Help! Locked recovery drive on reinstall

[Mystiquemaze]

So I was trying to reset my Mac,( it is a late 2008 deskto I was running el Capitan), to sell it and I can’t reinstall the os, I looked up a thread earlier and found some useful stuff but I’ve hit a dead end and need help soon please I am trying to sell this computer for funds to get a better one. I deleted my Microsoft hd drive and then my recovery drive became locked. I tried using internet recovery to reinstall the os but it gives me a message saying I don’t have enough space. I then used info from a thread to get into my terminal screen which got me to my end point. I don’t know what to do next. Please help

here is the link to the thread I was referring too

HELP! HD locked on reinstall!

hi lovely peeps! So I'm stuck, I wanted to start my Mac from scratch with a fresh install of EI Capitan but now my hard drive is locked! Please see the attached images. https://www.dropbox.com/s/s023l3g3di72hhi/2016-01-17 13.00.51.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fv3ffcyobuxp26j/2016-01-17...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Fishrrman]

A 2008 Mac (of any kind) CANNOT do "internet recovery" -- not possible.

You'll need either the original software install disk for the iMac
or
A bootable USB flashdrive with an OS installer on it.

Then...
- Boot from the install DVD or flashdrive
- ERASE the internal drive
- Install a new copy of the OS onto it.
but
- DO NOT do a "setup procedure" on it.

I doubt you can sell this for more than a few dollars.
If you can't, donate it to someone who needs a computer.

 

[Mystiquemaze]

So I have the El Capitan os on a usb drive but how do I install it?

 

[Mystiquemaze]

Okay I think I figured out how to boot from the flash drive but When I try to boot from flash drive it doesn’t show up. Only my recovery disk shows up.

 

[RogerWilco6502]

Just to be sure you made the flash drive correctly, try following the instructions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

[Mystiquemaze]

Just to be sure you made the flash drive correctly, try following the instructions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

I’m reading through the directions and it says,”Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.” The computer is empty, it doesn’t have any files on it. Am I reading this wrong or missing something? And I’m not sure what the name of my usb drive is

 

[Mystiquemaze]

I’m reading through the directions and it says,”Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.” The computer is empty, it doesn’t have any files on it. Am I reading this wrong or missing something? And I’m not sure what the name of my usb drive is

 

[RogerWilco6502]

What computer are you using to make the install media?