Gray screen after Hard Drive replacement. Do I need usb keyboard?

[JuliusK]

Last hard drive went out on my 2007 imac 21.5". Was recommended to get a WD Caviar Black so picked up this drive:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western Digital/WD1002FAEX/

Installed it last night but noticed that it had no option to plug in the temperature sensor. This wire:

http://www.impactcomputers.com/593-0998.html

Here is a side by side of the old drive and the new one:

http://i.imgur.com/cxA4cyA.jpg

Read around and heard that not having this plugged in will just keep the fan running so put the imac back together to format and install OS X 16.1.

When re-installing OS the screen just remains gray through as soon as it turns on. Still gets the mac "chime" but it will wait a moment, make some noise and then spit out the install disk. Tried pressing "C" on the keyboard, but the only keyboard we had was bluetooth and the green light would not stay on. It would just flash on and off. Replaced batteries in keyboard, restarted and even tried pressing "Command + R" but got nothing but a grey screen. Tood disk out and turned on normally and still only got gray screen, not even screen with folder with a question mark.

Do we need a usb keyboard to do the first install of a new hard drive? If so, does it have to be a mac keyboard? Is there a problem with the hard drive purchased?

Thanks!

 

[GimmeSlack12]

I've swapped drives many times in the late 2007 iMacs.

Having the right keyboard isn't the problem here, though I believe you will eventually need a USB keyboard to reinstall OS X (any keyboard will do).

The temperature sensor should have just been stuck on of the drive when you replaced it, I don't recall having to plug it into the HDD itself.

Are the fans going at full speed? If that's the case you forgot to plug something back in.

During the install did you unplug the monitor or just tilt it up and out of the way? Plugging the monitor back in is quite difficult and it is important to check that it was firmly back in place. On my first try of this install I damaged my iMac's power supply by not getting this plugged in firmly, though this caused different symptoms than you're having.

Maybe try a PMU reset? This is simple, just unplug the iMac for 20 seconds, then plug back in, wait 10 seconds and startup. Or PRAM reset (hold command-option-P-R at bootup until iMac restarts again).

Keep us posted.

 

[JuliusK]

The temp sensor was plugged into the old HDD. I know it was the temp sensor because I ran the # on the tag through google and found the link I posted above.

Took the monitor out while replacing. Plugged it back in firmly and it clipped in. Had a little problem taking it out though.

The fans are not running at full speed.

This is a little confusing/contradicting to me:

Having the right keyboard isn't the problem here, though I believe you will eventually need a USB keyboard to reinstall OS X (any keyboard will do).

I just installed a new HDD and am trying to reinstall OS X. Should I get a USB keyboard or is this a different problem?

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Yeah, my keyboard advice wasn't very clear.

What I mean is you may not be able to connect to bluetooth during an install. Thus you'll need a wired keyboard. Any USB keyboard will do, doesn't need to be a certain kind at all.

 

[JuliusK]

Great, thanks for the info.

I was really trying to doublecheck that the tem sensor does not need to be plugged in like I have read other places around the net and that the HDD was the correct one. Also if a new HDD would cause a pure gray screen, or if it should still show anything else (like the folder with a "?") as this would be indicative of a problem.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

At this point there is reason to believe that it has something to do with the hard drive install. It may be a pain, but you might need to put your old drive back in and bootup to see if it works. Furthermore, try to format the new drive in an external enclosure before reinstalling.

Take a look at this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

 

[300DDR]

Use USB keyboard. Insert install DVD. Startup computer with "C" or Option. Use Disk Utility to format the new hard drive. Install OS X.

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Your old drive was Seagate and the temp wire got temperature from drive's firmware ("Smart"). You can try to buy/find the temperature monitor that "sticks" to the hard drive's case, rather than using the terminal port (best option if you want temperature monitor, which you should have). Or, buy the same drive that you took out (a Seagate, model and/or firmware version may need to be the same though).

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P.S. I would have thought that without any keyboard, but with install disk in DVD drive, Mac would boot up from disk. Since it sounds like you tried this, maybe you need to hit "C" to force it to boot from disk (sometimes an unformatted/improperly formatted drive can cause Mac to hang).