Boot freezes at blank blue screen

I am completely stuck. I have a Powermac G4, which just today became suddenly unstable---apps crashing when I tried to quit them, everything freezing, logging out didn't work. So I shut it down and restarted.
Now I get the chime, the apple screen, and then the blue screen (and a mouse pointer) but at that point nothing else happens. No window showing services starting up, just a blank blue screen.
I can log into single-user mode, and the file system checks out ok. I did the cmd-opt-P-R, I reset-nvram from the Forth interpreter, all that.
I can boot verbosely, and it doesn't tell me anything because the hanging happens after it leaves the text screen and the UI starts.
Question: what should I do? Here's a related question: from single-user mode, is there any way to get files off the computer, towit accessing a USB drive or the network?
Xcott

Empty,Blue Screen.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
1. Start up in Safe Mode.(shift key at startup)
a. Drag the Fonts folder from the Mac OS 9 System Folder (not the Mac OS X System folder) to the desktop.
b. Drag the Fonts folder from ~/Library/Fonts to the desktop.
b. Restart the computer in Mac OS X.
c. If this solves the problem....you have a corrupt font in one of the above font folders
2. Remove incompatible third-party startup items.
a. Start up in Safe Mode.(shift at startup)
b. Open the Mac OS X hard disk.
c. Drag third-party items out of ....
/Library/StartupItems .......
/System/Library/StartupItems ... Place them on the desktop .... If you're unsure whether an item is a third-party item or an Apple-installed item, don't move it.
d.Restart the computer.
Note.. If this resolves the issue, add the Startup Items one at a time until the symptom occurs again. That way you'll know which one is incompatible. Repeat these steps and remove the incompatible item.
george

Similar Messages

Boots to a blank blue screen unless from DVD

My powerbook got the "Hold down the power button..." screen and then when i restarted, it would only boot to that message. I reinstalled from my dvd, and that seemed to go fine. when i boot it up i gets past the grey screen with the logo, but gets hung on a blank blue screen. I have tried 2 different dvds. both booted fine and allowed me to install the os onto the hd, but once i tried to boot from the HD i would only get a blank blue screen, the same color as the install background.
pbg4 12" 1.5Ghz, Quicksilver 933 Mhz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

slee:
Have you tried:
Repair Disk
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel, and report if it says anything but Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
If DU reports errors it cannot repair you will need to use a utility like Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior
Please post back with update or further questions/comments.
Good luck.
corneliuus

Startup stops in blank blue screen

I have an iMac G4 which has been running Leopard fine for months up until this morning. When I started it this morning it stopped booting at a blank blue screen. I have never touched any startup/system files that I know of. I have been able to get the computer to start into target disk mode to connect to my MacBook and I was able to start up holding down option to get to the disk select screen, but after selecting the harddrive it again booted into the blank blue screen. Attempting to start in safe mode only gets me to the gray screen with the apple logo. The only thing I can think of that may be related is that I installed a few updates last night through system updater. I can't remember which they were, but the computer restarted fine after I installed them.

I have this problem as well, but eventually I get a warning that the application "FileSyncAgent" has not launched, along with "ignore", "relaunch" and "reboot". This is apparently related to a .mac sync problem that I've seen discussed on some other boards, but with no solution. I can also boot into target mode. Since I'm travelling, I can't reload OS X 10.5 from my disks, and can't restore from Time Machine either. I think that for me, the answer is probably to reload the OS (and go through updates) when I get home. In the meantime, I'm more or less stuck. I have access to an imac, but not with Iwork, which I really really need right now.
This just stinks...

Blank Blue Screen / Freezing

My iBook froze this weekend. Upon rebooting the thing, it started booting up with a blank blue screen and wouldn't go past. I tried booting into Safe Mode: Same result. I didn't have my installation disc with me so I began following these steps:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
I can get into Single-User mode fine and perform the commands in there, ran fsck . No Problems found. I reset the PMU. No luck. Eventually, I got home and tried to bootup using my Tiger install disc. I ran Disk Utility and it found no problems. After another reboot, the iBook boots up to a blank blue screen when loading from the installation disc just as it does when loading Mac OS X regularly. Randomly here and there, after about 10 tries, I may be able to get the laptop to boot into Mac OS X or the install disc, but it will freeze shortly after and I have to restart and get the blank screen again.
After trying the above, I took out the removable RAM and it booted up. I thought I had found the problem but shortly after it froze again. I'm not sure what the problem is but it's out of warranty and I know the answer I'm going to get is most likely hardware related.
Message was edited by: Kyle Johnson3

Hey Kyle,
So like Rhonda says the work is not guaranteed. Here are pics of exactly that problem on a recent repair I did:
"I just recently repaired a G3 iBook 900 MHz 14.1" that had the classic GPU problem. Unfortunately, while the GPU was healthy but loose before the reballing the "patient" died on the operating table. This is a known pitfall in the reballing process. So when I got the board back the GPU was working but totally dead exhibiting the dark moving shadows I've come to dread.
The GPU was a ATI 7500 so I referenced it to many other PC laptop graphics cards.
I settled on a new Inspiron 5100 ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 32Mb 9U768 on ebay and obtained it for $26 with shipping.
Dale at Superior swapped the chips and "Voila" the 900 works like new.
I have the Dell board and the 7500 chip and I thought that you all would be interested in what has been giving so many of us display headaches.
The picture is here:
http://tinyurl.com/3835w2
What you see is the bottom of the chip on the left and the mounting array on the graphics board on the right.
Even tho' this is a G3 the G4 chip is very similar."
The other place that does this work is First Phase.
Prices are like $75 for a reball and $50 for a reflow (probably not as good). You have to pull the board and send it to them.
If you want to/feel comfortable doing that email me and I can provide instructions.
You could take the bottom off and place a shim under that area we're talking about. iBooks have worked for quite a while with a shim in place. Your's might be a good candidate since it doesn't seem like there's a lot of detachment of the BGA.
Richard
Richard

Blank blue screen on boot unless safe mode

My 12" powerbook will not boot up. After the grey screen with the logo, it goes to a blank blue screen and stops there. The disk is fine, i can start the powerbook in target mode and boot other computers off it. It also has a fresh install on in so i know it's not any 3rd party stuff. I have tried all the standard troubleshooting stuff (reset NVRAM & PMU, ran disk utility and disk warrior). Does anyone know exactly what is turned off in safe mode? It is something that is with the standard os install that doesn't get loaded in safe mode that is causing the crashes.

Hi slee,
In addition to cornelius's questions, please also respond to these.
What version of OS X did you reinstall?
In your computer specs, you only list Mac OS X (10.4.10). Is that what you installed? If so, did you happen to use the system discs that shipped with your MBP? That might explain the source of the problem.
In your Other Topic, you wrote
"I have tried 2 different dvds. both booted fine and allowed me to install the os onto the hd,..."
What type of install DVDs were each of those?
Did you do an Erase & Install each time?
Do you have any Previous Systems, still present?
After the Kernel Panic, when you reinstalled, did you first disconnect all peripherals?
What size is the Hard Drive, and how much space is available?
How much RAM is installed, and is it original or added?
ali b

Stuck on blank blue screen when booting- HELP!

When I boot up up I get the normal grey screening with spinning pin wheel, but then it goes to a blank blue screen and just hangs there. Tried resetting the PRAM but didn't work, also want to boot from the install cd but I can't the cd drive door to open from the keyboard button.
Help please!

Hold the mouse down during startup to get the drive to open.
Or use the OPTION key to stop at boot selector and do it then.
I would make sure to have a working bootable backup of your drive at all times, and an emergency boot drive/partition.
What might help:
Boot from another drive. Turn off journaling. Repair drive.
Once at Finder desktop, delete the caches folders on your main drive.
/Library/Caches
/System/Library/Caches
/System/Library/Extensions.mkext
If the repair was "successful" and DU is not 100% certain to see and fix all possible errors, for that Disk Warrior or TTPro would be needed.
At the least, repair from current DVD of OS X, or SAFE BOOT, or Single User Mode and run FSCK.
Then do Safe Boot from your main drive.
But do install OS X to another drive to work from.
PRAM only affects settings. If you mean PRAM/NVRAM from cold boot, that would help with corrupt nvram due to hardware changes.
If you have or suspect a corrupt boot drive I would invest in Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro/Deluxe to use along with Apple Disk Utility.

IMac G5 PowerPC boots up and freezes at light-blue screen

PowerPC G5 20" iMac, 2.0GHz, +260 GB harddrive, 2 GB of DDR SDRAM
Leopard OS 10.5.6
Computer starts up and freezes at light-blue screen. Mouse still moves, bu no keyboard commands work. Only holding the power button will shut down the computer.
Tried the following:
- Able to boot into Safe-mode only.
- Ran OS Disk Utility to repair permissions and also MacTuneUp 3.6.0, and no change
- Tried changing start-up to boot from OS 10.5.6 DVD and still freezes with light-blue screen. Safe-mode allowed me to run Disk Utility but no difference.
- If I leave the frozen light-blue screen, eventually the iMac power-saving mode darkens the screen, until I move the mouse (then light-blue again and still frozen).
- I left my iPhone connected to the iMac, and when starting up the computer the iPhone started charging. When the light blue screen froze the iPhone stopped charging.
- tried starting computer with Options + Command keys
- tried + Options-Command-P-R untill you hear two beeps: Reset NVRAM (restart 3x)
- tried Resetting the SMU > Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord. > Wait 10 seconds.> Plug in the power cord while simultaneously pressing and holding the power button on the back of the computer. > Let go of the power button. > Press the power button once more to start up your iMac.
Questions:
> When booting from OS 10.5.6 DVD, Should I run Time Machine Restore system from Backup?
> I can work fine in Safe-mode all day, but limited resources. Is this a software or hardware issue?

Based on what you have you tried I would guess it is hardware problem.
First iMac's without camera and with GeForce FX 5200 graphics card are known of having capacitor failures which can cause the machine either to become unstable in different situations or fail to boot up at all. I have repaired many of them and changing capacitors brought completedly dead iMac (no power, no nothing) up to life so capacitors mean a lot.
Second and third it's mainly the graphics card which fails, causing the machine to fail to boot, become unstable or boot with artifact patterns in picture.
There has also been power supply issues and Apple did issue a recall back then, I think you can still find article about it and check if your machine has serial number which fits to that recall problem. This way you could check if you should suspect power supply going bad.
Capacitor problem is usually easy to identify (open up the case and look if those can-like things are bulging or swollen) and quite easy to repair if you have bit experience in computers and soldering, iFixit.com provides great disassembly instructions. Graphics card problem is harder to identify because in that case it is the solder which breaks under the graphic chip so you cannot actually see the defect. It is also harder to repair atleast if you want the machine to work long time after that repair. Basically you would need to heat the GPU enough to reflow solder connections.
Because the machine can boot into safe mode I'm suspecting that you have some of these issues I described, safe mode does not utilize hardware at full power and disable full graphics acceleration for example.

IBook will not boot - blank blue screen

I am a bit desperate and clueless. My iBook G3 500mhz OS10.3.9 will not book. When I was doing the latest update for security and QT it crashed. Now, when I start it I gets stuck on a blank blue screen. I tried to boot it from the panther 10.3 install CDs but no luck. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

maxit,
many thanks! the problem when i boot into safe mode and prompted for user name and password, it is not recognized. i keep getting a message of incorrect password and don't know how to get around it. this all started during the latest security download.
frustrating...

My OS X is die ?? Blank blue Screen at start up.....

one day in the middle of use my Macbook Pro all the suddenly the screen all get scremble. and the machine just hang can't even reboot.
SO i takeoff the battery to reboot, but now all i get is a blank blue screen after the Apple Logo.
i try boot in safe mode.
i go as far as the login screen after login then just OS x10.5 default wallpaper and nothing etc ?
so how can i make my macbook work again ?
i really don't want to reinstall the OS as the comp also get another bootcamp partition.
so any suggestion ?
thx

True, everyone should but not everyone does. Some people, newcomers especially, have the naive idea that when they spend a lot of money on something it should work, so they don't worry that any day could be their computers last. I guess we all have to go through something like this so we learn the lesson. I hope that in the future he'll just get an inexpensive usb drive and use time machine if he wants. It works pretty well.
In the meantime we have to get him going again with the least criticism applied. The page I referenced is nonjudgemental and, I thought, contained the advice you gave him in a somewhat neater format.
Peace, and thanks for helping a fellow Macintosher

Blank Blue Screen

Whenever I start up my computer, I'm taken to the HP startup menu, but whenever I try to boot menu or boot recovery, it takes me to the blank blue screen. When I try crtl+alt+delete, a black screen flashes but takes me back to the HP startup menu. Please help.

If the memory and hard drive tests passed, then you may only need to reinstall the operating system. Unfortunately, if you can't get to the recovery partition through F11, you'll need to use external disks. I don't see that recovery disks are still available to purchase for this system. If you created a set when you got the system, you can use those. Otherwise you may need to purchase a retail version of an operating system.
I am an employee of Hewlett Packard.
- - Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem so others can more easily find the answer - -
- - Please click the Kudos star if you would like to say thanks - -

My imac starts up and goes to a blank blue screen

my imac froze and when i restarted the computer it went to a blank blue screen i can only acsess the system prefences the grey bar at the top is also gone all of my files are there pics,documents, music ect. but i cant click on anything i tried to boot in safe mode and it wont go into safe mode when i put my snow leopard disk in it wont read it how do i get the computer to boot in safe mode or restore the computer to an ealier day is there a way to manually go into safe mode or restore the computer

Manual instructions > Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
If you can't boot in Safe Mode, try Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
When booting from the install disc make sure you are holding down the C key.
Restore... you need to be able to boot from the install disc and run Disk Utility. It's very possible the startup disk needs repairing.
Instructions here > Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks

Blank blue screen on macbook

I have a blank blue screen on my 2008 aluminum macbook how do I fix my problem?

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, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
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.

Completely Blank Blue Screen after Laptop is woken up from Sleep

Initial State: 1) Laptop is ON
2) Laptop is connected by LAN cable to ADSL Modem (BSNL Connection).3) Internet Connection is ON.4) Browser is ON.5) McAfee LiveSafe Internet Security (Antivirus) is ON.6) Skype is ON but not connected or logged on7) Download Accelerator Plus is ON but not in use. Process:1) I leave the laptop on and untouched for 5-10 minutes while I do something else.2) The laptop is in a Sleep State when I come back.3) I press a key or move the mouse to wake it up. Final State:1) I get the initial Windows Page on which I have to click on username to login.2) When I click on it, I do not get the page where I should enter password. Instead, I get a completely blank blue screen with absolutely nothing on it. I have to hard-press the power button for 10 seconds and then switch the laptop back on losing valuable data. Please help.

Hi , Welcome to the HP Forums!
It is a superb place to find answers and suggestions! For you to have the best experience in the HP forum I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide. Learn How to Post and More I grasp that when you attempt to wake the notebook from sleep by moving the mouse or pressing a key, you are presented with your log on screen. When you click your username and before you enter the password it immediately presents a blue screen and becomes unresponsive. Here are links to two documents I believe will assist you. HP PCs - Troubleshooting Sleep and Hibernate Issues (Windows 8) HP PCs - Computer Locks Up or Freezes (Windows 8) To say thanks for replying please click the thumbs up button below. If this resolved your difficulty please let other people know the good news by selecting solution provided. This would allow it to be found with greater ease. Best of Luck!

Another blank blue screen at startup issue

Can anyone shed some light on this?
The iMac was operating fine up until a few nights ago. I had been using the machine all day without a hitch then in the evening tried switching to another user account and the system hung up stuck with the spinning pinwheel before login. I forced a reboot and got the blank blue screen.
I did all the recommendations I've seen posted here before. Repair Permissions and Disk Repair from the Install Disc (neither of which returned any issues) I rebooted in Safe Mode which runs fine but after rebooting I had the same problem. I booted Safe Mode again and tried making new accounts, that wasn't any help. I then went into single user mode to wipe out the preferences and netinfo database. No luck. reset SMU, reset PRAM, reset NVRAM, unplugged all external devices and pulled out the 3rd party RAM (bought it in 2005 from Crucial when I bought the iMac). No Go.
I reinstalled OSX using the Archive feature and that didn't fix things. Then I reinstalled OSX and let it wipe the entire HD clean after using Safe Mode to back-up my essentials onto external USB HD first. Even the clean install didn't help. It certainly runs a lot more zippy but it only runs in Safe Mode.
I ran the extended hardware tests from the Install CD/DVD and everything passed OK.
Now, there is one issue I can't solve myself and I have to wonder if this may be the cause of the problems, even though hardware tests don't reveal any problems. When I opened the case to pull the RAM, I noticed two capacitors on the logic board that had leaked, however the leaks are all dried up and crusty, not wet like a recent leak. Here's a photo:
http://www.mikepipes.com/sketchbook/imac-1.jpg
Is there anything I may have missed?
Now I have seen the other posts regarding the repair programs Apple has for certain model of iMac, and my serial number does fall within the range (QP519XXXXXX), however this is a 2nd generation iMac and the page states that only 1st gen iMacs are elligible. Wonder if the photo of the leaky caps could sway them to make an exception?
I'm trying to get as far as I can through troubleshooting because the closest Apple Store or Apple tech is 3 hours away.

Present you case to Apple. If you don't get anywhere w/them then ask to be transferred (or call them yourself) to Customer Relations - 1-800-767-2775.
Otherwise, you will have no alternative but to take your computer to your local AASP.
If you have AppleCare, you can have the repair tech come to your home (under certain conditions). Read the small print in the AC booklet.
You can also check AASP or AASP's Outside of the USA to find a repair shop closer to you.
*PS Thank you for providing detailed info about your troubleshooting efforts. It was a great help.*

Blank blue screen on macbook air

I've suddenly got a blank blue screen on a first gen Macbook Air (the Mac equivalent of the blue screen of death I'm afraid). It will run the start-up without a sad mac to the point of the blank screen and then nothing.
I suspect the hard drive, but would appreciate any additional information.
Is there any way to access the disk to see if I can get any of the data? (in truth it's my mother's computer and no, she did not keep a current back up)
M

Try starting up while holding the Option key down. That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the startup disk.
If that doesn't help, try Resetting the PRAM
If that doesn't help, startup in Safe Mode
A Safe Mode boot takes longer than a normal boot so be patient.
If you can access Safe Mode, you may be able to retrieve files, but no guarantees.
To restart normally, click Restart from the Apple menu.
Tip... when posting for help, please tell us which OS X is installed. Some troubleshooting can depend on that.
If you aren't sure, when you are Safe Mode, click About This Mac from the Apple menu.
The version is noted there.
If you couldn't boot in Safe Mode, try repairing the startup disk.
For v10.7 or later, restart the Mac while holding down the Command + R keys so you can access OS X Recovery to repair the disk.
If the Mac has v10.6 installed, insert the install disc that came with the Mac.

Boot freezes at blank blue screen

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