imac will not boot

Hi,

I recently acquired an iMac. Originally it was working fine. The previous owner decided to, against my recommendation, to do a brute-force install of Linux Mint.

He deleted all of OSX partitions. The Linux install process seemed to go ok. However, since the Linux install, the computer will not boot up. I was told that the computer was about 10 to 11 years old.

I have a boot-install disk of OSX 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion).

I was able to boot the installer.

After selecting "Reinstall," the next screen was the legalese, I agreed and the next screen was "Select a hard drive." No had drives were listed.

I opened the Terminal. The Unix "df" command only revealed the DVD drive.

While in the installer, I checked the Log File and determined the the model number is: 12C60.

Next I rebooted, holding "Option + Cmd + P + R" to reset the NVRAM (twice).

Booting once again from the Install DVD, still no hard drive.

I have two Mac Pros, iMac won't bootI don't need the iMac. I would like to get working and donate it to a local school or charity (no tax deduction intended).

Is there anything that I missed?

Would the local Apple store have any tools available.

Posted on Apr 15, 2023 2:41 PM

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 8

43,267 points

Posted on Apr 15, 2023 3:17 PM

You will need to format the internal drive.

Boot the installer and launch Disk Utility from the menu.

Make sure you click View - Show All Devices in Disk Utility.

Select the top-most device from the list in the left pane, then format the device using the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format and the GUID partition scheme. Name the drive Macintosh HD.

Now you can quit Disk Utility and select Reinstall macOS again. You should now be able to install to the drive.

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