Startup Manager displays Mac HD but won't boot to it

I have a 2008 MacPro (2x2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon) that has been successfully running Bootcamp for a couple years with a Windows XP partition and a Mac 10.5~ partition (actually I can't remember if it was 10.6 or 10.5). We recently made a new partition for Windows 7. (This is in a classroom full of identicle MacPros, but noteably, the problem machine is the teacher's station).
As of today, the MacPro no longer boots into the Mac OS partition. It boots, by default, into Windows XP every time. Holding down option on start up brings up the Startup Manager, and the Mac HD is visible, and you can click on it or tab to select it, but then nothing happens. We tried a bootable external hard drive, but had the same problem with the Startup Manager and an inability to select anything (the keyboard and mouse both seem to work) but nothing happens when you click on your selection.
Once booted into XP, you can see the "Mac HD" option in the Boot Camp Control Panel. You can select it, but then the computer boots back into XP.
I did get the computer to start up off a Mac OS Snow Leopard install CD by holding "C" on start up. I ran "Repair Disk" using Disk Utility and found no problems. I tried repairing the disk permissions, and although they seemed fine.
I tried zapping the PRAM but there was no effect (booted into XP).
I unplugged the computer for a few minutes to reset the "NVRAM". No effect.
I tried different key combinations to attempt to boo in Safe Mode, Single User Mode, Verbose Mode, and none of those things worked, the computer booted straight into Windows XP every time.
I tried holding "d" for a hardware test, but nothing happened. Do you need to be on the internet for this? Because, I also tried, based on some suggestions I saw online, unplugging all peripherals (like our bootable firewire drive) and ethernet cables and not using a third party mouse. No effect.
Finally, I let the Snow Leopar install CD install, and although it seemed successful this had absouletly no effect. It still boots straight into Windows XP. Granted, I did not delete everything for a clean install, as I'm not sure the files are backed up anywhere.

""To update anyone watching this, we tried putting the hard drive in a different machine and still had the same boot issues,""
Are you saying that the questionable HD was put in another computer and THAT computer had the same issue as the Professors?
If so I would just backup and erase the hard drive, reformat and reinstall everything as something buggered up the Boot Manager and your going to take more time figuring it out as to redo everything.
I don't think the HD is going out but you MAY have some bad sectors on the Mac partition, if that's the problem then the bad sector might be in the bootable part and thats why it can't boot. If you want to save the HD have a disk utility do a Surface Scan to make sure.
As far as not being able to boot into Safe mode, etc, if it had a bad sector it won't be able to read the boot part which is why you can still boot into the Install DVD.
You know, looking back at your original post if you can't boot into safe mode while pressing the Shift Key after the bong, can't boot from an external HD or any of the other ways, then I would say it's a hardware problem.
Like I mentioned before, if you can put in another Dual boot HD from another machine into the Professors machine and it still won't boot into both OS's then you have confirmed it's a hardware problem.
Good luck...

Similar Messages

Mac LC 580 won't boot

My Mac LC 580 won't boot. I have tried the following in a attempt to get it to work:
Reset the logic board. Replaced the hard drive. Cleaned the logic board's end connector with contact cleaner. Cleaned the RAM modules with contact cleaner. The only thing I know for sure is that Apple's service manual for the LC 580 keeps pointing towards a bad logic board or analog board or both as the cause of death. I'm not even getting a bong from the Mac. The only thing I hear when I turn it on is the sound of the Mac running. Maybe the hard drive too. No video appears on screen either. The original hard drive was a Apple OEM Connor 800 MB OEM drive. Personally I've heard far too many horror stories about Connor hard drives from the PC world online to trust it as being reliable. It even said right on the drive that it was made in Malaysia of all places. Not a good sign if you ask me. I have managed to locate a replacement logic board on eBay if that turns out to be the cause of the Mac's death. What's the next step in getting this old Mac up & running?

Update: I have more info on what's been going on with the LC 580. I finally figured out that the 33MHz Motorola 68040 processor I installed may be defective. After switching the the original Motorola 33MHz 68LC040 & removing the RAM the Mac booted but I got a Quizzical Floppy on screen indicating the Mac couldn't find a valid System Folder. After that I figured out that the Apple SCSI 4X CD-ROM drive was defective. I replaced it with a known good Apple 8X SCSI CD-ROM drive. I then attempted to boot from a Mac OS 7.6.1 CD-ROM. I got a error type 41 & restarted with extensions off like the error told me to. I then attempted to boot from a Mac OS 8.1 CD-ROM but I got a Sad Mac error code. The error code looked like this:
0000000F
00000001. Just now I tried to boot from the Mac OS 7.6.1 CD-ROM. Again I got a error type 41. After that I booted with extensions off from the Mac OS 7.6.1 CD-ROM. I still got a error type 41 too. I then restarted & got the following Sad Mac error code:
0000000F
00000033. I also have a Mac OS 8.0 CD-ROM that I haven't tried to boot from yet. What does all of this mean & what should my next move be?

Imac startup disc is full and it won't boot up. what can I do?

My imac's startup disc is full and it won't boot up...thanks to my daughter uploading a million pictures. What do I do to fix this? We do have an external harddrive as well, but things haven't been moved over in a while.

You'll need to have access to another Mac. Connected the two with a Firewire cable and boot your iMac into Target Disk Mode, Transferring files between two computers using FireWire. Now you'll have access to your iMac's boot drive where you can download the necessary files to an external HD that is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and then delete from the boot drive to give you a minimum of 10-15 GB of free space.
One can move both your iPhoto and iTunes libraries to the EHD to free up space on the boot drive and run the libraries from there. However, it must be formatted as I described above.

IMac with bootcamp and parallel boots into windows 7 but won't boot intoxc lion.

IMac with bootcamp and parallel boots into windows 7 but won't boot into Mac OS lion?

Hi,
Thanks for your suggestion. Actually that was not the problem, because I had the Mcintosh drive set as my boot drive. The answer was that my Lion Os got somehow corrupted and I had to reinstalll Lion. This was all after I discussed the situation with the Apple Support people.

Need to erase hard drive and reinstall system on iMac but have misplaced original install disks. Tried to use a my copy of Snow lepord 10.6 from my Mac pro but will not boot. Can original install disks be replaced. Thanks

Need to erase hard drive and reinstall system on iMac but have misplaced original install disks. Tried to use a my copy of Snow lepord 10.6 from my Mac Pro but will not boot. Can original install disks be replaced. Thanks

Yes the original Install Discs can be replaced for a nominal fee. Call AppleCare, you will need a credit card and the serial number of the machine. You can use the AppleCare Contact Info for the phone number on your part of the planet.

CD-ROM works but won't boot

Hello,
I recently upgraded my beige G3 and installed a new CD-ROM drive. Now when I try to boot from a CD it won't boot. The computer just displays a gray screen. Would anyone have any idea why it won't boot?
I know it boots when it is connected to the j9 IDE connector on the motherboard but when I connect it to the j10 IDE connector it will not boot. Is the j10 connector not recommended?
Here are some details. My G3 beige is a rev 1. The CD-ROM is a 32x-speed drive pulled from an old b&w G3. Previously I have succesfully booted many times with this CD-ROM drive on my G3 beige when it was connected to the j9 IDE connector on the motherboard. But when connecting the CD-ROM to the j10 connector it will not boot.
I read in the G3 beige service manual that when you have only one IDE connector in use (with the other connector not in use), for best results, be sure it is the j9 connector that you use individually and not j10 individually. However that doesn't seem to apply to me because I am using both j9 and j10. (I have the j9 connector connected to a hard drive.)
So my nexrt step in trouble shooting this problem is to try connecting the CD-ROM drive back on the j9 connector. However, I was hoping to be able to use the j10 connector. Is there a way to connect a CD-ROM drive that is bootable to a rev 1. beige G3 using the j10 connector? If I have to use the j9 connector for the CD-ROM drive may I make the CD-ROM drive slave or does it have to be master? Should I put my main hard drive on j10 (instead of j9 as it is now)?
Could these problems all be something completely urelated to the j9, j10 connectors?
PS When you see a completely gray screen what does that mean? This completely gray screen worried me because it did not even display the flashing question mark disk icon typical of a mac that can't find its startup disk. Is this normal?
Thank you for any suggestions.

rainforest,
Starting with the gray screen, give it a little more time to resole startup issues or zap the PRAM for 2 chimes.
Macs were designed to go out and look at all hardware connected to the CPU and report back with details. PCs were never given this feature because Bill Gates said to himself, only smart people will use a computer and they will tell the computer every little thing that it needs to know. Thus, PCs are dumb. They do not look at the floppy drive until instructed, ie. you must tell it that you inserted a floppy disk and now you actually want to look at it. What a thought!
Steve Jobs said, dumb people will use computers so let's make the computer smart. It is that startup review process that gives you the gray screen until it figures out what has changed. Zapping the PRAM is designed to force the CPU to take a fresh look at all devices. If you wait long enough, the review process should finish and give you the smiling face. Some swear by letting the PRAM zap chime three times because once is not always enough.
Everytime you reconfigure your hardware, you create a new startup obstacle.
Is it possible that there is a distinction between j9 and j10? From a purely essoteric design standpoint, yes. From a functional standpoint, no. Both should work and when they do not, you have just discovered an annomily with your motherboard.
I once asked a certified auto mechanic about an electrical problem to see if it was something that was obvious or maybe part of a recall that he could easily spot. He said no. I then asked if he would have to go exploring to find the electrical problem. He said yes. I then asked if the service charge would cost more than the car was worth. He said "absolutely."
Learning what your computer will and will not do is one thing. Fixing it is a whole new adventure.
Jim

Mac Mini server won't boot.

Our server is on, but when we try to access it via its screen it excepts password but returns to login page. Any ideas?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, or by a peripheral device.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. 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.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. 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 next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
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. Test while in safe mode. Same problem? After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

FireWire HD(10.4.7) starts G5 2.5DP tower but won't boot iMac G5.Any ideas?

I use my bootable FW HD (Oxford 911 chips) with 10.4.7 installed to troubleshoot other Macs. It readily boots the G5 tower; however, when trying to boot an iMac G5 1.8Ghz, after trying for a few minutes I get a gray circle with a line through it.
Anybody have an idea what's going on?
G5/2.5GHz DP/1.5GB; iMac G5 17" 1.8Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Hi, normgan. Welcome to the Discussions.
1. I presume you have selected the FireWire drive using the Startup Manager, yes? If so, have you tried starting up in Safe Mode from the FireWire drive? To do this from the Startup Manager, select the FireWire drive, then press and hold the Shift key, then click the right-pointing arrow while continuing to hold the Shift key until you see the spinning gear below the Apple logo.
If Safe Mode works, there may be some incompatible Startup Item specified for the Mac OS X installation on the FireWire drive. My "Troubleshooting Startup and Login Items" FAQ can help you pin that down if such an item is causing the problem.
2. Have you checked the bootable volume on the FireWire drive for potential problems? For example, Disk Utility > Repair Disk?
3. Are you using the same FireWire cable in the case where it works as when it does not work? If not, try a known, good FireWire cable.
4. Is there something amiss with the iMac G5 that is leading you to use this FireWire drive? If so, perhaps some iMac G5 troubleshooting is in order:1. See if your iMac G5's serial number is in the range specified in the "iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues" document.
2. Rule out potential hardware problems. Run the Apple Hardware Test that came with the computer. Instructions for doing so will be found in the hardcopy manual that accompanied your computer. For additional details, see my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ.
3. Check the diagnostic LEDs, a feature of your iMac G5. See "About the iMac G5 diagnostic LEDs."
4. If your iMac G5 will not turn on, see "iMac G5: Troubleshooting when your computer won't turn on."
5. See also the iMac Service & Support site.
6. Check the iMac G5 Discussions for similar reports from other users.
7. As a general check, run the procedure specified in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ. Perform the steps therein in the order specified.
8. If the computer is either under warranty or covered by an AppleCare Protection Plan, don't hesitate to take advantage of your warranty and contact AppleCare.Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

MacBook turns on but won't boot up

Macbook will turn on, the apple symbol shows on desktop, wheel turns but won't fiish the start up to a full desktop. Any ideas!

Put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and reboot. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option Key until the Install Disk shows up) until the apple shows up. That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is, then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions. After repairing use Startup Disk from the same menu to choose your hard drive for restarting from your hard drive.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

2014 Mac Book Pro won't boot

2014 MBP SSD w/Retina Display won't boot. Machine was running fine and exhibited no problems. But when I try to power up the screen stays dark.

Hey RemyVSP,
It sounds like you are experiencing an issue where you computer will not power up. Here is an article with some tips on addressing this issue:
If your Mac won't turn on - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204267
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
-Braden

Start-up disc is full and mac book pro won't boot

I got the your startup disc is full pop-up a few hours ago, but didn't do anything about it. I powered down my machine, but now when I try to power it on again, it won't boot, I simply get the spinning gear and apple logo. I opened disc utility and performed a disc check and it said the disc was ok, however there is only 700 kb of free space. I want to free up some space to allow the computer to boot, but don't know how. Is there a way to do this? I don't have another mac available to me, not sure how to fix this issue.

You're Welcome. Glad you got it sorted and Thanks for posting back.
All Kudos goes to the Author of the User Tip by ds store

Mac Pro 2008 won't boot from install disc - black screen

Hello,
I recently purchased a new hard drive to replace the original that came with my Mac Pro 2008. I was able to format the new drive using Disk Utility. I am now at the point where I need to install OS X onto the new drive, but the computer refuses to boot from the disc. The disc is recognized by the computer (I can access the disc and am able to use the BootCamp applications, etc.) but I just get a black screen when trying to boot directly from the disc. The computer boots fine otherwise.
I have tried the following:
I have tried using both the gray install disc that came with the computer and the Snow Leopard Install DVD disc.
I have tried booting using the "C" key and the "option" key but still receive a black screen following the chime (I've held these down for several minutes).
I have tried restarting from either install disc using the Bootcamp Assistant.
I have tried running the installation software to get it to restart from the disc.
I have tried a combination of the drives, i.e. trying to boot from the discs with just the new drive installed, just the original drive installed, and with both in bay1 and 2.
Everything results in the computer starting up, hearing the chime, and then nothing..just black screen. I have the original drive partitioned with BootCamp with OSX Snow Leopard and Windows 7 installed (I don't know that that matters).
I am at a loss as to what to try next. It doesn't seem like the superdrive because it is recognizing the disc, it just won't boot from it.
Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Clone should be a must and easy to do and learn (learn by doing! 2)
6800 would 'qualify' as 5x70 series flashed etc and same rule: 10.6.5
In the past there was 10.4.6, 10.5.6, but not 10.6.6 - even though strong need for such a DVD.
10.6.8 DVD would be excellent
Lion or ML - buy, download, make an installer flash card would be what I would do at this point.
Then keep both - dual boot as you learn and test and see what ML does and waht you had that required Rosetta to support PowerPC. See www.roaringapps.com about that.
With Carbon Coyp Cloner - was share, now commercial, great utility been around since 10.2.2 at least - this time 2003. 10 yrs.
You can clone the system folders, you can even selectively choose. You can skip copy of most of your home account and do that separately to another drive if you want.
Clone Windows with Paragon or WinClone and use Windows 7 or 8 DVD to do a system repair (automatic) or to edit the BCD file. It can and should - and all you do is boot Windows 7 DVD w/ only the one drive present and go at it. Piece of cake. But yes, Windows gets fussy if you change or remove or move. BCD to the rescue. A proper program for cloning like Paragon's "Clone OS" meant for going from disk drives to SSDs, knows that and how to do it.
Back to how to clone etc:
Clone
Disk utility has RESTORE which will also clone your system but not the Lion Recovery partition. Oddly Apple did not 'endorse' making bootable clone of the system which works too but most choose Carbon Copy Cloner - it works more consistently; it allows for smart update of the backup volume. Both can backup to a sparse disk image if desired.
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
OS X Lion Install to Different Drive
How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt
Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
Create an OS X Lion Install disc
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html
The DVD is dependent on your hardware. And your hardware changed. The drivers for the 5780 and 6xxx are bundled in the OS and lacking. Minimum build thing.
Put the new drive anywhere you want. Does not matter. Can move it later. Can be drive bay 0-3 or a Firewire external or under the DVD drive.
When you clone pull the old drive and boot from the newly cloned.
After that keep a backup clone around all the time. Takes less than 10 minutes to do a smart update to copy just the changes to keep it current. So you have working copy of the system. I keep Clone "A" that I keep "as was" the system as of last month or whatever (like 10.7.4 before upgrade to 7.5).
Comes easier after doing it once and have all your ducks in a row.

Mac OS X Won't Boot Up

Ever since I have installed the new Yamaha Pro Audio network driver, http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/downloads/firmsoft/network_driver/networkmidi.html My Mac won't boot up, when I turn it on, it is stuck at a violent apple/"do not" icon strobe. See the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUrb1LLgnJ0
I can still boot into my Windows 7 boot camp partition (ironic isn't it) which is how I'm typing this. I don't have my boot disks with me, and the shift key at start-up for safe mode has proven ineffective too. Zapping the PRAM seemed to not work as well (The startup sound doesn't even happen
Thanks for any help!

You may need another Mac so you can boot up into target disk mode. Some how you need to get that software off. You may need those OS installer disks. Are you near an Apple store or AASP? By the way it is perfectly legal to make a copy of your OS installer disk to take with you when you travel. Never leave home without it.

Mac Pro 2010 Won't boot after adding Ram

Just got my Mac Pro 2.8 a few days ago. My 4x2 8Gig Crucial Ram upgrade arrived today along with my SIIG FireWire400 PCIe card. It seems as though the Mac Pro won't boot with both the Crucial Ram and the Samsung Ram that came stock with the Mac Pro. I kept 2 of the 1 gig Samsung chips and put in the 2 4Gig Chips from Crucial. They are all the DDR3 1066 240 pin chips. I've moved the 4Gig chips to slots 1 & 2 and I've tried them in slots 3 & 4. I've moved the 1Gig Samsung chips accordingly. The power light on the Mac Pro blinks continuously when they are both installed. I even tried removing the new SIIG FireWire 400 card but that doesn't change anything. It seems as though combining these two types of ram just doesn't jive. Any ideas? I'm dragging the tower from queens to SoHo tomorrow to let the Apple Genius gang have a look at it.

FYI, when I did install the Registered or "buffered" 8 Gigs of Crucial Ram by themselves the system did boot up normally and a memory notification popped up and said that my ram was in the "correct" or "suggested" configuration. I can't remember the exact phrasing but the OS definitely gave me a thumbs up. So now I am trolling the web trying to find out if the Registered memory is ok. I'm fine to just have 8gigs for now. But don't want to jeopardize the stability of my system. So, Is it ok to use Registered memory and if it is, am I using a lesser quality of ram in doing so?

Drive looks fine, but won't boot.

Computer suddenly stopped recognizing the internal drive as the startup disc -- I get the ol' folder with the ? on it.
1. Started up from the tiger intall disc, selected the internal drive as the startup disc, no go.
2. Ran disc repair on the internal drive from the install disc, it found no problems but computer still won't start up from it.
3. Started up from my bootable backup on an external drive. Looked at contents of the problem internal drive, everything looks fine on it, I can access folders, run applications,all content is there, does not act as if it's failing (except of course that it won't boot.)
4.Did an Archive and install, which went flawlessly, but did not help, computer still won't boot up from the internal drive. Resetting the pram did not help, and it won't boot in safe mode either.
What should be my next step?

zanzen wrote:
The latest:
1. Erased the internal drive, loaded fresh OSX Tiger from the original disk. Opened and closed some applications, made some documents, restarted a couple of times, shutdown and started back up a couple of times. Everything working just fine.
You wrote zeros to the drive? You didn't just erase it?
2. Restored to the internal from external backup, using superduper. (and had superduper repair permissions on the backup before doing the restore.) Everything seemed fine at first. I restarted to the internal and it worked. Performed a few functions, tried restarting again and kablooey, back to the same thing; pauses on the flashing ? folder for a few seconds, then goes to the white apple screen, and that's as far as it will go.
3. Tried using both option restart, and restarting from the startup disk system pref., neither works. I noticed that on option restart, the the icon that comes up on the screen for my internal does not have the name I gave it, just a little 'diamond G' sort of symbol under it, which I assume is the maker Seagate's symbol. My external's icon does have its assigned name. In the startup disk preference and on the desktop (when I'm up and running from the external), the internal's assigned name is there. So it's only when doing an option restart that the internal's name is missing.
The last backup of the internal was done 3 or 4 days before this startup problem began, and the computer was used plenty during those days (family of five, with that many user profiles on the computer), so if there's something on the backup that is causing this problem, it's strange that it didn't cause any problems during those few days. And also strange that it doesn't cause a problem for the external drive, only for the internal.
How many restarts during those 3 or 4 days? How many times have you successfully booted from the external and what did you do while booted from it?
I'm wondering if the cause of the problem was backed up to the external but not the problem itself. Maybe the problem is triggered by start up / shut down but only then affects the next start up. I'm not sure this really makes sense of everything, though...
Can you examine the system logs while booted from the external, maybe? That is, use /Applications/Utilities/Console to open the internal's log files - especially /var/log/system.log and friends. I don't know this will do any good. Presumably, nothing is getting written here during the failed start ups but maybe there is something which would give a clue from the last successful start up and shut down.
- cfr

Startup Manager displays Mac HD but won't boot to it

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for