These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

• El Capitan On Unsupported Mac
• Install El Capitan On Old Mac
• Install El Capitan On Unsupported Mac Pro

What you need to create a bootable installer

10 thoughts on “ How to overcome OS X 10.11 El Capitan not installing ” hydrovacing October 2, 2015 at 7:30 am. Anyone know know another way to download EL Captain. I have had on of my Mac’s trying to download it since it came out. It is now at this moment at 4.81 GB. Features Of Mac OS X El Capitan System Integrity Protection. How to Perform a Clean Install of OS X El Capitan. OS X El Capitan (OS X 10.11) offers two installation methods. This guide focuses on the 'clean install' method. When you install El Capitan on your current startup drive with the clean install method, you erase everything on the drive.

• A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage
• A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan

Download macOS

• Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra
  These download to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
• Download: OS X El Capitan
  This downloads as a disk image named InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.

Big Sur:*

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

High Sierra:*

El Capitan:

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this is done in the command for El Capitan.

After typing the command:

1. Press Return to enter the command.
2. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
3. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the volume is erased.
4. After the volume is erased, you may see an alert that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed.
5. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.
   

Use the bootable installer

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
2. Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.

Intel processor

1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
2. Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
3. Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.
4. Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return.
   If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure that the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility is set to allow booting from external media.
5. Choose your language, if prompted.
6. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.

For information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:

Contents

2. El Capitan Features

3. El Capitan Download & Install

4. OS X 10.11 Problems

5. Mac OS X 10.11 Tips

6. Software for OS X 10.11

7. Compare OS

Mac OS X El Capitan can be downloaded directly from the Apple website. The Beta version of the OS is available but the final version will be made available towards the Autumn season of 2015 as speculated by many Apple users. You can use your older Mac OS with the new El Capitan, all you have to do is to create a different partition for the new El Capitan if you have the Yosemite already installed. There are few steps you should consider in downloading the latest El Capitan and these are as follow.

Part 1. Preparing Mac Device for the Installation of Mac OS X El Capitan

Both Mavericks and Yosemite are easier to download and install on Mac devices, however, this is not the case with Mac OS X El Capitan. Just before you install the new Mac OS X El Capitan, you must perform few tasks to ensure that your Mac will be ready for the installation of the software:

• Check Your Mac - Check whether your Mac will be able to run the new OS X 10.11. Apple has provided a list of the Mac supported by the new Mac OS X El Capitan and if you are already running the Mavericks or Yosemite, the same lists may also apply to the El Capitan. You can also check this list on the “Will your Mac run Mac OS X” article on Apple website.
• Create Enough Space - Check that your Mac has sufficient RAM to run the software. You wouldn’t run into any hitches if your Mac device is listed on the acceptable Mac devices for Mac OS X El Capitan. Apple recommend that you have a minimum RAM of 2G, however, a minimum of 4G space of RAM is highly recommended. You will also need to delete some unnecessary files to create more space for the installation of El Capitan.
• Check Hard Drive Space - Make sure you have sufficient hard drive space for the installation of Mac OS X El Capitan. Yosemite will normally require a Hard drive space of up to 5GB , but the new El Capitan will require between 15g and 20gb of space on your hard drive for successful download and installation.
• Register - Register to access the Mac Apple store. You need to upgrade your Mac and get access to Mac Apple store for a small fee in order to get the most out of your Mac OS X El Capitan.
• Updates - Make sure your third party Apps are updated before installing Mac OS X El Capitan. You can simply launch App store and click on “Updates” on the tool bar if you want to update the apps you bought from Apple store. For other third party apps, you may need some manual updates from manufacturer websites to complete such updates.
• Backup Your Mac - Perform a backup before downloading and installing Mac OS X El Capitan- you need to protect your important documents and files, thus you may have to back them up somewhere before starting the download and installation process.

Part 2. Installing Mac OS X El Capitan Safely on Your Mac Device

You can install or upgrade to Mac OS X El Capitan as a dual boot partition. You may be able to download a test version if you register for the OS X Seed program from Apple, and you can also provide a feedback to Apple in order for the company to update the software before it is finally released. You can follow these instructions to install the Beta version of Mac OS X El Capitan. It is strictly recommended that you perform a backup before you begin this process. It is important you keep in mind that Mac OS X El Capitan is still in a Beta format, thus , not all your apps or programs will work on it.

1. Visit the Apple Beta software program page and log unto the page using your Apple ID. Simply click on “Enroll your Mac”.
2. Click on the download link that shows up, and enter the personal redemption code given to you.
3. Open the downloaded Mac OS X El Capitan software and preview the file in the Applications folder. Click “Continue” and then select “Agree”.
4. Click on “Install” and then enter your admin password. You're all set!

Part 3. Installing Mac OS X El Capitan Safely on an External Drive

El Capitan On Unsupported Mac

You don’t have to install Mac OS X El Capitan on your Mac device, you can also install it on an external hard drive, most especially when you want to access the OS quickly. You can consider Thunderbolt drives which are similar to the internal drives on Mac, or you can simply use the USB 3.0 external drive if you don’t have the Thunderbolt on your Mac. You will have to format an external drive before installing Mac OS X El Capitan, this will help to install the Mac OS X El Capitan safely on the hard drive and at the same time the configuration of your device will not be changed.

Install El Capitan On Old Mac

Connect the external drive to your Mac device and make sure it is detected. Launch the Disk Utility tool ( go to “Utilities” and you will find it there). Choose the drive- it is located at the side bar.

Simply click on “Partition”. Make sure the partition layout reads “1 partition”. Name the partition. You can use a name like “Mac OS X El Capitan”. Click on “Options” and ensure that the Guide partition table is chosen, and then click on “Ok”.

Click “Apply'. Open the preview file from your Mac’s application folder. Click on “Continue”. Click on the “Agree” button.

Install El Capitan On Unsupported Mac Pro

Click on “Show all disks”. Simply highlight the “External Hard Drive” on which you have just install the Mac OS X El Capitan

Click on “Install”, and enter the admin password.