I just figured out the problem I was having trying to load 10.13 onto a 2011 mini

[hal]

Buzz was having a problem installing 10.12 on his 2012 mini. http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,2438222 The consensus was that it was driver error - that Buzz's computer needed the date to be updated to current or that his installer was out dated and needed replacing. He was trying to go from 10.9 to 10.12

I just got 2011 mac mini missing a hard drive, so I have no idea of it's history.

I upgraded the drives and then started a 10.13 install and got the same error:

OS X could not be installed on your computer

Volume contains an OS X installation which may be damaged.
Quit the installer to restart your computer and try again.

I quit and tried again - twice. No help. I reset SMC and zapped pram. Same. Set the clock back even though I KNOW this is a good installer. No help, but then I got an idea...

Maybe this thing has missed too many of those firmware updates that is installed with every new OS update. I checked an identical 2011 mini that I had and saw that it's SMC version was the same, but the Boot ROM was way different.

I grabbed a drive that had 10.13 installed and I booted the mini via TB external. It booted properly. I ran the security update that was suggested by the update app and when it was done, the Boot ROM matched that of the other 2011 that I had that had successfully been updated.

I booted to the HS installer and now it's installing properly.

Buzz' computer missed all the firmware updates after 10.9 and the computer I have arrived with no hard drive, but it wouldn't surprise me if the last OS this thing ran was old. FINALLY got this thing going...

...and the install is DONE!

[hal]

oh, and ps - a PSA

after I set the clock backward one year, I booted from the external drive running 10.13, but it was REALLY cranky about the date being wrong. Trying to get the updater to launch was impossible... connecting to Apple.com showed an error that I could not get to apple.com with my clock being off by a year. I had to fix that before I could run the updater.

[Lew Zealand]

Ug, thanks for the reminder as I've missed those in the past and been stuck in the same situation.

Enjoy your 2011 Mini! I have one on my desk here as a 10.14.6 tester machine thanks to DosDude1's excellent instructions: http://dosdude1.com/mojave/

[N-OS X-tasy!]

hal wrote:
oh, and ps - a PSA

after I set the clock backward one year, I booted from the external drive running 10.13, but it was REALLY cranky about the date being wrong.

I used this method to install Sierra onto my Early 2011 MBP recently -- I found that a number of web sites would refuse to load due to the incorrect date setting.

[Buzz]

Wow, I told y'all it was rockin' good time.

Still battling the migration, but Sierra is mostly playing nice w/ the 2013 iMac.

FWIW, there was one (of the many) restart on the MBP during the Sierra fiasco that seemed to be a firmware update. Not sure how it played into the whole thing, but I was pretty darn sure it didn't have to do w/ mismatched dates...

Thanks for update hal.
==

[Harbourmaster]

Thanks for that link lz! I'm gonna give this a try with my '11 mini.

[NewtonMP2100]

......Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me).............

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Compare your firmware with what is listed here.
eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/which-efi-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-4/

[Filliam H. Muffman]

never mind, wrong thread.