Question iMac A1224: "This Item is Temporarily Unavailable" so I'm unable to Install MacOS ?

[NightHawkRMX]

I bought an iMac A1224 and am having issues installing MacOS. The computer when I received it had an OSX Yosemite installer on it. When I tried to install the OS, I was prompted for my Apple ID. I entered mine and the correct password but it told me this was incorrect. Doing some research it seems this is because Yosemite doesn't prompt for a 2 step verification key, and I was able to solve this by appending the key received to the password. However, after I entered this password and key the OS displayed an error saying "This Item is Temporarily Unavailable" and I could not proceed further in the installation.

Doing some research it appears this may be caused by the Apple ID I'm using being different than the prior owners. Not sure why this would ever be an issue, Apple must not like people reselling computers.

First I ensured the date and time was correct, and It is.
I also tried a different Apple ID and the same thing occurs.
Next I wiped the internal hard drive and createdan El Capitan USB using TransMac on a separate Windows laptop. While this does prompt me for the 2fa key properly, it still displays the same error afterwards.
I tried opening safari In the installer to login to Icloud.com on the machine this way, however I the outdated El Capitan Safari browser cannot display the iCloud page properly anymore so I cannot try this.
I have tried pressing ALT+CTRL+R to network reinstall, just boots to flashing folder (have heard this function no longer works with older models)

Any suggestions? I do not have any other Macs, only Windows or Linux machines.

 

[Cj-tech]

I bought an iMac A1224 and am having issues installing MacOS. The computer when I received it had an OSX Yosemite installer on it. When I tried to install the OS, I was prompted for my Apple ID. I entered mine and the correct password but it told me this was incorrect. Doing some research it seems this is because Yosemite doesn't prompt for a 2 step verification key, and I was able to solve this by appending the key received to the password. However, after I entered this password and key the OS displayed an error saying "This Item is Temporarily Unavailable" and I could not proceed further in the installation.

Doing some research it appears this may be caused by the Apple ID I'm using being different than the prior owners. Not sure why this would ever be an issue, Apple must not like people reselling computers.

First I ensured the date and time was correct, and It is.
I also tried a different Apple ID and the same thing occurs.
Next I wiped the internal hard drive and createdan El Capitan USB using TransMac on a separate Windows laptop. While this does prompt me for the 2fa key properly, it still displays the same error afterwards.
I tried opening safari In the installer to login to Icloud.com on the machine this way, however I the outdated El Capitan Safari browser cannot display the iCloud page properly anymore so I cannot try this.
I have tried pressing ALT+CTRL+R to network reinstall, just boots to flashing folder (have heard this function no longer works with older models)

Any suggestions? I do not have any other Macs, only Windows or Linux machines.

Please see this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8255242

It appears that you will need another MacBook for the process. Essentially, you will need to create a bootable USB using the tool that is only available on MacBooks.