Blue maintenance screen on startup

Any one seen this before? When booting, the iMac goes to a blue screen that simply says "maintenance".

If this is happening at boot time it cannot be any third party addon causing this. You can try a smc and pram reset to see if it shakes it free of this but I suspect you will need to take it to apple to clear the problem.
Note, googling for this shows it's not a unique problem but no solutions were found.

Similar Messages

Pavilion p6157c freezes at blue hp screen HELP

My desktop freezes at the blue hp screen on startup, any button I press that is shown on the screen (f10, esc, f9, f11) won't register or do anything. I am running windows 7 and have a pavilion p6157c desktop. This is very important to me and if anyone helps I will be greatful!!

Hello Bruddahshark,
I understand you state your computer will not bypass the blue HP screen, is that correct? I will be happy to help you.
Try turning the computer on and tap the F10 key immediately, and see if you are able to access the setup menu. When doing so the F10 key is sometimes very sensitive so if it fails the first time try it at least 2 more times.
If you are successful, toggle down to one of the drives you see below. One drive will be for your hard drive and the other will be for the DVD drive. Select the drive that does not mention DVD-RW. Once you have selected on the drive, select smart support, and then Smart Shot Test. The Short Test will last about 3-5 minutes, if that test passes then select Smart Extended test, now that test will take some time.
See the screenshot below for an example of what the screen should look like.
Please respond back at your earliest convenience.
Thanks
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IMac G5 running OS 10.4.11. Started playing with a bluetooth speaker (may or may not be related). Now I cannot get past the blue screen on startup. I can get into safe mode. Tried install disc for disc utility and reloaded OS. Still get blue screen.

I have an older iMac G5 running OS 10.4.11. The other day I started playing with a bluetooth speaker (may or may not be related). Now I cannot get past the blue screen on startup.
I can get into safe mode. But no regular startup.
I tried disabling bluetooth, thinking that might be related. It didn't help.
I even tried using the install disc to run disc utility. That didn't work so I reloaded the OS.
But I still get hung on the blue screen when trying a normal startup.
All help would be appreciated.

Try resetting the PMU/SMU and PRAM/NVRAM. You'd need to identify the mode of resetting depending on the model of your G5 iMac. The Apple support sites that would help you for this are –
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1436
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1939
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
I hope this solves your problem.

"blue screen" at startup- still stuck!

So for some reason or another, I've ended up with the "blue screen" at startup problem. when I start my macBook in Leopard, after the apple logo, I get stuck permanently at a blue screen. The first thing I did was to repair the disk but the disk utility told me my disk was fine. Then I tried to do a restore of Mac OS X but after about a minute I get a error message saying "Restore Failure could not restore- File Exists". I have no idea how or why this happened or what it means. I would like to try apple's solution to the problem but they are very vague. They say try an "Archive and Install installation of Leopard". I have no idea how to do that! They say it is covered on "page 7 of the Install & Setup Guide included on the Leopard DVD" but I can't seem to find this so-called "Install & Setup Guide" anywhere on either of the two DVDs. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

It's all in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1545?viewlocale=en_US BTW, the setup guide's on the Leopard installation disk (retail version) and not on the disks that came with your machine.

Blue screen at startup---have tried EVERYTHING!!! Any ideas???

Hi there, I've got a really frustrating problem concering my husband's iBook G4. One day he got home from work, tried to start up, and got only a blue screen (no cursor.) (This is shortly after updating to 10.4.11, incidentally...coincidence?) We went to the forums, and tried numerous fixes, including:
Booting from install and running disk repair (none needed)
Booting in target disk mode with my mac and removing the login.plist file
Removing all login items from both user accounts in target mode
Attempting a boot (and eventual restore) from the external firewire backup, but it won't get past the blue screen here, either.
It started up in safe mode a couple of times, and even restarted in normal mode once, but then in primary account froze back up after a few minutes. Then it wouldn't even start in safe mode.
Then we did an Archive & Install from the original startup (Panther) but when it got to the login screen, it wouldn't accept either user password (even though the hint indicated we were using the right ones) and then froze. It now won't even boot from this disk, or start up in safe mode.
Everything seems to be intact while perusing it in target disk mode; even ran a hardware test from the Apple Hardware Test disc and that all checked out (no idea if this would have made any difference, but I'm grasping at straws, here!)
I know we did a couple more things suggested in the forums/support pages, but I can't remember what they are at this point...my brain is fried! (Also remember following Apple's instruction's for what to do when you get a blue screen at startup...tried this first thing to no avail.)
Soooooo...any suggestions or ideas? We would greatly appreciate the help!
Thanks so much!
Jennifer

Hi Jennifer,
Ok, so...what's going on today is that Leopard will open to the login screen (sometimes I can log in but generally not), but then the cursor is frozen, as is the keyboard (can't type to login or use shortcuts) and even a usb mouse doesn't work. The only thing I can do is power down with the off button, and upon restarting, if I get past the login, get the message "Computer was restarted after Mac OSX quit unexpectedly" or something like that. (Just restarted from frozen login screen and got blue screen again.)
Wondering if it's Leopard or my wonky install (we started up in target mode, with the install disc in the drive, and opened the installer on my mac, then chose the broken mac hd to install to. Seemed to work, but may this be related to the driver issue you mentioned?) We did it this way (after doing a zero-out erase) because it wouldn't even start up from the install disc itself.
It sounds to me like this method of installing is okay. If you did not have the correct drivers, you could never get as far as you do in Leopard. I am wondering why you install with the disk in your Mac and not in the iBook.
Anyway, have reset the PRAM, still no luck. On the apple page regarding this procedure they mention a power management unit reset for ibooks...would this correspond at all to our problems? Is it something I should try or steer clear of?
Okay. Resetting PRAM was a long shot, but worth trying. I would steer clear of trying to reset PMU. That is related to sleeping, waking and such things and your problems do not seem to be related to that. Also, I have never reset PMU, but from what I recall, it sounded a bit tricky.
Am now attempting to reboot from backup. And yes, when I open Startup Manager, the internal hard drive DOES show up. If that means anything. Have a bootable backup (created with SuperDuper) which also shows up, but when I try to start up with it, I get stuck at blue screen (still.)
As far as the iBook hard drive is concerned, this is a good sign. I am thinking that perhaps the hard drive is okay and the problem is something else.
So, since the iBook originally came with Panther, and Leopard is really yet another unknown to throw into the loop, if I do another erase/install, I'm thinking Panther is the way to go? (Unfortunately we shared a family pack Tiger with a friend, and haven't got a hold of that install disc yet, otherwise I'd try Tiger, since it's what it was running and so is what the backup is, too.)
From what I have seen in the forums, when people are having startup problems, the last resort solution usually works. That is, they take the install disk that came with the machine (Panther in your case), erase and zero out the hard drive and then re-install. That usually seems to do the trick. What they have probably done is either replaced some corrupted piece of software or fixed a directory problem on the disk. In your case, you have already done most of this except not with the Panther disk. So, I think it is worth going through this effort with Panther. If this actually worked, then you could worry about how to update your software to where you want it to be. If it does not work, I would consider this more evidence that there is probably a hardware issue.
If this doesn't work (and would probably have to try in target mode again if the install disc won't open...) should I buy Tech Tool or Disk Warrior or just send it in for repair? I suppose there's a point at which I'll have to admit defeat!
Not sure that I caught this before. You imply that the install disk will not open if it is inserted into the iBook. Is this a problem that showed up when the blue screen business started? When you insert the disk into the iBook and then reboot that computer from the disk (pressing the C key during startup), do you get something on the desktop?
If, when repairing the hard drive with Disk Utility, you had received a message that the disk was not repaired, then a stronger utility would be a reasonable choice. But, that does not seem to be your situation. So, if it were me, I would probably not buy Tech Tool or Disk Warrior at this point. I do think that it is possible that these utilities might be able to do more troubleshooting than you can do with Disk Utility and the Apple hardware CD. Tech Tool in particular has some hardware testing capability. So, if money were no object, you might buy that and see if it can give you more detailed diagnostic information. Of course, these are purely my opinions. I could be totally wrong on any of this.
Oh yeah, I don't know if I mentioned this earlier or not but all the restarts yesterday were accompanied be a brief "whooshing" sound (like a fan) for a second or so, and once I got both that sound and a "boooooop" issuing from the innards. Not sure if this means anything or not, but thought I'd mention it. Maybe the hard drive is melting! (Also I get further along the startup route after it's been turned off for a while.)
This is worth mentioning and I overlooked it in your previous posts. The "booooooop" sound got my attention. When the computer is started up, one of the first things that is done is that there are some hardware tests performed. Apple does use some sounds to indicate certain problems. You can learn a little more at You hear "breaking glass" or "musical beeps" when you turn on your Mac. I don't know if you are hearing one of these sounds or if they are unrelated. But, I think that the "boooooop" sound in particular might be trying to tell you something.
Let me sum up my opinions (which could be dead wrong). I still suspect a hardware problem. However, maybe the hard drive is okay. I think it would be worth using the Panther CD to do another erase and install on the iBook. If you still do not have a working computer, it is probably time to seek professional help. (However, if you get to this point, it is conceivable that you could be having some problems with your RAM chips. If you have worked with RAM chips before, you could try to play games with them: reseating them and removing them one by one- if you have two chips. But, if you have not done this before and are do not have some familiarity with working on hardware of this nature, perhaps you should just leave this alone.)
If you need to seek some professional help, you might be able to try one of these options - If you have AppleCare, you should definitely give them a call. If you live close enough to an Apple store, you could take your computer to the genius bar and see if they can help.
Sorry that you are having such a hassle,
Rich

I see a blank blue screen at startup

I see a blank blue screen at startup. Am I going to lose everything that I didn't backup?

So I booted off the install disc (hold C at startup), did an archive and install) and then shut it down. Powered it up and zapped the PRAM at startup (commandoption+PR) and it now boots instantly. Just curious as to what video card you have in yours? I've been reading a lot of threads about problems caused by the ATI Radeon HD 2600, which is what I have in mine. Sounds as if a firmware update is needed, but not yet available. I also had 4 kernel panics in my first 20 starts. Apple Genius Bar said this was due to Symantec Anti-Virus for Mac.

'Famous' blue screen at startup AND safe mode boot failure

Dear all,
Two days ago, after installing the new Java update/airport update and restarting, I encountered a 'blue screen' on startup after getting past the mac symbol and swirling cog. I cannot say whether the updates were the cause (doubtful) of if my cheap USB mouse that was still plugged it caused it or whether i have the dreaded 'bad sectors.' The cause aside, here is what i've tried to fix the issue:
1) Disk Utility - Verification (OK'd) and Repairs (fine)
2) Disk Utility - Verification of Permissions (a few needed to be done) All repaired
-blue screen-
-Restart after period-
3) Rebooting in safe mode, removing startup items from the login items settings menu
4) Removing startup items from System/Library/StartupItems folders
5) Remove airport extensions (recent - date modified in list view)
(NB - safe mode i could say my desktop perfectl in original form and all files!)
-Restart-
-no longer able to start in safe mode-
-blue screen remains-
6)Single User mode -
resetting preference files (loginwindow.plist and windowserver.plist)
Finally system profiler from Tiger DVD states:
*Permissions repaired
*Dependency errors: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily & com.apple.kernel.iokit no valid version found
*Integrity: kext has no receipt
I backed up most my data from the LAST crash, but recent music/1000 photos and others have been backed up altho i've been meaning to! Help!
I'M PANICKING now can no longer get in SAFE MODE!!
Please help Mac911!!!!
Charlie
G3 iBook 800mhz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Update:
So, I managed to do ALL that you said, EXCEPT, the reboot and work fine business.
I created the admin account which works fine. So now I can see three user accounts (looks like there as already an admin type one).
The one I created works fine, only, I can only access/see the login screen through a safe boot, (otherwise blue screens...) . I can get into the admin account fine, but when restarting and logging in as my original user account it won't boot. Something is very wrong in MY user account. I think at this point my data there is still retrievable somehow for a backup, clean start. but i haven't reached that point yet.
Anyone have any clues what migt have caused the error in my user login?
One of the things I tried (too hastily now i admit) first was to remove the recently added updates from the extensions folder. has this exacerbated the problem? Can i put them back without logging in as me??
remember from my first post system profiler says software/extensions integrity 'kext has no receipt' and dependency errors: 'com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily and com.apple.kernel.iokit; no valid version found' - whereas in my newly created admin account it appears AOK.
is this the source?
any ideas anyone?
sorry lots of queries here but i am ever hopeful.....
All yours,
Charlie
G3 iBook 800mhz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

HT201262 Blue/Gray Screen Stuck on Startup: Best Actions In Safe Boot?

My husband took his MacBook Pro into the Apple store for this problem a few weeks ago, but the blue/gray screen stuck on startup is back.
We stabilized the system last time from running diagnostic utilities (Apple, Onyx) in safe mode. Is there anything else we should be doing for self help? He's upgraded to Mountain Lion and made all OS updates. Advice is welcome.

See OS X Mountain Lion- If you see a blue screen at startup. I suggest the last recommendation - reinstall OS X:
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the 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.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

HP Pavilion HPE h8-1220t Desktop PC stuck at blue screen of startup HP

Hi there,
My newly bought desktop computer HP Pavilion HPE h8-1220t Desktop PC sometime stuck at the start up of the computer and nothing happens after that. It stuck at the blue HP screen and I cannot even press esc key or f12 and can't do anything at all. I have to hard reset the computer and restart again THEN it still stuck at that blue screen. Last time I have do hard reset 15 times to boot up. It is getting really annoying, please help me it is super annoying

A new machine should not be giving this problem. I would phone HP and ask for service under the standard warranty. For contact info start here>>> Contact HP
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Blue screen upon startup

Hi, I've had no joy in getting through to Microsoft about this online because they require an obscure key that I dont seem to have amongst other hurdles.
However, I can't find a thread with this problem. the other night my computer installed updates before it shut itself down. The next day i started it up and after the windows logo and a loading indicator it went straight to a prolonged static blue blank
screen. i cannot get out of this. ive now countless times shut down and restarted with no effect. I cannot even access BIOS or when i press either Del or F11 nothing happens. So basically im stuck.
Any help would be great :D
P.S. my PC is a custom build that has until this occurred worked exceptionally well. there is no hardware reason i can think of to cause this, it would seem to be related to microsoft updating itself.

Hi,
The key to access BIOS would depend on the different manufacturer, you may check this.
Back to our issue, if we cannot access BIOS indeed, this should be related hardware setting, can you boot from an installation CD?
Alex Zhao
TechNet Community Support

My Mac is producing gray screen at startup and crashes. I'm afraid that everything explode and disappear, and can no longer connect and work with my Mac. Can anyone help ?? Thank you.

My Mac is producing gray screen at startup and crashes. I'm afraid that everything explode and disappear, and can no longer connect and work with my Mac. Can anyone help ??
Thank you.
Problem description:
gray screen at startup and crashes
EtreCheck version: 2.1.1 (104)
Report generated 6 de dezembro de 2014 13:29:43 BRST
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) (Verified)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2
1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
4 GB RAM
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information: ℹ️
AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 1024 MB
Color LCD 1440 x 900
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
System Software: ℹ️
Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 0:31:56
Disk Information: ℹ️
TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF disk0 : (698,64 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
- (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 749.81 GB (378.70 GB free)
MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro
Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist [Support]
Launch Agents: ℹ️
[running] com.babylon.activation.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist [Support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]
[loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist [Support]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]
[running] com.skype.c2c_service.plist [Support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
iTunesHelper UNKNOWNHidden (missing value)
FaceboxPro Aplicativo (/Applications/FaceboxPro.app)
Safari Aplicativo (/Applications/Safari.app)
Octoshape Aplicativo (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Octoshape/Octoshape.app)
uTorrent UNKNOWN (missing value)
Dropbox Aplicativo (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
Inkscape UNKNOWN (missing value)
RealPlayer Downloader Agent Aplicativo (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/RealNetworks/RealPlayer Downloader Agent.app)
HP Product Research Aplicativo (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Customer Participation/HP Product Research.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Support]
Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 [Support]
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 [Support]
RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown [Support]
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.12 [Support]
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.239 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
DivX Web Player: Version: 3.1.1.9 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.239 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6
iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7
SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.2 [Support]
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.12 [Support]
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Check version
User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
npsf_uni: Version: sf 3.3.2.1 [Support]
OctoshapeWeb: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.8 [Support]
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
Searchme Adware! [Remove]
Skype Click to Call
iSkyDeluxe
TED HTML5 video playe
Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️
iSightAudio: Version: 7.6.6
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
Flash Player [Support]
Flip4Mac WMV [Support]
Skype Click to Call [Support]
Tuxera NTFS [Support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
Time Machine information requires OS X 10.7 "Lion" or later.
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
      5% WindowServer
      4% DivXMediaServer
      1% fontd
      0% RealPlayer Downloader Agent
      0% WebProcess
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
296 MB WebProcess
202 MB FaceboxPro
185 MB Microsoft PowerPoint
163 MB Safari
137 MB Microsoft Word
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
843 MB Free RAM
1.76 GB Active RAM
706 MB Inactive RAM
978 MB Wired RAM
577 MB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
Dec 6, 2014, 12:58:24 PM Self test - passed
Dec 6, 2014, 12:23:11 PM Kernel_2014-12-06-122311_MacBook-Pro-de-...panic [Details]
Dec 6, 2014, 07:08:28 AM PluginProcess_2014-12-06-070828_MacBook-...crash
Dec 5, 2014, 05:24:39 PM WebProcess_2014-12-05-172439_MacBook-Pro...crash
Dec 5, 2014, 10:45:59 AM Kernel_2014-12-05-104559_MacBook-Pro-de-...panic [Details]
Dec 5, 2014, 10:18:14 AM Kernel_2014-12-05-101814_MacBook-Pro-de-...panic [Details]
Dec 3, 2014, 08:28:35 PM locationd_2014-12-03-202835_localhost.crash
Dec 5, 2014, 10:25:44 AM Kernel_2014-12-05-102544_MacBook-Pro-de-...panic [Details]

Startup - Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

Dark screen on startup( screen is lit but nothing is displayed)

I was working on a paper on my computer( a year and half old) when it abruptly shutdown without any error screen(BSOD). I turned it on after and the screen was lit with all lights on and blinking( wifi, hdd, cd). The wifi light was on but it wasn't white- indicative it hadn't boot into an OS yet( I am running dual OS- Ubuntu 14.04 and Windows 8-primary). I was lucky for the screen to turn on to normal as I kept turning the power on and off repeatedly. I decided to boot into Ubuntu thinking the problem was from a driver issue on Windows. It was working normally about an hour and then I noticed a bizzare discoloration of the screen, a rapid blinking of the screen and finally the screen freezing entirely- I could move the mouse after this. At this point, (I was suspecting a graphics card defect not driver), so I turned off the computer and tried to turn it back on. The screen persistently stayed lit(Hp logo on the back was lit too) but with no visual display. I then connected the laptop to a secondary monitor using both HDMI and a VGA cable. The TV displayed no visuals from the computer in both instances. Lastly, the screen randomly turned on in my process of repeatedly powering off and powering on, but it appeared completely disclored and distorted. It was always in very low brightness. I continued to boot into windows 8 but just before the login screen I got a blue screen of death. The screen hasn't displayed visuals since( always stays lit at startup). I've never dropped this laptop before so I hope you guys could be of help because my warrantly recently expired.

Hi @Yussif_Hamis ,
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome. I have read about your HP ENVY 17t-3000 CTO Notebook and getting a blank or black screen on startup. Try performing a hard reset.
When performing a hard reset please note remove any and all USB devices. Disconnect all non-essential devices.
You can do a system restore. System restore will help if something automatically updated and did not go well on the Notebook. This could be a graphic drivers issues as you can not see it on a Monitor.
You could restore the BIOS with this document selecting the reloading the BIOS default settings which should resolve the issue.
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
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Grey screen on startup resolution.

Hi All
I have been getting the grey (although I call it blue) screen on startup over the past year. I have an intel imac with the latest version of snow leopard on it. I've tried everything suggested in the forums, including rebuilding my machine from scratch (not a trivial task for production music software / hardware).
One thing I can't understand is why my machine has this issue with a clean install, and no periphirals attached. My machine has been in the Apple shop and has been verified as ok.
I have contacted the Australian Consumers Comission and think that this comes under the expectation of durability, which can apply even if the manufacturers warranty has expired.
I've invested a lot of time and money into Apple hardware and software and would have expected a resolution to this problem by now. Having to manually power off my machine 3 to 4 times in a row to get it to boot propery is obviously going to impact on the lifetime of my harddrives.
I'd like as much feedback and personal experience that people have had with this issue before continuing any further.

I boot my mac with verbose settings on, I get the normal beep, then I get all the normal output (same output as when it boots ok), then a blue / grey screen. It hangs for around 15 mins. After that it continues to boot until it's logged in, but then there is no interaction with the mouse or keyboard. I can see the mouse pointer moving around, but can't click on anything. If I have the time I will log in from another machine and perform a normal shutdown, otherwise it's a hard reset.
I've tried resetting the nvram, repairing permissions, checking the hard drive, rebuilding the machine, restoring from time machine, etc. but I always end up back at square one looking for a permanent solution. All my drivers are the latest.
One interesting thing to note, when I had Windows 7 installed as the default startup OS with bootcamp I never experienced this problem. To me that kind of verifies that it's not a hardware problem.
My machine specs are...
      Model Name: iMac
      Model Identifier: iMac10,1
      Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
      Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
      Number Of Processors: 1
      Total Number Of Cores: 2
      L2 Cache: 3 MB
      Memory: 8 GB
      Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
      Boot ROM Version: IM101.00CC.B00
      SMC Version (system): 1.52f9

My G4 Apple PowerBook will not boot further than pale blue/grey screen displaying "flashing file symbol / flashing ?"

My G4 Apple PowerBook will not boot further than pale blue/grey screen displaying "flashing file symbol / flashing ?"
Last previous action: Used Firewire cable and "Target Mode" to copy files from G4 eMac to the PowerBook.
I worked from the eMac to the PowerBook, making the PowerBook the "Target". Files seemed to transfer OK. Won't boot from InstallDisc. Holding down T on startup results in Target mode screen. I have a G4 iMac and a G4 eMac. Can I use either of these with Firewire cable to boot-up my PowerBook ?
I'm new to using this Communities & Forums Help. Can someone please help me to get going again ! ! Thanks for your time. Graflood

Hello,
It sounds to me like the PowerBook is stuck in target disk mode.
It's expecting the iMac/eMac to be there when booting. Seeming it's not attached, it will show a flashing folder.
If your PowerBook internal drive is bootable, then simply hold down the option key when booting and select it's internal hard drive. That should boot your PowerBook into Mac OS X.

HT3964 My iMac gets stuck on blue loading screen after it starts up.. Reset smc and pram?

My 2009 iMac on OS X leapard will start up but gets stuck on the blue loading screen. Ive been instructed to reset the smc and pram but can't figure it out nor find it online in a simple way. Can someone please assist? Again: it fires up but gets stuck on blue loading screen..Thank you!

Reset SMC:
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Wait fifteen seconds.
Attach the computer's power cord.
Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
Reset PRAM:
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

Blue maintenance screen on startup

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