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Reinstalling macOS after HDD Replacement.

My 24” iMac 2008 had its hard drive fail.


I replaced the HDD with a working/used one from a 20” from the same year.


I am having trouble reinstalling macOS El Capitan, from a bootable USB Drive (uncorrupted file)


when booting up the computer to the startup manager I have only got my bootable USB being detected.


the internal hard drive is only detected in disk utilities. And it’s named ‘untitled’


i can get all the way upto installing the OS into the internal HDD from Bootable USB.


before it freezes on the install progress bar. Not progress in the space of an hour.

Posted on Mar 9, 2021 1:36 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 9, 2021 2:46 AM

How did you make this USB bootable flash drive, those error reports look like

font errors.


If you have another mac then you can try downloading a newer copy of El Capitan

and create a bootable USB and try that one.


If you do have an operating system on your mac and it is functioning then you can download

El Capitan using this method.


How to get old versions of macOS – Apple Support

Go to Download OS and click on OS X El Capitan 10.11

this downloads InstallMacOSX.dmg to your Downloads folder.


The next section can only be done on a mac that is capable of running El Capitan.

This includes macs that have the potential to run El Capitan but have been upgraded to a newer OS.

A mac that came preinstalled with an OS later than El Capitan will refuse to do the next bit.


When downloaded open to InstallMacOSX.pkg, double-click on

that and an installation window will open, this does not install El Capitan

but converts the InstallMacOSX.pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which 

you will find in your Applications folder, it should be 6.2GBs in size.


(If the installation window asks which disk you want to install to, you must pick 

the disk that you are booted to at the time. Not any internal or external disk that 

you want to eventually install El Capitan on, that is for later.)


To start the installation of El Capitan double click on the Install OS X El Capitan.app.


The copy of the install app self deletes after installing El Capitan, so make sure you keep a copy of the 

InstallMacOSX.dmg if you need it in future, or you could just make a copy of the Install OS X El Capitan.app 

prior to installing and moving it to an external drive for safe keeping. 

It is also possible to create a bootable USB installer disk using the Install OS X El Capitan.app in the Applications 

folder and the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal app. 


Read the instructions here,

How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support

Similar questions

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 9, 2021 2:46 AM in response to MTechE60

How did you make this USB bootable flash drive, those error reports look like

font errors.


If you have another mac then you can try downloading a newer copy of El Capitan

and create a bootable USB and try that one.


If you do have an operating system on your mac and it is functioning then you can download

El Capitan using this method.


How to get old versions of macOS – Apple Support

Go to Download OS and click on OS X El Capitan 10.11

this downloads InstallMacOSX.dmg to your Downloads folder.


The next section can only be done on a mac that is capable of running El Capitan.

This includes macs that have the potential to run El Capitan but have been upgraded to a newer OS.

A mac that came preinstalled with an OS later than El Capitan will refuse to do the next bit.


When downloaded open to InstallMacOSX.pkg, double-click on

that and an installation window will open, this does not install El Capitan

but converts the InstallMacOSX.pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which 

you will find in your Applications folder, it should be 6.2GBs in size.


(If the installation window asks which disk you want to install to, you must pick 

the disk that you are booted to at the time. Not any internal or external disk that 

you want to eventually install El Capitan on, that is for later.)


To start the installation of El Capitan double click on the Install OS X El Capitan.app.


The copy of the install app self deletes after installing El Capitan, so make sure you keep a copy of the 

InstallMacOSX.dmg if you need it in future, or you could just make a copy of the Install OS X El Capitan.app 

prior to installing and moving it to an external drive for safe keeping. 

It is also possible to create a bootable USB installer disk using the Install OS X El Capitan.app in the Applications 

folder and the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal app. 


Read the instructions here,

How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support

Mar 9, 2021 2:03 AM in response to MTechE60

When you install a new HDD in your mac you then need to format it, so an OS can be installed on it.


Boot to the bootable USB flash drive.

Open Disk Utility, select the Disk in the left hand column, not any indented Volume.

Click Erase.

Give the Disk a name.

Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Scheme : GUID Partition Map

Click Erase.

When Done quit Disk Utility.


Click on Install OS X

The installation procedure should start up, follow the prompts.


Reinstalling macOS after HDD Replacement.

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