iMac A1311 - Will not boot from the hard drive

Hello All!

I recently purchased an iMac from an auction and replaced the hard drive in it. I've had some problems with the unit though.

I can successfully format the hard drive and perform a networked OS X install to completion without errors. However, when the unit restarts I get the question mark folder.

Things I've tried:
-I've tried to reinstall multiple times but I haven't had any luck.
-I've also tried to get into the diagnostic menu by holding D at startup but the menu never loads.
-I installed GParted on a thumbdrive, booted the machine, and I can't any further than the startup menu. The screen just appears to freeze.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

G'day and welcome to the forum.

Helps if you provide the operating system and model from About This Mac, i.e. iMac 6.1, 7.2 etc. Model numbers can apply to a whole range of iMacs. Sounds like you have a failed/failing hard drive. If you have system insatll discs, OS X.6 and earlier, boot from the disc and run Repair Disk. For OS X.7 and later go into Recovery Mode, hold down Command and R immediately after chime and run from Disk Utility Repair Disk or Verify depending on the operating system and see what is reported.


https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201314