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Reinstalling iOS on mac - app store login not accepted

I have a old iMac (circa 2008) that I have been trying to reuse.


I had some disk errors so after using Disk Utility to try to repair, I erased the disk. Now I am trying to reinstall the iOS (Yosemite).


When asked to login to the app store I enter my password - it says it is wrong and trust me I have checked and rechecked (eg on my other devices). I get the 2 factor approval come through on my other devices - if I approve I get the code but the old Mac just sits there doing nothing.


If I click on "forgot password" I get the spinning wheel forever.


Any tips on how to progress?


Many thanks


T

iMac, OS X 10.10

Posted on Jan 20, 2022 3:02 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 21, 2022 2:54 AM

Hi T.


So I logged in to my Mac developer account this morning and sure enough Yosemite support was dropped in 2019, the stand-alone installer was expunged from all Apple download sources that I have access to in 2019.


I was only able to find a couple of Yosemite update patch installers still available under developer downloads, not the full package.


Provided that your hardware meets the minimum requirements then yes, install Sierra instead, the full 5GB installer for 10.12.6 is downloadable on one of your working machines from the Apple App Store.


This Apple doc lists the hardware requirements for each of the currently available OS installers:


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211683


If you kept/found an old copy of the Yosemite installer the Terminal command string for creating the bootable drive was recently posted in this thread:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251201913


A brief Google search this morning did find a couple of obscure websites claiming to provide Yosemite .dmg installer packages but with no way to confirm they hadn't been tampered with I wouldn't risk even downloading from them.


Sorry I could not find anything more helpful.


Will.

Similar questions

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 21, 2022 2:54 AM in response to pom15595

Hi T.


So I logged in to my Mac developer account this morning and sure enough Yosemite support was dropped in 2019, the stand-alone installer was expunged from all Apple download sources that I have access to in 2019.


I was only able to find a couple of Yosemite update patch installers still available under developer downloads, not the full package.


Provided that your hardware meets the minimum requirements then yes, install Sierra instead, the full 5GB installer for 10.12.6 is downloadable on one of your working machines from the Apple App Store.


This Apple doc lists the hardware requirements for each of the currently available OS installers:


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211683


If you kept/found an old copy of the Yosemite installer the Terminal command string for creating the bootable drive was recently posted in this thread:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251201913


A brief Google search this morning did find a couple of obscure websites claiming to provide Yosemite .dmg installer packages but with no way to confirm they hadn't been tampered with I wouldn't risk even downloading from them.


Sorry I could not find anything more helpful.


Will.

Jan 21, 2022 3:34 PM in response to Will_G_Astro

SUCCESS! Many thanks


I had a copy of the Yosemite installer still in my App Store history (I looks like Yosemite is the last OS that can be used on this machine), and I used the syntax in the thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251201913


It took a while for the installer etc to do its thing (both creating the installer USB and then installing the OS) however I now have another working (if rather old) Mac.


So again Will, many thanks for your help.


T



Jan 20, 2022 5:05 AM in response to pom15595

The only time I had something similar was caused by the keyboard layout mapping at boot in the Recovery Mode (US English) being different to my physical keyboard (British English).


When typing in the password, which had “special symbols” characters, the keys I pressed did not correspond to the characters that were being entered in the password field, and which were replaced by dots as you entered them, so you had no idea they were wrong.


It was years ago now and I can’t remember if there was an option to show the characters as you typed into the password field or if I used the un-hidden user name field first to find which keys the “special symbols” characters had moved to before typing the password correctly using those remapped keys.


You mention you have other devices, if so and the above does not help and your other devices include a different Mac or MacBook then the easiest and most straightforward solution is to create a bootable Yosemite installer on an external hard drive using one of those other devices, then connect that drive to your old iMac, boot from that drive to carry out the reinstall.


HTH


Will.

Jan 21, 2022 12:19 AM in response to Will_G_Astro

Thanks Will.


I don't think it is actually the password (as I get confirmation from other devices that I am now using the Mac, and I have gone into the App Store on other devices and signed out and back in to double check the password).


My theory (based on little information and not much computer know how) is that it is getting hung up on trying to access the App Store because Yosemite is no longer available on the App Store.


I am trying to create a bootable USB and am looking at a few websites to guide me.

I have tried following this one:

How to create bootable OS X Yosemite USB (thenerdmag.com)


However I get:

sudo: /Applications/Install: command not found


My other Macs (on which I am trying to do this) are running Sierra (not Yosemite).


Questions:

+ Am I getting problems with the script because the code is for a Yosemite machine, not a Sierra machine (that I am trying to use to generate the bootable USB)?

+ Is there a way around for this?

+ Can I install Sierra directly onto the faulty machine, or do I need to get Yosemite on first?


And obviously any other points would be great.


Many thanks


T

Reinstalling iOS on mac - app store login not accepted

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