Wiped iMac will not reinstall osx

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OK so I'm new to the mac world. I bought a 27" iMac at college school auction model # A1419 SN # D25R10KDGQ18. And so all systems have been wiped clean its 8g ram 1 tb HD. So when I go to the OS X Utilities screen and click on to reinstall Yosemite I do the agree things then it asked for my Apple ID and password I enter all that after picking the untitled HD that has 998.05 total, anyway it accepts my id and PW but then says this item is temporarily unavailable and I have tried it at least 30 times can anyone help me please
 

Spawn_Dooley

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I'm gathering that you had already purchased Yosemite at the App Store for another mac?
 
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I've been doing a lot of OSX installing on a 27 iMac recently. I don't know if this will help, but if you want an older version of OSX (pre-sierra) they are available on Amazon, approx $15. I can suggest a good vendor if desired.

Not sure, but it sounds like you might be doing an Internet install. I tried that too a few days ago, and couldn't get it to work either. In my case, I didn't get any error, but the spinning globe in progress icon spun for hours, so I finally gave up.

Do you have any friends with Macs? If yes, it would be possible to copy their system over to your Mac. Unless they are Mac nerd savvy, this may be more trouble than it's worth, and the Amazon installers would be easier.

That's the best I've got. Good luck!
 

Cory Cooper

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Hello and welcome.

That serial number states that it is an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015). It originally shipped with OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 or later, so OS X Yosemite 10.10.x is not supported and cannot be installed.

You should use the steps here to reinstall OS X: About macOS Recovery

Let us know if that doesn't work for you.

C
 
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I believe I need to modify my post above somewhat. The Mac OS that will be installed via the Recovery HD partition should be the OS that created that Recovery HD partition. Not 100% sure about that, as if one needs to do a re-installation of the Mac OS, the software on that partition connects to Apple's servers an downloads the OS for you. It would make sense that the OS which will be installed will be the one "connected" to the Recovery HD partition.

Maybe someone can provide a more definitive answer.
 

Cory Cooper

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HD Recovery Partition (Option boot): installs the last version installed on the Mac.
OS X Recovery (Command-R boot): installs the last version installed on the Mac. (use if above doesn't work)
Internet OS X Recovery (Command-Option-R): boots from Internet and installs the version the Mac shipped with.

About macOS Recovery

Hope that helps,

C
 
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Thanks Cory for that explanation. Looks like the first two options install the same version, but the third option installs either the same version, or another one.

I'm just glad I always keep a copy of the "Install Mac OS" file, and that it is on both my internal drive (SSD), and my my bootable backup. And by booting from my SuperDuper! backup, using Disk Utility there to Erase and Format my internal SSD, and do a clean, "virgin" OS installation, I know which Mac OS it is. For example, I have both the files "Install OS X El Capitan" and "Install macOS Sierra" (along with any subsequent upgrades) in separate folders, and thus I will know what OS will be installed.
 

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