Cant get my iMac to boot up from Installation disc

I ran disc utitliy on my imac to speed up things, clean things up as its running a bit rough (slow). The utility said I had some major problems w HD and that I should restart from installation disc so it can perform the repair. Tried to boot from the original Install disc. Holding "C" on start up did nothing, it just starts off the hard drive. Held "option" key on restart and it allowed me to select the boot from drive. I selected the install disc. Then I got the gray screen w the Apple logo. And that was it. Sat there and waited 15 minutes. Nothing else came up. Did a force restart and Im back to square one. Any ideas? Im running OS 10.6.8

Hi Colleen
Startup holding the Option key and see if your Macintosh HD is present and selectable as a startup volume?
Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
If not, then dig out the original gray Tiger Install Disc 1 that came with your iMac and run the Extended Apple Hardware Test.
Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test
Dennis

Similar Messages

MBP 15" 10.6 does not boot up from Installation disc, why??????

Good day,
my question is simple, so please let the answer be simple:
I have done partition on my MBP today, in order to give me more redundancy in case of a Hard drive failure. I witnessed one yesterday on a brand spanking Imac--> not pretty--> the white screen of death!! I thought I´d better cover myself and I split my HD in two--> no probs.
Anyways, I decided to try to boot from my original installation disc--> 10.5.7, Leopard.
I booted while pressing "C", or holding "Option"……and always ended up with the same thing:
It just takes me to a language selection screen, I selected my language, and then it takes me to the software installation--> but I don´t want that--> I just want to reboot from my disc--> as a general test. (Just in case of that dreaded white screen, one day!!)
So, I went to to "Stop installation" in the menu above, and I chose "Reboot" and then I chose my installation disc--> and again and again, it just takes me back to the language screen etc etc etc!!
It´s like a Merry go Round………….
What am I missing??
My Snow Leopard installation disc does exactly the same, by the way…………..
Cheers,
MXP 150 Patriot

"perhaps I didn´t explain myself properly:
I would like to boot up from my installation disc, in other words, being able to log in and see my Desktop etc.
All I get from my disc is an installation menu (after the language selection) and if I try to boot up from there (to my desktop / background etc) by selecting "stop installation--> start up disc".........it goes back to the language selection and the software installation........just where I was 3 minutes ago!
What am I doing wrong?
My friend booted up the other day from his FireWire external hard drive and he got everything, SO quick! His personal desktop, everything!
Hopefully you can tell me what I´m missing........."
You're missing the point. When you boot from your installation disk it's to install the OS and/or repair the disk and check the hardware, etc.. Your friend has a bootable external drive. he used the OS Installation disk to create that.

My G5 iMac cannot boot up from its hard disk

My G5 iMac cannot boot up from its hard disk - I get the alternating Mac OS folder and the ? Folder which I understand means the system cannot be found.
On recommendation from a friend I tried replacing the battery - no difference.
However, I can boot up from the CD/DVD drive from the OSX installer disk, DiskWarrior, Drive Genius and Techtools Pro. But none of these utilities can see my hard disk to see if it needed repairing.
In fairness at one point DiskWarrior did see the drive and I was able to replace the directory safely. However, on subsequent reboots nothing can see the disk.
Suspecting the hard disk I bought a new one and a USB/SATA casing to mount the old drive in to see if I could get anything off of it. The good news so far is that the old drive (now mounted in the new USB casing) can be seen and read on my daughters iMac. So all my information is safe and also now backed up.
Having installed the new disk I found it also cannot be seen by any of the above utilities. I have since formatted it in the USB casing and put it back in the iMac but it still cannot be seen.
As a test I installed a new system on an old 40Gig Lacie Firewire drive attached to my iMac. This works and boots ok - sometimes.
I am now experiencing the necessity to force shutdown and restart from the startup button several times before the external disk is recognised. And most times it freezes after 30 minutes or so.
I might also add that after some force shutdowns/startup I get little or no chimes. And sometimes when trying to reset the PRAM get no second chime. On other occasions I do.
Now I am totally stuck and wondering if anyone can throw some light on why my iMac can boot up from a variety of CD/DVD utilities and sometimes an external Firewire disk but not from its own hard disk which, as I have already said, can be seen on my daughter's iMac but not by mine, so its not the disk.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all before I bite the bullet and take it in for a diagnosis and repair (depending on cost).
Thanks

Could be the logic board, in which case you would need to take it in. Since the drives are good, and the directory was repaired, the logic board is about all I can think of.

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First of all, try a hard restart; making sure no disks are in the slot, unplug everything from your computer (keyboards, mice, etc.) and then unplug the computer itself. Leave it unplugged for a minute or two, then plug it back in and boot it up.
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If that fails, reboot it while holding down the shift-key on your keyboard. It should take a while for it to boot up, as it is destroying all connections to sources that may contain a virus.
If that fails, reboot it while holding down keys "option-command-P-R" until you hear the startup tone a second time.
If that fails, reboot it while holding down the C-key. Make sure you have inserted the installation disk before doing this step.
If that fails, reboot it while holding down the command-key and the R-key.
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I can't get my iMac to accept a CD/DVD disc. It acts like there's already one in there but there isn't. Tried the help menu but nothing worked.Suggestions?

I can't get my iMac to accept a CD/DVD disc. It acts like there's already one in there but there isn't. Tried the help menu but nothing worked.Suggestions?

Thank you, Allen. My iMac is a 2009. I can't shine a light into the disc drive slot as it has a built in whisker cover that prevents anything from getting in. It will accept a disc half way in before the disc reaches a springy obstruction.
About 3 weeks ago, the computer locked up so I inserted the OS disc and reinstalled it. In general, the computer works just like it used to but we've had a few quirks appear; for example, this is one of them. Also, we can't figure out how to keep from having to sign-in when we turn the computer on. Also, we can't access our one on-line account anymore. Very strange.
Dave
P.S.: Just realized I mis-spelled your name. Sorry Allan.
Message was edited by: DTabbert

HT4904 I need to repair my start up disc so I have to start up from installation disc. In doing so, my computer restarts, I hear the mac sound, then a grey screen and then turns off and goes on in this cycle endlessly. Why can't I restart from disc?

I need to repair my start up disc so I have to start up from installation disc. In doing so, my computer restarts, I hear the mac sound, then a grey screen and then turns off and goes on in this cycle endlessly. Why can't I restart from disc?

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.

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Hello everybody out there in the community,
while preparing my system to update to Lion, I noticed, that my Imac appears not to boot from an external HD, when selected. When I press option-key and select the clone HD, I nevertheless hear the booting from the internal HD. Tried with firewire and with USB connection to no avail. Both ext. HD's are formatted MAC OS extended (journaled), with a GUID partition.
Any tips, hints or ideas will be appreciated!
Thank you!
(Specs: 3,6 GHz Intel Core i5)

Selected the clone from Preferences > Startup, did a reboot and it still appears that the booting is from the internal HD. I mean it appears like 90% of the booting sound comes from the internal HD, there is only a bit of light flicker (LED) at the beginning and the end of the booting process on the external HD. The clone is named 'clone'.
I did booting from an external HD on my old G5 imac a good few times, it took a while longer and I coud hear and see the booting (LED) from external HD, so I have kind of a 'feeling' how it should be like.
The external HD starts up no problem. It appears on the desktop, I can select it under Preferences > Startup and it shows up during startup using option-key.
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Can't get my Imac to boot from CD rom

Sorry for posting the same thread. I made a mistake on the last threads title but I marked the last one as answered. Anyways,I'am trying to use the Mac install CD version of disk utility to repair parts of the disk that can't be repaired by the one on the operating system. I tried holding option key. Whenever I click CD rom, it still boots from the hard drive. I also tried using system preferences to boot boot from CD rom, holding c at startup, and holding cmd option shift delete at startup and it still boots from the hard drive. Why is the computer doing this?

Selected the clone from Preferences > Startup, did a reboot and it still appears that the booting is from the internal HD. I mean it appears like 90% of the booting sound comes from the internal HD, there is only a bit of light flicker (LED) at the beginning and the end of the booting process on the external HD. The clone is named 'clone'.
I did booting from an external HD on my old G5 imac a good few times, it took a while longer and I coud hear and see the booting (LED) from external HD, so I have kind of a 'feeling' how it should be like.
The external HD starts up no problem. It appears on the desktop, I can select it under Preferences > Startup and it shows up during startup using option-key.
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Firstly apologies for any spelling or typos but I'm typing from my iPod touch!
My initial problem was that my mac kept crashing soon after start up on 10.6.7. After installing the is back to 10.6 it seemed to be work ok but not great. After updating to 10.6.7 the problem came back so once again I reverted back to 10.6. Then 10.6.8 was released not long ago so I gave it a try... Same issue.
Now I want to revert back to 10.6 but it's not letting get past the grey screen with the apple logo with the spinning thing underneath. I have tried resettin smu and pram but I get nowhere. Booting from my snow leopard disk to revert no longer works. So where do I go from here???
Please help somebody.
Thanks,
Carl

So as it stands my iMac has the Snow Leopard disc inside as the startup disc. As a result it is now not allowing me to boot up in safe mode and perform smu or pram resets. It goes straight to the grey screen with the Apple logo with the spinning thing underneath.
It just keeps spinning and spinning i thought i'd persevere and leave it and see what happens. TWICE i've left it hanging for 2 hours (while i popped out) and came back with the same grey screen.
This is now worrying me because as a worse case scenario i cannot even remove all my data before trashing it (or throwing it out of the window which seems like the more attractive option right now).
If anybody out there has any more suggestions please please put a post on here.
Many thanks in advance,
Carl.
PS. Why wouldn't it even attempt to start for the snow leopard disc? I can understand that it can't boot from the system but surely booting up from the DVD should always work???

Can't boot Classic from installation disk/stuck in Assistant loop

I have a Mac G4 on which I recently (and foolishly) decided to install the OX 10.0.4. The computer now is stuck in a loop in which it goes to Assistants (there are none to specify) and refuses to let me do anything else, including Force Quit, logout, or even shut down the machine without pressing the power button. I have even unplugged it and let it sit for a couple of hours with no effect. It will not boot from the installation disk of 9.2 by holding C at startup. I held down Ctrl and C at startup and arrived at a cursor and black screen, but I don't know what to do with that other than type exit and allow the computer to continue startup and its infernal loop sequence.
I have a G5 on which I'm running 10.4, so all I want to do is return to my happy world of the Classic environment on my G4. Any assistance will be helpful.

jeffripple,
1. About getting out of the Setup Assistant:
• Will the Command + Period keys stop the Setup Assistant? (This is from OS 9. On some machines, that key combination will open or close the tray.)
• Is there a Quit option under the File Menu at the top of the screen?
• Is there an Assistants item in the Menu bar at the top of the screen?
2. About getting the machine to boot from a CD:
• What happens if you press Option - Command - Shift - Delete during startup to bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)?
See: Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
• Have you tried the steps in this link to see if it clearing the parameter RAM allows you to start up from an Operating System install CD which is capable of booting your machine?
Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
Sincerely,
No Alibi.
 Backup what you can't afford to lose. Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Won't boot from installation disc

I'd like to reinstall Tiger. The installation disc mounts on the desktop and opens. I click on the install icon to restart the computer and boot from the disc and the computer crashes. I have two Tiger installation discs, crashes using either one. I tried it with a Panther installation disc but same thing--crashes. I've tried booting by holding down the C key--crashes. The drive burns successfully and reads successfully. There was no hint of a problem before this.
thoughts anyone
mark

Hi-
If the proper version of the OS software, have you disconnected any third party peripherals, especially USB devices?
Could also try a Single user boot (command + s on startup) , and run fsck to see if there is something amiss on the harddrive.
One other thought, from Safe Mode boot (hold "Shift" on startup), try the OS X install disc.
Yet, one more thought, a simple PRAM reset may be all that's needed.

How do i get my serial number when installing from a disc

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If you have the installation disc then the serial number should be located on the disc case that the disc comes in.
Find your serial number quickly

Start up problems, including from installation disc.

Hello everyone in the Apple ether, I need your help!
I have a powerpc based iMac G5 at home that I set up for my mum to use once I bought my macbook. I finally managed to win her over with talks of how much easier it would be for her to manage her photos in iPhoto, and everything was going really well. I recently came home after my final year at uni and some travelling to find that the computer is taking a long time to start up. This can be in both the grey apple loading screen but also once it logs in it can take a long time to display anything over than the desktop background, and even once it displays other items any attempt to open anything just results in a spinning wheel icon. At the worst case it has taken about 20 minutes to get going.
Once it has fully booted, the machine doesn't appear to be working any slower than normal. I tried using disk utility in mac OSX and verifying permissions etc and that didn't do anything. I then tried googling the problem and came across this article on the apple web site. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
Starting in Safe Mode did not resolve the issue so after backing everything up I tried starting from the installation disc. This is not something I have ever done before and as someone that never really delves beneath the surface of her machines I was a bit scared of doing it. But I put the disc in and restarted and held down C just after I heard the chime, and shortly after it all went wrong. The screen went grey and all I could see was the image you get when it crashes (you know, the power sign with text over it saying you need to restart) with lines of code all down the left of the screen. I took a photo of the screen on my camera so can give details of the code if you need them. The last line said
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.8.3: Wed Oct 18 22:00:38 PDT 2006; root:xnu-792.15.4.obj-4/RELEASE_PPC
panic: We are hanging here...
After a few minutes on this screen the fan started working overtime and after about 5 minutes of that I just turned it off using the power button on the back. The machine has since started up normally (ie slowly) but is working fine.
So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how to fix the slow start up problem without booting from my install disc, or indeed if anyone could suggest why I can't boot from my install disc? Thanks very much for your time and help.

It appears you experienced a kernel panic which is hardware related. A few suggestions for you to try:
Except for the keyboard & mouse, disconnect all devices from the computer & try the suggestions mentioned in the following:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106805 Mac OS X: "Broken folder" icon, prohibitory sign, or *kernel panic* when computer starts
User Tips: Kernel Panics
==============
Boot up from your Tiger or Leopard Install DVD while holding down the "c" key.
Select the language you wish to use, and then choose *"Disk Utility"* from the menu bar.
Your HD should appear in a panel on the left hand side of the window which opens. Select it and then click on the *"repair disk"* button in the right hand section of the window.
Once this process has been completed restart your computer and run *repair permissions* from Disk Utility.
* If Disk Utility (from the install DVD or HD)is unable to complete the repair, you will need to use a stronger 3rd party utility like DiskWarrior, Techtool PRO (not Deluxe) or Drive Genius.
=============
How much HD space is left on the iMac?
How much RAM is installed?
==============
Which "model" & "generation" G5 iMac does your mother have?
Need this info so that the knowledgeable users can provide you with the proper troubleshooting solution(s).
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301724-en How to identify your iMac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh355.html Getting information about your computer
You can have this info displayed on the bottom of every post by going to 'My Settings' which is located in the column on the right under your name, and filling in the information asked for.
Thank you

Cant get my iMac to boot up from Installation disc

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