Can't install MacOS

[Newbie111]

hi all. purchased a circa 2011 iMac.
Its got nothing on it, and boots to "MacOS utilities"

I've tried 'Reinstall MacOS' - it gets all the way there and then freezes on "-{time} seconds remaining"

I've done some googling... tried to create a bootable USB with Sierra on it (Sierra seems to be what tries to install when I 'reinstall MACos')

Still... no good...
I've tried the disk repair 'first aid'
I've tried creating a Time Machine from my MBP to restore...

I'm now lost with what else I can do?
I can get onto Safari with the "Get help online" option if that is of any assistance?

any suggestions would be great thanks!

 

[Fishrrman]

Try this:
I suggest you print out this message and "follow along"

Boot to INTERNET recovery.
(this is DIFFERENT than regular "recovery").
NOTE: this only works on 2011 and later Macs (and some 2010). If you don't KNOW what year it was made, try this anyway.

Power off.
Hold down "Command-OPTION-R" and power on.
KEEP HOLDING THE KEYS DOWN.

If you're connected via wifi, when it asks for your wifi password, you can let go and enter it.
Ethernet works best for this.

The internet utilities take a while to load, so be patient.

If internet recovery works, you'll see the internet utilities.

Can you get this far?

If so, open disk utility.
Check to see if there is a "view" menu.
If there is, you MUST go there and choose "show all devices".
You can't see the internal drive unless you do that.

Now, you need to erase the internal drive.
Look at the list on the left.
The top item should be the physical drive inside.
Click it and click "erase".
You want "APFS, GUID partition format".
When the erase is done, quit disk utility.

Open the OS installer.
Start "clicking through".
The Mac will reboot one or more times, and the screen may go dark for a minute or more with no other indication of activity. Be patient.

When done, you should see the initial setup screen.
Start clicking through, set up an account, etc.

Good luck.