Mac won't startup, just spins!

I downloaded a new printer driver yesterday for my printer; I downloaded it directly from the Canon website.  After installation was complete I restarted.  Upon restart my Mac just spins at the grey Apple screen and after numerous reboots I am yeilding the same result.  I am working on Snow Leopard and need to know how to get past the grey screen without loosing my hundreds of photos and files that aren't backed up (AHH).
Thank you,
Stephanie

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Press Shift key on boot and restart when OS X starts up

Similar Messages

  • TS3243 My Desktop Mac won't startup, it turns on to the grey screen flashing question file. I have been able to startup from the snow leopard install cd but once I try to repair within DU the disk never appears in the side panel. The only thing there is "

    My Desktop Mac won't startup, it turns on to the grey screen flashing question file. I have been able to startup from the snow leopard install cd but once I try to repair within DU the disk never appears in the side panel. The only thing there is "Media"... What can I do? Help!

    If Disk Utility cannot see your drive it doesn't look good.
    You could try DiskWarrior. It is expensive but can often fix directory structures where DU cannot.
    Replacing the drive is also a strong likelihood. If you don't have a fairly recent backup, then it might be worth buying DiskWarrior
    additonal notes;
    Gray screen appears during startup

  • IMac G4 won't startup beyond spinning disc

    I have a 20-inch iMac G4 running latest OSX. Following a hard shutdown, the computer now won't start up beyond the grey screen with Apple logo and spinning disc to get to the login screen. After 2-3 minutes of sitting and waiting, it automatically shuts itself off again.
    I have tried the following already:
    1) Reset PRAM (up to 4 chimes before releasing);
    2) Reset PMU;
    3) Boot from OS9 startup CD, OSX startup CD and Norton Utilities CD: disks spin but same end result;
    The next suggestion in the Apple document suggests taking it in for repair (ouch). Does anyone have any other suggestions before I take that final costly step?

    Sometimes, you get lucky.
    If you unplug the machine for a few hours, then plug it in and try starting
    it up, and if it chimes, see if holding the Shift key down can get you into
    SafeBoot/login in OSX 10.4.x.
    Did you normally dual boot the computer using the System Preference
    panel to make that happen, before you had this issue? Or did you normally
    use OS9 as a Classic9 appendage to OSX; without dualbooting into it?
    There is a difference; and that could cause the system to balk or fail.
    But it sounds like a startup disk failure. Were you able to boot from the
    Tiger installer disc#1 and see if you could repair the hard drive by using
    the "disk repair" feature in Disk Utility from the booted Installer?
    There are some pages in Apple Support online documentation referring to
    failures to start such as these; I don't have any bookmarked but recall
    part of the troubleshooting procedure did include trying several things.
    And resetting the PRAM is not a likely candidate in this situation; but
    can't do any harm. There may be damages to the boot volume on the
    hard disk drive, or some corruption that may need fixing.
    [You could try an archive and install of OSX 10.4.x from the
    booted installer disc#1 if nothing else; if you can boot from it.]
    Norton Utilities for Macintosh (OS9/X version) is suspect, in that it can
    do more harm than good to the OSX system on an unpartitioned HDD.
    If you haven't used a better 3rd party Disk Utility; it may help.
    A tiny printable guide about what to do when a Mac won't start is available
    from here: http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/mymac_wontstart.html
    Checking Apple Support for matches to "grey screen" at startup may also
    give you some ideas. Having a bootable clone or using FireWire TDM to a
    suitable second Mac to see if the drive is OK and to try a repair using
    disk utilities in the machine are other ideas. Even trying the PMU reset
    again, may be helpful. Other suggestions exist; narrowing the field is a
    part of troubleshooting and fact-finding. I say, pull out all the stops...
    And if nothing else, plan a trip to the service tech as the last resort... per Apple's suggestion.
    Searching for other ideas led this to be posted after a later reply.
    Sounds like it needs tech help if no boot discs work and you
    have no external clone on FireWire to try and boot from. - Sorry.

  • During start up my mac book circle thing just spins.

    During start up the spinning timer thingy just spins? help please.

    Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
    Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 main menu.
    Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

  • After ml download no startup- just spinning doughnut

    Just installed mountain lion from snow leopard. Computer won' move past spinning doughnut when starting up

    Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
    Step 1
    The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.   
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.a. Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    How to back up and restore your files
    b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
    How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
    c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
    Step 2
    Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
    If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
    Step 3
    Boot in safe mode.* The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
    Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
    When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
    If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
    Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
    The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
    *Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Post for further instructions.
    When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is damaged and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to step 5.
    If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
    If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
    Step 4
    Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
    Step 5
    Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
    This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
    Step 6
    Boot into Recovery again. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
    Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
    Step 7
    Repeat step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a backup.
    Step 8
    A dead logic-board battery in a Mac Pro can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions.
    Step 9
    If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

  • Mac won't startup past the startup screen

    Hello everyone,
    I recently purchased a new Seagate internal hard-drive, replaced the existing Seagate hard-drive in the second SATA slot, partitioned it and successfully uploaded several files to the drive. I'm not sure if this is relevant to the problem, but the following happened the next day:
    My Power Mac G5 has been known to freeze when it goes to sleep. Usually, when this happens, I just have to perform a hard restart and everything boots like normal. This morning, encountering the same problem, I tried restarting it with the power button, but the startup process gets stuck on the startup screen with the Apple logo and the spinning loading graphic. Sometimes, the Apple logo turns into a distorted square graphic and still will not load into OS X. I removed the new hard drive, unplugged all of the USB devices besides the keyboard, pressed the PMU button on the logic board (suggested by someone on these boards), but the problem persists.
    Any ideas?

    It's not getting far enough along to get info from your keyboard. I've had this problem myself but I can't remember how I corrected it, or even if I did. On my third G5 myself you see...
    Anyway, try giving this a go. With your Mac shut down, start it up and keep your finger depressing the power button until you hear a tone and then release. That may get you through, or your next start up may work. If that doesn't work I don't know. Perhaps taking out and reseating your RAM and/or taking out and reseating your video card. In sounds like your Mac is in limboland as it can't find a system to start from. Are your fans going at full blast after a little while?
    Here's the document my advice refers to. It's not all that explicit so I condensed it:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2322
    Ah, one more thing before you try that... Shut down the Mac, pull the plug from the wall, pull the plug from the mac. Wait 4-5 minutes. Then plug everything back in again. Believe it or not that sometimes works. Resets NVRAM, I believe. Good luck!

  • Mac won't startup after Target Disk Mode

    Hello all, i recently purchased a G5 Imac and attempted the Target Disk Mode for transferring files from my old G4 PowerPC Quicksilver. It took a very long time to get the disk to mount itself during this process but when it was there i did all my transfers and when done, ejected the disk. Without the firewire attached i have now restarted the PowerPC model and was stuck on the blue screen of death after the usual startup. After doing some CMD+V, CMD+S, CMDOPT+OF, CMDOPT+PR i have now been apparently made it even worse because now it just sits on the gray screen with the Apple. I can't seem to find my original discs for the PowerPC but have the new ones that came with the G5 readily available but doubt they work due to the intel differences but i could be wrong....any help folks? Thank you kindly in advance

    i've changed out the battery to no avail. I have always had a secondary HD in my case and i was able to find my disks that originally came with my mac and installed a fresh version of the OS on the secondary. Everything seems to work fine there except now i'm running on a system 7 years old and the auto-updates aren't giving me any options to move closer to today's technology. as far as my main HD, i believe it is dead and that is the problem from the get go so i assume that i'm screwed there and will have to start fresh with this secondary HD now my main.

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    Powerbook G4 1GHZ Mac OS X (10.3.9) -
    Powerbook G4 1GHZ   Mac OS X (10.3.9)   -

    In this case I would try reformatting the drive:
    Extended Hard Drive Preparation
    1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.)
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
    4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.

  • Please Help: Won't Start, Just Spins

    I am writing about my other laptop, a 15 inch MacBookPro 2.16 Intel Core Duo running Mac OS X 10.4.10.
    I just downloaded the latest software update form Apple: iTunes Update and Quicktime Update (? I'm sure about the iTunes. Second could have been Quicktime or Java update? But it was done through the Software Update)
    I updated as instructed, then the computer was rebooted. But since then, it will only spin. The Apple logo comes on with the grey background and the spinning wheel.
    I've let it go for over an hour.
    I've tried to restart several times.
    I've removed the battery and power and tried to restart again.
    I've tried "minimal boot" by pressing down the spacebar while restarting.
    Nothing seems to work. It just does the same thing again. Goes to the Apple logo against the grey background with the spinning wheel.
    I'd appreciate any help! Thank you.

    Based on your description, it appears that your system directory may be corrupted. Perhaps try rebooting from your backup system disc that came with your Mac, and run the Disk Utility, “Repair Permissions”. (see User's Guide)
    There are other possible solutions although they will require more evasive steps and/or resources you don’t likely have on hand. Some of us use Disk Warrior specifically for this kind of issue. Also, if you're near an AppleStore, then perhaps they can help. Worst case would be to reformat/reinstall the OS or similar.
    Re: http://www.alsoft.com/
    Regards,

  • IMac won't start- just spinning pinwheel

    iMac was working fine.  Got unplugged and now won't start-up.  Just get the spinning pinwheel with Apple icon on screen
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    Read this: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1547 You most likley have a problem with your ram

  • Lync for Windows 8 (from the store, for RT or Pro) won't login - just 'spins' while loggining into Office 365, requires reinstall to fix

    The Lync app (the one you get from the Microsoft Store in Windows 8) just stalls (the wait 'circle' just endlessly circles) while trying to sign in with my Office 365 account.  It doesn't time out or provide an error message.  This
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    Following the app's troubleshooting tips (linked from the login page), I've tried removing my log in credentials, closing the app and restarting it, and even restarting the Surface.  None of these work.  The only thing that works is to uninstall
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    This has been going on since I first started using Lync in September 2013.  I've had to re-install it several times on the Surface RT.
    I can't find anything in event viewer to help with this.  I've read about ensuring that the time is properly sync'd and can confirm the time is set properly.  Again Lync 2013 works on the Pro even when the Lync app won't.
    I tried to do a clean reboot following these steps at KB 929135.  However there aren't any non-Microsoft services for me to disable, and there are no start up items to disable.
    As I mentioned I updated my Surface devices to 8.1, but I even went to the trouble of completely refreshing them (complete re-install).  They are on the latest firmware, OS, and patch level.
    Given that Lync 2013 works fine on the Surface Pro, I suspect the problem is with the Lync app itself, not with the device, Windows, or the Lync service.

    Hi,
    I apologize for incorrect mark and repeated redirection between two forums. I suggest you confirm with your colleagues if s/he also encounter the issue on RT client.
    Here is the order of preference for Lync 2013 client:
    lyncdiscoverinternal
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    For Lync 2013 Windows Store App, it only queries lyncdiscoverinternal and lyncdiscover and does not advance further. If the issue happen on all RT client, please double check your lyncdiscover records.
    If the issue persists, please refer to this KB article to collect log files for further troubleshooting.
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2779848
    We
    are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
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    Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

  • Problem with MBP won't startup just showin "apple logo"

    Hello,
    today I have turned off my MBP Retina 15" by pressing the power off while I pressed the update and it won't restart becuse the big applications I have played so I trun it off by Pressing the" power bottun "
    Now It's show only Grey Screen and apple logo only
    I can't see the log in screen
    ======
    I am Using " recovery mode " by Pressing command + R  and Donw arrow .
    I have tride to fix it by using
    Verify and Repair volume "Machintosh HD"
    but not work
    Help me

    Try some troubleshooting before you start trying to move a bunch of stuff around.
    Startup Gray Screen
    Startup Issues - Resolve
    Startup Issues - Resolve (2)
    Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

  • Mac won't startup - question mark symbol

    Any suggestions much appreciated.
    I've got a macbook pro & last night I was using firefox on it when the machine just completely froze. So I turned it off and restarted. Instead of booting up it eventually displayed a folder-like symbol with a question mark on it. Using an alternate computer I looked up the apple support site where it told me to boot from the install CD and run the disk utility to repair the problem.
    So I fished out the CD and had a go. Unfortunately when I run disc utility it gives me error messages:
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    So is there a way I can fix this?
    thanks
    Richard

    In this case I would try reformatting the drive:
    Extended Hard Drive Preparation
    1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.)
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
    4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.

  • What Can I do? Powerbook won't startup/Reinstall interupted/corrupted

    Hi
    1)imovie crashed and froze everything (finder too) on saving.
    2)Now can't log in to my main admin account. Freezes after selecting it in the startup screen. It takes a LONG time to get to the users login screen.
    3)Repaired Perms./Verified Disk using startup disk. No errors. Still No go.
    4)I have a second account (also admin!)- It's ok.
    I wouldn't be averse to deleteing an account but I need to get all my emails etc. from there.
    Uh Oh
    Well I made a fatal error!!!
    I tried reinstalling OSX and archiving the users/settings...The installer couldn't finish.
    Now the Mac won't startup
    and won't work in Target disk mode!TDM just freezes both computers.
    Hard drive test shows no errors. Can't check permissions though. This always stops with an error saying try again.
    My only hope will be to go and buy disk warrior tomorrow and see if I can save something from the drive B4 a complete reinstall.
    Any Suggestions? Please?

    First have you tried booting the computer from another hard drive (eg a firewire drive using the option button at startup) to see if it's a hardware problem or software problem (or a physical problem with teh internal hard drive)
    based on you saying that it takes a long time to get to the login screen and target mode does not work i'd speculate that the hard drive might be on it's way out. This is what most users tend to say when there hard drive is failing. The next thing you usualy get is a horrible whiring sound. hardware test such as those in techtool don't allways show hard drive falure, my internal one recently died and techtool reports everything is within normal paramaters (even S.M.A.R.T !)
    if you manage to gain access to your hard drive by whatever means then i'd suggest backing up everything you need and wiping it. then try a fresh install.
    it may also help to reset the non volotile ram. to do this you need to hold commandoption+of to enter open firmware mode, then type "reset-nvram" followed by return and then "reset-all" followed by return. it will ask you for a password if you added one using the firmware utility.

  • How do I activate Iphone 5 --- it would not connect to network and then I did a reset and I can't get passed the hello screen and choose a language --- it just spins and spins -- any ideass??

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