The recovery server could not be contacted - FIXED
So I have a 2017 MacBook Pro. I'm running macOS High Sierra. I wanted to sell my Mac so I erased the Macintosh HD and all the partitions as well.
I got the "The recovery server could not be contacted" as anyone else. I tried everything and the following seem to be working for me:
I updated the date using the terminal:
command: date -u 1807120724
You must use the UTC time in the following format: DDMMhhmmYY
After this turn off the computer (not restart, turn off)
Now turn back on while holding OPTION+COMMAND+R
Spinning globe should pop up on the screen and a different macOS should then load in to reinstall. (For me it was Ventura)
After this it's going to reinstall.
If you still see your current operating system popping up try again and again. Eventually it should switch to another OS.
Hope this helps.
MacBook Pro 13″