Booted into white screen

Yesterday I have been using my MacPro a lot for music applications.
I also installed a VSTi plugin. All worked fine.
But today I booted into a white screen. Uhhh.
Pushing the start up button on the Mac solved the white srceen symptom, but I like to know the reason for it. And should I worry?
My MacPro is 2 months old.

Hello,
*"but I like to know the reason for it. And should I worry?"*
A crash log might shed some light on the problem...
How to locate a crash log:
1. Open Finder.
2. Click "Go" in the menu, then select "Go to Folder".
3. Copy and paste this path into the Finder dialog: ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/
4. Click the Go button.
5. Finder opens the folder containing the crash log. Look for a the crash file with a date field that *looks like the most recent*.
If that happens again, use your install disk that came with your MacPro to check the hard disk.
Restart your Mac while holding down the C key, pressing the power button and inserting your install disk all at the same time. An Installer window will open, but do not proceed with any installations. Instead, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities > Disk Utility. In the Disk Utility window click First Aid, and then click Verify. If Disk Utility reports errors, click Repair. When Disk Utility is finished, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Disk. Select MacintoshHD 10.x.x and click Restart.
Considering you were able to restart without any problems, I wouldn't worry.
Carolyn

Similar Messages

IMac boots into white screen

I have a 2005 20" iMac that's started to just show a white screen on start up. A folder with a question mark on it pops up after a while (10-20 minutes). I tried putting in the Snow Leopard install disc (It was on 10.6.8) and pressing c on startup. It didn't do anything for a minute so I gave it awhile and when I came back it went into a kernel panic. I suspect the hard drive inside failed. Is this most likely the cause? If so, will any 2.5 inch drive work in its place?

Did you do this:
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo
appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
You can also try:
Boot Using OPTION key:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
4. Select the icon for the Snow Leopard DVD.
5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
If you cannot get it to boot from the Snow Leopard DVD and have no other OS installer DVD that can boot the computer, then you can boot from a bootable system on an external drive.
A scenario such as you described could just mean there are damaged OS files. At this point you don't have enough information to determine that the HDD has failed. iMacs use 3.5" drives, not 2.5" notebook drives. They are not interchangeable.

My iMacG5 will only boot to white screen, gray apple and spinning gear. Help?

My iMacG5 will only boot to white screen, gray apple and spinning gear. Help?
Also not totally sure if it's an Intel based computer, but that's what I recall. Any way to check, since I can't get to About This Mac window?
It's running on OSX Leopard 10.5.4
First symptom = running slowly - then it kind of froze with color wheel spinning - thought a forced shut down would help - help power button til off, then white screen, gray apple and spinning gear.
Have tried...
1. Turn off the computer by choosing Shut Down from the Apple menu, or by holding the power button until the computer turns off.
2. Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord.
3. Wait 10 seconds.
4. Plug in the power cord while simultaneously pressing and holding the power button on the back of the computer.
5. Let go of the power button.
6. Press the power button once more to start up your iMac.
Then try booting from your install disc again.
- No change
And...
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo
appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
- The fan just got louder.
Thanks for your help.

You need to do an Erase and Install or an Archive and Install depending on whether the hard drive is OK or needs to be reformatted.
Start by booting from your Leopard DVD. The rest is just following directions.
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.

Macbook pro boots to white screen and a ?

macbook pro boots to white screen and a ?

Gus@MaggiesFarm,
try this: boot your MacBook Pro into Recovery mode by holding down a Command key and the R key as it starts up. Once the Mac OS X Utilities menu appears, select Disk Utility. On the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window, select your internal disk’s boot partition (typically called “Macintosh HD”). On the right-hand side, press the Verify Disk button if it’s not greyed out; if it is greyed out, or if it reports that errors were found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu to restart in normal mode. Does it get past the white screen now?

Mac will not boot up, white screen with turning gear for hours on end

mac will not boot up, white screen with turning gear for hours on end

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 boot failure is to secure your 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 your last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Boot into 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.”
b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot 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.
c. 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. The easiest way to deal with the problem is to boot from an external drive, or else to use either of the techniques in Steps 1b and 1c 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 boot 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 boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot 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 booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot 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, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 6.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot 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 reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot 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 your 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 reboot as usual.
Step 9
Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 10
Repeat Step 9, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 11
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 boot 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 12
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.

Macbook boots to white screen

Macbook 2006 boots to white screen and that's it, it does chime. PRAM-reset does not work, I can reset SMC when holding power button for couple seconds. No num-lock or caps lock lights when I press them. Cannot boot from CD or any other device.
Anything left to try or simply a dead machine?

Cannot boot from CD or any other device.
The appropriate Installer CD/DVD represents an incorruptible source of known-good software for your Mac. A Mac that cannot boot from its Installer disc has a Hardware Problem.
About the only other thing you could try is removing and re-installing the memories, but I would not hold out much hope for that as a real solution.

IMac 21.5" boots to white screen with vertical blue lines/bars then locks up

iMac 21.5" (mid 2010) Intel Core i3 4GB RAM with Radeon HD 4670 boots to white screen with vertical blue lines/bars:
Then it locks up after a few minutes, at which point the screen changes to white with these blue symbol things all over the screen:
If boot to Safe Mode, it still has the white screen with blue lines/bars, but eventually loads the login screen and I can successfully login and get to the desktop, but even that has the bars/lines.
Eventually, after enough restarts or hard shutdowns it will boot normally with no video/display issues. I've run disk checks, did the SMC and PRAM resets, checked logs (that I know of), and have even taken it completely apart, cleaned it out, reseated everything, put it all back together, but no change. I've read a few other posts about similar issues (but not quite the same video issue as this) where people had the logic boars replaced or reinstalled OSX, but that didn't always fix it. Any ideas? Has anyone seen this issue before? Thank you.

crw4096 wrote:
Is this a dead disk?
Very well could be.
If you can not startup from the Hardware Test, in Safe Mode or from > OS X Recovery as discribed in the Support article's.
Dig out the original Install Disc set that came with the iMac and do one of the following.
1. Attempt to Repair the Hard Drive.
Start from your Mac OS X Install disc: Insert the installation disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
Click the First Aid tab.
Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
Select your Mac OS X volume.
Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.
2. Run the Hardware Test from the second Install Disc.
1. Insert Disc 2 and Startup holding the D key.
2. Select the Extended Hardware Test.
Then if you still can not get anything going, you need to contact your Local Apple Store or AASP and make a Service appointment.
see > Apple - Find Locations

Just tried setting up bootcamp on MacPro. Computer now boots to white screen before going to black screen with curser in upper left corner. Can anyone get me back to Mac operating system so I can start over again?

Just tried setting up bootcamp on 2014 MacPro 13" laptop. Computer now boots to white screen before going to black screen with curser in upper left corner. Can anyone get me back to Mac operating system so I can start over again?

Hi there rjr25350,
You may find the information in the article below helpful.
Boot Camp: Windows installation boots to black screen with blinking cursor
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4536
-Griff W.

HT4061 I have an iphone 5s, does not boot, blinking white screen with black logo, when trying itunes restore from mac and pc, error code 4013 which is usb error, any ideas?

I have an iphone 5s, does not boot, blinking white screen with black logo, when trying itunes restore from mac and pc, error code 4013 which is usb error, any ideas? Does a totally dead battery have that effect? I have had it plugged in to a computer overnight, but maybe does not charge when totally dead?
Please help, thanks in advance all1

Hi eggroll77,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities.
That alert codes does suggest there is a USB related issue. If you haven’t already, try the troubleshooting suggestions in the article linked below.
iOS: Restore errors 4005, 4013, and 4014
I hope this helps.
-Jason

G5 wont boot past white screen,or if it does keyboard&mouse don't work

Before it had this mega crash it had been having trouble starting up - the fan was making jet engine noises and taking forever for it to get to my desktop. It then proceeded to crash a few times during the week when using Illustrator. Then last week it went kaput. The mouse would jump across the screen then freeze,so had to use power button to switch off.Unfortunately our I.T manager has no clue with macs, it just so happens she installed some RAM the weekend before, or could this be a coincidence?The RAM was removed to see if was corrupt but this made no difference to start up.
Anyway I've tried starting up from the original disk, leopard disk and holding down all the keys people have suggested on start up. it gets as far as the white screen then the no entry symbol appears. When I try without any disk it gets to my desktop, but the keyboard&mouse do not work.
If there are any suggestions I would be grateful for your help. Otherwise I guess it's sending it off to a repair place?

With the Install Disc in the drive "Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Tiger Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishes.
If it still panics, disconnect the HD again & see if it boots offth Install Disc.
Does it boot into Open Firmware with CMDOption+of ?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42642
reset-nvram (press Enter)
set-defaults (press Enter)
reset-all (press Enter)

Macbook 2,1 can't boot past white screen

I was restarting my computer to clear out the memory and whatnot and now the computer won't boot past the white screen. Unfortunately I have a DVD in its drive and can't get that out. I've resetted the PRAM, held down the option key, and even tried to boot from an external. I have taken it to the genius bar today and they said the hard drive was failing. I put the original hard drive back into the computer and still get the same thing. The drive that was in it is now in an external case and works with my Linux computer. Unfortunately, I can't access the files with my old Mac G4 since the Macbook had Lion installed on it, and all music, iPhone apps are associated with the newer system.
Is there anything else I can try? Will I need to have a new motherboard installed?
Thanks.
BTW, don't worry, I am saving to buy a new Mac as soon as I can.

Trackpad button does nothing
Option key does nothing
PRAM resetting at least reboots the computer
Startup chime - normal
Shift key - nothing
If removing the internal drive and booting from an external would do anything I'd certainly try that.
Since the computer is 6 years old, ironic since I'm typing this on my old G4 tower, it will be replaced with a Mini since I no longer have a need for a laptop. It's also out of warranty and will probably not be worth the cost to get it fixed.
The geniuses at the Apple store suggested I buy a new hard drive and that would solve my problems. I highly doubt it since I've put another drive in and it's doing the same thing.

IMac G5 won't boot, only White Screen

I have an iMac G5, no iSight, it won't boot up. It briefly displays the Folder icon with blinking question mark, then White screen. The first time it happened, I rebooted from an external Firewire drive, but only once. When I tried that again, it would not boot.
I disconnected all external devices, no boot.
I can't do Target Disk mode, can't boot from external disk (except that one time-weird exception), can't boot from Install CD. It WAS Open Firmware password protected, but I can't remember if I disabled it or not agfter my last hardware failure. (Note to the wise: if you have an older machine, don't use Open Firmware Password, it can greatly complicate troubleshooting when the inevitable failure happens).
I MAYBE have Open Firmware password enabled, since I
However, I CAN boot into Open Firmware (Cmd-Opt-O-F), I did manage to eject the Install CD that was stuck.
So I opened the back of the iMac. All three LEDs are good, indicating good power supply. I reset the SMU using the little button switch, then tried reboot with the little power button switch. Still no reboot. I tried re-seating the RAM cards, still no reboot.
I'm at the end of my bag of tricks. Does anyone have a suggestion? Is it a hardware problem?
thanks from San Francisco

Well you could try to reset the PRAM, but if your drive is dying it won't help, although it's worth a try.
You can also try using Disk Utility:
Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.
If none of that works, it's time to take it in.

IMac won't boot past white screen, now has partial pixelation?

I have just tried to restart my 2011 iMac and it has become stuck on the initial white screen (before the grey spinning gear) prior to the reboot it had being running fine for about 4 hours.
I initially thought that it may be trying to boot from the scratched PS2 game I had in the drive (was experimenting with PCSX2 before the reboot) I have tried every button combination I can find to eject the disk or boot into a different OS, I have also tried resetting the SMC and PRAM (I didn't get the 2nd beep) but to no avail. I have also taken out the extra 4gb of memory I installed to go back to the stock 4gb and swapped the stock 4gb for the new RAM but this hasn't helped either.
I have also noticed there is a small line of pixelation at the bottom of the screen, the high of it varies but it is usually around 4 pixels high, some of them are random colours but most of them are black, does this mean the graphics card has gone?

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.

System Won't Boot Past White Screen With Apple Logo

I have a Power Mac G5 tower that someone gave me. No hard drive.
I placed a NEW hard drive in and installed 10.4 onto it. When I finished I turned OFF the machine. When I now try and turn the machine ON, it will freeze-up during boot up at the white screen with the Apple logo. The little spinning ring/dial doesn't come up.
The system is:
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Model ID: PowerMac7,3
dual 2.5GHz
512MB RAM (2x256MB)
Using the Boot-up in Detailed SAFE Mode I was given the info below. Any help is greatly appreciated.
using 1310 buffer headers and 1310 cluster IO buffer headers
kld(): Undefined symbols:
ZN11IOPCIBridge18compareAddressCellEmPmS0
kldload_frommemory() failed for module com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI
Failed to load extension com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI.
Couldn't alloc class "AppleMacRiscPCI"
kld(): Underfined Symbols:
ZN11IOPCIBridge18compareAddressCellEmPmS0
kldload_frommemory() failed for module com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI
Failed to laod extension com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI.
Couldn't alloc class "AppleMacRiscAGP"
kld(): Undefined symbols:
ZN11IOPCIBridge18compareAddressCellEmPmS0
kldload_frommemory() failed for module com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI
Failed to load extension com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI.
Couldn't alloc class "AppleMacRiscHT"
kld(): Undefined symbols:
ZN11IOPCIBridge18compareAddressCellEmPmS0
kldload_frommemory() failed for module com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI
Failed to load extension com.apple.driver.AppleMacRiscPCI.
Couldn't alloc class "AppleMacRiscDART"
ApplePlatformExpert::getGMTTimeOfDay can not provide time of day RTC did not show up

Does it boot into any of these modes?
Target mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
We might get clues with verbose mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492

My Mac won't boot past white screen and startup keys won't work

Hello. I have an iMac not sure what year.
So about a year ago it froze and wouldn't restart, so I neglected it for a year. Now that this my only fixable Mac I have been researching to fix it. I was able to boot into safe mode about a week ago for a little bit but then it froze again. Ever since then none of the startup keys work, even resetting the PRAM, I heard the second ding and then it just brings up the cursor on the white screen with no disk options.
I have an external disk drive connected to the USB I'd like to boot my Mountain Lion from but since the start up keys don't work I don't know how to do that.
Any help would be incredible, I do not care about saving anything from the computer I just want it to work. I hate dealing with the "geniuses" so that's not an option.
Thanks

When you hear the startup tone hold down the Option key and you should be able to boot into the Recovery Partition if you have Lion, Mt. Lion or Mavericks on the internal HD. If even the Option key does not work then your keyboard may have dead batteries or be defective and in need of replacement.
If you have ML on the EHD as a bootable clone then you should be able to boot from it.
My best guess is you have a failed HD though, my advice is to take it in for professional diagnosis to your local Apple Store or AASP and get a quote on what is wrong then decide how you want to proceed.

Booted into white screen

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