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How do I install macOS High Sierra from a USB stick offline? I installed a new disk to a MacBook Air 2011, created a USB stick with High Sierra base image in Linux which boots to recovery. I can connect to my Wi-Fi, updated the system date but the installation doesn't proceed due to a network error. It's the same with the internet recovery option (error -1005U).

  • I don't have another mac, just Linux.
  • Air doesn't have a LAN port, which complicates things. I'd rather do without another piece of equipment (adapter) because it's a one-time job.
  • I'm not sure the full image of High Sierra can actually be downloaded. It seems that the previous version of macOS, Sierra, can. So I thought maybe I could install that one and upgrade to High Sierra later.
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  • @Tetsujin Unfortunately no, I've been able to download it, I just can't boot it in such a way that doesn't require internet connection. If that's even possible... In the meantime I tried Sierra and the machine doesn't recognize the bootable USB stick at all. I'll give it one last shot with El Capitan but it already seems like a waste of time.
    – user499618
    Commented Jun 28, 2023 at 11:43
  • How are you making these boot USBs? You can't just copy the file to a stick. There are instructions for building them on Windows, as well as Mac. There is no partial version that needs the internet to finalise; they are all self-contained, so idk what you downloaded, or from where.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Jun 28, 2023 at 12:52
  • For High Sierra I followed this: gist.github.com/coolaj86/…. It boots, but refuses to install due to an error when connecting to Apple servers. That one is definitely not self-contained, it says it in the script's comment. Then I downloaded Sierra from here: maclinks.publicvm.com, converted to ISO and put it onto the ExFAT formatted stick with Gnome disks (Restore disk image...), that doesn't boot at all.
    – user499618
    Commented Jun 28, 2023 at 13:11
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    @Tetsujin: jirkap found answers posted 3 years ago at Ask Ubuntu where Linux is used to create an USB bootable El Capitan installer. BTW, many Mac models can boot from ExFAT. Apple made this change years ago when Microsoft starting issuing Windows 10 ISO installers where one of the files in the ISO was greater than 4 GB in size.
    – David Anderson
    Commented Jun 28, 2023 at 17:37
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    @Tetsujin: My 2011 iMac (which I am currently using) can (U)EFI boot from an ExFAT volume on an USB drive. The drive can be either MBR or GPT partitioned. (The Mac can both BIOS and (U)EFI boot the internal drive from ExFAT). This ability came with the same firmware upgrade (during a High Sierra install) that allowed my Mac to also boot from APFS. I (U)EFI booted from an USB ExFAT volume to install a BIOS booting Windows 10 (an later a BIOS booting Windows 11) on the internal drive.
    – David Anderson
    Commented Jun 28, 2023 at 17:54

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