I have a late 2009 iMac that I am trying to wipe clean to sell.
I no longer have the disk it came with.
Can I create a bootable USB drive to do this?
I created a bootable disk of High Sierra (the oldest OS I could find).
When I restart and hold down the option key and then select the jump drive I just get the grey "no entry" symbol.
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
Yes, a bootable USB drive should work, and High Sierra should work on a late 2009 iMac.
Did you follow the instructions here for creating that bootable USB installer?
How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
If High Sierra doesn't get the job done, try Sierra or El Capitan. The instructions for those bootable is linked in the same document above.
note- "Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6"
Yes, a bootable USB drive should work, and High Sierra should work on a late 2009 iMac.
Did you follow the instructions here for creating that bootable USB installer?
How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
If High Sierra doesn't get the job done, try Sierra or El Capitan. The instructions for those bootable is linked in the same document above.
note- "Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6"
It occurs to me that you might try creating your USB installer with a different brand of USB flash drive.
I've had very good luck with the SanDisk brand. Your local Walmart has 'em. Find a 16GB USB-2 or 3 compatible.
"A circle with a line or slash through it means that the selected startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a macOS that your Mac can use. You should reinstall macOS on that disk." - Apple Support
When you restart you Mac, press and hold the Option key until the startup disk choices appear. If the usb installer doesn't appear then you'll have to redo the installer using the link in my previous post.
Please also look at a couple other options you have when restarting the Mac:
Command (⌘)-R to reinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac (recommended).
OR
Shift-Option-⌘-R to reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
See more about these options here:
How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support
Being able to use recovery depends on whether that 2009 was updated to allow it (at the time - about when 10.7 came out). This article shows the models that could be updated:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202313
Your best bet is get hold of a retail Snow Leopard disk (10.6.3 version) and use that.
I created a bootable installer of High Sierra following those instructions.
However when I boot in recovery mode i get the screen pictured below.
I could try creating bootable disks of Sierra or El Capitan instead if the problem is related to High Sierra
Holding down the option gets me to the screen pictured below.
However, when I click on "Install macOS High Sierra" it just goes back to that no entry screen.
It looks like the only option I have left is to track down a OS DVD.
Is there a way to download it from Apple and burn it onto a disc? Or put it on a jump drive?
Unfortunately not. Apple stopped making install DVDs available with 10.6 Snow Leopard (that was the last OS on DVD); the following 10.7 (Lion) was the first to be available via download only. The Apple store just recently stopped offering it and I do not know of any available anywhere. You could call the Apple store and ask if there is a chance they still have some - it's version 10.6.3.
Ok, so that's crazy, but I switched to a SanDisk jump drive and it worked!
Wipe my iMac without a disc
