Q: Trying to restore Mac

Offhand I'd say the hard drive is dead. Try:

Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery

Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.

Partition and Format the hard drive:

1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.

Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.

Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

First, the images are upside down making them difficult to use. It would be far more helpful to do the following. Open Disk Utility to the place where you made this photo. Instead make a screen snap:

To post screen shot do this:

1. Press COMMAND-SHIFT-4 which will change the cursor to crosshairs.
2. Hold down the mouse button and use the crosshairs to select the part of the screen you wish to capture.
3. Release the button and the image will be saved to your Desktop.
4. Click on the Camera icon in the toolbar of the forum message editor.
5. Drag the image onto the Choose File button and click on the Insert button.

Never mind, fixed the problem. Your backup drive is invalid. Disk Utility sees it as disk0 which is a Unix device name. Do you have it in an enclosure? The drive name should be similar to the Toshiba drive you have above. What OS X system is in use here? Were you using my instructions? Do you actually have a Recovery HD? Your first image came from where, exactly?

Your external drive isn't even seen by Disk Utility unless it is the Toshiba drive on the top. Otherwise, that is your computer's internal drive. If you can boot from the external drive, then apparently the computer's drive is dead.

From what you've shown me you have a valid external drive from which you can boot the computer. However, when you open Disk Utility there is not drive shown as an internal drive. That means the drive that is in your computer is dead. It's not working and must be replaced.

If you live near an Apple Store, make a Genius Bar appointment to have the computer tested. Supposedly there is no charge for testing. Use 2nd link if not near an Apple Store or aren’t in the US.

Genius Bar Reservation US

Authorized Service Provider