How can I restore my 2011 21.5" iMac from my 2019 27" iMac?

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How can I restore my 2011 21.5" iMac from my 2019 27" iMac?

I screwed something up trying to clean up my old 2011 21.5" iMac. It is now gutted and without an OS. I can't get it to load the Lion boot disk I'd made and internet restore isn't working either (seems to be a common problem). I have a 2019 27" iMac running Catalina. The hardware tests say the 2011 is ok, so I don't think that's a problem. Can I get the 2011 running from the 2019? How? Help me Obi Wan(s).

I also have a 2012 MacBook Pro running Mojave that I could use.

Posted on Oct 31, 2020 8:05 AM

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Answer 1

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GOB Author

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Oct 31, 2020 11:29 AM in response to GOB

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Answer 2

padams35

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Oct 31, 2020 11:30 AM in response to GOB

A 2012 Macbook Pro. That you can work with.

Follow these instructions to create either an El Capitian or High Sierra installer.

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

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Answer 3

padams35

Level 4

3,613 points

Oct 31, 2020 10:41 AM in response to GOB

Do you have a time machine with High Sierra or older? If so connect that to your 2011, hold down option while restarting, and select the recovery partition.

Sadly the 2019 is too new to help. Apple only allows Macs to create USB installers that they could run themselves, which means you need a 2017 or older iMac to create a High Sierra or older USB installer. The best you can do with the 2019 is burn a live Linux DVD on the theory that any OS is better than no OS.

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Answer 4

rkaufmann87

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148,470 points

Oct 31, 2020 10:03 AM in response to GOB

You will need to buy a retail Snow Leopard DVD (still available on EBay) and start over again.

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Answer 5

GOB Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 31, 2020 12:04 PM in response to padams35

Making a High Sierra installer with the MacBook Pro. Does the copying part take a while? It's been going about 10 minutes with no change since "Copying Installer Files to Disk" came up.

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Answer 6

GOB Author

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Oct 31, 2020 12:30 PM in response to GOB

Got the High Sierra boot thumb drive made. Inserted into 2011 iMac, held down option button as I restarted, Install macOS High Sierra icon appears and wifi choose network. I chose network, put in password, password accepted. Clicked on the install button, goes to grey Apple screen and doesn't seem to be doing anything. No progress bar. Just grey Apple screen

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