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Model A1312 / Mid 2011 / 2.7 & 3.1 GHz Core i5 or 3.4 GHz Core i7 Processor, ID iMac12,2

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Cannot install operating system on new hard drive

The first sign of a problem was the screen would go black, I could restart the computer and it was fine but the problem grew progressively worse until it would boot to the spinning wheel and remain there. I believe that wheel was not spinning a few times too.

We took it to a repair shop (a definite oxymoron) and they said we needed a new hard drive. With our approval they installed a new drive, and then proceeded to try and explain why they could not get it working.

They said it was the optical drive, then it was because we spilled something on it, then it was the power supply.

After a month I picked it up and I can get it to the point where it is trying to load the operating system via the internet and it stays there indefinitely.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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It is most likely this issue:

iMac (27-inch): AMD Radeon 6970M Video Card Replacement Program

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203787

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If the iMac cannot read the hard drive it will continue searching for it and will not boot or as you say you have a perpetual spinning wheel ...

If the iMac cannot read the hard drive it has nothing to write to as the internet recovery method downloads an image of the original OS to the hard drive and proceeds to the install, as if you are installing from the DVD.

Will it boot from DVD? Can you see the hard drive listed in disk utility? Are you even getting that far? Can you boot from USB?

If you can't see a known reliable hard drive or SSD in disk utility maybe try formatting it on a different Mac, make sure its in GUID rather than MBR and Mac Journaled partition.

Does not happen often but you might just have a bad SATA cable ....

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jay cicchetto will be eternally grateful.
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