probably heard this before, but

[chase]

thanks in advance if you can help. i got an imac model A1208 and i guess it needs an operating system. all i get on the screen is the folder with ? in it. i downloaded OSX 10.7.4 and tried to install, but it ate the disc, won't give it up and
still shows the folder and ?. thanks for any help. hope to have a better question (or answer) in the future

 

[honestone]

You are going to need a way to 1) determine if the internal hard drive on that iMac is OK. If it is O<< then it will need to be completely erased, re-formatted, and if desired, partitioned. To do all that, you would need to have another, working Mac to which you could connect the iMac to oin Target Disk Mode.

 

[chase]

thanks, sounds like this 'gift' is going to become expensive. any thoughts on how to get the cd outta there?

 

[honestone]

Well, there are at least 2 ways you can do it. One of them is when your iMac starts to boot up, hold down the "CD Eject" key on the keyboard. It is located just to the right of the "Make Volume Higher" key along the top row. And, assuming it is some kind of "extended" keyboard. there is a little space between this eject key and the F13 key. You'll need to hold down that "Eject CD Key" until the CD "pops" out.

If that does not work, here is the other method )and I have used this in the past). Turn off the iMac and unplug it. Insert the open end of a paperclip into the Force Eject hole on the bottom-right of the CD tray, and push in to force the tray to eject. Remove the CD-ROM from the tray, and push the CD tray back in to close it.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

You can also hold the mouse button down while powering on. Keep holding it and the disc should eject. Also, you can perform an Option-boot - hold the Option key down while powering on. When it comes to the grey screen to select the startup disk (should show the Installer CD icon), hold the Eject key down and the disc should eject.

C