SOLVED Cannot reload my Imac with erased drive?

[xyluapyx]

Hi let me say first off, I know nothing about Imac/Mac having used windows for about 35 years.
Bought a used Imac for my Grandson as he's on a computer course and its using Imacs..
Its a 2009 model (A1225) 24in screen 2.93 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 640 Gb HDD.
When it boots up it lands on OS uilities, taking the restore option, it goes through the motions
and trys to load Mavericks, whereby it gets error (This file is temporary unavailable) it does
this every time i try, 2 days now, so obviously something amiss?
On googling how to do this i found an article on internet recoveryso tried this
cmd+option+R and also cmd+option+ shift+ R, both just took me to the utilites screen?/
I have internet connected using ethernet? I then download some OS's to try El Capitan
and also Lion and others. Found Transmac and created a bootable USB with El capitan
booted the Imac while holding down the option key, seemed to work even started loading
the file, then suddenly stopped showing a grey circle with a slash across, just like the national
speed limit sign?/ I guess that means it failed.
I'm stuck now thats about as far as my limited knowledge goes?
So anyone who can offer some advice would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks in anticipation.

xyluapyx (Paul)

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

That sounds like aniMac (24-inch, Early 2009). They originally shipped with Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard and can run a maximum of Mac OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan.

The TransMac issue is pretty common, as I hear that same issue a lot. I haven't ever used it, but I am not sure it is capable of creating a bootable macOS installer. It is designed to open Mac APFS/HFS+/HFS format disk drives, flash drives, CD/DVD/Blu-ray media, HD floppies, dmg, dmgpart, sparsebundle and sparseimage files.

When using Internet Recovery, it does startup to the Utilities screen, where you should have the option to install macOS:
How to reinstall macOS

Using Internet Recovery, these startup key commands do the following:
Shift-Option-Command-R - you're offered the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
Option-Command-R - in most cases you're offered the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.

I would definitely erase the hard drive, in case there is a failed install or other files causing the installation failure. Try Option-Command-R to get the latest available, which should be El Capitan. Once in that screen, you can use Disk Utility to erase the hard drive to prep for the install, then click Reinstall Mac OS X.

See if that helps.

C

 

[xyluapyx]

Hi Cory thanks for the reply.
I tried what you suggested but I still get the same reselt?
attach some picture of the progress, to see if you see anything unusual?

Regards

 

[xyluapyx]

Hi.
So far I have had no luck at all in reloading the software on this Imac. I spoke with the previous owner and was told this Imac cannot be restored using internet recovery as it is incompatible with logon protocols to log into icloud (don't understand this but it does ring true?) I was told I needed the installation disks (which were not available). I then purchased an "Apple Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks Recovery Repair Reinstall DVD" hoping this would work, but when it starts loading the install the it generated the following error "The install OS Mavericks Application cannot be used from this disk. Copy this application to a writeable MAC OS Extended formatted disk and reopen to continue installation" Also downloaded Mavericks.dmg and created a bootable USB but this doesn't seem to work either?? Getting to the stage where I'm seriously thinking of smashing it (haha) Can someone offer me some advice on this , i have little to none Mac experience , what I've amassed is off the internet. I'm sure there must be a way to reload the machine,? So any help and advice would be appreciated.

Paul

 

[MightyGem]

Apple first offered a new recovery tool as part of OS X Lion back in July 2011, and it's available for some mid-2010 Macs too, so is not likely to work for you.

Where did you download the different OS's from? If you got them from the App Store, if you put them onto a Mac formatted external drive, you should be able to run them from there and install on the iMac.

 

[xyluapyx]

Its an early 2009 model (A1225) 24in screen 2.93 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 64dif0 Gb HDD. I've downloaded the OS's from different sites on internet. From what I can tell it was loaded previously with OS X Mavericks, which is what I downloaded. I've tried to download these from the App Store but cannot find them on there?? The problem is I do not know how to create a mac formatted external drive ?? I used transmac to create a mac formatted USB drive but that doesn't work ??

 

[MightyGem]

What computer are you using at the moment?

I've downloaded the OS's from different sites on internet.

Probably not the best way of getting MacOS.

The problem is I do not know how to create a mac formatted external drive ??

Assuming you are using a Mac, connect the external drive and then run DiskUtility. You'll find it in Applications>Utilities. Select the drive in the sidebar and then choose "Erase" to format it. Use the "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" option.

Using this site:

How to download and install macOS – Apple Support (UK)

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

Scroll to the bottom of the page and you can use Safari to download an installer of the official version of MacOS. I would suggest 10.10 Yosemite.

Move that copy of MacOS installer onto the external drive, connect that to the iMac and then start the iMac while holding down the Option/Alt key. If the installer shows up run it to install onto the iMac.

Not sure of your option if it doesn't show.

 

[xyluapyx]

What computer are you using at the moment?


Probably not the best way of getting MacOS.


Assuming you are using a Mac, connect the external drive and then run DiskUtility. You'll find it in Applications>Utilities. Select the drive in the sidebar and then choose "Erase" to format it. Use the "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" option.

Using this site:

How to download and install macOS – Apple Support (UK)

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

Scroll to the bottom of the page and you can use Safari to download an installer of the official version of MacOS. I would suggest 10.10 Yosemite.

Move that copy of MacOS installer onto the external drive, connect that to the iMac and then start the iMac while holding down the Option/Alt key. If the installer shows up run it to install onto the iMac.

Not sure of your option if it doesn't show.

Currently I have a laptop running Win10 and a desktop running Win7. I also have a Mac which I bought for my grandson which came with no OS, and cannot reinstall an OS. Tried from the untilities menu the Reinstall OS X option but goes so far and then gives a message "Temporarily Unavailable" found out that this Mac is not compatible with performing an internet recovery. This Mac is a "2009 model (A1225) 24in screen 2.93 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 640 Gb HDD" When you say connect an external drive to the Mac do you mean a USB drive?? I'm downloading Yosemite on my Laptop, can I just copy the downloaded file onto my USB stick on my laptop, as I don't see a way to do this on the Mac as it has no OS installed???

 

[MightyGem]

Apologies. I was forgetting that you won't be able to see the external drive on your iMac.

As you now have an "official" version of MacOS, you might like to try Transmac again, or look here, which doesn't use Transmac. It may work with Yosemite.

How to Create macOS Sierra Bootable USB Installer on Windows 10?

In this article, I am going to show you how to create macOS Sierra bootable USB Installer on Windows 10. create a bootable USB installer for macOS Sierra.

www.wikigain.com

 

[xyluapyx]

Apologies. I was forgetting that you won't be able to see the external drive on your iMac.

As you now have an "official" version of MacOS, you might like to try Transmac again, or look here, which doesn't use Transmac. It may work with Yosemite.

How to Create macOS Sierra Bootable USB Installer on Windows 10?

In this article, I am going to show you how to create macOS Sierra bootable USB Installer on Windows 10. create a bootable USB installer for macOS Sierra.

www.wikigain.com

Hi
Thanks for the info..
I tried the version you advised, it seemed to work until i came to copy config.plist to the usb drive, couldn't open the drive to paste the file as windows disn't recognise it, ( Iassume because it was formatted as a Mac drive). I connected the drive to the Mac and booted it holding the alt key but it didn't show up? I then went into disk utility and looked at the usb drive it said it wasn't formatted?? Have now used transmac and the downloaded image file, to create a bootable disk. TRied the usb in the Imac and not found, went into disk utilities and it does show the usb as having yosemite on the usb, but obviously not bootable , unless i'm doing something wrong? I have noticed that when you boot the Mav and hold the "alt" key it only shows the recovery drive, which is not responsive to anything, when I was first playing with the Mac it used to show the main drive, "Mackintosh HD" but now its not showing, it shows in disk utilities so not sure whats going on with this machine??
Thanks for your help btw..

 

[xyluapyx]

Apologies. I was forgetting that you won't be able to see the external drive on your iMac.

As you now have an "official" version of MacOS, you might like to try Transmac again, or look here, which doesn't use Transmac. It may work with Yosemite.

How to Create macOS Sierra Bootable USB Installer on Windows 10?

In this article, I am going to show you how to create macOS Sierra bootable USB Installer on Windows 10. create a bootable USB installer for macOS Sierra.

www.wikigain.com

Ok I have solved it now. I saw an article on the internet that suggested all early iMacs came loaded with SnowLeopard, so I downloaded the Snow Leopard install file, created a bootable USB using transmac, put it in the MAC and restarted holding the "alt" key and it found the USB and loaded snow leopard no problem, since loaded some updates, and took a chance and upgraded to Yosemite which now works ok as far as I can see. So as far as I can make out, it was just the version os OS that was needed.

 

[MightyGem]

Excellent. Glad you got it sorted.