1G Intel iMac crashes at gray startup screen

Hi,
I have a 1st generation Intel iMac running 10.6 that crashed last night, and now every time I go to power it on, I get the startup sound followed by a gray screen. The dark gray apple logo appears a couple of seconds later, and then something like a progress bar flashes twice on the lower part of the screen, followed by an immediate hard crash (computer shuts itself off).
Here's what I've tried so far with no success:
Booting from original install discs
Booting in safe mode
Resetting PRAM and VRAM (unsuccessfully, I believe, as it crashes before it has a chance to)
Any suggestions before I take it into the Apple store?

Will it run the Apple Hardware Test on your original Install Disc?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

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Mac Pro 2006 tower, not showing gray startup screen - "asleep" till desktop appears

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I suddenly "lost" the normal gray startup screen on my Mac a few months back. I get just a black monitor screen until the desktop appears. I'm having other issues too and want to run disk utility off an external HD to fix internal HD permissions. But when I hold the option key and start, I can't select the external as a startup disk without a startup screen. Any ideas?
I'm wondering if adding the second internal HD may be the cause of this and other apparent memory issues (slower performance, web pages slow or not loading in all browsers, Finder folders only opening after a "wakeup" wait). They seemed to happen around that time, though I can't say I notice an immediate change. Could simply adding more HD real estate be the issue? Thoughts on that too?
I've tried the using Disk Utility before but can't recall if I ever got it to work on the 1T HD due to that lack of a startup screen. I've also played with plug-ins/extensions in browsers and can't say they're to blame.

We have a 2.66 MacPro 1,1 still running fine at present, the original graphics card was replaced by Apple as part of a known issue. This was over 4 years ago, close to the end of the cutoff period for the known issue IIRC.
I'd suggest you contact Apple & see if you can sweet talk them into doing something about the graphics card, even if it's just arranging a better price on a replacement. I recollect at the time of the exchange Apple was switching cards based on the installed OS. Having 10.6 installed meant we got a NVIDIA 8800GT, earlier OS's meant other cards were offered instead. I think it came with a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT (but I could be wrong - ask me to dig out details if you want to know for sure).
P.S.
Assuming the disk doesn't contain your user data, shutdown & remove your second HD to see if it runs any better, I find that the OS will wait for what feels like a lifetime when requesting data from a disk that has gone to sleep. SSD's change your perception, booting from one will freshen up the Mac, but won't fix the no graphics at boot issue, sorry.

My MacBook won't go past the gray startup screen.

I shut down my MacBook pro during a software update because the update appeared to have frozen. When I tried to reboot my computer afterwards, it would go to the gray startup screen with the spinning gear and not progress any further. I have tried multiple times to restart it, each time getting the same result, I have also tried starting it up holding down shift, another time holding down control option p r, and also holding shift. Each time gave me the same result of freezing at the gray screen. Any idea on what I can do to resolve this problem?

Hi,
This article may help. What happened was a kernel panic. They can be caused by either hardware or software. Try the syeps outlined in the article and post back the results.
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Macbook turns on to gray startup screen but will not load and shuts down after about 45sec -1 min

Hi There,
My Macbook pro has been experiencing some craziness the last couple of days.
Yesterday it was sort of slow and I was experiencing the rainbow spinning wheel between all applications.
The battery was very low so I charged it and attempted to turn it on today.
Now, when I turn it on I am experiencing the gray startup screen with the spinning geat and what sounds like
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Did you find any help to this? I have the same problem!

My mac won''t go past the gray startup screen

I was using my ibook g4 (1.33GHz) yesterday to rip a dvd, safari was also running. the computer froze and black writing appeared on the screen at the left hand side. It said something about 'kernel', but as i don't speak computer language i just held the power button to turn off the computer, hoping it would be fine once i restarted.
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thanks.
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Hi,
This article may help. What happened was a kernel panic. They can be caused by either hardware or software. Try the syeps outlined in the article and post back the results.
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I have a 2006 Intel iMac - 20" model, Intel Core Duo, 2GHz, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, etc. It was one of the very earliest Intel iMacs. Kept updated, running OS 10.6, etc.
It has worked extremely well for over 5 years - apart from the Superdrive being temperamental sometimes - but has suddenly gone wrong.
Last week the machine completely froze for no apparent reason. I had to force a reboot. This failed - grey screen and the grey spinning wheel (if that's what it's called), indefinitely.
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http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac-core-2-duo-2.16-20-inch-sp ecs.html
As for the superdrive, I'd contact the manufacturer to check on compatibility.
Glad I'm able to help. BTW, in case you haven't noticed, maybe you want to have a look here.

Intel iMac crashes everytime using the external modem

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This is a duplicate of "New Intel iMac freezes at connection to internet via USB Modem".

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I did a mac to mac migration, both iMacs running Lion. Got the message that it was completed successfully. Unfortunately none of my apps or files would open. I rebooted, hoping that would help. Now the new mac is stuck on the startup screen and won't go past it. Help!
It took three attempts for the migration to work. I have never had this much trouble with any of my macs.
I feel like I'm using a PC at this point. What can I do to fix this?

I would restart the new mac from the recovery partition and restore it to new.
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Hey guys,
Since I upgraded my macbook air to lion last summer, the startup is a tad slower because the gray screen with the apple logo changes from a blu-ish gray to a yellow-gray before going to the desktop. I do not have this problem on my iMac. Anybody have any answers?
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I find this topic kinda funny. several answers and NONE of you guys mention that the spinning wheel is supposed to be there and completly normal, it appears on every mac and I'm 100% certain it appeared on your mac before as well.
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IMac- crashes with a blue screen

Hello
My three month old IMac seem to crash every time I leave it. The screen is then blue/stripy and I have to manually reboot it.
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Here is the EtreCheck:
Problem description:
Blue Crash Screen
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated 6 April 2015 20:25:11 BST
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: ℹ️
    iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) (Technical Specifications)
    iMac - model: iMac14,2
    1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core
    8 GB RAM Upgradeable
        BANK 0/DIMM0
            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
        BANK 1/DIMM0
            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
        BANK 0/DIMM1
            Empty
        BANK 1/DIMM1
            Empty
    Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
    Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Video Information: ℹ️
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M - VRAM: 1024 MB
        iMac 2560 x 1440
System Software: ℹ️
    OS X 10.10.2 (14C1514) - Time since boot: 0:4:57
Disk Information: ℹ️
    APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk0 : (1 TB)
        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (922.56 GB free)
        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
USB Information: ℹ️
    Western Digital My Passport 0820 2 TB
        EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        My Passport (disk1s2) /Volumes/My Passport : 2.00 TB (1.67 TB free)
    Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
    Mac App Store and identified developers
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    jp.co.canon.MasterInstaller.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
    iTunesHelper    Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
    Dropbox    Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
    Spotify    Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    EPPEX Plugin: Version: 10.0 [Click for support]
    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
    Add To Amazon Wish List
    Save to Pocket
    Awesome Screenshot
    markerto
    Pin It Button
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
    Flash Player [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
    Auto backup: YES
    Volumes being backed up:
        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 76.79 GB
    Destinations:
        My Passport [Local]
        Total size: 2.00 TB
        Total number of backups: 5
        Oldest backup: 2015-01-13 18:10:49 +0000
        Last backup: 2015-04-06 18:34:59 +0000
        Size of backup disk: Adequate
            Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 76.79 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
         7%    WindowServer
         6%    mds
         0%    fontd
         0%    Safari
         0%    Dropbox
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
    198 MB    Image Capture Extension
    129 MB    Safari
    129 MB    Microsoft Word
    127 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
    120 MB    mds_stores
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
    3.15 GB    Free RAM
    3.88 GB    Active RAM
    612 MB    Inactive RAM
    944 MB    Wired RAM
    1.44 GB    Page-ins
    0 B    Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
    Apr 6, 2015, 08:19:40 PM    Self test - passed
    Apr 4, 2015, 09:45:12 PM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker_2015-04-04-214512_[re dacted].crash
    Apr 4, 2015, 08:29:25 PM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mdworker32_2015-04-04-202925_[ redacted].crash

Gray startup screen resolution

Hi Everybody
How do we change or reset the gray screens resolution?
My macbook was on a lower resolution because of a tv connection when it went to sleep. This morning it was completely dead, and I plugged it back in when I got to work. But minus the tv screen. So frontrow crashed the system and i gad to hard reboot. After that the gray screen resolution is 1024x768 instead of the default resolution. Ho do I reset the resolution back to default. I already reset the PMU with no luck. I hate seeing that screen with the scew apple and circle!!

cpdmac,
The PMU doesn't handle this, but the PRAM does. Resetting your PRAM should do the trick. Boot while holding down Option-Apple-P-R, and continue holding this combination until you hear a total of 4 "chimes," then release it and let the computer start normally.
Scott

Stuck on gray startup screen!

This morning my Macbook was running fine. I left it alone for 15 minutes and when I came back, it was running EXTREMELY slow and I couldn't get it to shutdown. So I did a hard shutdown (is that what it's called?) and I had to go to class thinking that maybe if I just left it alone for a few hours, I could turn it back on and everything would be fine. When I got back, I pressed the power button, heard the startup noise and got to the gray screen. And it stayed there.
I let it sit for about 10 minutes hoping that it was just running really slowly and it still did nothing. So I tried it again and the same thing happened. I even tried it a third time and still no luck. I have taken GREAT care of it and I've never had a problem with it whatsoever! The only thing I have done the past few days was installed iTunes 8. I am a little upset because this is my first Mac and I have had it 13 months now (Which means it is out of warranty because I didn't extend my Applecare) I have not been able to try and restart it with the installer disk because it's at home. Does anybody know what could be wrong?

The exact same thing happened to me but I may be able to add some more details to the process.
First, I also installed the itunes upgrade. Turned on the computer, started up itunes and left it running.
Then when I came back, the finder section of the desktop (apple icon and menus) was not there. First I tried to run the hardware check up (hold D while computer starts up) and it showed me no problems. So then I tried to reboot it and run the diskutility applications to see if it could identify the problem. The first time I ran the program, i got "Underlying Task Reported Failure on Exit".
So I rebooted the computer and tried to get to the desktop again, only it didn't show the desktop anymore. It just got stuck on the gray screen with the apple and the spinning graphic. My apple CD is also stuck in the drive and I am also getting a bit desperate.
Sadly, I can honestly say that it is not a hardware problem. This is a Mac Software problem that is in their hands to fix. I have a lot of information in that computer that I cannot afford to lose and I no longer have applecare, so fixing it through the appple store is going to be pretty expensive considering that it is just a software issue.
Please, if you have any more suggestions, please let me know.

Gray Startup Screen Stays Up -- Then Restarts

Well, I just tried restarting my Mac... It was taking forever after hitting "Restart" to close all the open applications, even with my assistance, so I held in the back button for a few seconds to do it manually.
Upon restarting, it hung on the screen with the Apple logo and the loading symbol for around 2 minutes, then restart.
It keeps doing this.
I figured I'd repair the disc with Disc Utility on the disc that came with my Mac, so I put it in and booted into it.
I got to Disc Utility, and "Repair Disc" was grayed out, so I hit "Verify Disc," thinking maybe I had to do that first.
Then, after verifying, it said, in red -
invalid index key
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
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I'd appreciate it. I should be in bed, have to get up early, but I'm having lots of trouble getting to sleep with my Mac in this state.
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You cannot repair the startup volume. You need to do the following:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X 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 Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) 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. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger, and 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) 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.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

1G Intel iMac crashes at gray startup screen

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