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ManuelGnR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 4, 2008
164
0
Netherlands
So my iMac was having problems which was probably a faulty hard drive (see this earlier topic). It's a late 2009 iMac, the first-gen 27'' one.

So today I replaced the Seagate 1 TB hard drive with a Seagate 2 TB hard drive. I borrowed a Dell keyboard that's wired because my wireless keyboard probably doesn't connect.

Got a grey iMac cd but it keeps getting spitted out. SuperDrive has never been great in this iMac so not sure where the problem lies there. In a Windows laptop it's recognized as Remote Install Disc, so the cd works.

Made a USB Install thing using some Terminal stuff and plugged that in. Found out how over here, hope I did it right. Last step was ''copying files'' and never got a confirmation it completed.

But what really troubles me is this: I can press C-key, or alt-key, but I only get the white screen with the folder with question mark, and sometimes a mouse pointer on a white screen, but no Startup Manager or anything. I think even if the usb thing is faulty, or the superdrive is defect, I should still get a Startup Manager?

Some guesses:
1. It could be an incompatible HDD but I don't really believe that, it was recommended by iFixit
2. It could be an unsupported keyboard or something but the alt-key sometimes gives a mouse pointer instead of '?'
3. USB Install thing is not created correctly
4. The HDD was not te problem in the first place

Any help would be very much appreciated as I have no clue what to do now..

Edit: I've got a Time Capsule backup that I wanna put back on later.
 
Last edited:
Can't get Startup Manager on 2009 iMac with new HDD

When it said "copying files", it really meant it. It's not complete. That means that now when you're pressing the option key on boot, the USB is not a bootable device as it currently stands and so you'll get a question mark folder when no bootable devices are found.

Run the createinstallmedia again, this time wait for the 'Done.' message after 2 'copying files' and 'copy complete' messages. It copies the installer first, then boot files. It will take 20-50 minutes depending on the performance of the Mac you make it on.

Once it's done, put it in your dead Mac and use the option key to boot to it.
 
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