Booting holding the alt key

I try to boot my newly bought Mac Pro holding the alt key but I only get a blanc screen.
Holding shift or "c" or "d" is working, but it seems to freeze on holding the option-key.
I already tried to remove everything that is not "standard" (PCI eSata card, extra hdd).
Even did a clean reinstall of the OS but nothings helps.
Couldn't find much answers on the net.
Anybody a idea or suggestion?

What I did:
Booted from the original install dvd, started diskutility, checked al partitions (bootable and not).
No problem found.
Still with the install dvd in the optical I removed all hdd's and tried to boot with the alt-key. white screen.
I disconnected the optical drive and put one hdd with 2 partitions back in place. white screen.
Still with only 1 hdd I disconnected everything except the keyboard.
=> 2 bootable partitions found . . . whoohoo.
Connected 1 device at a time back untill I got again a white screen without bootable partition.
The ethernetconnection seems to be the guilty one.
RJ45 disconnected => correct startup with ALT-key
RJ45 connected => white screen.
I tried it several times so I'm sure about this.
The MP is connected to a small gigabitswitch from d-link.
Nothing special in the network.
A solution or reason for this would be nice, but now I know how to work around, so the 'urge' is gone now?

Similar Messages

Booting with the alt key shows non bootable volumes

When booting my MBP with the alt key pressed, non bootable volumes (partitions) are displayed. Has anybody else experienced the same thing?
I would like to know how to remove the non bootable partitions from the System Startup Manager.
Tanks

I have a similar situation with my Quicksilver (2002) G4. Holding down the option key at startup reveals a volume, in my case, that has not been connected to the computer for months and is not connected now. Resetting PRAM and NVRAM does not remove it.

I copied our entire music folder from old PC on tovnew iMac, all our muisc is there, but not our individual libraries have gone. and holding down the alt key when opening iTunes, brings up no options to choose or create libarys, can i recover our liba

Hi
I copied our entire music folder from our old pc on to the new imac, and all the apps, music etc is there, but no individual libarys, we had 5 very different ones, when pressing and holding the alt key on opeing itunes, nothing happens it just opens into itunes, no option to choose or create a libary, what am i doing wrong?

Did you copy the entire iTunes folder, not just media? This includes the critical library.itl file.
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/message/13025536 and https://discussions.apple.com/message/17457605
Now you say you had 5 libraries. If you really mean that then you would have to have copied 5 different iTunes folders in their entirety, not just one folder. Anyway, something makes me feel you did not copy a whole iTunes folder and all its subfolders and files, you only copied the music.
On the starting with the option (alt) key held down I really don't know what to advise. It works for me hundreds of times and just about everybody else here. The only thing I can suggest is to hold the key down longer or perhaps start iTunes and then 1 second later hold down the key for a few seconds.

PP CC. The alt key no longer lets me click to seperate A from V but the shift does...How do i fix it

PC
When i hold the alt key & click on either the video or its linked audio it is supposed to only select 1 part but it stopped working. It selects both A&V. Weird also, If i hold the shift key then click, then it works.
Totally messing me up as i work on 4 different PP CC systems & only 1, of them is doing this.
Any idea how to switch it back? I tryed looking in the keyboard short cuts but could not find anything. I also copied the .kys from 1 system to this one & still no change.

That is messed up. Try resetting preferences.
https://blogs.adobe.com/genesisproject/2011/02/premiere-pro-cs5-maintenance-two-great-tips .html

I have a new HD installed and bought a new mac os x 10.6 don't have the admin password, after booting and pressing alt key a padlock shows up but don't have a password. what can i do

i just got a macbook pro harddrive wasn't good so got a new one in and bought mac os x 10.6 to install.
unfortunately after inserted the disc in the drive, and press the alt key, a padlock shows up requiring a password but a don't have the password. there is nothing on the harddrive running. is there anything you can help me with. thank you.
caboampong

caboampong wrote:
bought mac os x 10.6 to install.unfortunately after inserted the disc in the drive,.....
I'm confused
I took this to mean that your DID have an install disk.
By holding down the "C" key, you are booting to the install CD.
Alternatively, you can hold down the "option" key, to select which drive to which you want to boot.

Why my Startup Manager does not appear when I hold the Option key when starting to boot.

I no longer have the Startup Manager appearing when I hold the Option key when starting to boot.
Instead, the system just boots into whichever OS was last selected in the Startup Disk Preference.
How to get back my Startup Manager so that I can boot up from my external hard disk.
Thank you.

Can you please run the following in terminal and post the output in your reply:
diskutil list; echo; nvram -p | grep boot-args; echo

I did hold the ALT cmand r key but i cant see the globe i dont know how i can fix my macbook pro late 2008 can any 1 plzzzz help me im very upsate but i live PAKISTAN in here i cant find os x lion disk i dont know what to do if i get the os x lion usb

i did hold the ALT cmand r key but i cant see the globe i dont know how i can fix my macbook pro late 2008 can any 1 plzzzz help me im very upsate but i live PAKISTAN in here i cant find os x lion disk i dont know what to do if i get the os x lion usb

That does not work on model year older then 2010 and really doesn't work on any older then late 2011 models.
You will need a set of original system dvd disc thjat are always sypplied with every mac sold before Lion came out. Systems older then late release early 2011 models.
If you don't have them you kcan order a replacement set from apple by calling them. Have the serial number of you mac handy.

Boot while holding the OPTION key doesn't work.

This is really dumb. I was thinking today my passwords were too weak, so I set out to put Keychains to use. First thing I did was reset my login password - but then changed my mind and reset it again. Didn't write any of this down and now I can't correctly type in an admin password.
SO I searched and found how to boot into the "Recovery Partition" by restarting while holding the OPTION key. This worked! I used the resetpassword in Terminal - and successfully reset the ROOT administrator password. I figured that was me. And my advisor (article I found on-line) didn't mention NOT to.
I still need to reset my admin user password, but now when I try to do the Recovery Partition trick my display remains blank. I can tell it's powered up, but no progress bar or apple logo... One further clue is that if I give up and let go of the OPTION key (because nothing at all is happening) five minutes pass (not 20 seconds or so like the time it worked) and the computer starts up as usual. No "OS X Utilities" window, just the everyday wallpaper and file folders.
So that's my situation. Many thanks in advance.
I should mention, I'm using a mac Pro and the latest version of Yosemite. And a hardwired keyboard and mouse...

Is the key(s) stuck, or sticky or not very responsive?
try another keyboard, any usb keyboard for windows or another mac should work.
try flipping your keyboard over and letting it bang on the desktop, your r key could be gunked up and the contact might have failed. Depending on the model keyboard liquid or food or something else could be trapped, the older bondi-plastic ones do this more than the aluminum-plastic ones but the key could need a good smacking,.

My early Intel iMac running Snow Leopard will not boot past the apple logo. I have tried holding the c key and inserting the install disk, but nothing. What do I try next?

My early Intel iMac running Snow Leopard will not boot past the apple logo. I have tried holding the c key and inserting the install disk, but nothing. What do I try next?

I have tried resetting PRAM and all other items listed in the Apple support site. This happened after an update to iTunes was added. Also this is happening to other people. Please help.

Aperture beachballs every load, unless I hold the shift key on boot

I am using the latest Aperture. I had recently re-done MobileMe password. Some unknown process kicks in a few seconds after starting Aperture.
If I force quit and then restart Aperture holding the SHIFT Key down, I can get into it in a normal fashion, but I can't find the process that creates the beachballing. Any thoughts and ways to determine this. I have redone permissions, etc.

If your sig is correct and you are indeed using a G5 iMac you have about the weakest box that will even run Aperture. Expect terrible performance. Sorry. Also, do update your OS to 10.4.11.
FWIW the Sandy Bridge MBPs with HD 6750M graphics are the first mobility-type boxes that are not limiting to Aperture. Strong new iMacs too will be out soon, very likely next week.
In any event here is some generic advice I posted in another thread:
Aperture is a heavy pro graphics app that is very demanding of hardware. Your Mac's CPU, GPU and/or RAM are probably limiting to Aperture so we need to do what we can to optimize. Some steps:
• Set Previews to only be built manually, and only tell Aperture to build Previews when you are not otherwise editing in Aperture.
• Keep the internal drive underfilled for speed, which sooner or later usually requires using a Referenced-Masters-Library with Masters on external drives. Back up originals before importing into Aperture or any other images app.
• The Aperture Library should be on an internal drive.
• Turn off Share Previews with iLife and iWork.
• Remember that HDs slow as they fill and keep the internal drive underfilled. Approx. 70% full maximum is a good guideline.
• If page outs increase significantly during operation, max out RAM and/or try to run Aperture by itself. On my C2D MBP with its max of 3 GB RAM I always did a restart prior to a heavy Aperture session to clear any memory leaks and make sure no other apps were open. Browsers in particular will often suck RAM Aperture would otherwise be using.
IMO all Aperture users who can should routinely bump RAM to at least 8 GB.
• Some users have observed that it can take a new Aperture installation time (weeks) to stabilize. So do not panic; and allow Aperture to continue background work by not fully shutting down the computer. Personally I never fully shut down Macs except during electrical storms.
• I recommend always repairing Permissions immediately _before_ and immediately _after_ every install of any kind.
Some folks consider it a waste of time but after years of listening to others have problems while I have had problem-free usage of heavy graphics apps (Aperture, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Painter, etc.) on multiple Macs I am fully convinced that although repairing Permissions is not a "fix" it is very useful maintenance for users of heavy graphics apps.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

On my macbook pro i have to hold the alt/option button when starting up...

otherwise windows xp is the default hardrive that starts.....how to change the default hardrive at start up to be the mac? it's just getting annoying always having to hold the alt/option button at start up

Hi brazzy3,
Welcome to the forum.
You can set the default startup disk from within System Preferences in OSX. Simply fire up System Preferences, select Startup Disk then select the volume you want to startup from automatically.
Boot Camp Beta also installs a Startup Disk control panel that lets you set the default operating system when you’re running Windows XP.

Is there a way to change the Alt key to the Ctrl Key?

Is there a to access the Alt key screen functions (the quick Eyedrop, (holding Alt and click the color) and the Zoom in and Zoom out (holding alt alt and scrolling with the mouse wheel) with other key instead of alt, for instance the Ctrl key?
It is really annoying to me to deal with it, because in my shortcut configuration I use the keys "Q" and "W" to increace and decrease the size of the brush and the keys "A" and "S" to increase and decrease the hardness of the brush. What happens is that when I hold Alt to pick a color or to zoom, it calls the menu bar's shortcuts (it underlines the menu shortcuts) , so If I do so and press "S" it calls the Select menu, which is not what I'm trying to do.
In Gimp, the pick a color and zoom in and zoom out actions are configured to work with the Ctrl key instead of Alt, so the shortcut menus are not an issue. Is there anyway to switch it to Ctrl? Is there anyway to make the Alt stop calling the menu bar?
Thanks

Hello, Other than a keyboard remapping software, you might be out of luck.

I can't get adobe reader x to copy a column with the alt key, can someone help me.

I can't get adobe reader x to copy a column with the alt key, can someone help me.

Hello Pat,
Thank you for getting back to me. I have a table with columns in it and I’m trying to copy just one of the columns, think of it as a stock table you would get in a newspaper and I just want to copy the column that has all the symbols in it. I use to be able to do this with no problem in previous versions of Adobe Reader by just putting my cursor next to the column I wanted, holding down the Alt key and selecting the data I wanted . But with the new version that came with my new laptop running Window 8.0 I can not accomplish this task. Adobe Reader wants to copy everything in the table. I would take a screen shot to show you, but when I open Reader, it takes over my entire screen and I can not get back to my task bar or desktop without closing the app. If you could also tell me how to correct or adjust this annoyance I would appreciate it. Needless to say I’m not currently a big fan of the new version of Reader. Is there any way I can go back to a previous version of the product with Windows 8 as my OS?
Thanks you for your help with this,
Ed

HT201257 for me it doesnt work , I hold the D key , but nothing happened :( , what should i do to check my Hardware ?

I have MAc book pro 15-inch, Early 2011 , I want to check my hardware , but when I hold the D key , nothing happened
what should I do , if I want to check my hardware?

Try option d.
This will attempt to load an Internet version of Apple Hardware Test.
If this still does not work, you must boot from your original Applications DVD. It is the one bearing the text "AHT version xxxx" on it.

How do I disable the alt key function?

I have tried to clean my alt key on my macbook keyboard and now my macbook is acting like the key is hold down all the time eventhough it's not. Have tried to play around with the key, but its still the same. I wonder if I can disable the functions of the alt key in the mac os?

you can do it system preferences->keyboard and mouse->keyboard->modifier keys. set "option" to no action. however, option is really a pretty useful key so you might consider trying to fix you keyboard.

Booting holding the alt key

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for