macOS Monterey RAW image always detected as corrupted

[JuanPerezzzzz]

Hello everyone,
I’m having a persistent issue installing macOS Monterey, where the installer is always detected as corrupted, even after multiple clean downloads.

My setup

• Host OS: Windows 10 x64

• Target: Hackintosh

• Bootloader: OpenCore

• WiFi/BT card: BCM94352Z

• SSD: SATA, detected after using AHCIPortInjector.kext

• USB drives tested: 16 GB and 4 GB

• macOS version: Monterey

What I already tried

• Downloaded macOS Monterey RAW image from Olarila – Vanilla Images

• Verified the download completed fully

• Flashed the RAW image using Balena Etcher (Etcher warns about corruption at the end)

• Re-downloaded the image multiple times

• Used different USB drives

• Tried both offline installer and Recovery

• Set system date manually in Recovery

• Confirmed the SSD is visible in Disk Utility

The problem

No matter what I do, the installer always shows:

“This copy of macOS is damaged and can’t be used to install macOS.”

Even after re-downloading the RAW image from Olarila Vanilla Images, the issue persists.

Limitations

• I do NOT have access to a real Mac

• I cannot use a virtual machine

• Internet during Recovery is unreliable (WiFi not available in Recovery, Ethernet also failing)

My questions

1. Is there any known issue with Olarila Monterey RAW images when created from Windows?

2. Could Balena Etcher be causing false corruption or writing issues with macOS RAW images?

3. Is there a recommended tool or method on Windows to flash Monterey installers more reliably?

4. Could this error be related to OpenCore configuration (SecureBootModel, SIP, etc.) rather than the image itself?

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[MaLd0n]

What hardware

[Diego Arrieta]

Tengo los mismos problemas y aún no eh podido solucionarlos eh descargado la imagen de Monterrey dos veces y nada.

[JuanPerezzzzz]

Hello MaLd0n,

This is my exact hardware:

• Laptop: HP Pavilion 14-al001la

• CPU: Intel Core i5-6200U (Skylake)

• iGPU: Intel HD Graphics 520

• RAM: 8 GB DDR4

• Storage: SATA SSD (AHCI)

• WiFi / Bluetooth: Broadcom BCM94352Z

• Ethernet: Realtek RTL8111

• BIOS: HP UEFI (Secure Boot disabled)

• Bootloader: OpenCore (latest release)

Issue:

• macOS Monterey RAW installer (Olarila Vanilla) always reports
  “This copy of macOS is damaged and can’t be used to install macOS”

• Balena Etcher also reports image corruption

• Recovery online works partially, Ethernet is detected but disconnects after some time

• System date already corrected in Recovery

• SecureBootModel set to Default

• SSD is detected (using AHCIPortInjector.kext)

Could this be related to:

• Skylake + Monterey installer validation?

• SecureBootModel / SMBIOS choice?

• Recommended method to create a full offline installer on Windows for this hardware?

Thanks.

[MaLd0n]

Check date/hour on bios

HP in many case need this ACPI patch to avoid problems

Quote

<dict>
                <key>Comment</key>
                <string>RTC fix to stop Post Error</string>
                <key>Count</key>
                <integer>0</integer>
                <key>Enabled</key>
                <true/>
                <key>Find</key>
                <data>RwFwAHAAAQg=</data>
                <key>Limit</key>
                <integer>0</integer>
                <key>Mask</key>
                <data></data>
                <key>OemTableId</key>
                <data></data>
                <key>Replace</key>
                <data>RwFwAHAAAQI=</data>
                <key>ReplaceMask</key>
                <data></data>
                <key>Skip</key>
                <integer>0</integer>
                <key>TableLength</key>
                <integer>0</integer>
                <key>TableSignature</key>
                <data></data>
            </dict>

 

[JuanPerezzzzz]

Hello MaLd0n,

Thank you for your reply.

I want to clarify that I already have an RTC fix applied in my config.plist.
In my case, I’m using the HP-specific RTC patch recommended for HP Pavilion laptops (Fix HP Real-Time Clock Power Loss / Error 005), and it is enabled correctly.

Even with this RTC patch active, the problem persists:

• macOS Monterey RAW installer (Olarila Vanilla) is still detected as corrupted

• Installer shows:
  “This copy of macOS is damaged and can’t be used to install macOS”

• Balena Etcher also reports corruption at the end of the flashing process

• BIOS date and hour are correct and verified

• Secure Boot is disabled

• SSD is detected correctly in Disk Utility

So far, applying the RTC patch did not change the installer validation behavior.

That’s why I’m trying to understand if this issue could be related to:

• The Monterey RAW image itself when created/flashed from Windows

• Balena Etcher false corruption warnings or write issues

• Monterey installer validation on Skylake systems

• SecureBootModel / SMBIOS mismatch affecting installer verification

If there is a preferred method or tool on Windows to create a reliable Monterey offline installer for this hardware, I’d appreciate the guidance.

Thanks again for your time and support.