Can't locate startup disk while in system recovery

I have a MacBook Pro-version OS X Lion 10.7. The problem I have is that I moved the HD drive on to the dashboard--for some reason I thought it would be more convenient. The next time I turned it on a folder with a ? appeared. I've restarted the Mac while holding down command R and the option key. This is a work computer that I received only a week ago, so sadly I never got to back it up with Time Machine. When the four options come up (time machine, reinstall OSX, help online, and disk utility) I'm limited to help online, which gives me no option of a disk to store it on. My question is if there is anyway to locate my disk drives through Terminal or can I open up the Mac and remove and reinstall the hard drive to reset my settings? Could I also use a blank cd/DVD to install OS X on to? Thanks.

Open Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities.
Does Disk Utility see the drive? In order to reinstall OS X, you have to be able to see the drive in Disk Utility.
Options to try...
Hold down the Option key and restart. This should bring up a list of drives. If you see the Macintosh HD (default name) hold down the Shift key and select the drive. This would boot you in Safe Boot mode.
Another option would be to try resetting PRAM
1.
Shut down your Mac.
2.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3.
Turn on the computer.
4.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
5.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6.
Release the keys.

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Corrupt "Startup Disk" icon in System Prefs

Wish I could post a pic, but I can't. The icon for the Startup Disk in my System Preferences is all messed up. It's way too wide, looks like a light switch with a circle or something down in the corner, and the title isn't even there.
Old skool: rebuild the desktop.
New millennium:...?
Thanks for any suggestions! (All software updates installed.)

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions ...
It could be that your System Preferences are corrupted. It happens... Try this. Locate this file;
com.apple.systempreferences.plist It's here: /Home/Library/Preferences. Open the Preferences folder, locate that file, drag it to the Trash, empty the Trash and reboot. Go to your System Preferences/Startup Disk pane and see if the icon is behaving.
Also, if you haven't already done so, create a new user: System Preferences/Accounts and see if the System Preferences/Startup Disk icon looks like it should in that account. The reason for doing this is to see if the problem is system wide or just your Home Folder.
Also, can't hurt to run Disk Utility. It's in your Applications/Utility folder. Repair Disk Permissions and see if that makes a difference.
Hope something helps!
Carolyn

Option key can't function to access start up manager, so i can't choose startup disk. please help me

option key can't function to access start up manager, so i can't choose startup disk. please help me

If you have Apple Care, call them and get a case number. Otherwise, take the computer to an Apple store or an AASP. Whichever is more convenient for you.

Volumes don't appear in startup disk pane in System Preferences

I have 10.3 on one volume of the original 120 G ATA hard drive. The machine boots fine from that. I have 9.1 and 8.5 on a volume on a 160 G hard drive I just added. Most files and applications all work fine from that drive. Only the volume with 10.3 appears in the startup disk pane in system preferences, except for a network icon. It even took several attempts to have that pane show up the Jaguar CD I put in. Why does the other volume with an OS on it not show up in that pane?
Your help is much appreciated!
Mike

Hi Mike,
"Why does the other volume with an OS on it not show up in that pane?"
Because your computer cannot boot into OS 8 or OS 9 natively and therefore does not even offer it as a boot-system: Macintosh: Some Computers Only Start Up in Mac OS X

Mac Pro (Early 2008) freezes, reboots to recovery system, trouble locating startup disk

I have two issues which may or may not be related with my Mac Pro. First, off and on for several months is has been frozen when waking from sleep. I can hit a key and see my desktop with the windows I left open, but I get the spinning beach ball and the time is typically several hours behind. The only way I can get it to start is to restart from the power button. This typically happens overnight when my computer has been asleep for a long time. Sometimes I hear the fan run while the computer is asleep and I don't know if that is related. I've tried switching from Firefox to Chrome to see if that was the problem since I typically have a few tabs open on Firefox when it freezes, but that does not solve the problem. The next step I plan to try is to get a can of compressed air and clean the fan and check if the video card air intake might be clogged, based on information I have read in various forums. Does anyone have other suggestions for things to try to eliminate the freezing? Another suggestion I read was to get a new logic board battery installed but I hate to lug this thing into an Apple store unless I really have to. Most of the time I'm comfortable fixing things on my own.
The second issue is that when I reboot after shutting down the computer with the power button, it does not always load the startup disk. Sometimes I get the recovery system instead, and if I try disk repair, restore from backup, or the startup disk option from the apple menu, it cannot locate the startup disk. Usually after a few tries, I can restart it and get my desktop, but I'm not sure how long that will work. I hoped that resetting the NVRAM would take care of this but it has not fixed the issue. When I do disk repair, it says the drive is fine. I've also used idefrag to clean up the drive. I'm thinking my hard drive might be about to die and I should just get a new one, but I don't want to spend the money if that is not the issue. I have 83 GB free on the drive so space should not be an issue.
Any suggestions on fixing either or both of these issue would be very much welcome! I need to make this computer last at least a couple more years.
Specs:
Mac Pro early 2008
Processor 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 8 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB
Software OS X 10.8.5 (12F37)

Back up all data immediately as your boot drive may be failing.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator. I've tested them only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'Channel t|GPU D|I/O|n Cause: -' | tail | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

Can't switch Startup Disks - System Freezes

I read and applied many solutions to my problem, but after I switched over from OS 10.2.8 to 9.1 I've had nothing but freezes and can't get out of 9.1. Here's what I tried.
*Holding down the x key.
*Trashing preferences ASLM, Finder, Mac OS, & System
*Holding down keys: Apple, Option, Shift & Delete
*Zapping PRAM: Changed the screen to flashing ? & Mac file folder, then eventually attempted restart but with large images on the screen. It seems like it made it worse.
*Removed the battery. Tried to restart. No change.
*Unplugged the machine, bought a new battery, installed it & plugged in and restarted. Nothing changed.
The computer freezes on Restart unless I hold down the Shift key and starts with Extensions Off.
*Then I went into Control Panels/Startup Disk, switched to 10.2.8, and whether I click on Restart or just highlight 10.2.8 and try to Restart from the drop down menu the machine freezes.
It freezes on regular startup without extensions Off, and any attempt to Restart.
*I also tried Disk First Aid several times. At first I received the message that everything appears to be normal. Then on another attempt I received "Test interrupted because another program is using the disk."
What else can I do? Help!
Thank you,
Dave
G3 Blue Mac OS X (10.2.x) Also 9.1

Hi, David -
Welcome to Apple's Discussions.
From the specs you've given - G3 Blue Mac
Is your machine a G3 B&W (Blue & White) 'tower' model? - or is it an iMac?
If it is an iMac, which specific model? - what is the CPU (machine) speed?
Be sure you have updated the firmware for your model -
Article #86117 - Firmware Updates
Some machines need that firmware update before the X key will force a boot to OSX. If your machine needs a firmware update, it will need to be installed while it is booted to OS 9 from the internal hard drive. Running the firmware installer is safe - if your machine does not need it (such as it has already been done), the installer will so state and refuse to run further.
The Startup Disk control panel that comes with OS 9.1 and earlier is not capable of recognizing OSX as a valid OS. The solution is to either update the OS to OS 9.2.1 or later (which can be done via download updater), or update just the control panel. You can download a replacement control panel from this page -
Startup Disk 9.2.1 Document and Software
It may help to throw away the file named Startup Disk Preferences (System Folder >> Preferences >> Startup Disk Preferences) after replacing that control panel.
FWIW, I've found that using the Restart button in OS 9's Startup Disk control panel usually does not work worth a hoot. What does work, is to make the selection of boot volume/OS in Startup Disk, then close the control panel and use the Restart item in Finder's Special menu.
I also tried Disk First Aid several times. At first I received the message that everything appears to be normal. Then on another attempt I received "Test interrupted because another program is using the disk."
That would indicate you are running Disk First Aid from the hard drive while booted to the hard drive. In order for DFA to do some diagnostics or testing and to do any repairs the machine can not be booted to the hard drive being examined, nor DFA run from it.
The solution for that is to boot to (in this case) an OS 9 Install CD (the most recent one you have valid for that machine - a retail OS 9.1 Install CD is perfect) -and then run DFA from the CD - it can be found in the Utilities folder on any OS 9 install CD.
It freezes on regular startup without extensions Off, and any attempt to Restart.
At what point does it freeze?
- before extensions start to load?
- in the middle of extensions and control panels loading?
- after extensions and control panels have loaded, but before the desktop has fully loaded?
- or some other point?

Can't unlock startup disk in system preferences

I installed Tiger and the startup disk on system preferences is locked so I can't boot into OS9. When I type in my name and password, I get a message saying "type in user name and password." I can log into OSX OK at startup with the same name and password. There are no other users of this computer.
Any ideas?

Hi, Dark-Sabre -
Apple KBase Article HT2176 sets out the requirements for OSX 10.3 (and gives links to articles showing the requirements for later versions of OSX). Included is the need for the machine to have at least 128MB of RAM. Doubling that amount is a more realistic minimum.
As Grant has suggested, be sure the firmware has been updated on the machine. On many model iMacs, early ones in particular, the machine may suffer loss of video if the machine is booted to OSX prior to updating the firmware.

Startup disk App in System preferences not working in one partition

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Mar 29 10:26:21 xxx-xxxxxxx's-powermacg3series /usr/sbin/update: FIXME: IOUnserialize has detected a string that is not valid UTF-8, " ˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇ". I am not sure that this is pertinent, however.
How can I solve this problem without an archive and install on my primary drive?

The G3 is the Blue & White model, 450 MHz, 896 MB RAM. I have 3 HDrives, one with two partitions; all the drives/partitions have Mac OS 10.4.11, except for one which has 9.2.2. The problem has been going on for many months. As I stated, when I am in my primary drive, I cannot get the Startup Disk application in the System Preferences application to boot to any other of the drives/partitions. However, when I am booted in any of those other drives/partitions, I can boot wherever I want to. I suspect that the original installation had a gliche that caused this problem; installations sometimes don't work the first time, but I want to avoid a new archive and install on my primary drive, if I can locate the problem and correct it more directly. Any help you can give I will really appreciate.

Can't switch startup disk back from CD to Hard Drive

I wanted to install Tiger, but it told me that my disk drive had errors that it couldn't repair, so I bout Norton, and but the disk in and told the system to use the CD as the startup disk. Big mistake. I should have just held down the option key while booting and used the Startup Manager. Anyway, I decided that I wasn't ready yet to use Norton, and tried to go back to my usual disk startup, and I can't find a way to get back. Both the Tiger and Norton CDs come up and see the Hard Drive, but neither those CDs nor the Startup Manager will find the Hard drive startup disks.

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Chapter 2.3 of the iWeb FAQ.org site has tips on using some of the existing image, audio and/or video files in the published site in the reconstruction of the site.
OT

I can't find startup disk in Mac OS X Lion window

While performing the following instructions, I coudn't get through step 4 since there is no startup disk appearing in the pane ??
OS X Mavericks: Reinstall OS X
Use the built-in recovery disk to reinstall OS X while keeping your files and user settings intact.
Important: You must be connected to the Internet to reinstall OS X.
Choose Apple menu > Restart. Once your Mac restarts (and the gray screen appears), hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys.
If you’re not connected to the Internet, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu (in the top-right corner of the screen).
Select Reinstall OS X, then click Continue.
Follow the onscreen instructions. In the pane where you select a disk, select your current OS X disk (in most cases, it’s the only one available).

Marc Chabot wrote:
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)...
Since your MBP came with Snow Leopard (OS 10.6.x) and you're referring to the Mac OS Lion window in Recovery Mode, do you have Mavericks currently installed or Lion? If you boot and hold down the Option Key after the chime, you'll invoke Startup Manager and you should see a row of bootable partitions. The Recovery Partition should say what the operating system number is (e.g., 10.7.5, 10.8.3). If it's 10.7.x, which is Lion, and you've already installed Mavericks, the issue may be that you can't install an older OS (Lion) directly over a newer OS (Mavericks).

Why does my mac show in Startup Disk section of System Preferences that I have OS X Lion Server?

I have bought my Macbook pro half a year ago and I have recently installed Windows 7 on it in addition to OS X Lion. The problem is that Startup Disk in System Preferences shows that I have a Server version, while I don't. How can it be possible? And is it possible to fix it?

You should post that on the Boot Camp forum, that is where all the Boot Camp and Windows guys hang out.
Good luck.

Can't reinstall Windows 7 with Operating System Recovery Disk x120e

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Hello,
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I am a volunteer and neither a Lenovo nor a Microsoft employee. • Dexter is a good dog • Dexter je dobrý pes
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Can't change startup disk

Disk Utility reported, in bright red letters, an impending fatal hardware error on the internal hard drive in my iMac G5. I got an external firewire drive, and cloned the internal drive to the external drive.
Then, in System Preference -> Startup Disk, I select the external drive as the startup disk and restart. It then restarts -- with the internal drive.
What do I need to do to change the startup disk?

Try starting from your install disc with the clone plugged in, then select it as the startup disk.

IMac won't locate startup disk

Hi everyone, I hope you're having a great weekend!
My iMac is less than 2 years old and all of a sudden it won't start. It fails at log in and makes me do an online repair, then takes me to a screen with 4 options, restore from Time Machine, Reinstall iOSX, seach online & Disk Utility. And a few times I've received the folder with a question mark error also.
I've read through a few help articles and they all seem to want to direct me to choose my startup disk and that's where my problem is.
The Apple Menu is almost empty and I can't access any other apps.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks so much!!!

Your startup disk is no longer working properly. You need to reinstall OS X. On your next restart you will be presented with the Recovery HD's Utilities Menu. Do the following:
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility 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 Disk Utility and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X 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.
Alternatively, see:
Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Choose the version you have installed now:
OS X Yosemite- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Getting error code 0x400110020000100b while doing system recovery for windows vista 32 bit.

I attempted to do a system recovery on my Laptop using the included recovery discs and got this error 0x400110020000100B. THe disc looked pretty beat so last week I ordered a new set. Now when I got to put disc 2 in (at 80% complete) I get the same error. I called customer support and he took me through the F9 process to no avail and I've also tried the F11 approach which got me no where. I'm frustrated because I really don;t have the money for a new laptop.
Laptop is a HP Pavilion DV6700.
Any help would be appreciated more than you know.
System is Windows Vista 32 bit
The guy on the phone said "well ya know thats a pretty old computer"...gee thanks..
This question was solved.
View Solution.

You're very welcome.

Can't locate startup disk while in system recovery

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