Joe: I'm hoping for a simpler answer. That was very complicated and I don't have a flash drive. I've been thinking about getting one but I would probably get it through Amazon. It wouldn't be quick.


Originally Posted by joemikeb
Originally Posted by plantsower
OK. I followed directions and it's still doing the same thing. The next step is reinstalling MacOS. I imagine I do that through the recovery option? If so, will I be able to reinstall Catalina that way, or will it insist on installing Big Sur?
Having always installed the latest and greatest I cannot say from personal knowledge, what version will be installed so to get it straight from the horse's mouth read this knowledge base article. You will have to download a Catalina installer and run that.

A STRONG RECOMMENDATION

Rather than just downloading and running the installer…
  1. Get a good flash drive of at least 16 GB capacity like this or this with both Type A and Type C connectors (the two connectors will help guarantee connectivity with future devices.
  2. Download the Catalina Installer from the app store (that link will take you to the app store).
  3. Follow these instructions to create bootable thumb drive installer
  4. Option Boot your computer and choose the thumb drive.
  5. Run the installer
  6. Put the thumb drive in a safe place you will remember in case it is needed again in the future.


NOTE: don't let the terminal commands intimidate you. They can easily be copied from the instructions and pasted into Terminal. I have done this three or four times now and it is by far the fastest way to reinstall.

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