24" iMac having startup issues

I thought I would post here in an effort to try and see if there is anything else I can do before heading to an Apple Store tomorrow. I own a 24" iMac, which I got in the fall 2006. A few weeks ago, this problem first occurred. The computer started up and the chime sounded then it got to a gray screen with an Apple logo and a spinning wheel below it. Then the spinning wheel would freeze. Then the screen would go black. I don't quite remember how I got the computer working again after the first time this happened (probably one of the solutions below), but I did and now the same problem has occurred today and I cannot figure out any way to fix it.
Solutions I have tried today:
1) Unplugged AC adapter and let computer alone for 30 secs and then plugged in and restarted. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
2) Unplugged all the peripherals and restarted. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
3) I reset the SMC by removing the SO-DIMM modules and reinstalled them. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
4) I reset the PRAM and NVRAM by holding command option P R. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
5) I tried booting from the OSX Install disk. It would not do so. Computer froze as describe above. Computer froze as describe above.
6) I tried starting up holding C and it actually gave me the option of selecting the hard drive. But then it froze as described above.
So far, I plugged in a firewire cable and am using my MacBook to backup files so I can access the computer and its various files via this FireWire Target Mode.
Does anybody have any further suggestions before I take it in to an Apple Store?
24" iMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Add me to the list on of startup problems with my 24" iMac. First off the computer seemed to be slowing up and some of my icons were disappearing.....labels were still there but not the icon. Then I tried installing the 10.4.9 upgrade. Big mistake.......it wouldn't completely install even when I used the standalone installation. Kept getting errors and the try again message.
So after all of this, the computer would not boot up from the hard drive or from the install DVD. Fortunately, I have a external startup drive and eventually I was able to get the computer to startup from that drive. From there I was able to startup from the install CD DVD. I tried to repair Disk but it failed because of an error and I am now doing an install and archive while I write this. Keeping my fingers crossed.
This is my second iMac that I have had startup problems. With my last iMac, it was the hard drive......Apple replaced it and the computer works fine.(my wife is now using that computer) It was during my problems then that I learned it is helpful to have an external startup drive. I operated that iMac from the external startup drive a couple of months before I took it in for repair.
Oh boy, the first install DVD just finished and it won't eject and now I have the message "there were errors installing the software" Try again.
Complete frustration...........I will try the installation once more and then probably a clean install if that doesn't work.
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook

Similar Messages

Trying to Revive a Older iMac G4 Flat ... Having startup issues .. Help ??

Hello all
I received a Imac G4 ( 800 ?? one mem slot ) , put a harddrive I had laying around into it that I know worked - Put a dvd drive into it I had laying around and with some happiness started up . At first , I had no chimes , just would boot to the Question mark /Folder icon . There is NO Operating system on this ... I tried booting into cd/dvd with no luck it just goes to folder/? , I tried booting from my Leopard/Tiger and OS9 cd's ... No luck .... After researching some forums and google'd for a night or 2 I found out how to reset my PRAM and NVRAM , After I did this I got chimes VERY COOL or so I thought .....I tried all the basics again ( held C , Tried selective startup ) same results.
When I choose to do a selective startup ( option key held ) It shows the OSX disc but when I choose it the CD spins then it just stays at the menu , After a minute or so I can then refresh and try to click the arrow again .... Just stays in a loop I guess
I then booted the Imac into target disk mode and used my macmini Intel to install leopard to the drive on the Imac and I could install and even Booted my macmini from it ...
Sooo aggravating ... I guess i'm starting to think its something major , Iv been a PC tech for about 8 years , i'm a novice to mac id say prob about a year ( Comp Tech / Contractor ) ....
Since The day I purchased my Mac This forum has been incredibly helpful , I didn't want to waste time but I really have run out of ideas and have looked everywhere I myself can think of ....Any help would be Greatly Appreciated ,Thanks again

Hey Jwile,
This is from the service manual:
"Screen is dark, fan is running and the hard drive is spinning. You may hear the startup chime as well.
1. Reset parameter RAM. Press Command-Option-P-R during startup before “Welcome to Macintosh” appears.
2. The system software could be damaged. Start up from the system CD that came with the computer.
3. Remove the user access panel. With the unit powered on, check if a red LED (shown below) is visible in the access door. If the red LED is on, power is on. If you don’t see the LED glowing red, follow the steps under the symptom “No Power”.
4. Disconnect the A/C power cord. Place the unit in the service stand and remove the user access plate.
Press the PMU reset button on the logic board. Refer to “Resetting the PMU on the Logic Board” mentioned earlier in this chapter.
5. Check for external video. Connect an external monitor to the mini-VGA port. If you don’t have external video, replace the main logic board. If you do have external video, go on to the next step.
6. Open the bottom housing and verify that all the cables are securely attached. Pay special attention to the video cable (located near the modem). If the cables are securely attached, go on to the next step.
Warning: Whenever the bottom housing is opened for service, you must do two things:
• You must clean the original thermal film from the surfaces joining the thermal interface layer and reapply thermal paste to the thermal pipe.
• The bottom housing has four torx screws that must be tightened to at least 17 in.-lbs. If you do not have a torque driver, you will have to make sure these screws are tightened by hand FIRMLY, BUT NOT FORCIBLY. Or, purchase the service tool (076-0899) in order to ensure the thermal pipe is firmly mated with the top base. If the bottom housing is not securely attached to the base in this
fashion, the CPU may overheat and become damaged.
7. Check the connection of the video cable to the LCD flat panel display (under black tape).
iMac (17-inch Flat Panel) Troubleshooting - 19 No Video Symptom Charts
8. Replace the inverter board.
9. Replace the LCD display. Important: If you are replacing the display, be sure to install the new display
shield and EMI gaskets that come with the new LCD panel. Installation instructions are included with the
new display panel. Additional display shields/gasket kits are also available separately as a kit, part #076-0958.
10. Replace the neck assembly
11. Replace the logic board.
12. Replace the power supply board."
So since you've had it apart I'd definitely check those connectors.
There is definitely only one Ram slot on this board though , Thats the one thing im confused about .
There's one slot on the logic board and another one under the user access panel in the bottom. It takes a laptop type memory. That's why that LEM profile lists two slots of different types.
I am going right out and buying new HD and Memory ( well as new as I can find ... Kinda old ) haha
Well I use salvaged HDs (anything PATA/IDE will work) and PC-133 from old PCs the DIMM is the difficult one to find.
Do you see a lot of that stuff?
I also have voltage supply pinouts. Email me for those.
Richard
Message was edited by: spudnuty

17 in. iMac G4 Startup Issue/irregularity

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this. I restarted my iMac an hour and a half ago, and noticed that while it was booting up it had a folder icon with a '?' on it, and then 2 seconds later it switched to the 'finder' mac face, and booted up. Also, during the startup the screen seems to flicker more than I remember, but then I rarely turn my iMac off, so I don't have a lot of experience to reference here. I was wondering if this means more trouble to come, or if there is any preventative maintenance I can do to keep it from getting really bad. I've already run Cocktail, which cleans caches and repairs disc permissions. I've also got Disc Warrior, and the program says that the hard drives s.m.a.r.t diagnostic says everythings ok, and that the fragmentation on the drive is only 3%. What could be causing this? Could it be a software issue, or hardware, or both? Thanks a bunch to whoever can lend me a hand.
- Simon

Hello Simon,
Another way to check what is going on might be here. Go to...
Blue Apple ( top left of your screen )
System Preference
Start up disk.
There it should say that " You have selected to start Mac OS X xx.xx.xx from the volume Macintosh HD "
If it does not - That may be why the question mark appears at start up.
I would expect a little extra " flashing and banging! " if the system is hunting for a place to start working ( if that makes sense )
Regards
Ian

How do you erase and reinstall a hard drive without a disc? I bought this mac book pro under a year ago and am pretty sure i downloaded mountain lion from the app store. Basically Im having startup issues and this is the final step Ive reached

when I start my laptop it loads a third of the way and shuts down automaticallyI've tried to safe boot, repairing discs and clearing RAM but nothing has worked. basically I've come to the final step of having to a erase my hard drive and reinstall mountain lion however Apple support suggest that I install from a disc however I installed mountain lion from the App Store. can anyone help me go about this?

Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard 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.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

IMAC G5 Startup Issue

Hi, Wonder if someone can point me in the right direction or advise a fix. I have a iMAC G5 that on startup I get a flashing Globe Icon with a ? and will not perform the startup unless I insert the Install disk upon power up.
Any ideas?
Much appreciated
Pjmcdee

The startup disk needs to be reassigned to the internal HD (the globe means the machine was set to netboot) so boot up holding down the "Option" key and then choose the internal HD from the boot options/drives that should come up...
Don't forget to set the startup disk to the hard drive once you get booted up
because the globe means the machine was set to netboot.
You may still want to check the disk though, the machine was set to netboot, however, it should timeout when it gets no response from the netboot server and continue booting from the hard disk.

A1145 iMac 20" Startup issue

This 20" iSight iMac (model A1145) was left by a neighbor who moved. It seems to be functional to a degree, and shows no signs of abuse. However, on startup, all that happens is the chime, followed by the screen lighting up, but no grey apple or gear image or the blue startup screen leading to the desktop.
I have tried inserting a Tiger install disc and restarting with the C key depressed. For a second, the normal grey apple appears, and then it seems to freeze for a long time. Finally, probably 15 or 20 minutes later, there's the folder image with a Mac face on it - not a question mark. On other attempts, only a blank lit screen is present.
To shut down, I have to push the power button. The disc can only be ejected with the left mouse button down on startup.
There seems to be some functionality here. What could be the problem? Are there any steps/procedure one could try to revive this iMac?
Or what repair would be necessary? Anything I could do myself? What sort of shop repair are we looking at?
Thanks

As indeed it does: with option key held and released, I've now got a solid purple screen with a circular arrow on the left and a right-pointing arrow on the right..no text or otherwise
This is good. You should see icons of the bootable partitions and dics. You do not. Perhaps you machine came out after the dvd.
I clicked the right arrow...and now there's a watch icon replacing the cursor.
Nothing to boot. Not sure what happens.
Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime.
Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
"The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US
Should the fail...
Try taking the battery out for 10 minutes. Put battery back in. Cross fingers. Power the machine back on.
How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:
eject cd
List of devices:
devalias
List of variables:
printenv
More than you ever wanted to know about open firmware
http://www.firmworks.com/QuickRef.html
Restore Tiger 10.4 & Leopard 10.5 DVDs are available from Apple by calling 1(800) 275-2273. Have your serial number ready. Have your credit card ready too. There may be a small fee.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4720126?tstart=0 -- January 20,2013
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24588313#24588313 -- January 22,2014

IMac Having screen issues when in sleep mode

Hey everyone,
Does anyone have this problem, when my computer goes into sleep mode the screen turns like this...

Thanks for the suggestion, I have firstly gone through the procedure suggested in the article 'Resetting the system management Controller' before actually resetting it. Should the iMac fail to come out of sleep mode then I shall reset as you suggest.

Having startup issues.

Whenever i turn on my computer it goes throught the whole process of booting up, until it get past the starting up mac osx. the it switches to a black screen that says Darwin/BSD and asks me for my login. I have tried entering my login and password, but i do not have any results. t just goes back to the blue screem with the rotating circle.
Does anyone know how i can fix this. i have tried resetting the PRAM.

You have some corruption in some system files. Try this : http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
If all else fails archive and install

Those Having Startup Issues with Premiere Elements 4.0

After a long night, spanning many hours and lots of swearing, I got round a problem that SOME people may have with Elements 4.0 or other versions.
My problem was that the program would not start. It would say "Adobe Premiere Elements has stopped working" then "Windows is trying to look for a solution"
I LITERALLY tried everything, but it still would not work.
Finally, the problem was Quick Time. If Quick Time does not work, it may clash with Elements and cause it not to work. DELETE, Quick Time. You maye have to go to program files and do this manually, then use the uninstall program to permanently do so. Once this is done, then Elements should be up and running.
Yeah, I know...NEED an update.

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the report. QT is one of the elements that we usually mention early on, as PrE relies much more heavily on it, than most users think. They are mistaken that it is only used for MOV and MP4 Assets, and that if they do not have those in a Project, QT is not in the mix - it is.
As for versions, I am still on PrE 4, but will likely upgrade, if for no other reason, than so I can better help folk here.
Appreciated and good luck,
Hunt

New StartUp Issue

My new MacBook Pro 17" has been having startup issues recently. After I shut down, leave, and come back, the startup issue occurs.
After pressing the power button, fans will go on, proccessing noises occur, HOWEVER, it just boots to a white/grey screen W/OUT the apple logo or round loading bar. The keyboard does not initialize either.
The only thing that I have found to 'fix' it, is just to leave it powered off for an extended period of time. It will then boot up.
I have tried many non-software related 'cures', and my compuer is completely up to date on all OsX software.
Any ideas guys??

you can try to boot to safe mode ( restart holding Shift )
- you can attempt to boot to install disc and disk utility
- you can boot to AHT ( apple hardware test ) to see what component is failing ( insert disc, restart holding D )
- chances are, this is a hardware issue though. you will probably need repairs.

Having continuous issues with my iMac, all I want to do is perform a clean install... at my wit's end. Help please. :(

I apologize in advice if this story is discombobulated or more information is needed to provide me with an answer. I will do my best to provide as much details as possible, but this is a problem that has been occuring for the past few weeks and some things I've forgotten the specifics of.
I will start by explaining that my iMac specs are:
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Version 10.6.8
I've owned this iMac since about April of 2010. I've never had any problems with it until recently. At one point in time, I had a Boot Camp partition made in order to install Windows, as I wanted to run some games that weren't available to Mac users. After awhile, I eventually bought a Windows Laptop for my gaming needs. When this happened, I decided to erase previously stated Boot Camp partition in order to free up more space on my hard drive.
After a few months, had major issues involving a trojan virus on my laptop, it destroyed my hard drive, and I wasn't able to buy a new one at that time. Recently decided to try and create a new Boot Camp partition to reinstall Windows. When I attempted that, (I apologize, I don't remember the specific error) it wouldn't allow me, and from what I remember after doing some google research, it sounded like somehow my hard drive had become disorganized, and needed to somehow be reorganized.
At some point in my google research I found that using the Repair function in Disk Utilities would possibly help. When I tried that, (the only reason I know this is because I tried just now to get the error to pop up) I'm given a message "This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
So here I'm thinking, "okay! No big deal! I have the disk still, I will just back up my hard drive to an external hard drive". So I buy an external HDD, back up everything I need. I then put the disk in, and my optical drive spends some time thinking, then spits it back out. It does this repeatedly. I do some more google research, find that optical drives crapping out on mac users isn't all that uncommon. I try to clean it with a trick someone suggested. I then tilted my iMac to one side, it accepts a cd! I try it again, and I'm no longer able to trick my iMac into reading disks. Sad face.
Instead of hefting large sums of cash at Apple to replace my optical drive, I buy a far more affordable external cd/dvd drive that is working perfectly fine. So after waiting for that to be delivered, 3 days later, I'm excited to finally get a clean install with my OS X drive. At this point, I care little about repairing, and have decided to just completely clean install. I restart my iMac, boot from disk, and I get the spinny thing for about 20 minutes. I think, "hmm... should it take this long?" So I reboot and try again. Same thing. I then let it run overnight, and wake up to spinny thing. When my Mac is on, it reads the dvd just fine. It just won't boot from it and let me start the clean install.
So then I get the idea maybe I can do a remote install of the disk from my friend's macbook. No such luck, won't seem to recognize anything. Then I see that I can make a copy of the disk image to my computer, and burn that image to a partition made on my external HDD, so that I can boot from that. Well, the only info I could find was a gentleman burning a downloaded version of OSX Lion, but I figured, "hey, its the same thing, right?" I guess not. I tried copying the image using the restore function in Disk Utilities, and it does indeed show up when I hold Option at start up, but booting from it does not start up properly. It starts up like any normal time I restart. I'm thinking its cause the way I copied it didn't involve a .dmg file.
So I try to copy the image to a file on my computer, but when I do that, I get some sort of input/output error.
What can I do at this point? I thought I originally set up Time Machine but when I checked recently, no such luck. All I want is a fresh reboot of my Mac. I'm guessing somehow my hard drive became corrupted in some way. I mean, it truly doesn't seem to be affecting anything, except somehow even after deleting all known movie, music, game, etc. files, I still am using up 270 gb of space. Maybe I never un-did the Boot Camp partition properly and kinda screwed myself on this one.
I've tried just about everything. I never invested in Apple Care, but even had I done so, I think it would have exceeded the warranty, as I had thought it was 2 years. I could be wrong, either way, its water under the bridge now. I need to fix this myself. I'd still like to use my iMac for general use, and to utilize the 1 TB of storage it possesses.
Any help is greatly appreciated, sorry for the wall of text, its been a complicated few weeks. Thanks!

Whew... never buy an iMac or Laptop from Apple without the 3 year extended AppleCare... well 2 years extended... & I think they should be called on this, they should come with a 5 year Warranty, with more available if you want.
I think, "hmm... should it take this long?"
No way, Houston, we haave a problem, not sure what... RAM, Logic Board, etcd.
Tough without the Install disc, but some things to try...
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Report outcome please.

My older mac book pro and iMac are both running 10.6.8 and both have started running safari and email VERY slowly. My new mac book pro running 10.9 is having no issues. Is anyone else experiencing these issues?

My older mac book pro and iMac are both running 10.6.8 and both have started running safari and email VERY slowly. My new mac book pro running 10.9 is having no issues. Is anyone else experiencing these issues?

No noticeable speed differences running the four latest OSs on my machine.

I have been having multiple issues lately with my iMac

I have been having multiple issues lately with my iMac - starting with insanely slow processing/run speeds.
When I run Activity Monitor, consistently the highest usage of CPU is "ReportCrash" - typically shows up as 80-200% of CPU.
What could this be caused by?
I posted only a portion of the code from Activity Monitor but not sure what exactly is relevant or not. I can certainly post more if it's needed.
Many thanks!
Analysis of sampling ReportCrash (pid 332) every 1 millisecond
Process:         ReportCrash [332]
Path:            /System/Library/CoreServices/ReportCrash
Load Address:    0x10e14a000
Identifier:      ReportCrash
Version:         ??? (???)
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Date/Time:       2013-04-23 18:17:29.753 -0400
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.3 (12D78)
Report Version: 7
Call graph:
    2492 Thread_6876   DispatchQueue_1: com.apple.main-thread (serial)
    + 2492 start (in libdyld.dylib) + 1 [0x7fff847cd7e1]
    +   2492 ??? (in ReportCrash) load address 0x10e14a000 + 0xfb9c [0x10e159b9c]
    +     2492 -[NSConditionLock lockWhenCondition:beforeDate:] (in Foundation) + 235 [0x7fff815f1e39]
    +       2492 -[NSCondition waitUntilDate:] (in Foundation) + 357 [0x7fff815f1fe3]
    +         2492 _pthread_cond_wait (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 927 [0x7fff86326023]
    +           2492 __psynch_cvwait (in libsystem_kernel.dylib) + 10 [0x7fff8b52f0fa]
    2491 Thread_6877   DispatchQueue_2: com.apple.libdispatch-manager (serial)
    + 2491 _dispatch_mgr_thread (in libdispatch.dylib) + 54 [0x7fff887179ee]
    +   2481 _dispatch_mgr_invoke (in libdispatch.dylib) + 883 [0x7fff88717dea]
    +   ! 2481 kevent (in libsystem_kernel.dylib) + 10 [0x7fff8b52fd16]
    +   8 _dispatch_mgr_invoke (in libdispatch.dylib) + 134 [0x7fff88717afd]
    +   ! 4 _dispatch_mgr_thread2 (in libdispatch.dylib) + 43 [0x7fff887180a8]
    +   ! : 3 _dispatch_queue_drain (in libdispatch.dylib) + 180 [0x7fff88716448]
    +   ! : | 2 _dispatch_queue_invoke (in libdispatch.dylib) + 72 [0x7fff88716305]
    +   ! : | + 1 _dispatch_source_invoke (in libdispatch.dylib) + 58 [0x7fff88717022]
    +   ! : | + ! 1 _dispatch_kevent_register (in libdispatch.dylib) + 280 [0x7fff887173f4]
    +   ! : | + !   1 _dispatch_source_kevent_resume (in libdispatch.dylib) + 63 [0x7fff88717513]
    +   ! : | + !     1 _dispatch_kevent_resume (in libdispatch.dylib) + 92 [0x7fff88717588]
    +   ! : | + !       1 _dispatch_kevent_machport_resume (in libdispatch.dylib) + 96 [0x7fff887175ec]
    +   ! : | + !         1 mach_port_move_member (in libsystem_kernel.dylib) + 31 [0x7fff8b52e539]
    +   ! : | + !           1 _kernelrpc_mach_port_move_member_trap (in libsystem_kernel.dylib) + 10 [0x7fff8b52d626]
    +   ! : | + 1 _dispatch_source_invoke (in libdispatch.dylib) + 257 [0x7fff887170e9]
    +   ! : | +   1 _dispatch_kevent_unregister (in libdispatch.dylib) + 286 [0x7fff887189ad]
    +   ! : | +     1 free (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 199 [0x7fff8633a8f8]
    +   ! : | +       1 szone_free_definite_size (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 211 [0x7fff8634012c]
    +   ! : | +         1 _spin_lock$VARIANT$mp (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 13 [0x7fff8630ff9d]
    +   ! : | 1 _dispatch_queue_push_list_slow2 (in libdispatch.dylib) + 33 [0x7fff88715e10]
    +   ! : |   1 _dispatch_wakeup (in libdispatch.dylib) + 132 [0x7fff88715ecd]
    +   ! : |     1 _dispatch_queue_wakeup_global_slow (in libdispatch.dylib) + 59 [0x7fff88716073]
    +   ! : |       1 pthread_workqueue_addthreads_np (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 47 [0x7fff86324016]
    +   ! : |         1 __workq_kernreturn (in libsystem_kernel.dylib) + 10 [0x7fff8b52f6d6]
    +   ! : 1 _dispatch_queue_drain (in libdispatch.dylib) + 48 [0x7fff887163c4]
    +   ! 3 _dispatch_mgr_thread2 (in libdispatch.dylib) + 71 [0x7fff887180c4]
    +   ! : 3 _dispatch_source_drain_kevent (in libdispatch.dylib) + 172 [0x7fff887186d2]
    +   ! :   3 _dispatch_source_merge_kevent (in libdispatch.dylib) + 226 [0x7fff88718858]
    +   ! :     3 _dispatch_wakeup (in libdispatch.dylib) + 132 [0x7fff88715ecd]
    +   ! :       3 _dispatch_queue_push_list_slow2 (in libdispatch.dylib) + 33 [0x7fff88715e10]
    +   ! :         3 _dispatch_wakeup (in libdispatch.dylib) + 132 [0x7fff88715ecd]
    +   ! :           3 _dispatch_queue_wakeup_global_slow (in libdispatch.dylib) + 59 [0x7fff88716073]
    +   ! :             3 pthread_workqueue_addthreads_np (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 47 [0x7fff86324016]
    +   ! :               3 __workq_kernreturn (in libsystem_kernel.dylib) + 10 [0x7fff8b52f6d6]
    +   ! 1 _dispatch_mgr_thread2 (in libdispatch.dylib) + 61 [0x7fff887180ba]
    +   !   1 _dispatch_cache_cleanup (in libdispatch.dylib) + 30 [0x7fff88716695]
    +   !     1 szone_free (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 473 [0x7fff8633c91d]
    +   !       1 _spin_lock$VARIANT$mp (in libsystem_c.dylib) + 13 [0x7fff8630ff9d]
    +   2 _dispatch_mgr_invoke (in libdispatch.dylib) + 858,885 [0x7fff88717dd1,0x7fff88717dec]

It would help to know more about your iMac.
What year, screen size, CPU speed and amount of RAM installed?
How full is your Mac's hard drive?
How many applications do you run simultaneously in the background while working in another application?
Do you run any antivirus software on your Mac? Antivirus software can slow down the normal operation of OS X.
Do you run any "crapware" like Mackeeper or any other type of so called hard drive "cleaning" apps?
Have you downloaded and installed anything recently that might have caused the erratic behaviour of your iMac?

Hi, having trouble with my iMac on startup. Background screen appears, but no icons,

Having trouble with my iMac- on startup, the background screen appears, but no icons. The spinning beach ball appears for quite a long while, then when the icons finally come up, when I open a finder window, the only icons to appear are the Network and Macintosh HD icons. I've tried to repair disk permissions: this came up with heaps of errors, which it then fixed, but the original problem remains.
Any suggestions on how to fix this?
thanks

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins and log in as Guest. For instructions, launch the System Preferences application, select Help from the menu bar, and enter “Set up a guest account” (without the quotes) in the search box. Same problem(s)?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault in Mac OS X 10.7 or later, then you can’t enable the Guest account. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login.
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:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
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.
Same problem(s) in safe mode?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.

Startup issue when having more than one database on machine

Startup issue when having more than one database on machine:
I’ve installed two databases.
When I shutdown one of the database and try to start it up using
Startup pfile=’…location..’;
I get ora-12514: TNS: listener does not currently know of service rquirest in connect descriptor
when I try it again after 3 seconds, I get a new error, ora-01041: internal error. Hostdef extension doesn’t exist
Shutdown and Startup gave no problems when I had one database. Why am I getting problems when I have two databases?
I’m using: show parameter pfile|spfile; to make sure I have the right parameter locations, so the error shouldn’t be from location.
I’ve never installed two databases on one machine, so maybe I’m making a first-timer’s error.
Anyone know how to get this working, i.e. starting and stopping DB without issues?
Using oracle 11gR2 on Windows 7 64bit, all is working normal.
Thanks,
Ayman
Edited by: aymanzone on Jun 15, 2011 9:27 AM

aymanzone wrote:
my oracle_sid is set to the name of one of my databases
echo %oracle_sid%
shows me the name of my first database.
Still not working though.
When I start the services of both databases using Services, I can connect and run queries from both of the database.
Edited by: aymanzone on Jun 15, 2011 11:47 AMFirstly ... the Oracle Service for the instance should be started for the DB you are trying to connect or start.
Next ... from the command prompt:
set oracle_sid=<Instance_Name>
sqlplus sys as sysdba
startup pfile='location of the respective db pfile'
Now, if you want to start or connect to another DB which is on the same server (again assuming the Service is STARTED) ...
From the same command prompt session or other ....
set oracle_sid=<Other_Instance_Name>
sqlplus sys as sysdba
startup pfile='location of the respective db pfile'
Edited by: Srikanth on Jun 16, 2011 12:27 AM

24" iMac having startup issues

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