Macbook Pro SSL/Key issue

[Brother D]

Hi All,

I've spent a few hours trying to get a 2nd hand laptop working without luck. I've avoided Macs for exactly this reason, but now need to use one for project.

Basically I get 'Unable to contact Apple servers' (with a 102 error on downlads) and on lots of websites I get "Safari can't establish a secure connecition". Other sites work

Time/date are correct
Can't do updates to itunes.
Different DNS servers tried (its not DNS).
To eliminate anything on my home network tested over phone hotspot and same issue.
I've done a reinstall from boot - can't download a .dmg OS toa bootable USB because you need an apple computer to do so : /
Looks like the keychain/key files are in place.
Cache/Safari has been cleared (should have been done during the reinstall as well).

This is fate as I always say I can't stand apple products vs my mates who always say "They just work"!

If anyone has any ideas or encountered similar issues/fix that would be good.

I spoke with the tech at the place who sold me this and they couldn't help.

Thanks in advance.

[nyt]

Has your Mac lost its serial number?
This happened to me and lots of the same things stopped working.

You can see your serial number in System Preference

[Brother D]

nyt said:

Has your Mac lost its serial number?
This happened to me and lots of the same things stopped working.

You can see your serial number in System Preference

Nah serial number is there in the about section

[camel_landy]

Have you checked to see if there are any rogue entries in the hosts file?

If you just want to flatten & rebuild, unless it's _really_ old, you can rebuild via the Internet.

HTH

M

[theboss]

Sounds like it’s missing recent trusted CA root certificates and TLS handshakes are failing on the basis that your machine doesn’t know what to trust.

These certs will be included with macOS and updated periodically by Apple

Is it running an old / supported build of macOS?

You could identify missing trusted root certificates and install them but it’s probably easier to just blow it away and start again, especially if it’s new to you.

[toohuge]

I feel your pain ....

I’d try a full clean install with whatever the latest compatible Mac OS is with your machine. They’re usually pretty quick and then see how it is

[Brother D]

theboss said:

Sounds like it’s missing recent trusted CA root certificates and TLS handshakes are failing on the basis that your machine doesn’t know what to trust.

These certs will be included with macOS and updated periodically by Apple

Is it running an old / supported build of macOS?

You could identify missing trusted root certificates and install them but it’s probably easier to just blow it away and start again, especially if it’s new to you.

Humm that sounds like that could be the issue. I've reinstalled the existing OS, but I can't install anything later as I've no way of downloading the .dmg

I'll see if I can manually install the certs...

[megaphone]

What year is the mac? What OS is it on? Click on the Apple icon top left, then 'About This Mac'.

[Brother D]

megaphone said:

What year is the mac? What OS is it on? Click on the Apple icon top left, then 'About This Mac'.

[Brother D]

Spent the past hour trying further actions. All the certs have expiry dates set in the future.

I did another reinstall of the OS on the box, which while it completed successfully, when I logged in all the system windows, files and browser pages that were open before were still on the screen? That makes no sense to me coming from a windows back ground where a reinstall is exactly that...

[mattley]

Update using apple menu => software updates, then from the app store.

[Brother D]

mattley said:

Update using apple menu => software updates, then from the app store.

As mentioned, I can't access the apple store due to the SSL/certs not being able to establish a session to the servers.

[nyt]

Brother D said:

As mentioned, I can't access the apple store due to the SSL/certs not being able to establish a session to the servers.

Is the time/date on your computer correct??

[megaphone]

10.8.5 is Mountain Lion, your Mac should easily run 10.13.6 High Sierra.

Look here

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

[megaphone]

You may have to create a bootable USB, you may need to use another Mac.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201372

[buggalugs]

Not sure one that age will do Internet Recovery to get the latest OSX on it, worth a shot though. Wipe the disk and create 1 new
Partition before installing.

[camel_landy]

If the windows re-opened when you started it back up, then something didn't happen!

Internet Recovery is the normal way to go but as suggested, you might need to go into 'Disk Utilities' to wipe/reformat/partition the disk first. There are some great instructions here:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/recovery-mode-in...

However, before you launch yourself into a rebuild, skip to the section "Create a macOS bootable installer on a flash drive", so you've got something as a failsafe/catch all, should it all go to poop.

M

[mmm-five]

Brother D said:

Spent the past hour trying further actions. All the certs have expiry dates set in the future.

I did another reinstall of the OS on the box, which while it completed successfully, when I logged in all the system windows, files and browser pages that were open before were still on the screen? That makes no sense to me coming from a windows back ground where a reinstall is exactly that...

In that case you didn't do a reinstall...you simply did what would be equivalent to a Windows 'Reset and Keep My Files & Settings'.

You should be able to install all the way up to 10.15....but you'll have to download & create a bootable USB/installer from another machine, as I'm not sure if that vintage of machine supports Internet Recovery.

You can try to do Internet Recovery by holding down Command+Option+R on boot and wait (quite a while) for the recovery boot to launch. Then you can wipe the disk and install from scratch.

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 28th November 16:11

[vaud]

You can do it from a windows machine or another Mac.

[mmm-five]

vaud said:

You can do it from a windows machine or another Mac.

It's very simple if you have another Mac, not so simple if you have a Windows PC, as there is no built-in software to create Mac discs (you could however install a trial copy of TransMac or MacDrive).

Don't believe 10.8 or earlier are available from the AppStore, only from the Apple Store for £19.99.

If you have a PC available, and have software to create an Mac-formatted USB/SSD for the install, then you can download these versions directly from Apple servers:

• 10.10 Yosemite
• 10.11 El Capitan
• 10.12 Sierra

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 28th November 16:21