurator or MDM to wipe Macs, then run an MDS workflow to install non-OS install packages.

Issue #2: Selecting recovery remotely

In CI/CD environments, it is common to boot to recovery, wipe and reinstall macOS, and provision software automatically. With Intel Macs, it was possible use a keyboard combination remotely (⌘-R) to boot to recovery and automate the process of deploying the Mac. With Apple Silicon Macs, the power button is not able to be sent as a remote keyboard command and physical access it required to boot to recovery. This makes deploying Macs as CI/CD Macs difficult to deploy.

Submitted Feedback: FB#8923930

Issue is in the process of being written up. This article will update once it has been filed.

Macos Catalina Internet Recovery

What can you do to help?

If any of these issues affect you or your organization, here is what you can do to help get this resolved:

How Long Does Macos Internet Recovery Take

  1. If you have an AppleCare support contract, escalate the issue with your AppleCare contact. Be sure to let them know the number of Macs affected.
  2. If you see any of these issues affecting your ability to buy or deploy new Macs, contact your Account Executive, Apple SE, or Reseller. Point them to this article and/or the feedback numbers. Apple tracks customer feedback in a system called “Voice of the Customer”. Make sure to let them know how many potential future Mac purchases this may affect.
  3. File a feedback. Go to https://feedbackassistant.apple.com and write up the issue and reference the FB number above. This helps Apple see the number of “dups” an issue has and hopefully raises the priority.