Reinstalling macOS from Recovery Partition

RowerBob

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Aug 7, 2021
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I have an iMac - Oct 2015, 27” 5K display, External OWC SSD, OS 11.5.1

About 6 months ago, the iMac’s internal HD, a 1 TB Fusion HDD - for lack of a more precise description - started acting “flaky” and I decided it was time to stop relying on it. I purchased an external OWC 500 GB SSD and all has been well since.

For the record, I also have an OWC Dual Dock Drive with two HDDs devoted to alternative TM backups.

I decided I might as well get some use out of that internal Fusion HDD so I shut down, detached the OWC SSD, booted up in Internet Recovery Mode and did my best to erase the Fusion HDD before reinstalling the macOS. This may have been a mistake. :-(

Here are links to the Disk Utility Screenshots of that Fusion HDD.

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0Fnt-VTozev4NRfDPZJ5lSX8A#01

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0mwSdknzBv27tuLG398VHr8qw#02

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0RpAY8ODVX7ZDtH07buNQfusg#03
That done, still in Recovery Mode, I went back to macOS utilities and chose Reinstall macOS.

macOS Sierra was what was offered - the macOS my iMac came with.
I clicked on <Continue>, saw the drop-down noting <Loading installation information>, then <Agree>.

And here is where things stalled out. I got the macOS Sierra window and <Select the disk you want to install macOS>.

I waited and waited and waited but no disk was forthcoming and so I could not choose <Continue> to move forward.

If any one is having a quiet weekend and can offer any suggestions/see anything I have done wrong, I’d greatly appreciate your input.
 

Just_Me_D

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Didn’t you say the internal HD "started acting flaky" and thus the reason you had it replaced?

With that being said, could the hard drive be mechanically damaged and thus the reason you're unable to select It?
 

EdwinG

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The first thing that jumps out to my eyes is that all the drives in your pictures are not formatted, either they show up as unformatted or uninitialized.

For a drive to be selectable in macOS Install, they must already have a formatted partition on the drive. You can format by selecting the drive, choosing Erase and choosing macOS Extended (Journaled) in the format dropdown.

Now, I can't speak for Fusion drives, since I have absolutely zero experience with those.
 

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