Ban sign w/ grey screen on startup

Lately my MacBook has been running very slow, especially with multiple applications running. Today when it froze up, I waited a while and then held down the power button to force it to shut off. When I restarted it, there was a "ban" sign on a grey screen and the computer wouldn't start up. I tried to start it in safe mode but no luck (if I did it right).
Just a side note, I do not have a 10.5 Install DVD so if there is a way to fix this without one that would be best.
Thanks

It's possible but depends on the state of your hard drive. Start by reading the following:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
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.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.
As Allan said the DVD you have may not work with your computer because the OEM discs are machine dependent. Of course you can try.

Similar Messages

TS2570 Grey screen on startup...

I am using 2008 White Macbook with OSX lion running on it. Recently I tried to update the OS and then I started getting a folder with question mark on startup. After that I started getting a continuous grey screen on startup. I tried various options like command + option + P + Q, then Command + R, etc. but did not get any response. After that I pressed option key on startup then there was a response. A lock icon appeared on screen asking for a password. I tried the MacBook password and it is not taking that password as well. I tired all the passwords I remembered but nothing worked. My cd drive is not working and also I do not have original OS disks with me now. The apple service centre told that they can resolbe it as it is a vintage model. I called apple care but they are asking 29 $ for a call Which is ridiculou. Pl. help me

Does the lock screen look like the one on this page…
http://osxdaily.com/2014/01/06/set-firmware-password-mac/
That is an EFI password - it stops the firmware accepting ANY startup commands so you cannot boot from other media or use the startup keys to get into recovery mode, single user mode, target disk mode etc.
If you can't remember the password you will need to remove the battery & leave it unpowered for a few days. If you are lucky it will reset. If it doesn't reset you need to open the case & remove the internal clock battery. Not something anyone should do without the skills to work on electronics - take it to an Apple Store or an Apple approved service centre would be my advice.
It is also possible that you have Filevault password instead of an EFI password - did you need to enter a password after every reboot before the OS failed. This shouldn't be confused with a normal user account password.
If you have Filevault enabled you can still try booting into recovery mode, but you must enter the password to repair the boot disk.
The 'question mark folder' means it cannot find an OS that is bootable - it need to be repaired but you can't get to recovery mode without the EFI password - a catch 22 situation.
Since you have no install disks or other ways to boot it seems you are probably not going to be able to fix this. If you have another Mac you could try to download 10.7 & create a USB install disk & use that to try to repair the Mac, but it seems unlikely since it appears to have a firmware password.

Unable to enter password on grey screen on startup

My macpro froze so I shut it down. When it restarted to the grey screen where I can sign in to the computer, the box to place the password in does not appear, so now I cannot access the computer at all. HELP!!!

Startup in Safe Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204
Repair Disk
Steps 1 through 7
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836

PB G4 OSX10.5 grey screen on startup/not recognize harddrive?

Powerbook G4 won't startup, stops at grey screen with folder alternating Finder icon/question mark.
Reseting PRAM has no effect.
When started in Safe mode, will go to two buttons, no drive icon.
When started in Safe mode with install DVD inserted, can get to Install screens.
Hardware tests (quick and long) show all okay.
When try to reinstall system, no icon for location to install to is shown.
Can put computer into Target mode, firewire icon appears on screen whether or not the install DVD is in. If install DVD is in, this will appear on second computer. If install DVD is not in, nothing appears on second computer.
History:
I purchased this unit preowned by single owner about a year ago with 10.5 installed. It has run well, almost exclusively Office 2004. Yesterday Entourage timed out Shut Down and would not allow Finder to be accessed by clicking on the desktop or Apple icon, so computer was shut down by press/holding power button.
Thank you for any assistance you can provide.
Troy.

if the drive is not visible at all in Disk Utility it's not a good sign.
sometimes the issue could be caused by drive cable connection or cable going bad, it's quite rare though
sometimes the drive may work when put into an external enclosure
DriveSavers is a well known recovery service, could be expensive:
http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

MacBook Pro mid 2012 stuck on grey screen on startup

Hey guys.!
I need an advice from you guys.
I updated my Mbp few hours ago... It asked for a restart , I did after sometime but now while starting up I can't get passed through the grey screen with an apple logo and circle loading sign. Before this showed a loading bar also with it.
I can't figure out is there a problem with it or just takes time to finalise the updating or something .
Would love to get replies ASAP
Thanks,
A fellow MBP user
Aakash

Did you try Repair Disk instead of Verify Disk? The latter does nothing.
It is possible the drive has failed. It's also possible the drive just needs to be reformatted which you would do were you to try my second suggestion:
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/Mountain 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.

OSX Lion, stuck on grey screen at startup w/ spinning gear.

i believe i have tried everything i could find, so any info is good.
about a week ago my 2009 macbook pro 15 inch stopped starting up, always going to a grey screen with the apple logo and spinning gear.
what i have done so far.
reset nvram
repair disk and disk permissions.
try startup with various combinations of periferials
i am obviously able to start into lion recovery, but my time machine backups are on the other side of the world.
when i do a safe boot if stops with two entrys of nstat_lookup_entry failed: 2
any help is much appreciated

You can do two things
1: Install Lion over itself via the Recovery, won't touch your files or most programs.
Any program has a kernel extension file in System/Library/Extensions folder, that will get kicked out. Thus those few programs won't work and require a reinstall of their software
2: Install Lion on a blank powered external Disk Utility > Erase with Zero + GUID OS X Extended Journaled formatted hard drive, hold the option key and boot from it, same named user, and then access your internal drive to recovery files, disconnect then do #1
 Cheat sheet to help diagnose and fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Stuck on Grey Screen During Startup

I updated to Yosemite on Saturday and everything has been working fine, I have been able to shut down and startup as normal until today.
Last night I forced my Early 2011 MacBook Pro to shut down and today it will no longer get to the login screen.
I hear the chime, the Apple appears with the Yosemite status bar underneath, it takes a long time to get about halfway then both the Apple and status bar disappear leaving just a blank grey screen.
- I can get into Single User mode, using "fsck -fy" it reports that everything is OK.
- I can't get into Safe Mode.
- I have reset PRAM
- I have NOT reset SMC (is it worth a try?)
- I have a bootable Yosemite USB, holding option I can select that but instead of presenting the Utilities window it just brings up the Apple and status bar then grey screen. For some reason my WiFi network isn't in the list either. Also, the image of my hard drive that appears has a custom icon that I haven't used for at least 5 years, very odd indeed.
I'm at a loss, any help would be greatly appreciated.
NOTE
My left fan is faulty, I have ordered a new one online. I have been using SMCFanControl to monitor it, if the computer has been feeling hot I have been increasing the RPM for a minute to cool it just to be safe until the new fan arrives. Last night I increased the RPM and SMCFanControl became unresponsive which is why I forced the computer to shut down because I couldn't reduce the fan speed back to normal.

I am able to get into Internet Recovery Mode but eventually the globe disappears and it's right back to the Apple and status bar then grey screen again.
When holding Option only my hard drive shows, there is no recovery drive option.

Macbook Pro won't load past a grey screen on startup!

I apologise for what will most likely be an essay ahead.
I have a Macbook Pro (2.16ghz) that is just over three years old. It is running on Leopard with all the up to date patches / updates. Over the past week or so, it has been 'playing up' in the sense that the spinning loading icon would appear at random intervals and stay there for a good 20 to 30 seconds or so, not allowing me to do anything. If I would be listening to music, the music would pause and then come back on.
It would normally appear when something was trying to load. For example, the final straw was when I was using Adobe Bridge and it was taking an extremely long time to load up the photos I had imported and in the end I gave up. Speed has never been an issue before and my MBP has 2GB of RAM.
So I backed up what I needed and proceeded to do an 'Erase and Install(Leopard) format. Once formatted, the MBP booted up and I completed the registration, took my User picture blah blah etc. Once done, the MBP booted into OS X - this is where the problems occurred. The spinning loading icon appeared and after about 30 seconds or so, the Finder window / toolbar at the top disappeared, as did the Macintosh HD icon on the desktop. All I was left with was my wallpaper and Dock with icons in. However, if I clicked on any of the programs, nothing would happen.
Naturally, I tried restarting it and the same thing happened again. I figured that because my MBP was connected to a second Dual monitor, that this might have been the issue so I decided to boot from the OS X Leopard CD and do another 'Erase and Install'. I once again got past the registration screen, but this time, instead of booting into OS X my MBP stuck itself on a grey screen. It would not go any further.
I then decided that the spinning loading icon issue may be a RAM problem. When I first got my MBP, I upgraded the RAM so I knew how to take it out and replace it. So I tried taking out the RAM stick (1GB) I put in orignally and booting it with the original 1GB stick. The same problem occurred. I tried the other way round, putting in my 1GB RAM stick and taking the original out - nothing worked. I tried every possible combination, even swapping the sticks around.
Eventually my brother tells me he has some spare RAM which I also try and once again, this does not solve the issue. So I figure it cannot be a RAM problem.
So next I try booting from the OS X Disc on startup and run Disk Utility. I verify and repair the Mac HD which comes up fine. No errors, no issues, nothing.
I finally scour the internet for info on what could be the cause of the problem and the biggest suggestion seems to be formatting. So I once again try formatting my MBP for a third time - however this time, I get the original problem. It boots up into OS X but then the Finder toolbar and Mac HD icon disappear, leaving me with Dock and Wallpaper.
The final thing I try is resetting the MBPs PRAM on startup. This does not solve the issue.
So here I am. If you could be bothered to read all of that, well done haha I'm not sure if I could have.
If anyone has ANY suggestions or advice, please post!
I do not have Apple Care so if I was to take it to the local Genius bar, would they look at it for free and diagnose it? Or would that cost me? I have never had to take my MBP in before.
Thankyou again

I just skimmed over this because the post is like a small novel! lol Try a Apple Hardware Test. I think it's probably a bad logic board.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
Don't take it to a Genius Bar until you've done this, saves time and you might have a little more info to give them. Also that way you won't feel pressured into anything. It's out of warranty, so sometimes I've noticed they can be a little pushy especially on a very high dollar replacement such as a new logic board on an out of warranty item. Also the "enhanced diagnostic" is around $100, so you might have to at least fork over a hard earned Benjamin and not get anything fixed. And whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT tell them you upgraded the RAM yourself. If they are feeling in a good mood and decide to knock off any money or waive any sort of fees, this will kill it instantly. RAM is considered "user serviceable," but they normally try to plead "the part you installed is not Apple Authorized" or the "installation caused the issue and was not an ACHT." Put back in the original stick and leave it alone. Hope this helps you out!

G3 Beige: grey screen at startup; no icon; won't boot from CD

G3 Beige, OS 9.2; working perfectly for past year.
I was using a D-Link wired router, to this and my other Mac, G4 Graphite OS X Tiger.
Having just gotten a netbook, I installed a D-Link wireless router (DIR-615), and changed the ethernet cables for both (non-wireless) Macs over to the new router. (It had been configured for me by a Staples Associate where I bought it.)
The netbook and the Graphite G4 worked as they should, but upon restart, the G3 Beige not only wouldn’t boot, it didn’t even show a sad Mac or a question mark. It chimed, but only has a grey screen. Cursor works (& keyboard); nothing else.
I disconnected ethernet cable; same grey screen upon restart.
Won’t boot from Norton or Mac OS 9 CD, pressing “C” at startup.
Zapping pram didn’t help.
Shift during startup didn’t help.
Now what??
TIA.
PS: Meanwhile, I'm afraid to connect my emergency spare 7300 w/G3 upgrade & OS 9.1 to that router. Should I?

The next thing to try is re-seating the sound card. The backpanel is only well-supported on one side, and the sound card takes a beating in all the Beige G3s and similar Macs with tumble-open or lift open designs (but not the All-in-One). Jeff suggests you remove the exterior third screw \[and leave it out] and bend the top tab slightly before re-installing the two screws on the rail. This helps push the sound card back into the slot and keep it firmly seated.
Do you have any SCSI devices or SCSI cables connected? A dangling SCSI cable or a badly-terminated SCSI device can cause a Hang where you describe.

My macbook pro wont get past the grey screen at startup. Help!!

After doing a run of the mill software update on my macbook pro (running snow leopard) it froze during the "moving items into place" stage. I forced a shut down and now it wont get past the grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel. I have tried booting from the original DVD but it still freezes. When I boot it in verbose mode it seems to stop at "jnl: unknown-dev: update_fs_block: error reading fs block # 3597880! (ret 5)", the Apple AHCD Disk Queue manager :: set power state is timing out and there is a disk I/O error. I have tried to reset the power manager (not sure if it worked or not) and I have also tried clearing the PRAM (again, not sure of that worked). When I try to look at the hard drive using target mode on my imac the hard drive doesn't come up but the DVD does. I'm concerned that my hard drive is fried. Any suggestions?

It would help to state in your post which remedies you tried that didn't work.
Start here > OS X Lion: If you see a gray screen at startup
If nothing there helped, try Starting up in Safe Mode
Safe Mode deletes some system caches that may help.
A Safe Mode boot takes longer than a normal boot so be patient. Once you are in Safe Mode, click Restart from the Apple menu.
If a Safe Mode boot didn't work, since your Mac has OS X v10.7 installed, restart your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys so you can access OS X Recovery built in utilities. The startup disk may need repairing.
Tip: Hold down the Eject key while starting up your Mac to eject a disc.

I have a grey screen at startup and cannot go any farther.

Hello,
My problem is similar to other folks problems. At startup I first experienced a flashing file folder with a question mark. After I tried to shut down and reboot I experienced a grey screen. After another shutdown and reboot I experienced an apple symbol with a spinning sphere below. I rebooted again after several minutes of watching this and no action. Now, I just recieve a grey screen.
I have tried some of the support tips with no success. Can anyone assist in walking me through a sure fire method(s) of getting my macbookpro up and running again.
I'm running on snow leopard. Macbook pro circa 2006..
Thanks

Here's a great Apple doc. on the subject.
DALE

Powerbook freezes at grey screen on startup

I have a 3+ year old Powerbook running 10.4.9 that won't go past the grey apple screen on startup. It pretty much spins indefinitely. I thought it might be a failing hard drive, but I'm not sure after the tests I've done. The drive is 80GB (74.53 GB capacity), with 7.99 GB available space. The drive itself is not as old as the laptop; it was replaced by Apple about a year ago. I have tried the following (with restart attempts in between):
*Zap PRAM
*Reset PMU
*Start up in safe mode (works normally, as far as safe mode is concerned)
*Ran AHT, found bad RAM module, removed module, ran AHT twice and found no other errors
*Startup in single user mode, run fsck, volume "appears to be OK"
*Attach to another PPC 10.4 machine to try to do a backup of files (mounts, works for a while, then crashes the "target" machine (iMac G5 20" 10.4.9))
*Tried to backup to iMac w/drag and drop, migration assistant (both firewire) and via direct Ethernet connection. Always works for a bit then crashes, forcing a manual shut down of iMac
*Startup from external FW drive w/OS X, ran Disk Utility, no problems found on internal HD
*Startup in open firmware, reset NVRAM
*Ran DiskWarrior 4.0, rebuilt directory
*S.M.A.R.T. status is normal/verified
Any suggestions, ideas would be much appreciated. I am really at a loss and very much want to fix this. Thank you.
-Amy
1.25 GHz AlBook 15 Mac OS X (10.4.9) 1 GB RAM

The problem may be the hard drive is too full. We have found that you don't want your hard drive to be more than 85% full. At last count 8 GB of 80 GB is 90% full.

IMBP 13" (2009 revision) display a prohibition sign w/grey screen on boot

Hello,
I'm new to this OS, which is a iMBP 13" (2009 revision). I'm experiencing abnormal boot sequence. The bootup screen display a prohibition sign with a grey screen upon boot after installing Security Update 2010-001 for Snow Leopard. There is no error message I can write down nor excessive fan noise coming out from the laptop.
Thanks for your help
Tony from New Zealand
Computer Spec: 13-inch: 2.26GHz
13-inch: 2.53GHz
W/ v10.6.2
Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB Memory
500GB hard drive
SD card slot
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
(2009 revision)
Message was edited by: TonySNZ

Hello Tony from New Zealand (great place, I visited once):
Welcome to Apple discussions.
Take a look at this article to see if it helps you fix the problem:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
If it does not, I think I would reinstall OS X 10.6 (upgrade from your software install DVD) over your existing system. Then I would run software update to bring everything to current levels.
A good backup before any software change is always a very good idea (I use both Time Machine and SuperDuper).
Barry

Mac mini and grey screen at startup

ok, so last night we come home and my mom tries to turn on her mac mini, but it just freezes on the grey screen in the startup process. i tried booting from the disk but it didnt work (no the disk is stuck in the drive cuz i cant start up the computer to eject it) i tried booting into a version of osx on my external hd by holding down option at startup, but nothing showed up not even the internal hd. none of the startup commands work (firewire target,single user,safe mode, holding mouse to eject cd) none of those worked, any ideas?

First off, why can't you insert the original install
DVD that came with your mini?
The drive won't take the disk at all. I tried other disks as well, and it won't take any of them in either. The drive is pretty much non-responsive.
Secondly, if you leave the mini on the grey screen,
what happens? Does it keep going however long you
leave it, or does it show a flashing questions mark
after maybe 15 minutes?
It remains on the gray screen for however long I leave it on.
Thirdly, since the mini was running for a couple of
days after the 10.4.8 update, the problem seems
unlikely to have been caused by that. What were you
doing the last time the mini was in use? How did you
shut it down?
Browsing the web, email, and listening to music for the most part. I put it to sleep for the night, and then when I came back the next day to activate it, it froze on me. Pointer wouldn't move, it was locked up. First time that has ever happened to me. After that I ended up turning it off by holding the power button down for five seconds. When I turned it back on, I got the gray screen.
Fourthly, what model of mac mini is it?
It's the original basic model. 1.25 G4 processor, 40 GB hard drive, and 256 MB RAM.
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Intermittent double beep and grey screen on startup

I just installed new third party RAM for my iMac (2008), because it was on sale. The initial RAM they sent me caused a kernel panic (forced shutdown) so I assumed they were faulty and sent them back. I just received my second set of RAM modules - which appear to work -- kind of. I have not had the kernel panic screen and no problems once the computer is booted, however about every second or third time I restart the computer I get the grey screen and a series of double beeps (which I have found out means incompatible RAM on startup testing). The hardware testing utility on my OSX Disc tests the RAM as being OK. I found a free app called rember which reports RAM errors. My question is: have I got a second set of faulty RAM - should I be looking at getting another brand (the one I have is "Add-On" and was specifically marketed as being for the aluminum intel based iMacs).
Thanks in advance,

Hi Machaon42
Welcome to Apple Discussions
That sounds like incorrect or incompatible RAM, double check the spec's of that RAM compared to either your User's Guide or > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1760
Then compare OWC's price, it is iMac tested and highly recommended by forum members.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/IntelCore_2_DuoPC2-6400
Dennis

Ban sign w/ grey screen on startup

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for