Mid 2007 24in iMac - unable to reinstall OS X

[Raykensington]

My 2007 iMac died a month ago, I did manage to salvage 99% of the data, mainly photos, so I am now trying to reinstall El Capitan, which it was running fine before - I have Disk Utility checked the internal drive, says its fine, erased and formatted it but I have now tried every option to reinstall OS X that I can come up with:
In Mac recovery mode...
⌘R - chose reinstall, took approx 2 hours to download, then began installation, broke off & gave me the "no packages were eligible" message
Next tried ⌥⌘R - same deal, 2 hours to download, started install, stopped, no packages message
Next tried ⇧⌥⌘R - same process, same result.
Then tried ⌥ start up with the bootable USB I had previously made, a 32gb Sans Disk drive...same result, then downloaded another OSX El Capitan DMG image onto the USB drive on my MacBook and tried restore with that in Disk Utility, but confused my source/destination and restored/wiped the USB drive, and now I am unable for some reason to make another bootable drive that works, I have done the bootable drive process on my MacBook with Terminal and the OS X installer still in my apps folder on that, says succesful but will not act as a start up disk, and same result on trying to install the OS X from there.
Tried to make the bootable drive with Diskmaker X, which said the USB had successfully been made into an El Capitan installer, but same result again, does not show as a start up disk and will not install the OS X.
I cannot understand how I cannot get the OS X to download & install onto the iMac, and more frustratingly, why I cannot make another start up bootable USB drive now to even open the iMac ?

 

[Fishrrman]

Do you have ANOTHER Mac around that can boot El Cap?

WHY I'm asking...

You could try this:
1. Leave the problem iMac alone for now
2. Go to another Mac that will boot and run El Cap
3. See if you can boot from the flash drive installer
4. If you can, try installing a copy of El Cap ONTO AN EXTERNAL DRIVE. If you have a USB flash drive that is 32gb or larger, you could use that as "the target".
5. We are doing this to get a bootable copy of El Cap ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE, a copy that we know to be good. Once the install is done, log in and create a basic account.
6. When you've done that, download THE APPROPRIATE VERSION of CarbonCopyCloner from their download page here:

Download CCC - Bombich Software

www.bombich.com

7. Now, take the bootable drive with the "clean El Cap install" to the problem iMac and connect it.
8. Boot from the EXTERNAL EL Cap drive (hold down option key continuously at boot until startup manager appears, select external and hit return)
9. Can you get logged in, and get to the finder?
10. OK, open Disk Utility and ERASE the INTERNAL drive to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format
11. Now, quit Disk Utility and open CarbonCopyCloner
12. Choose to clone the EXTERNAL drive (your "source") to the internal drive (your "destination").
13. Does the clone "go through"?
14. OK, before you reboot, go to the startup disk preference pane and set the internal drive to be the new boot drive.
15. Power down. ALL THE WAY OFF. Disconnect the external drive.
MOMENT OF TRUTH:
16. Press the iMac's power on button. Do you get a good boot?

 

[Raykensington]

many thanks Fisherman, I am actually answering on my daughters MacBook, which is running El Cap 10.11...the same as the iMac had prior to crash...and it was on this Mac that I made the last bootable USB drive that did have the iMac opening...since I accidentally erased that USB drive in trying to restore the iMac, I am trying to make the new bootable USB drive you talk of again on this Mac, with various methods, incl Diskmaker, Terminal command etc...but even though they say successful/completed, I cannot then boot up with the USB bootable on either this MacBook or the iMac...and every time I attempt to it just launches OS X installation window....but won't open as the MacBook or the iMac per se...

 

[tyc0746]

Maybe the hardware error that killed it originally is stopping it from installing?

 

[Raykensington]

thanks tyc0746 - possibly but it was opening with the first bootable USB drive I made, now I can't even make a new USB drive on my MacBook, and nothing opens it, plus it shows as fully working etc in Disk Utility - I am wondering if its somehow connected to whatever the original OS X (Tiger 10.4) the iMac shipped with thats now somehow barring me installing El Capitan

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

I will offer you another pathway forward.

You will need your daughter's MBP (the one that boots and runs El Cap).
You will need a USB flashdrive 32gb or larger. Or, a USB external hard drive.

Do the following on the daughter's MBP:
1. connect the USB flashdrive or the external drive, let it mount on the desktop
2. Go to Disk Utility and ERASE IT to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format
3. Does it erase? If so, let it sit on the desktop for the moment, and go to the next step below.

a. go to the app store, make sure she is signed in
b. go to the "purchased" tab
c. see if "El Capitan" is listed there, it should be. You may have to scroll around and look for it.
d. Do you see it? If so, click DOWNLOAD
e. This should download a fresh copy of the El Cap installer app and put it into the applications folder.
f. The installer may open when the download is done. This is what we want.
g. Click the continue (or "next") button when the installer opens. "Click through" the license notices.
h. The installer will probably present you with the option to install on the daughter's MBP next. NO. DO NOT DO THIS.
i. Instead, there should be an option to "show all disks". Click that.
j. You should now see the icon for the external flashdrive (or hard drive). THIS is where we're going to install
k. Let the installer do its thing. This may involve one or more reboots and will take some time. BE PATIENT !!!! Expect to wait 40-90 minutes.
l. When done, you should see the login screen. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT. Begin setup and create a new account, with a username and password you will remember. DO NOT MIGRATE ANYTHING TO THIS NEW ACCOUNT.
We are just setting up a very basic account that "gets us to the finder".
m. OK, have you gotten to the finder? The next step will be to TEST the new startup drive we've created.

1. Power down, all the way off. Leave the external boot drive connected.
2. Press the MBP power on button and IMMEDIATELY hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until the startup manager appears.
3. You should see the external drive AND the internal drive as potential boot volumes. Do you? If so, click the icon for the external drive and hit return.
4. Do you get a good boot to the login screen and the finder?

IF you do, this is an important step forward.

Next, do this:
a. Download CarbonCopyCloner from the Bombich download page. I believe the version you want is "CCC 4".
b. Put that into the applications folder on the bootable external drive.

Now... shut down the MBP.
Disconnect the external boot drive and take it to the iMac.
Repeat the "option key" trick I gave you above.
Does the external drive boot the iMac?

If yes, it's possible to "clone over the contents" of the external boot drive to the internal drive, and then have a bootable drive. Be sure to clone the recovery partition, as well.

If the iMac WILL NOT BOOT from the external boot drive, there may be some other internal problem that is keeping it from booting.
But you're going to have to do the above to find this out.

PRINT THIS OUT and check each line off with a pencil as you go along.
It's important to take every step in order.

 

[Raykensington]

thanks again Fishrrman, I think maybe I haven't been clear in my previous posts/answers but the steps you list above are exactly what I have been doing - downloading a new copy of El Cap from the app store on this MacBook (my daughters) and installing it to my 32gb USB disk drive, and launching exactly as you described, and I get the exact same fail as described, so I have tried over and over to download/install on to the USB drive (erased & formatted in Disk Utility each time) with all the various methods I can come up with, as you described, then with Diskmaker X, then with Terminal sudo command, even with this MacBook in recovery mode and choosing the 32gb drive as the installation source, and El Capitan as the OS X being installed, yet that way results in the "Installation could not be completed" and "there were no packages eligible found on this device" message, so not even completing the installation process.
The times it has completed the process to the 32gb drive, including the path you have listed, I am then unable to see the32gb as a start up option. That is my fundamental problem at this point, for some reason, either the new downloaded El Capitan is the issue, or the 32gb drive...yet when I test the drive in Disk Utility, it passes as fine.
I have included screenshots of the USB drive as it shows up after the installation, renamed as Install OS X El Capitan, which signifies the process has been successful, and what it contains inside the drive.
I have also included a screenshot of the MacBook startup disk options, as you can see the only disk visible is the internal lMacBook disk, the USB drive does not show.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I think maybe I haven't been clear in my previous posts/answers but the steps you list above are exactly what I have been doing - downloading a new copy of El Cap from the app store on this MacBook (my daughters) and installing it to my 32gb USB disk drive, and launching exactly as you described, and I get the exact same fail as described, so I have tried over and over to download/install on to the USB drive (erased & formatted in Disk Utility each time) with all the various methods I can come up with, as you described, then with Diskmaker X, then with Terminal sudo command"

I don't think you're doing what I suggested doing in #6 above.

It looks to me like you are creating (or trying to create) a drive that is "bootable to the OS installer" (or to Mac utilities).
But what you are ending up with IS NOT "bootable to the finder".
By bootable to the finder, I mean that after you boot, you will see the login screen, and after you login, you will be in the finder.
No "installer" in sight.

One last time, I will urge you to print out the entire post 6 above, and then follow it EXACTLY, step by step, line by line.

Then come back and tell us what happens.
If you follow these instructions you WILL NOT HAVE a bootable OS installer.
You WILL have an external drive with a copy of El Capitan on it that is bootable to the finder.

If that doesn't work, I have ANOTHER method to try.