hard disk S.M.A.R.T. error, but already erased entire HD, what to do??

trying to do a clean install of the OS, i got an error saying the disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors, to back up the data and replace the disk. but the bigger problem is that i already erased my hd (thinking i would be able to do a normal install) . what should i do?
i looked a bit into it online, and all i found was people talking about the same error BEFORE they erased their HD. now that i don't even have an OS installed, what should i do?

Hopefully you made a backup before you erased your hard drive? It doesn't matter whether the SMART warning occurred before or after, the point is the drive should be replaced. Also, when posting tell us which Mac you have and what version of OS X it's running.

sorry, i have a late 2012 iMac, i5
i was running el capitain before, but now, nothing is running.
yes, i did a back up of all the data.
and yes, i understand that the drive should be replaced, regardless of getting the warning after or before i erased it. but i wont be able to just get a new hd tommorow, so if i had an OS installed, i could at least still use my computer for basic tasks, until i get the new drive.
because it seemed that people that had this error, still could use their computer. they just couldnt install the OS

It's up to you if you wish to reinstall El Capitan, however, a SMART error can be unpredictable. During the installation, the drive may fail. How did you make the backup? If you used Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper, the backup is generally bootable and you can boot your iMac from that and continue using it until you get a new drive. I have had that happen on a previous iMac that I owned and was able to use the machine until I got to the Apple Store to have the drive replaced. However, if your backup was made using Time Machine you will not able to boot from the external drive.

unfortenatly, i just copied the folders to an external hd. nothing bootable.
but how do you mean, its up to me to reinstall El Capitan? it says it doesn't allow to install the os, due to the error. is there some way around this?
as i've said, would love to keep using it, at least for basic tasks until i can take it to the store...

What you can try to do is boot in single user mode and run repair that way. Then try again to install El Capitan. In order to boot in single user mode follow these instructions:

Repair in Single User Mode

If it works, you can temporarily install El Capitan and continue to use the machine until you can get a new hard drive installed.

thanks for the input. i honestly dont know if it did what it was suposed to. after pressing command s, and waiting until the text stopped scrolling down, i didn't get 'root#'. i typed '/sbin/fsck -fy' anyways, and it started running a test (i think), but i don't think that it tested the main HD (even though, i don't have anything else plugged in). in the end i got a message saying 'The volume Recovery HD appears to be OK'.
my HD is Macintosh HD, so i'm assuming it didn't check the right one.
What is Recovery HD? its only 600 mbs and i didnt have a second partition or anything like that.

Yeah, it looks like your main drive which as you say is the "Macintosh HD" was not seen and so was not tested or repaired. The "Recovery Drive" was created when you installed El Capitan the first time. How did you manage to erase the drive if you didn't use recovery? Anyway, it looks like you've done all that you can do.

what do you mean, if i didnt use recovery? when booting, i opened osx utilities - disk utility - then just erased. i was planning to do a simple clean install.
btw, on another forum, somebody sugested installing on a 16 gb or bigger flash drive. is that possible? i dont have a 16 gb flash drive, but i have an external hd with still 200 gb free, only my data is on that external hd as well. is it possible to install it on this external hd, without erasing my data?

ok, so i have given up on trying to install the os.
to fix this, im assuming i only need to buy i new HD right? is there anything i have to look out for when choosing one? as far as size, type, etc.
because, tbh, until now i didnt know i could just replace an hd on an imac

SMARTReporter seldon tells fibs. Replace the hard drive and are you serious you didn't know you can replace a hard drive on any computer in the last 25 years?

You need to get an "exact" Apple proprietary hard drive to replace the defective one otherwise the fan in your iMac will take off and sound like a Boeing 747. My advice is to take your iMac to an Apple store or an authorized Apple repair service and have them replace the drive for you. Replacing the hard drive on a 2012 iMac is a difficult task. And remember, you need an exact Apple replacement hard drive not just any hard drive.

@harryb2448 lol of course i knew you could replace hard drives on computers from the last 2 decades. i just always thought that imacs were either really tricky, or almost impossible, since its just one screen. have this imac for around 2 and a half years, was on windows before. i never had the need to look into this until now, so how should i know?

the exact same one? meanwhile i have been looking up how to replace it, and realized that many people replaced their hd because they wanted to switch to a ssd drive. how would this be done then? clearly its not the same drive in that case...
its might be a bit dificult, but i just cant afford to take it to an official apple store, so i have no choice but to do it myself

If you want to do it yourself, you can find the instructions at www.ifixit.com. Make sure you understand all that's involved in changing out that hard drive especially about the fan running full speed. You can use a non Apple hard drive or SSD but you will need a special thermal sensor cable that you can get from OWC (www.macsales.com). OWC sells a kit for changing out the drive and also has instructions. Look up all the procedures first before you even attempt to take apart your iMac. I believe OWC has a video you can watch to get an idea of what to do.

thanks for the links. are those thermal sensor cables only sold on OWC? i live in germany, would prefer to order something from german amazon, just because i would get it in a day.
and thanks again for the feedback. i'll look into all of it before i make my purchase soon.

btw, as far as what HD to get, it would prob be better to just start a new thread, no?

to be honest though, i really hope i end up doing every thing right. all of this is really daunging me. i mean, i replaced a few HD's back in the day on a general windows desktop pc and laptop. this is def another level for me.
again, really do apreciate the feedback

You can continue with this thread and ask about the hard drive or SSD. No need to start a new thread. As far as changing the hard drive in your iMac, it's nothing like you remember from your PC days. As for the sensor cable, I don't know if Amazon stocks them or not. OWC would air mail it to you if necessary. The biggest challenge is taking the iMac apart. Your iMac display is glued to the chassis using a special tape which you will need to replace. You'll also need a glass sucker to grip the glass and a spudger to pry the display off. You'll need torx drivers and probably some other tools that I'm not remembering.

Did we ever discover how the OP erased his HD without going into Disk Recovery?

Ian


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