MacOS – Error while installing Mavericks in a clean hard drive

errorinstallmacos

I've decided to reistall osx Mavericks on my MacBook, so I restarted my Mac clicking cmd ⌘+R. In recovery mode I erased the main hard drive so I can have a clean install.

Then I selected "Install OS X Maverics" and after asking my permission to "verify the installation with apple" I got this error:

An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.

I restarted, and then it started the "Internet Recovery" mode, which now gives me the option to install OS X Mountain Lion instead of Mavericks, and gives me the same error every time.

I've checked the date through the terminal, and it is correct, but I am not in "PDT", I'm in "IDT" time zone.

Best Answer

I know it's late, but if anyone coming here for macOS 10.10+ I did the following:

Reset Drive

  1. Boot in recovery mode (Cmd ⌘ R)
  2. Select Disk Utility
  3. Choose Macintosh HD
  4. Verify Macintosh HD
  5. Erase Macintosh HD

Reset Mac time and PRAM

  1. Restart and hold Cmd ⌘ Opt ⌥ P R (Resetting PRAM as stated above)
  2. After second chime, hold Cmd ⌘ R to boot in recovery mode
  3. Select language
  4. Enter wifi information (or plug in ethernet cable)
  5. Select Utilities from the task bar
  6. Choose Terminal
  7. Enter date mmddHHMMyyyy where mm = two digit month, dd = two digit day, HH = 24 hour, MM = minute, yyyy = 4 digit year (time zone was incorrect for me, but didn't seem to matter)
  8. Exit Terminal (Cmd ⌘ Q)

Reinstall macOS

  1. Reinstall Mac OS X (or macOS)

It worked only after doing all of these.

Source: https://blog.macsales.com/31640-tech-tip-an-error-occurred-while-preparing-the-installation-fix

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