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I installed El Capitan and my computer wouldn't boot

That info was something that I already posted in post #17 - but here's the link again:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

Don't just copy and paste that command -- change to fit your own paths to those files in the terminal.
If you can't "install" the .pkg file to make the installer app, then use one of the utilities that will allow you to do that manually. I think that Pacifist will support that.
Another solution would be to use a bootable system on an external drive to do all this while booted to your older MBPro, if that is the only Mac that you have, that also supports El Capitan.
 
On post 18 I told you I followed the directions on the link in post 17, but it didnt' work. And then you told me to get the 'Show Package" which I'm still stuck on.
 
Sorry -- I'm not sure what you might be missing. The steps on those that I have used (and for El Capitan, among other system versions) multiple times.
To try again:
Download the .dmg
Mount the .dmg - get the .pkg
Use the .pkg to create the installer app
use the installer app to make a bootable installer.

I've done this successfully, literally dozens of times.

My best suggestion, if you reach a seemingly-insurmountable obstacle on your newer Mac - use the older MBPro.
Install a full system (your choice now) on an external drive. Boot to THAT system, and follow the steps to make the installer (which will work, because the hardware directly supports the El Capitan system), then boot to that installer and do a full erase and install on the internal drive.

(If you don't have an external drive with enough space, maybe more than 32 GB -- get one, as it's a good tool to have around, just in case this situation comes up again!)
 
So I have to erase all data in my MBP to do this? Even though I have most important things backed up, I would still hesitant to do that.
 
Why would you need to erase your internal drive?
As I said, install a system on an external drive, and boot to that external drive. No reason that you need to erase the internal drive, unless that becomes necessary.
 
you said "then boot to that installer and do a full erase and install on the internal drive." so I thought I had to erase the internal drive.
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I do have one 5TB external drive that I just bought. I formatted it to exFAT right now, since you can't do timemachine nor install the OS on exFAT, I'm thinking of reformatting it to 1TB of time machine and 32GB for the OS and the rest in exFAT. Would that work?
 
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Ah, sorry, I ignored your first post. It still doesn't boot, correct?
You can certainly boot to your new bootable installer, and reinstall El Capitan, which installs El Capitan over the existing installation, and shouldn't disturb your existing files and apps. The result should be a good (booting) system.
When you get to that "Reinstall OS X", don't forget to reset the date on your system through the terminal, otherwise the El Capitan install will likely fail with an error (something like "problem during install" or a message close to that). The system clock should correct itself the first time you connect to the internet. The "date" command is just to bypass a minor glitch in the El Capitan installer that has been around for the last 2 or 3 years.

Note: if the reinstall doesn't fix your booting issue, then a full erase/install will be your next step, and you would want to back up your internal drive before the erase/format, as you would be correct -- you would lose everything that is not backed up.

Your new external should be OK. I have a Seagate Backup Plus 8TB which refuses to boot, but does work as a Time Machine backup drive, so I have that split into 4 partitions, for a variety of backup uses. Don't know why I can't make a partition bootable, as I (think) I know all the "tricks". Somehow related to the firmware of the device. Hopefully, you do not have one of those Seagates 😎

I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to install a bootable OS X system on a partition on that 5TB, unless the format Scheme (the Partition Map) is GUID. Master Boot Record (MBR) won't work, for example.
Yes, you will need to erase/format if the drive is MBR, and the best choice for Format option is Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Again, the device needs to be formatted GUID. But you can make multiple partitions, if you like, and make one of your choice ExFAT, if you need to share storage with a Windows system.
 
I'm about to do the partition and it says Scheme is GUID.
Would I need to make a separate partition for bootable system that is separate from partition for timemachine, or could I just create one partition large enough to carry both timemachine and bootable system?
 
I would make a separate partition, and leave the TM partition dedicated to that. I use a "rule" that the TM partition should be twice the size of the drive (or drives) that you want to back up. The other reason to have a separate partition: You might need to erase your boot partition, and if TM is on its own partition, you would have less chance of accidentally erasing the TM backup folder.
 
TM partition does not have to be twice the size of the drive that you back up. It's just my own preference on that size.
(TM continues to backup, and adds to the main backup file. If TM runs out of space, it begins to remove the oldest backups. I have TM on a 2.5 TB partition, with active drives totalling 750 GB, and my TB backup currently takes up 800 GB out of that 2.5 TB available) The space works well for me, but, in the end, it is really just my personal preference.
But, you DO need to consider how much space that you might like for your backups. "Twice the size" makes it easy to decide about external, so that's what I try to do. (Not a very technical reason, but just something that I recall reading when Time Machine first appeared on Macs
 
Is there a problem with removing past backups though? Why might you need that?

I'm getting this message when I try to partition: "APFS volumes share storage space within a container, occupying a single partition. Adding and deleting APFS volumes is faster and simpler than editing a partition map." Is adding APFS better?
 
The drive that you are trying to partition is apparently formatted APFS. I don't think you can use that at all from an El Capitan system - that drive needs to be formatted in the older HFS+ (Mac OS Extended (journaled). TM needs that older format, and won't back up to an APFS drive, and you can't install El Capitan to an APFS format drive. The oldest Mac system that uses APFS format is High Sierra (macOS 10.13.6)
 
So does the whole drive needs to be formatted as HFS+? Is there any disadvantage to using HFS vs APFS?
 
If I want to install Mojave instead of El Capitan, does that make anything different in your directions?
 
DeltaMac said:
You have to make that thumb drive bootable...
Follow the steps -- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

El Capitan probably needs the most prep steps of any OS X system install. Specific steps for El Capitan in that support article, and you have to change your system clock before you begin the install of El Capitan. Boot to the Installer, at the menu screen, open the terminal, enter date 1116211618, then press enter. Quit the terminal, and continue with the OS X install.
That should work.
Click to expand...


el cap works after new install
DeltaMac...I must THANK YOU!!!!
Id read this discussion with a great deal of interest.I have two iMacs (three if you count my G5 17 inch one)
The two intel ones have snow leopard 10.6 even though the most recent one can run 10.13. Like the idea of both being the same. Anyway, decided yesterday to update the 10,1 (late 2009). el captain is the last OS that can be upgraded from snow leopard..so went for that.


Then hit that seemingly common prob of installation failure...and my goodness, there is a heap of stuff out there on fixing it. A net install wasn't an option...Id used up most of my remaining 20 GB monthly quota in the down load.


It was looking very much like my best option was to re-install snow leopard.


Then after trying various available ways I came here, read your suggestions, saw the one on date ie 'at the menu screen, open the terminal, enter date 1116211618, then press enter.'


Tried that ..and surprise surprise the install worked!!!!
I was dumbfounded!!! Hadn't read that solution in any of my other solution searches.


(the only other thing I did do, was when I noticed in one of the preinstall screen, options that listed two items...of was a scritp list (I think) that contained 0 data..so I unticked that. Sorry thats a bit fuzzy but being zero content cant imagine that made any difference... so it must have been the date setting that was blocking the install.


Upon successful boot up into El Captain, the first thing I did was to set the time and date correctly.
The second thing was to come in here to thank you DeltaMac!!! 

 
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