# No Hard drive detection iMac G3



## sunseeker21 (Jan 18, 2010)

Hello! 

I'm new here, and I'm new with Mac too. But I really need some help!

A friend of mine just bought a iMac G3 (lime), without knowing any technical specs (we don't know year, type, nor ram, hdd, processor... nothing!) 

The guys from which he bought it told us that the Mac OS was uninstalled.
So we tried to install a OS (after asking around which OS was better, many told us Mac OS 10.2, but I don't really know):
so after several attempts to install the OS, the installation process failed at the same point: detecting the hdd. As I run the cd-live installation, when the iMac tries to detect the hardware disk, it doesn't find it! When it asks me to select the volume in which I would like to install the OS, there is nothing in the list to select!!

I can't figure out what's wrong with the Mac! It sounds strange to me to sell a Mac without hdd!! They would have told us, right?

I have been searching through other threads here on this forum, there are many similar to mine, but the solutions aren't the right ones for me!

Can anyone help me please!!! It's almost a week that I'm trying to install an OS on this iMac, and I'm a little bit short of ideas right now (and a little bit desperate too!!!!)

Thank you in advance!!  
(if this thread is not in the right place, please let me know, I'll remove it immediately!)


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## DeltaMac (Jan 18, 2010)

The hard drive could be unformatted, so:
boot to your choice of OS X installer disk, where you will get to the screen that stops you - (Choose the drive).. On that screen, choose the Utilities menu, or the Installer menu on an older system like 10.2. Select Disk Utility from that menu, and click on the hard drive, which should be listed in the Disk Utility menu. Choose the line that has the manufacturer's info, such as part number, and drive size. Click the Erase button.
Enter a name if you like, and Click the Erase button. The erase task will take a few seconds.
 When that finishes, Quit Disk Utility, which will take you back to the drive select screen. Make sure the drive is then selected, and continue on with the install.
Come back if you have problems with that.


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## sunseeker21 (Jan 19, 2010)

Thank you for your help!!

I've done exactly what you told me to do, but when I open the Disk Utility Menu,  there is only the cd drive, and nothing else! I really think there are no hard drives in this iMac, but is it possible? 

Are there other ways to detect the hdd, maybe from the Open Firmware?

Thank you very much again for your help!


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## DeltaMac (Jan 19, 2010)

If Disk Utility does not show your hard drive at all, then it's very possible that the hard drive is dead (or, in your case, completely gone/not installed) The only way to make sure, is to open the case, and look. You would need to do that anyway, as the hard drive (existing or not) will need to be replaced.
There's good instructions for that at www.ifixit.com
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-iMac-G3-Model-M4984-Hard-Drive/1563/1


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