Encrypted Drive

Hi J4JREDRUBY,

Sometimes an encrypted drive cannot be erased, but you can try. Please follow the steps outlined below (THIS WILL WIPE/ERASE ALL CONTENT ON THE iMAC):

1. Shut down the iMac
2. Turn on the iMac, and immediately press and hold Option + Command + R until you see a spinning globe.
3. Once you are in macOS Recovery, verify you are connected to WiFi in the top right corner.
4. Go to Disk Utility.
5. Select "View" in the toolbar > "Show All Devices".
6. Select your main hard drive. This will either be "APPLE SSD...", "APPLE HDD...", or "Fusion Drive".
7. Click Erase, and input the following exactly: If you cannot select erase on the disk, try selecting to erase the "Container".
8. Name: Macintosh HD
9. Format: APFS
10. Scheme: GUID Partition Map (if shown)
11. Click Erase (THIS WILL WIPE/ERASE ALL CONTENT)
12. Quit Disk Utility
13. Go to the reinstall macOS app.
14. Follow the prompts, and install on Macintosh HD.
15. Once done, setup your Mac.

Cheers,

Jack

You would need to take it to an AASP to have them do the work unless the original owner provides the password information to you. I would strongly consider getting an external SSD and then installing Mac OS on the SSD and starting over that way.

That error means your network does not meet the standards of Internet Recovery. Try again, and maybe try with a different WiFi connection.

Cheers,

Jack