Imac 10.11 no boot

[mistersupernova]

Hi all, I did something similar to this thread but a little different, so I would like some clarification please.

Thread
unlike this old thread, I can see the recovery partition below my Mac HDD, but I can't figure out how to use it.

This is what I have done and where I am.
I will preface this by saying that I am retiring here in NZ next month, so I am downsizing and moving into a camper, so I have sold off my gaming pc and decided to use this old iMac as a work station, I really like it a lot, won't do much other than internet and YouTube and a couple of steam games but that's ok
so....

I was given an old iMac, el captain, 10.11. So, steam worked up until a few days ago and now just crashes every time I try it. I am pretty good with windows. So I kinda thought I might apply some of that logic here.....wrong! I wanted to do a clean installation of 10.11. So I reboot and use command R. I tried to use the reinstallation 10.11, and I get to the point where it says Apple will verify your install.etc.login., I do that, and I get, 403 error, forbidden. So I went to the disk helper, or whatever it is called, at the bottom of the options. You can choose repair or mount or unmount....etc.I can see my Mac had. I can see the OSX 10.11 installation image, but I can't do anything with it. So I thought fu*k it I wanted a clean install, so I erased my Mac 500g had and I kind of thought after reboot it would ask me to install from local image, wrong... So now I have a Mac that won't boot. Am I going to have to use an external USB Drive to get this going again? I can take some photos of what I can see at Command-R if that help.

Ps, I downloaded an image of El Capitan and tried to install from it, but it told me, no, because I already had a local image. Any help would be greatly appreciated, .

 

[Rod]

The 403 (Forbidden) error is usually related to "permissions" that is you do not have permission to access the files you require.

You say you were given this old iMac so my guess is the previous owner did not follow the instructions for "What to do before giving away or selling an old Mac". These entail signing out of various Apple services, iCloud, App Store, iMessage ect then Erasing the device leaving it a condition where the next user sets up an Apple account, email, ect, just like a new computer. Without doing this some of the existing data may only have access permissions for the previous owner.

So, yes, you will probably need to completely Erase the device at the Media level, Reformat and Map it before installing a fresh version of macOS El Capitan.

To do this you need to download a fresh version of the Installer for the macOS of your choosing from the Apple App Store then use either Terminal or a 3rd party Startup Disk Creator to make a bootable macOS Installer on a USB stick.

Alternatively as I think you only have the one Mac computer you could purchase a USB (Thumb drive) macOS El Capitan bootable installer on Amazon or similar.

 

[mistersupernova]

When I got it, he just had me create a new user, he already had accounts page open and had me make a new account.

About the disk, crap this is probably outside of my Mac skill level.

I will do some research, thank you.

 

[Rod]

Sadly, creating a new user is not the same.

 

[mistersupernova]

Okay I bought one, it wasn't as expensive as I expected, thank goodness.

MacOS High Sierra&El Capitan, Bootable USB Drive 3.0, Full Install/Upgrade/Recovery/Restore Mac OS X : Amazon.com.au: Computers

MacOS High Sierra&El Capitan, Bootable USB Drive 3.0, Full Install/Upgrade/Recovery/Restore Mac OS X : Amazon.com.au: Computers

amzn.asia

 

[mistersupernova]

It's a great machine, sadly I am limited to what I can do and install, but I still like it a lot

 

[Rod]

Did you get instructions on how to use the USB?

 

[mistersupernova]

I read on a web page here in NZ that sells them without the OS, that you reboot the the stick in and hold the command key while it is booting.
Is that correct?

 

[MacInWin]

I read on a web page here in NZ that sells them without the OS, that you reboot the the stick in and hold the command key while it is booting.
Is that correct?

No, it is the Opton key that needs to be held down until the recovery panel appears on screen. But, if the original owner didn't do the steps Rod talked about in post #2, you may still not be able to boot/install on the iMac. Apple has lots of security built in to prevent stolen machines from being usable to reduce theft. And if the previous owner didn't release the Mac from that security, you'll get caught in it.

 

[mistersupernova]

Does this if he didnt do the correct releases, its a brick?

 

[IWT]

Does this if he didnt do the correct releases, its a brick?

More or less; yes.

The previous own needs to disassociate this Mac from his/her Apple ID.

Fortunately, Apple has made this easier in that the owner can remove your Mac from the Apple ID if he/she has another Apple Device - Mac, iPhone iPad etc. All that person has to do is go into Settings on one of his/her Devices, then Click on the Apple ID and at the bottom of the list will be all the Apple Devices listed under the Apple ID. He/she then Clicks on what is now your Mac and "Remove" it from the Apple ID.

That's part one! Assuming this is done, you will still have to erase the current OS on your Mac because if you don't, as others have said, there will be trouble. So after the previous owner has removed the Mac from their Apple ID, you need to Erase all the data and the OS and download a new version of the OS.

See here:

What to do before you sell, give away, trade in or recycle your Mac

Reset your Mac to factory settings to prepare it for a new owner.

support.apple.com

This is what you have to do - but he/she should have done this before giving it to you.

Ian

 

[mistersupernova]

omg, it doesn't mean anything "good" that I can still see the install image?

 

[MacInWin]

omg, it doesn't mean anything "good" that I can still see the install image?

Nope. The machine will, in the install process, contact Apple to verify that it can install and that the installation package is valid. At that time Apple will see that it is registered in the original AppleID account and block the installation. At least, that's how it has worked before. As Ian said, the original owner has to use his/her AppleID to delete the machine from his/her account, at which time Apple will see that it's NOT associated with another AppleID and allow the installation.

Can you contact the previous owner? If not, you can TRY going to Apple.com and look for "Support" and schedule a support call to see if there is any way to convince Apple that you are te legitimate owner of the Mac now. Typically, they ask for sales receipts, something from the original owner, etc. But maybe, given how old the machine probably is, they can do something easier.

But, frankly, the easiest for you is to contact the original owner and get the machine released from that Apple ID account.

 

[mistersupernova]

ok I get it now, thank you very much for taking the time to explain it to me, I appreciate it.

I will get in contact with the previous owner.

 

[mistersupernova]

What About replacing the ssd?

 

[Rod]

Nope, the device ID is kinda hard wired.

 

[Rod]

All your friend needs to do is login to his Apple account/iTunes, go to his devices and remove (de authorise) that device.

 

[Rod]

For your purposes this is the thing you need:


This particular one is unavailable in my area as you can see but it's a good example.

 

[mistersupernova]

I believe that is what I got from Amazon Australia

 

[mistersupernova]

I just bought a used
21.5" display 3.06GHz i3 CPU 8GB memory 500GB HDD
Mac OSX High Sierra

I did send him the link you sent me about the release, thank you.

This doesnt mean I have given up and the mac I have.