Intel iMac won't boot from disc or in safe mode - cannot repair disk

I have an early Intel iMac 20" (2GHz core duo) that generally works fine. I recently ran Onyx and it reported a startup disk error, suggesting I insert the install disk, hold 'c', and use disk utility to repair the disk.
NOTE: I have performed this operation successfully in the past and know how to do it.
On this occasion, the iMac simply booted up to the normal desktop each time after multiple attempts at booting from both the original OSX 10.4.4 install disc and the OSX 10.5.1 install disc (current os is 10.5.8).
I then attempted to start holding 'shift' to start in safe mode but again, repeated attempts all landed me on my normal desktop.
I then attempted to hold 'option' to be given the choice of startup disc but again was ignored and went straight to my normal desktop after multiple attempts.
Note that my iMac appears to be running fine otherwise. I was just trying to perform some routine maintenance and have run across this problem.
Any ideas? This mac will be 5 years old soon and I would like to keep it running for a while longer.

Hello Devoidarex
You'll want to use the Leopard Install DVD to Repair your Startup Volume and may want to try a USB keyboard if your using a wireless.
Another option is to insert the DVD and go to: System Preferences > Startup Disk > select the Install DVD > then Restart.
Dennis

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Intel iMac won't boot from HD

About a month ago, HD booted to Loading OS X, then froze at blue screen before showing logon screen. Returned under warranty, techie used external FW drive and DiskWarrior to repair and system restored to normal. Now have my own external drive with OS X and DiskWarrior.
Last week, installed Parallels. Spent some time with networking to old PC in order to make transition from PC to mac easier (GBs of file transfers). Around this time, 4 of my prefpane files somehow reverted to Power PC, not Intel versions and I couldn't change system preferences on sound, speech, sharing and another beginning with s. Performed an archive and install, all seemed to be working OK.
Last night, screen went black with white power sleep light on constantly. Could only shut down with 5-sec power button push. Attempts to boot from HD get as far as Loading OS X, then freezes at blue screen (why are they always blue?). Restarted holding down option key. Can boot from FW drive. Ran Disk Utility and DiskWarrior. After lots of "node" messages and catalogue this and directory that, DU now shows drive green and OK. However, on trying to boot again from HD, system hangs after "Loading OS X".
Have reset PRAM, used command-s to enter console and did the 2 commands listed there but still no joy. Gone to apple support, have removed and reinstalled RAM iaw their instructions. Have done the SMC thingy, all iaw Apple's instructions. The mac is only 4 month's old and I don't know if anything else can be done before I take it back. Any assistance anyone could give me would be gratefully received.
All the best
jj
PS. Also updated firmware yesterday (1.2?). All seemed to go OK iaw Apple's instructions.
Message was edited by: jumbojock

{quote:} Last night, screen went black with white power sleep light on constantly. Could only shut down with 5-sec power button push. Attempts to boot from HD get as far as Loading OS X, then freezes at blue screen (why are they always blue?). Restarted holding down option key. Can boot from FW drive. Ran Disk Utility and DiskWarrior. After lots of "node" messages and catalogue this and directory that, DU now shows drive green and OK. However, on trying to boot again from HD, system hangs after "Loading OS X".{quote}
To return back to the Internal after a "Startup Volume Repair" from an (External HD or Install Disk 1) restart again holding the Option key (for Startup Manager) and select the "Mac OS X 10.4.10 on Macintosh HD".
Also go to: "Apple / System Preferences / Startup Disk" and select Mac HD, then click the lock so the system will allways attempt to boot from the Internal HD on startup or restart instead of searching.

27" iMac won't boot from anything BUT the main drive

Hi all,
My lovely 27" iMac is in perfect working condition, but I thought I'd try to install a OS on a large SD card to see if I would gain any speed.
In the process of doing that (cause I never got that far) I discover that the iMac won't boot from the original install DVD. It simply spits out the DVD when I try to insert into the drive. I'v managed to make an image of the DVD (in a different mac) onto the SD card in order to try an boot from that. No luck. I've tried to insert a original install DVD from my Mac Pro into the iMac, which it reads fine and well, and when I tap the restart button it restarts, but stop with a white screen doing boot up.
If I try to hold down the option key during startup, the iMac WILL let me choose which OS to boot from, but if I choose anything else than the OS already installed it freezes.
I've even tried to boot my Mac Pro from the iMac install DVD - no problems.
I've even run a hardware test on the iMac - no problems.
I am running out of options fast! Please help a devoted Mac-friend.
Take care.
Peter

I WAS using the DVD that came with the machine, but I fear Apple may have sent me the wrong one?
In trying to solve the issues I'd tried other OS disc's (A Mac Pro install DVD and a OS X Leopard DVD) - but none of them would even boot, nor install of my iMac. I always end up with a white screen during boot up.
As I described, the original iMac install DVD would indeed boot my Mac Pro, do the disc seems ok?

IMac won't boot from OS X install disc!

I'm needing to do some internal hard drive repairs but the system won't boot from the install disc! I've restarted it tons of times while holding down "C" and it just bypasses it and boots right into OS X. It restarts as normal with the chime (I am holding down "C") then the Apple logo comes up, then the spinning circle thing, but it just goes right into OS X. Help!

Let's be sure you are doing it properly.
First, you must use the OS X Installer Disc One that came with your computer. Carefully check both surfaces for scratches, dirt, fingerprints and if so clean it carefully with a very soft cleaning cloth that won't scratch the disc.
Second, insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when the spinning gear appears below the dark gray Apple logo.

IMac won't boot from Firewire?

Hey gang-
I wanted to post this to save anyone else pulling out their hair if they have a Mac that won't boot from a Western Digital (WD) external Firewire drive. I recently purchased a Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB FireWire 800 External Hard Drive.
I bought this drive intending to partition it into two 1TB partitions- one for a bootable backup and one for a Time Machine backup. I do my bootable backups with the application SuperDuper, which is outstanding for this purpose. I have used it to create bootable backups on 3 different Maxtor external Firewire drives, and they have all flawlessly booted all my Macs. I expected no different from this new Western Digital (WD) 2TB drive.
Unfortunately, the WD would not boot 2 out of my 3 Macs when connected via Firewire. It would NOT boot an Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) or an Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). It does boot our Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition). Strangely, the WD booted all 3 Macs when connected via USB, though needless to say very slowly in all cases. If you need additional technical information, read on.
Technical Info: The following tests were done with the WD connected via Firewire. The WD is correctly formatted for booting Intel Macs with GPT GUID formatting. Note that the WD appears as a bootable drive in System Preferences->Startup Disk on all 3 of my Macs. But when attempting to boot via Firewire, I get only a grey screen on the Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) and the Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). The Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition) boots normally. When booting with the Option Key held down, Startup Manager does NOT see the WD as a bootable drive on the Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) and the Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). It does appear as a bootable drive on the Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition).
When connected via USB, the WD boots all three of my Macs, but very slowly compared to the internal drive.
It's probably worth noting that the Late-2007 MacBook and the Mid-2007 iMac all share the then-new Santa Rosa architecture. So I'm guessing that they may share the same Firewire chipset. And for whatever reason, that chipset does not play nice with the WD chipset.
So, bottom line is that if you need a Firewire bootable backup, be sure to test the drive right away so that you don't think you have a bootable backup when in fact you don't.
On the good side, the drive is amazingly quiet. At this point, I need to decide whether to keep the drive, knowing that I have only USB as a bootable option on 2 out my 3 Macs, or return it. But in any case, wanted to pass this on to anyone else having problems booting from an external Firewire drive.

baltwo wrote:
FWIW, many WD HDs won't boot Macs and booting Macs isn't supported. Details at their site. That's the main reason I never recommend their crappy HDs.
Actually I'm very familiar with that list- spent a lot of time looking at this past week!
Ironically, the majority of that page is a list of drives which they claim WILL boot Macs. In fact, the list is entitled "List of Mac-bootable WD external drives..."
And yep, mine is on there...on the list that reads "The following external hard drives should be bootable on Intel-based Mac computers systems through FireWire (1394a/b)" is "MyBook Studio" as well as my drive model number.
But that's all beside the point. Like you, I couldn't recommend their drives at this point. At least make sure if you buy one that the vendor has a good return policy.
Dave

Mac Pro won't boot up, not even in safe mode.

Problem: Mac Pro having severe lag issues. Added more ram, removed Kona3, etc., nothing. Tried repairing with disc warrior but unable to repair startup disc unless booted from disc warrior disc. Won't boot up from disc warrior disc so set startup disc to the disc warrior disc. Now comp won't boot up, not even from safe mode. Any suggestions?

Boot from your OS X install DVD.
You always need to have a 2nd backup you can boot from, or an emergency (only) boot drive.
Disk Warrior does not have 10.5.2+.
If you can't do anything, zap pram, see if that helps. Or pull your drives and boot from your DVD. Setup OS X on a FW drive.
And of course, always always have at least two backup sets of your system; and sets of your data - so one set at least is always off line.
http://www.geocities.com/texas_macman/pram.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
http://www.apple.com/support/macpro/
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/datacorruption.html
Issues with OS X and with Installing
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1541
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388

IMac won't boot from install disc

My iMac has been running a little slow the past two days and so I ran Disk Utility. DU reported that I had the incorrect number of thread records and an invalid volume count. It instructed me to repair the disk by booting from the install disc. The problem is that when I try to boot from the install disc (after I choose the disc from the options), I just get a gray screen with the apple logo on it. Nothing else happens, no disc activity, nothing.
Anyone have any ideas as to how to get my iMac to boot from the disc and, ultimately, to get Repair Disc running from DU?
Thanks,
Rich

It should only take a minute or so at most to boot from the DVD.
If your sure you have the correct Install Disk for that iMac, I'd start over. Then if it still doesn't work then perhaps a trip to your Local Apple Service Provider with the Disk or Disk and iMac is in order.
http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
Alternately using the correct Disk as per the following article, see if you can run the Apple Hardware Test? > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

IMac won't boot from any HDD or install disc

Hi everybody.
This morning my iMac just didn't wanna boot up, it powers on and the start sound plays but nothing more, all white screen.
Tried holding OPT at start, my mouse cursor becomes visible and active but none of my startup drives show. Also tried booting from both SL and leopard install DVD, it reads the disc for a minute or two then spits it out, nothing on the screen, all white.
Tried resetting PRAM, holding down CMDOPT+PR, it reboots but same thing after that.
My internal HDD crashed recently so I've been booting from my external drive which has SL installed. This has worked fine unitl now, last night I shut the machine down it did take an extra two minutes to power off which was out of the ordinary.
All help appreciated which can avoid me from sending it in for repair.

Thanks for the reply.
Since my internal drive had been failing I guessed it had to be the culprit and right I was. After I swapped the HDD (plus swiped the interior clean) my iMac was like new again plus I didn't have to send it away.
But what I can't quite understand is why a bad internal drive which was not in use would hinder the mac from booting from the install DVD all of a sudden.

IMac won't boot from OS install disc

Hello. I'm using a refurbished 2010 - 2011 iMac running Snow Leopard, which did not come with the original install disc. Just purchased from Apple, an OS (Snow Leopard) Install Disc specific for my model iMac but my machine will not boot from it.
I've tried booting from the disc holding down the "C" key and it tries to start up but all I see is the grey Apple logo, no spinning gear and it just hangs there. I've also tried holding down the Option key and selecting the Install disc from the start-up choices that display but the same thing happens. Any ideas, anyone?

Did you call Apple and ask for replacement disks (giving them your serial number)?
If not, and if you purchased the retail version at the Apple store online, then you may have a version that is older than what yours came with. And, macs cannot boot from an OS older than what they came with. I believe the latest retail version is 10.6.3 and yours might have had 10.6.4 or higher. You might want to check on your model to get the exact OS version; you may need to call Apple and request replacement disks.

2007 iMac won't boot from startup disc

My brother passed away and I inherited his Mid 2007 iMac. Works fine, but all accounts are still in his name and I do not have his passwords. Trying to wipe the hard drive and do a clean start, but unable to boot from startup disc. It was purchased with Snow Leopard, but has been updated to Lion 10.8.3. It appears that there may be a security feature that rejects any attempt to boot from startup disc. Is there another way to wipe hard drive and start clean?

Sorry for your loss ...
The original startup disc will not work on a Mac running v10.8.3.
The fact that you do not have the admin password is a problem because you will need it to repair the startup or restore OS X using OS X Recovery

IMac G5 hangs on startup, won't boot from disc

Hello,
My brother's computer has been acting up and I've been unable to fix it for him...so I was hoping I might be able to get some advice here.
Problem: hangs on startup. It goes to the gray screen with the Apple logo and the spinning progress wheel like it normally would, but never gets past that. You can hear the hard drive working and eventually the fan comes on.
What I've done:
1) attempted to boot from OSX disc, same result
2) attempted to boot from Apple hardware test disc. this brings up an open firmware terminal style prompt but does not boot from the disc. using the prompts i reset pram and did the "reset all" command which restarted the computer but it continued to hang
3) opened it up and pulled the only ram chip out and put it in the other slot. Unfortunately we don't have another chip to test out, but if you guys think it is a likely culprit I'll go buy him one to see if that fixes it.
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!
-Alan

Do you hear the drive spinning up? Have you tried a safe bootAfter the startup tone, hold down the <shift> key until you (hopefully) reach the desktop, it will be longer than normal, because Disk Utility's "repair" is invisibly run; it also will bypass any login items. If the system gets to the desktop OK this time but stalls when the shift key is NOT held down, the problem may be some login item that will need to be removed, using the Accounts panel of System Preferences and its Login Items section.
You could try to repair the machine using Target Disk Mode to access it.

IBook G3 flashing question mark/won't boot from disc

I recently bought a used iBook, and I knew that the hard drive was bad. No big deal, just replace the HD and reinstall OS X, right? Not quite. I'm still getting the flashing question mark, and the CD won't boot. I reset the PRAM, etc. Still nothing. Held down alt/option at start up. It recognizes that the OS X disc is there, but still won't boot it. It just shows me a smiling computer with a spinning rainbow CD looking thing in the upper left corner. At this point I'm thinking it might be a failed optical drive, or the ribbon might not be seated properly (Entirely possible, since the retard that owned this before obviously took it apart at least once. Half of the screws are missing). Am I correct in this assumption, or is there something else I should be looking for?
Edit: I have 256MB of RAM, a combo drive, and am using a 10.1.3 disc.
Message was edited by: InVenereVeritas

Well, that iMac has a G3 processor and I see it's running OS X, so if you can get the iBook working, that is about what you can expect from it.
There was a later G4 processor (in iBooks and iMacs), and the end of the PowerPC iMacs had a G5 processor in them, but that processor ran too hot for a portable — a main consideration in Apple's decision to switch to Intel processors.
Surfing the web may be a trifle difficult with it, depending somewhat on the speed of your internet connection.
The MacBooks are a phenomenal improvement over the iBooks (even the iBook G4). There's no way around it — the Intel processors are just so much faster. I wince a bit when I hear someone say they're basing a future purchase decision on the performance of such an old model as this. It's simply not an accurate representation of what modern Macs are like.
Comparing Mac OS X 10.2.4 to Mac OS X 10.6.7 is a bit like comparing Windows 98 to Windows 7.

Intel iMac won't boot & Disk Utility error-can't verify disk

I posted earlier today that my 24" intel iMac (2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo) froze yesterday after a Safari crash. I had to shut it down with the power button. Since then it won't start up. Sometimes it starts, then shuts off. Other times it starts, then the little gear just spins. I've done the keyboard commands for RAM, the complete disconnect of power, then reconnect, and the Disk Uitility with the install disk. When I do Disk Utility to verify, it gives me a red-letter error that it cannot verify on both verification checks. I have also tried, via the install disk, to repair by using a Time Machine backup, but that utility has been spinning and spinning on my Time Machine for hours, and I cannot even click the "Continue" button because it is busy (checking the time machine?)
I am out of ideas as to how to move on from here. My AppleCare expired 2 months ago, so that's a problem. I've had no major issues before now, except for earlier this year when Mail wouldn't open for some reason. Anyway, I'm at my wits' end here. I NEED my Mac. I'm disabled and have no better source of entertainment or socializing. My hobbies are editing audio, video, & photos. Without my Mac, I'm just in the middle of the sea in a raft with no oars. Any helpful suggestions will obviously be much appreciated. Thanks.

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.

IMac won´t boot from MacBook in target mode?

Hello, everyone!
I am trying to restore the whole system of my iMac G5, from a Time Machine backup on a Time Capsule. The G5 ran OS 10.5 Leopard, but is now back to 10.3 Panther. I am told I need the original Leopard installation disk in order to restore the system from Time Machine through Utilities. That disc I do not have.
However, I do have a MacBook Pro (intel) running Leopard 10.5.8, and have also been told that I can use this as a startup-disk, and that it will work more or less the same way. Problem is, the iMac will not identify the MacBook (in target disc mode) as a startup disc (although it works as an external harddrive).
So my questions are:
1. Is it really worthwhile trying to boot the good ole´ Panther G5 from the MacBook Pro in order to fully restore it as a Leopard?
2. Why doesn´t the target moded MacBook show as a startupdisk for the iMac?
Would be thrilled with any answers!

You cannot boot a PPC Mac from an Intel Mac. The OS versions are incompatible. You also cannot clone the OS on the Intel Mac to the PPC Mac. You cannot use TM on the PPC Mac unless you install Leopard on it (the PPC version.)

Intel Xserve won't boot from 3rd party drive in ADM

Right, I've got a Late 2006 Xserve Dual 2.66 with the normal non-RAID SAS/SATA board, which has been running fine for 2 years with a pair of non-Apple Seagate Barracuda ES 250GB drives (Bay 1 & 2), and an original 80GB ADM in Bay 3 as a spare boot disk.
Bay 1 & 2 are set up using SoftRAID and are partitioned into a boot volume (30GB) and a data volume (200GB), both RAID 1 mirrors. The boot volume is cloned nightly to Bay 3 (single volume, set up using Disk Utility). Data is backed up to a utility machine, so this is arrangement lets me handle any single drive failing.
This arrangement has worked fine for 2 years, and allows me to remotely boot off Bay 3 and run DiskWarrior or other disk maintenance software on the normal boot drive without having to drive across town with a firewire drive. I originally started with Mac OS X Server 10.4, but I'm now on Mac OS X Server 10.6.4.
Where things have come unravelled is, I need to upgrade the two 250GBs to something larger. I didn't realise that the Intel Xserve is pretty fussy with ADM sleds and the model of SATA drive they will work with. I didn't have any issues when I set up the Barracuda ES 250GB so wasn't expecting any problems this time.
I bought a pair of Seagate Constellation ES 500GB drives (well 3 actually, one to keep on the shelf as a spare).
I installed them in the sleds and inserted them in the Xserve. The green power LEDs came on but the drives weren't recognised in Disk Utility or System Profiler. I then added the jumper to set them to 1.5Gb/s and then they mounted. I went through my normal process of cloning the OS to them from a standard disk image I have of a known working OS install, ran Disk Utility to repair disk & repair permissions, Disk Warrior to check everything else (my standard paranoid procedures). Set the startup disk to the new install and rebooted. No joy, just the flashing question mark folder. Reboot with the option key, and the new volume doesn't appear in the list of available boot options.
I installed the drives in a firewire enclosure, and it booted without any problems, so it's not a corrupt install, it's something to do with the ADM sleds.
So to go back to basics, I tried initialising a single drive as a single volume and installed 10.6.4 server fresh from the DVD. Same result, no boot when in installed in ADM sled, boots fine in firewire case.
Erased drive, changed formatting to APM (rather then GPT), cloned OS, etc. Won't boot when in ADM sled, boots fine from firewire case. So that screws the theory that drives have to be GPT to boot on Intel hardware.
So I ordered a set of WD RE3 500GB drives (x 3) and repeated this whole process. Same deal, boots fine in firewire, won't boot when installed in ADM. GPT vs APM doesn't make any difference.
Try #3. Ordered desktop variants rather than server class drives. So armed with a pair of WD Caviar Black 500GB. Same deal, boot fine from firewire, will not boot when installed in ADM. Also required jumpers for 1.5GB/s and also the undocumented pins 7&8 (apparently this might be related to the new Advanced Format they are using)
Try #4
A pair of Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB. This is where it gets tricky. One of the Barracuda will boot the Xserve when installed in an ADM, and one will not. So 2 Barracuda 7200.12, both same model number (ST3500418AS), both same firmware (CC38), yet they behave differently.
Try #5
Barracuda ES.2 250GB (x 3). Won't boot in ADM, will boot firewire.
Try #6
WD Caviar SE16 250GB (WD2500KS)
Boots in ADM (Yay!!) and firewire
Try #7
WD Caviar SE16 500GB x 2 (WD5000AAKS)
Boots in ADM and firewire
I've managed to get access to G5 Xserve (2.3DP) so I've repeated all this testing on it as well. The G5 doesn't care about the model of drive and boots from any of them using a 10.5.6 install with APM formatted drives.
I've tried all these drives in 4 different models of ADM sled. One thing I have determined is that the model of sled determines if you need to use the 1.5GB/s jumper. I have 2 sleds from G5's, they require the jumper, a 80GB Intel ADM sled with separate data and power plugs requires the jumper, and an Intel 160GB ADM sled with the ribbon cable and combined data/power plug doesn't require the 1.5GB/s jumper. APM vs GPT formatting again makes no difference.
So on the Intel machine, the drives work in the sleds, appear as normal drives on desktop or in Disk Utility when logged in, and also appear as normal drives when connected via SSH if Auto Login is disabled. So to me they appear to be working drives.
It appears to me that something changed at a low level between the Barracuda ES and ES.2 generations of drives (for WD drives as well since the Caviar SE16 that boots is a similar age to the Barracuda ES)
So then why won't it boot from them? Is there some magic dance I've missed?
And how come one of the 7200.12 will boot, while another identical model won't?
Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated.

I don't have an answer for you, but you deserve thanks for all the useful hardware information you posted from your trial-and-error testing.
My impression has that the XServes need specific kinds of firmware and hardware monitors on their drives in order for everything to function smoothly. My own efforts swapping drives in ADMs has produced "mixed results" to put it mildly. It would be so much easier if we knew what kinds of drives worked properly in what kinds of ADMs and on which Macs/XServes.

Intel iMac won't boot from disc or in safe mode - cannot repair disk

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