After upgrade imac won't get off login screen

My harddrive died on my imac 24" mid 2007 and I replaced the harddrive. I chose to migrate my data from an external drive. After waiting for all of that, my password didn't work, so I find the solution in the forum and was able to log in.
Everything was working fine...able to change the password. When I checked for software upgrades, it said to upgrade to 10.6.8 (from 10.6.3). I did that.
Now my imac loads, asked for my password, starts, goes to blue screen, and then comes back to login screen.
I have tried all the special keys to launch from my install CD, whatever, and get the same result...it always ends up at the login screen.
I can't get the computer to launch in safe mode or anything...just the login screen...so I'm basically stuck.
Does any one have any ideas or solutions? I would love to just format the drive and forget the migration, but can't even do that.

You can't boot off the DVD? Try holding down the option/alt key during a restart and see if you can select the disk there to boot from.

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IMac won't get past startup screen, no matter what. Pls help?

I just inherited a mid-2010 iMac from a friend. It hadn't been used for months, and now when it is started up, it won't get past startup screen. It shows the 'slot' looking image on the bottom of the white loadup screen, then it's just the apple symbol and the whirly thing going around forever. I've had it going for over half an hour at one point, and nothing changes. I have tried all the different reboot key combos, such as C with a startup disk in it, D for hardware test, command S for safe mode, etc. The only thing which makes any difference at all is using the T key at startup, when I do get the three-pronged white symbol floating around screen.
It is a 21 inch with 500gig, and I believe it's running Snow Leopard. They never had a problem with it before, but now after the months of disuse, it is doing this. Please, can anyone help? Thanks!

I'm not sure if a dead PRAM battery would give you these symptoms, but one possibility is that if the computer was off wall power for months, the PRAM battery, a small coin cell battery that controls certain functions, may be drained and dead.
But, in any case, try an SMC Reset. You must follow the timing for this exactly.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
And then a PRAM Reset.
Hold down Option-Cmd-P-R together at the startup chime, listen for two more chimes, total three, then release all the keys to finish booting.
You might also try a Safe Boot by holding down Shift at the startup chime. (Cmd-S isn't for Safe Boot, it's single user mode.) Give it much longer to boot than usual, but if it doesn't finish in perhaps 5 or 10 minutes, then you'll have to give up on that.

Won't get to login screen.

Okay. I am trying to turn my iMac on, first power on, it held at the grey screen, nothing happened, so I shut it down by holding the power button after about 10 minutes of nothing. I turned it back on again after a few minutes, and now I get the grey screen with the Apple logo as well as the spinning gears, but it holds there. Won't get to the Leopard login screen.
I popped the install disc in, ran disk utility and repaired permissions and the disk. All is fine. I then restarted it, reset the PRAM. And then after resetting it, let it start up, same thing.
Not sure what is going on.
Anyone might be able to shed some light onto what is wrong?
Thanks
Jordan

Yeah, I've tried taking out all the USB devices, that was what I thought was wrong first. Nothing worked...
Trying the Command-V thing got me a bunch of stuff I could barely read let a lone write down, but some things I was able to catch are:
event logs /seventsd out of sync with volume
kernal freed its link data
saved a bunch of crash reports
IOUSB Interface match category does not exist
also, EHCI root hub simulation match category IUDefault matchcategory exists
I appreciate the link, ran through all of that and still nothing. I've let this guy sit for the longest of 10 minutes, and it still holds there. I can't even get to the login screen.
It would be no big deal just to reformat and re install, but I haven't backed up in about 3 weeks, so a lot of new pictures my wife has uploaded will get lost that are only on the computer...
This happened, I just updated my Parallels to the newest build to fix all the Leopard bugs. And after updating, it wouldn't process and work. So I quit everything, couldn't even force quit Parallels, tried restarting, and everything left but my desktop pictures, for about 15 minutes, so I did the hard shut down. And since I can't get it back to on past that grey screen.
Im lost, never had a problem like this before.
Message was edited by: veganjustice
Message was edited by: veganjustice

MacBook Pro won't get off startup screen with apple logo. Help?

Could someone please tell me how I can get my macbook to get off that stupid startup screen with the apple logo? It won't go past that screen and boot properly. I have tried reinstalling OS X didn't work. I tried running a disk utility test and no errors where found. I don't have the time machine thingy so I couldn't try that. Is there anything else I can do before taking it to Apple and l
paying hundreds of dollars???
thanks in advance!!!

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 startup failure is to secure the 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 the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. 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
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up 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.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start 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 the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up 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, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 11. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup 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 restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the 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 restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

My iMac won't get passed white screen, My iMac won't get passed white screen

Hi I was updating my iMac with mac os lion and it was installing the update when there was a power shortage and the iMac turned off. Now when I turn it on it won't get passed the white screen with the Apple logo and the turning thing, what should I do?
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Hi,
I'm a new Imac user.
I must have done something while installing my Adobe CS2 suite software. The install hung on disk disk2. The entire machine locked up. I restarted and I now I get up the to Apple login screen but when I click on my user icon with the mouse nothing happens. The keyboard does not seem to respond either. I tried clicking on sleep, restart and shut down, but no reponse. I've powered down, unplugged and restarted ut still no luck. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I like this PC but its so different from my Windows machine.
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After upgrading to Yosemite cannot load past login screen (FREEZE w/IMG)

I JUST updated to Yosemite, that went fine on my 2012 iMac. However I kept getting this MLB..... type plugin notification that would not go away. Even if i press more information or "ok" it would pop back up again every 10 seconds and kept it as an active window every time. I got very annoyed and started a purge of plugins and extensions that I read online that would relate to it.
So I guess somehow in my successful purge I deleted an essential start up extension/plugin. Because I can login successfully, but then when it attempts to load my account I get a freeze on this screen.
Yes I attempted to start in safe mode, it kept giving errors that start up failed to start properly
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I also attempted D for a start up command, gave me an archaic verifying for hardware. Again it said nothing was wrong. I did the quick version, currently doing the more through version which takes up to 1+hrs and nothing so far.
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I JUST updated to Yosemite, that went fine on my 2012 iMac. However I kept getting this MLB..... type plugin notification that would not go away. Even if i press more information or "ok" it would pop back up again every 10 seconds and kept it as an active window every time. I got very annoyed and started a purge of plugins and extensions that I read online that would relate to it.
So I guess somehow in my successful purge I deleted an essential start up extension/plugin. Because I can login successfully, but then when it attempts to load my account I get a freeze on this screen.
Yes I attempted to start in safe mode, it kept giving errors that start up failed to start properly
I attempted also disk repair. I repaired and verifyed disk through cmd + r and it said everything was fine. Rebooted, still got crazy start up screen
I also attempted D for a start up command, gave me an archaic verifying for hardware. Again it said nothing was wrong. I did the quick version, currently doing the more through version which takes up to 1+hrs and nothing so far.
I am asking can I put a start up disk, or some file on a USB start there and try to put back a correct set of start up files? All while trying to preserve my current files?
Thorough and general help is greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Natalie

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Hello Rambet93,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1339
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After upgrade imac won't get off login screen

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