Can't get past the spinning gear

My computer is stuck. Won't do anything except show me the gray Apple with the spinning gear below. As it's doing this, the fans slowly ramp up until they're unbearably loud. Hard shutdown, repeat.
Hold 'c' with Tiger CD in drive, no response.
Hold 'Shift' for Safe Boot, nada.
Hold 's' for single-user mode, zilch.
Fans getting louder...
Must reboot.
Repeat.
This occurred after a hard crash. I opened iPhoto, it started to update my thumbnails since I just installed iLife 06, and it froze.
Now it's dead.
This is the 3rd time in 4 months this has happened and the previous 2 times I had to re-install the OS. But none of the methods of installing are working (keyboard entry during startup).

I saw a G5 recently which was having this problem.
The person shut down the computer waiting for me to turn up and when I did and he switched it on again, it worked.
Try shutting down the machine and switch off at the wall.
Startup the computer again holding down ShiftApple+PR keys until you hear the chime 3 times, then see if it initiates a proper startup.
If it was a hard crash you have had then it is likely the directories have become corrupt, or slightly worse the system itself.
If you can attach another Mac which has the same system version installed via firewire and startup the G5 into Firwire Target Disk Mode. You could run Disk First Aid via Disk Utility on it.
Mark

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My imac won't startup past the spinning gear and my apple keyboard is wireless but it won't connect, how do I fix the problem so I can get into safe mode?
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Please follow Apple's advice in http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570. If you need to get your hands on a wired USB keyboard, even a PC one will work fine.
Do not follow the previous poster's advice, that option is a "last chance" option. OS X is stable and in most cases a reinstall is never needed. Follow the directions in Apple's letter.

I recently added photoshop elements 12 to my computer but can't get past the initial log in screen. It goes gray and spins. any thoughts?

I recently added photoshop elements 12 to my computer but can't get past the initial log in screen. It goes gray and spins. I have a current serial number and log in ID/password but still not working. Any thoughts?

Hello,
I recommend you contact AT&T's dedicated BB Support staff (call their front line, request escalation to BB Support) and have them check to be sure that your account with them is correctly configured for this device. Sometimes when switching devices things don't fully automatically move behind the scenes, and only they (ATT) can validate that.
Good luck and let us know!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
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I can't get past the Gray apple screen during start-up Help!!!

I went to open my system pref. folder and when it wouldnt open I restarted it and now I can't get past the first screen of the Gray screen with the apple in the middle and the little spinning circle under it. Can anyone help me? have had several problems with this computer!!! I just had to have a whole new harddrive put in about a month ago.
powerbook g4 15 inch Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Welcome to the Discussions!
The first thing to do would be to boot from your original Disk 1 by:
1. Inserting the disc, pressing the power button, and immediately after the startup chime, press and hold the C key until you see the spinning gear icon appear on the grey splash screen.
2. After the machine has booted, pick your language, and when the Installer window appears, do not press Continue, but go to the Utilities menu in the menubar and open Disk Utility.
3. In Disk Utility, choose your normal startup volume in the pane on the left and then click Repair Disk. If any errors show in the window, run Repair Disk again until you see 'The volume appears to be OK' in green.
4. Quit Disk Utility, quit the installer and attempt to restart into your regular startup volume.
Please update your profile so we have a clearer picture of your particular machine.
Joe
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/joeuu/.Pictures/groundzero5.jpg"width="20"

I can't get past the grey apple screen using mavericks

I can't get past the grey apple screen trying to boot up with Mavericks. I had been using Mavericks for about a month (only had issues of freezing occasionally). I read in one of the posts here that I should try holding command R down when booting. I did now I just get a grey screen without the apple. Any advise?
I have a Mac Mini

Hello ther cnickers,
It sounds like the initial install of Mavericks went ok, and you have been using it for a while, but now cannot boot to your desktop and are stuck at a gray screen with an Apple logo. I would recommend a couple of things here:
First, try performing a Safe Boot to see if that will load up for you. If so then leave Safe Boot and restart from the Apple menu to try and get to your deskop:
To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), follow these steps.
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key.
The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
After the logo appears, you should see a progress bar during startup. This indicates that your computer is performing a directory check as part of Safe Mode.
To leave Safe Mode, restart your computer without holding any keys during startup.
From: Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564
If that works fine, I would next also verify and repair your disk if needed.
Disk Utility 12.x: Repair a disk
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Print this help page so you can refer to it later. (You don’t have access to Disk Utility Help when you restart up your computer in the next step.)In the Disk Utility Help window, choose Print from the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear).
Choose Apple menu > Restart. Hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys as your computer restarts.When you see a white screen with an Apple logo in the middle, you can release the keys.
Click Disk Utility, and then click Continue.
In the list at the left, select the item you want to repair. (Be sure to select an item that’s indented to the right in the list, not an item at the far left.)
Click First Aid.
If Disk Utility tells you the disk is about to fail, back it up and replace it. You can’t repair it.
Click Repair Disk.If Disk Utility reports that the disk appears to be OK or has been repaired, you’re done. Otherwise, you may need to do one of the following steps.
If Disk Utility reports “overlapped extent allocation” errors, two or more files occupy the same space on your disk, and at least one of them is likely to be corrupted. Check each file in the list of affected files. If you can replace a file or recreate it, delete it. If it contains information you need, open it and examine its data to make sure it hasn’t been corrupted. (Most of the files in the list have aliases in a DamagedFiles folder at the top level of your disk.)
If Disk Utility can’t repair your disk or it reports “The underlying task reported failure,” try to repair the disk or partition again. If that doesn’t work, back up as much of your data as possible, reformat the disk, reinstall Mac OS X, and then restore your backed-up data.If you continue to have problems with your disk, it may be physically damaged and need to be replaced.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Sterling

My MacBook Air can't get past the gray screen with the apple logo. What's the fix?

My MacBook Air can't get past the gray screen with the Apple logo, so I can't login. Does anyone know the fix for this?

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 Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
How to back up and restore your files
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 by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
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
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.
Before reconnecting an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode.* The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
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.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Post for further instructions.
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 damaged and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, 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 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see above for instructions.) 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 produces. Look for the line "Permissions repaired successfully" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Boot into Recovery again. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to 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.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, 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 backup.
Step 8
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

I have an iPhone 4 and my lock button is jammed and I also can not touch anything on the left side of my screen well as any pop ups from the phone itself, so i can not get past the set up stage in reset process...how can i fix it/can it be fixed?

I have an iPhone 4 and my lock button is jammed and I also can not touch anything on the left side of my screen well as any pop ups from the phone itself, so i can not get past the set up stage in reset process...how can i fix it/can it be fixed?

Make an appointment at the genius bar and get the phone replaced.

I have a issue with my mac book pro. For some reason it won't stay powered on. I can't get past the apple loading logo. The battery is fully charged so it is not the problem. Can anyone tell me what the problem may be and how can i get it resolved?

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Apple is becoming more like Microsoft every day.

TS1398 i can't get past the Wi-fi connection on my IPod touch

i can't get past the wi fi connection on my ipod touch please help me?

What are you doing?
What happens when your try to connect/ Error message?
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Purchased Lion, installed it - once I log in - i get the curtain and message to hold the power button till it shuts down. Worked with the disk repair utility - fixed permissions - still can't get past the "black curtain of death" any suggestions?

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And you have a workstation? not a notebook.
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You know of course what a Prohititory Sign is?
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I restored my hard drive with time machine but when I log in I get "home folder protected by fire vault and needs to be repaired. But I can't get past the regular log

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Maybe you might find some info to the right>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

TS5376 I just attempted to update my apple iTunes to 11.1.4 which resulted in the msvcr80.dll error message. I followed all of the instructions above and now I can't get past the Service 'Apple Mobile Divice failed to start. Help!!!

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FORCE IPAD INTO RECOVERY MODE
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3. Plug USB cable into computer's USB port
4. Hold Home button down and plug the other end of cable into docking port.
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5. Release Home button.
ON COMPUTER
6. iTunes has detected iPad in recovery mode. You must restore this iPad before it can be used with iTunes.
7. Select "Restore iPad"...
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Can't get past the spinning gear

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