Chosen Solution
I’m guessing Dan the man will be first to answer this, since he has with my other questions.. So, here we go Dan! (or someone faster than Dan) I am unsure if the imac i have is the one i picked for the question, but i think it’s a 27” late 2009. A few days ago, I decided to put in a Samsung 50gb EVO 860 ssd into my imac. I managed to get the old one out, and the new ssd in, but I got caught in a jam where it required a password, and Dan helped me get to the point where I was able to reset it and reach recovery mode. Since then I am stuck without any OS on my new ssd,… Since i was using mojave on my new (mid 2012 macbook pro), I wasn’t able to make a bootable usb for the 2009 iMac. I have downloaded a few different OS’s online (mountain lion, el capitan, sierra) but when i get to the point it starts to load, it gives me an error message saying the download was damaged or missing elements or something. I called apple - they told me i would be able to do a usb install with high sierra if i had a computer with that available. So, I restored 10.13.3 from my time machine, and followed this guide- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64IOWM8e… I only get the no smoking symbol (without the cigarette, just a circle with a line through), and when I tried to install high sierra onto the ssd from recovery mode on my macbook, i only get a folder with a question mark flashing. I have tried numerous ways - formatting the ssd in GUID, and master boot record.. I didn’t try APFS since Dan has told me that won’t work with the SSD.. i’m grateful for any help with this thing.. it’s close to becoming the next target at the range!
Where are you getting these installers and how are you creating the bootable media for your Mac? Could you also confirm that this is your model iMac too? https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/… Update (11/18/2018) Yeah, I goofed on the part where I assumed that the “do not enter” sign meant that HS wouldn’t work with your Mac. The maximum OS for your Mac is indeed HS. Let’s try creating a bootable USB for your Mac one more time… with the correct/genuine installers. Try using the createinstallmedia guide I have linked to below for creating those bootable USBs. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macos-si… https://www.itunes.apple.com/app/id12462… https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372 Update (11/23/2018) Try installing macOS on an external drive and then try booting form that drive. I want to rule out or decide a drive problem because I have a hunch that either your hard drive or your hard drive cable is going bad.
