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Rallendk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 22, 2018
7
1
I have just bought a second hand Imac 27" from 2009 (A1312) that came without a HDD.

After installing a HDD I am now trying to install OS X which is causing me quite a bit of headache.

El Capitan

Shows me the Apple logo and a loading bar. After fully loading, I simply get a grey stop sign.

Snow Leopard

Simply shows me the classic grey Apple logo on a white background. No loading bar or stop sign, just stuck forever.


I have tried booting both versions from both a USB and a SD card. Both made from TransMac on Windows.

Currently writing Mountain Lion to USB, but don't suspect it to do much of a difference.

I can't load network recovery. Any suggestions?

Thanks already!
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,754
4,579
Delaware
"grey stop sign"? I guess you mean the prohibited symbol (circle with a diagonal line)
Or, do you see an actual stop sign (8-sided figure, maybe with an X inside)? That would be a different result, but likely both just mean that your installers are just incomplete, or incorrectly created.
I often hear that TransMac (which should be able to do this) is usually not successful making a bootable installer for OS X.

(Your 2009 iMac is too old for Internet Recovery, which is not available on any Mac older than 2010 models.)

If you don't have access to any Mac, you CAN find pre-made flash drives with a variety of OS X installers, found on eBay. They usually want about $15 for one.
 

Rallendk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 22, 2018
7
1
Thanks. Guess I mean prohibitory sign - english is not my first language. I will be able to borrow a MacBook in a few days.

Mountain Lion should work on the Imac from 2009, right?
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,754
4,579
Delaware
I have two software answers....
Your 2009 27-inch iMac originally came with OS X 10.6.1 or 10.6.2 - so if your Snow Leopard install was only 10.6, then that may explain why that does not work.
You should be able to use anything from 10.6.1 on to the latest 10.14 betas. Mountain Lion should work, no problem - assuming that you have a method to successfully create the bootable installer.
 

Rallendk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 22, 2018
7
1
Thanks. Decided to just buy a USB from eBay, which worked straight away. I have now succesfully installed Mountain Lion!

It seems to run a little hot though, but I cant get apple diagnostics to run. I think it was originally included on a separate disk. Any suggestions to get this running?

Appreciate your help - thanks again!
 
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DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,754
4,579
Delaware
Your iMac would have come with 2 DVDs, and the hardware test would run from the DVD #2.
If you are missing both original DVDs, you can also download the Apple Hardware Test for your iMac. You can use that to create a bootable DVD (or a bootable USB flash drive...)
Here's a link to a site that provides many AHTs - https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest
Download the one for your iMac, which would be an iMac10,1
There are 4 listed there. Not sure which one will work on YOUR iMac, but you might want to download all 4, and try each one. (Any might work, or only one, testing will decide which is correct)
 

Rallendk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 22, 2018
7
1
Also, if you happen to have another suggestion for an affordable 500gb-ish HDD with the correct socket for temperature cable, that would be really appreciated :)
 
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