HELP! HD locked on reinstall!

[frustratedmacuser]

This is the part i don't understand: From there start Disk Utility and erase the internal drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Which one in the picture I should should I erase? The first or second?

 

[Weaselboy]

This is the part i don't understand: From there start Disk Utility and erase the internal drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Which one in the picture I should should I erase? The first or second?

When in Disk Util go to the erase tab then select the drive itself at the very top of the left column, then erase.

 

[frustratedmacuser]

so on this page, i select recovery? sorry just making sure

 

[Weaselboy]

so on this page, i select recovery? sorry just making sure View attachment 646152

You need to go back and reread my instructions in that other post I linked. You need to restart into Internet recovery with command-option-r. You should not see that screen you posted if you do what I described.

 

[frustratedmacuser]

Okay, I restarted, held command+option+r before it started to reboot and held until the loading bar. This time it skipped that page and went straight to the window with timeline, re-install, look for help, disk utility. went to disk utility. selected "ST9320...etc." under Internal. Clicked erase. This is what it did:

 

[acarr620]

Don't mean to hijack thread so can start a new one if needed, just saw that @Weaselboy you've been really helpful/knowledgeable! I am having a similar issue here - installation of sierra failed part way through, and now it won't let me install, even using a bootable usb.

Attempt to boot normally:
Rather long loading bar under Apple logo, then powers down

Attempt to boot in safe mode:
same as above

Command-R - Disk Utility
can not repair disk

Bootable USB - install mac OS X
can not select Macintosh HD - it is locked.

I really want to avoid formatting/wiping the drive if at all possible. Any suggestions on where to go from here? Took a look at install.log but it doesn't have any info from the initial installation attempt, only details of current session booting from USB.

 

[Fishrrman]

acarr --

Sounds like there could be a hardware problem with the internal drive.
In that case, NO software is going to "repair" it.
Only course of action is to replace the drive.

You didn't tell us ANY info about the iMac.
If it has USB3, you could plug in an external USB SSD and boot and run that way...

 

[Weaselboy]

I really want to avoid formatting/wiping the drive if at all possible.

It does sound kinda like the disk died. If you cannot repair it, you can try to erase with Disk Utility and start over as a last resort.

 

[acarr620]

It does sound kinda like the disk died. If you cannot repair it, you can try to erase with Disk Utility and start over as a last resort.

Thanks guys. I ended up booting from an installable USB I had with Sierra on it. Disk utility couldn't repair anything so I ended up using ditto command in terminal to copy each directory that I wanted over. most of what mattered copied over fine, but I did get a decent amount of input/output errors so rather sure the drive is toast.

 

[Junho8]

It does sound kinda like the disk died. If you cannot repair it, you can try to erase with Disk Utility and start over as a last resort.

Need help

 

[Weaselboy]

Need help

That OS X Base System disk you see there is a virtual image that runs the installer, and you won't be able to install to that. Do you now see any other disk volumes? Can you explain what led up to this?

 

[Junho8]

It wouldn't start. so I command r and deleted and tried to reinstall sierra
[doublepost=1479068956][/doublepost]When I tried reinstalling sierra it gave me untrusted cert title
[doublepost=1479069015][/doublepost]So I tried Internet recovery
[doublepost=1479069099][/doublepost]Now I can not reinstall sierra because the disk is locked
[doublepost=1479069204][/doublepost]

That OS X Base System disk you see there is a virtual image that runs the installer, and you won't be able to install to that. Do you now see any other disk volumes? Can you explain what led up to this?

That OS X Base System disk you see there is a virtual image that runs the installer, and you won't be able to install to that. Do you now see any other disk volumes? Can you explain what led up to this?

 

[Weaselboy]

It wouldn't start. so I command r and deleted and tried to reinstall sierra

It sounds like you have a failed hard drive there. The OS would not just disappear on its own requiring a reinstall.

 

[Cloubert35]

It sounds like you have a failed hard drive there. The OS would not just disappear on its own requiring a reinstall.

So similar issue here. I go in to internet recovery, click on "Reinstall Mac OS X" ( Installing lion on early 2008 black Macbook (4,1)), I go through to selected a disk, and my disk is locked. Attached are pictures I get in Disk Utility and Reinstall mode

 

[AppleNewton]

Sorry your screen captures are a bit hard to interpret. sounds like the disk is corrupt or damaged and necessary to get a new one.

 

[acarr620]

So similar issue here. I go in to internet recovery, click on "Reinstall Mac OS X" ( Installing lion on early 2008 black Macbook (4,1)), I go through to selected a disk, and my disk is locked. Attached are pictures I get in Disk Utility and Reinstall mode

This outlines the process of the only way that ended up saving some files. Fwiw If you can't see the drive in disk utility at all you will likely not be able to use this to copy your stuff to an external drive, but if you can that will help you figure out which directory/disk number to use

http://osxdaily.com/2014/06/11/use-ditto-copy-files-directories-mac-command-line/

 

[MacuserSeekerForHelp]

Hello everyone,

I don't know if I should make a new thread for this, but my problem is very similar (I think) to the others.

First of all, if you want to help me I would really really appreciate that. I will just explain what the problem is with my mac, if you decide to take a look.

The whole day I tried to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it (I tried the things posted on this thread, but it failed and after a while I noticed a view differences). I was very stupid - that's how I ended up stuck on the Mac OSX utilities.

When my imac (medio 2011 I think) was acting weird after I used the imac as secondary display a couple of times (through a thunderbolt cable to a macbook). I am not sure that is what caused all the problems, but my imac kept restarting and occasionally the screen completely froze (weird dots and stripes, I have a few pictures of those screens) and I was unable to power the imac back up without pulling the powercable out first. Maybe I did that a few times too quickly... Also my mac shut down while updating to Sierra and my internet connection is sometimes not stable. I tried a couple of things, which was very stupid because now it is worse.

I tried the internet recovery, but my disks look very strange to me. I will post pictures to show what it looks like. I hope the pictures are clear enough, and provide some information..

Thank you.

Edit: first-aid on the drives returns no errors, 'it appears to be ok'

 

[Weaselboy]

I tried the internet recovery, but my disks look very strange to me.

Go back to Internet recovery (command-option-r boot) and start Disk Utility. Then go to the erase tab and select the drive itself at the top of the left column where is says ST310.... Now select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the dropdown to the left then apply that format. Then quit Disk Util and try to reinstall.

 

[MacuserSeekerForHelp]

Go back to Internet recovery (command-option-r boot) and start Disk Utility. Then go to the erase tab and select the drive itself at the top of the left column where is says ST310.... Now select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the dropdown to the left then apply that format. Then quit Disk Util and try to reinstall.

When I try to reinstall (after erase/reformatting the disk) it gives the same error. Screenphotos below. Did I do something wrong?

 

[Weaselboy]

When I try to reinstall (after erase/reformatting the disk) it gives the same error. Screenphotos below. Did I do something wrong?

No, from what I see there you formatted it properly. What if you go to the First Aid tab there and scan the disk? What does that show.

From your earlier symptoms, it almost sounds like you have a failing drive.

 

[MacuserSeekerForHelp]

No, from what I see there you formatted it properly. What if you go to the First Aid tab there and scan the disk? What does that show.

From your earlier symptoms, it almost sounds like you have a failing drive.

Actually it worked with another apple ID. Thanks for the help !! You're amazing.
For people with the same problem: you need the use an apple id that you used to install/buy lion on your imac (that's the only thing I can think of why it worked)

 

[Weaselboy]

Actually it worked with another apple ID. Thanks for the help !! You're amazing.
For people with the same problem: you need the use an apple id that you used to install/buy lion on your imac (that's the only thing I can think of why it worked)

Ah yes... that would do it. The AppleID has to have the macOS purchase associated with it. Glad you are fixed up.

 

[MacuserSeekerForHelp]

Ah yes... that would do it. The AppleID has to have the macOS purchase associated with it. Glad you are fixed up.

Unfortunately the fix worked for just about an hour, now it has the same issues as before (a little worse actually, I only can start the mac in recovery mode - and I have to pull the power cable out first). First aid says that the drive 'appears to be ok'. I think that it is time to just let it be repaired, hopefully the cost of that is worth it. Still thanks for your help though!

 

[torresramiro350]

I have the same issue. I am user of OS X 10.2. I erased my disk by accident and now I am stuck with OS X Base System. I cannot reinstall mac os sierra due to the fact that my disk is locked. I have tried the steps you have described and I didn't get anywhere. If you could reply to my post, it'd be of great help.

 

[Weaselboy]

I have the same issue. I am user of OS X 10.2. I erased my disk by accident and now I am stuck with OS X Base System. I cannot reinstall mac os sierra due to the fact that my disk is locked. I have tried the steps you have described and I didn't get anywhere. If you could reply to my post, it'd be of great help.

Can you open Terminal and run the two command below and tell us the command output.

diskutil list

diskutil cs list

Can you see the main disk/volume in Disk Utility?