-bash: sudo: command not found

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-bash: sudo: command not found

Hello all,

I have had WAY too many problems with this laptop, and at this point in its miserable little life, I've decided to just wipe the hard drive and start fresh, not caring at all what happens to the files left on there. As previously stated in one of my earlier questions (That was, might I add, never fully answered.), this late 2008 MacBook (aluminum) has a problem where it does not boot up, and just endlessly shows the gray spinning pinwheel. Four months later, that just stops, and now when trying to boot up with my normal startup disk, it brings me right to the Recovery disk and tries to reinstall OS X. I tried, it failed 5 minutes in. So I tried to wipe the hard drive, and it says: Disk Erase failed with the error: Couldn't unmount disk. I looked it up and I saw that if I went into the Terminal and typed: sudo diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk0 , it would unmount the disk. But whenever I type that, it says: -bash: sudo: command not found. I have no idea how to fix this, and I would really like to be able to use my laptop again without giving somebody my money to do it for me.

Thanks,

Luke

MacBook, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), Late 2008

Posted on Dec 2, 2014 7:56 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Dec 2, 2014 8:15 PM in response to DomoDudeJr

Clean Install of Snow Leopard

Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase

the drive and everything on it.

1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came

with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.

After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see

a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.

2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue

button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.

After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive

size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of

partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button

and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended

(Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.

3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed

with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.

4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup

Assistant. After you finish Setup Assistant will complete the installation after which

you will be running a fresh install of OS X. You can now begin the update process

by opening Software Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your

installation current.

Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. You may then open App Store, click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar, and re-download any OS X upgrade you purchased except Mavericks. Since Yosemite has been released the App Store may not let you re-download Mavericks, but it will let you download Yosemite.

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Answer 2

DomoDudeJr Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 3, 2014 11:34 AM in response to Kappy

It says:

Partition failed

Partition failed with the error:

Couldn't unmount disk.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Dec 3, 2014 12:12 PM in response to DomoDudeJr

It did this even when you booted from the Snow Leopard DVD? If so, I have a solution that may work.

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Answer 4

DomoDudeJr Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 3, 2014 3:25 PM in response to Kappy

Could I know what this great wisdom is, please?

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Dec 3, 2014 6:56 PM in response to DomoDudeJr

Well, I noted that you have a problem with "sudo." The error you got suggests your system is corrupted and needs to be reinstalled. So, I'm afraid you have no easy way out. You should attempt to backup your files if you can. Then follow the directions provided to install Snow Leopard from scratch. If you still cannot succeed then chances are your hard drive needs to be replaced. Shut down the computer completely and let it sit for an hour or two, then try the procedure again. If you still cannot get the drive to unmount, then I would have it replaced.

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