Used iMac (mid 2011) had Mavericks erased and crashes with Snow Leopard install disk

[Timberwoofy]

Hello Group,
I purchased a used mid 2011 iMac that had been erased. When I start it up I get a utilities window with four options. Since I do not have a back-up disk I can do nothing. The utilities option does nothing. The disks panel on the left side of the window indicates that about 1.2GB is reserved for "base system." I would like to install Lion by starting with a copy of Snow Leopard. I have three Snow leopard disks, install disk, iWorks, and iLife. They are all white in color and indicate Mac Box Set. If I try to boot up with the install disk inserted, I do not get the splash screen with the big black X and install option. Instead it just show up in the list of disks in the utilities screen. If I use the option key during startup and select Snow Leopard, it acts like it is doing something and then the dreaded black screen with scrolling numbers appears - not good. I have tried other starting options with the same result.

Do I need to wipe (and believe me I've tried) the "base system" off the internal disk somehow? Am I using the wrong Snow Leopard disk? Or what?

Thanks in Advance, Paul

 

[Intell]

You can only install Snow Leopard on to that iMac using its restore discs. Retail Snow Leopard is not new enough to be able to run on it.

 

[Timberwoofy]

You can only install Snow Leopard on to that iMac using its restore discs. Retail Snow Leopard is not new enough to be able to run on it.

I never had any restore disks. My goal is to install Lion but I understood that Snow Leopard has to be installed first. The SL disks were purchased online. Do you think that I just have an upgrade set only? I am really at a loss since my installs and upgrades always went without a hitch. I have used Macs since 1990 and this is a first for me.

 

[Weaselboy]

I never had any restore disks. My goal is to install Lion but I understood that Snow Leopard has to be installed first. The SL disks were purchased online. Do you think that I just have an upgrade set only? I am really at a loss since my installs and upgrades always went without a hitch. I have used Macs since 1990 and this is a first for me.

If your iMac has had all the firmware updates that came out since it was released, you should be able to do an Internet recovery to get the OS on there.

Hold command-option-r (all thee keys at once) just after the boot chime. You should be prompted for a wifi password then a spinning globe will come up while the recovery console downloads. Once that is done you will get a recovery screen like this.

From that screen start Disk Utility and select the disk brand name at the very top (like Seagate 1TB or whatever) and erase the disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Then quit Disk Util and click Reinstall OS X. The 4.7GB OS will download from the Internet and install.

This should get you to Lion then you can upgrade to Mavs from the App Store from there.

 

[WMD]

I never had any restore disks.

You will have to obtain them, then. The retail SL disc is probably 10.6.3, but that iMac shipped with 10.6.7. So, only the restore disc will work. It's sort of like the "system enabler" problem from the System 7 days. You should be able to call Apple and ask for the proper restore disc, and they can mail you one.

You might also be able to get the system going using the aformentioned internet recovery mode. However, the system did not ship with that enabled at first, so it depends on if the previous owner updated it.

 

[Timberwoofy]

You will have to obtain them, then. The retail SL disc is probably 10.6.3, but that iMac shipped with 10.6.7. So, only the restore disc will work. It's sort of like the "system enabler" problem from the System 7 days. You should be able to call Apple and ask for the proper restore disc, and they can mail you one.

You might also be able to get the system going using the aformentioned internet recovery mode. However, the system did not ship with that enabled at first, so it depends on if the previous owner updated it.

I think I solved the problem with my MacBook running 10.6.8 and a copy of Carbon Copy Clone (CCC). I made a bootable system on a external drive and then used it to start up the iMac. I then used CCC to clone the system onto the hard drive of the iMac. Now it seems to boot up into SnowLeopard just fine. Next, I will try to install a Lion upgrade when I get one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks everyone for the help. Your discussions got me thinking about options to try.