Unable to Boot into Recovery Mode (Early 2009 iMac on El Capitan)

Question

Unable to Boot into Recovery Mode (Early 2009 iMac on El Capitan)

A few days ago, I was able to wipe the hard drive. However, I then needed to reinstall MacOS in order to get the "About This Mac" info, so I signed back in with my iCloud. Now, I need to wipe the hard drive again and I cannot get into Recovery Mode (and I previously was able to a few days ago).

When I do Command + R, a bunch of code appears on the Apple logo start-up screen, then I get a "This computer restarted because of a problem." It then takes me to the regular desktop where I have to login. I've already tried Option + Command + R to reinstall MacOS from the internet.

In the Hard Drive info, I'm not sure what I did to have 3 "untitled" partitions of the hard drive? (see photo). I'm just trying to wipe it to factory settings in order to sell.

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on Dec 7, 2019 2:56 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 7, 2019 9:27 PM in response to jessewalker1106

I'm not sure how you got the three Untitled volumes either. See if you can enter Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R instead.

See if you can run the Apple Hardware Test.

If you have access to another Mac, then you can try creating a bootable macOS 10.11 El Capitan USB installer using these instructions:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

If you can boot a macOS installer, then make sure to erase the physical drive (WDC WD6400AA...) using Disk Utility which will get rid of the multiple Untitled volumes.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,624 points

Dec 7, 2019 3:19 PM in response to jessewalker1106

Probably a failed HD, if it won't boot into Recovery then take it to your local Apple Authorized Service Provider. To be honest, due to it's advanced age I'd just replace it. Spending any money on IMHO would be a waste, spend any cash on it's replacement.

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Unable to Boot into Recovery Mode (Early 2009 iMac on El Capitan)

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