Display freezes, goes wonky, then gray... machine wont start.

Running OS X 10.8.2. About 30 days ago my machine display suddenly started to display an all static screen, then showed two screens side by side, then went gray. I forced the machine to shut down and it would not start. I tried a safeboot, then a SMC reset, then a pram reset. The machine finally restarted. I took it into the Apple Store and they replaced the battery and the upper clamshell display. The machine still does the same thing. One of the threads talks about the machine overheating. Could this be the problem? It is on a flat surface. I purchased the extended warranty and it is valid for one more year. An suggestions?

A long, steady, load tone followed by a progress bar can indicate it is trying to install a Firmware Update. Any other Tones would be multiple beeps and show an error code.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5860
You can also see a progress bar similar to booting into Safe Mode. However, the firmware update bar is thinner vertically than the Safe Mode bar.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
Either way, I would say something is wrong and it would be better evaluated at an Apple Store as Kappy points out.

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Do you know what version it was you installed?
I would start with a clean uninstall of that Desktop Manager software (that is what you installed?). See this link for instructions:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/rim-software/25937-how-perform-clean-uninstall-reinstall-blackberry-...
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White mac book goes to gray screen, wont start

I have a white Mac laptop, it's gotta be at least 4-5 years old. It locked up on me, so i held the power button down to turn it off since I couldn't force quit. Now when i go to turn it back on, it just goes to that initial gray screen and never boots up.
I've already tried unplugging all the USB devices, holding down shift while it starts up, and zapping the pram twice. I can't find the OSX cd that came with this as it was a hand me down laptop, not sure if they gave me one when they gave me the laptop.
Can someone tell me what the next few things I should try are? I don't have the laptop on me, so hopefully if I have a few more items to try, i can try them all again next time i'm near the laptop.

What operating system is installed on your MacBook? If you have Lion or Mountain Lion you can try reinstalling the OS. Note that while the linked article says it is for ML, the process is the same for Lion.
If you have an earlier OS, you'll need to get the disk, and failing that carry it in to an Apple store or service provider for assistance.
Best of luck.

My iMac won't boot, get a black screen with alarm sound, then gray screen with start up sound, then repeats

this problem started last fall after upgrading to Mavericks. If I shut down my computer (or restart) I have problems getting it going again. This is getting progressively worse. I hadn't shut down in over a month, forgot about this issue and shut down (which I used to do daily), so now I can't get my computer to boot. When I hit the power button I hear it starting, then a loud alarm sounds, then a long pause then start up sound with a gray screen with a progress bar. Once the progress bar fills, the screen goes black again for a bit. This whole process will repeat until I get frustrated and force - shut down by holding the power button. I have tried reseting the pram, starting up in safe mode, starting up with the command - R, starting up with my original install disc... none of it works. I'm at a loss! I do have an external hard drive that I have been using for Time Machine, but it's not recent because the disc needs repairs and I hadn't gotten around to buying a new HD to back up to first. Has anyone else had this problem? I really can't afford a big repair/replacement bill.

A long, steady, load tone followed by a progress bar can indicate it is trying to install a Firmware Update. Any other Tones would be multiple beeps and show an error code.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5860
You can also see a progress bar similar to booting into Safe Mode. However, the firmware update bar is thinner vertically than the Safe Mode bar.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
Either way, I would say something is wrong and it would be better evaluated at an Apple Store as Kappy points out.

My macbook air said start up disk almost full then died and wont start up again

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Disconnect all peripherals.
Try an SMC reset.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Try booting in Safe Mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564
Run hardware diagnostics:
Press D during startup

Magic Computar Machine wont start. (Stalls at Grey Screen)

A friend of mine is having trouble with a "beloved" 12-inch G4.
On startup computer makes chime noise, displays apple logo and grey screen and then forgets what its doing. There is no loading spinner, or further action. It just sits there.
We've tried reseting PRAM, booting in Safe Mode and booting as a FireWire drive. None of these seemed to work.
Additionally, the PowerBook's internal DVD-ROM drive does not work. We are trying to obtain a boot disk to see if it will work through an external FireWire DVD drive, but after reading all the warnings about disconnecting peripherals, we're not sure if this is even an option.
Aside from relegating this device from "laptop" to "doorstop" are there any other suggestions?

Additionally, the PowerBook's internal DVD-ROM drive does not work. We are trying to obtain a boot disk to see if it will work through an external FireWire DVD drive, but after reading all the warnings about disconnecting peripherals, we're not sure if this is even an option.
This is an option. You just need to be sure to disconnect it after it powers off. You'll know when it has powered off.

My ipod is displying apple logo and wont start up, hard reset leaves it the same, disc mode works but iTunes doesnt "see" it even if the computer does.

"My ipod is displaying apple logo and wont start up, hard reset leaves it the same, disc mode works but iTunes doesn't "see" it even if the computer does."
It worked two days ago fine, for two years, until I installed this newest iTunes update, then for one day it kept on freezing and going to apple logo screen mode, then today it only goes to that screen and wont start up at all.
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This is a pristine ipod, never exposed to adverse conditions, never dropped, never wet, and it worked perfectly two days ago.
Can I factory reset it somehow? (considering itunes can't "see" it)
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Looks like I might have found the solution on a youtube comment:
R.O:
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I had to do it twice, because my mac froze the first time, but its recognized it now and is downloading the software as we speak...
Now I've clicked the restore button and it's restoring... I'll post again if its a success, otherwise assume failure.

Mac wont start if ADC is not Connected??

I have a G4 Quicksilver Dual processor, with Tiger OSX installed on it. The video card installed has a ADC and VGA connector. I recently wanted to change from the ADC monitor to the VGA(new PC Monitor). But when the apple display is not plugged in the computer wont start.
Why
I have done all the system preference stuff and changing secondary to primary and even swapped video cards with another machine which i know works with the VGA connection.
Please Help
Cheers

I do not believe it's the Graphic Card, I think it would need either a new Logic Board or Power supply.
Which card is it exactly, some can run both monitors at once.
And there may be a slight possibility that a Keyboard like this with a "Power Key" at the top right corner may work to start it...
http://tinyurl.com/5s28kla

[SOLVED] gParted wont start

I have Arch installed with KDE. I wanted to make some changes to my partiton table and thought of using gParted to get the work done.
I installed gparted as:
sudo pacman -S gparted
Now, when I try executing gparted form the GUI, I get the authentication window, where it asked for the user password. Upon entering it, nothing at all happens. gParted just wont start.
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I get an error as:
No protocol specified
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Last edited by darnir (2012-01-08 05:11:09)

@anonymous_user: thanks, i have been looking for that
@darnir: you could change the first posts title and add [SOLVED] at the begining

Help - my MacBook wont start?

The led is on but the machine wont start up?
I have tryed to hold the powerbutton down and violet close, but when I try to start up, the same problem appears :-(

I think you'll need to tell us a bit more: MacBook model, and what exactly happens.
For example, you're posting here under "MacBook Air" but refer to an LED... which the MBA doesn't have.
After holding down the Power button for a while (which shuts down the Mac no matter what), is that LED still on?
When you attempt to start it, can you hear the start-up gong?
Does the screen remain dark, or do you get to see at least a grey screen? If so, how far does it go before it stalls?

Im having trouble with my i mac it freezes up an some times wont start normally it will jus display a gray and white fuzzy screen (any Help Out there)

im having trouble with my i mac it freezes up an some times wont start normally it will jus display a gray and white fuzzy screen (any Help Out there)

Hello there, DJ ROb E Rob.
The following Knowledge Base article offers up some great recommendations for troubleshooting the gray screen at startup:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

Srceen goes gray after the apple goes off then the monitor says no signal..

srceen goes gray after the apple goes off then the monitor says no signal.. It been working great for 9 months use it everyday for fcp.. would the video card be bad???

If the video card were bad, you wouldn't get anything to display. The fact that you get the gray screen with the spinning gear means the video card is working.
So, two things I would try, and you can pick the order. The first is to reset the PRAM. You may want to save this for last since it will reset a few of your settings. Nothing major, but can be annoying. The second is to start the system in safe mode by holding down shift while booting.
If safe mode works, then you have some corrupted preference files or some other program is causing problems. If safe mode doesn't work, you can at least see if zapping the PRAM lets you get any further along with the boot process. Only if both of these fail would I start to consider an issue with the video card.

My MacBookPro (mid 2012) will not complete the boot process. Yosemite's progress widget gets about 1/3 to 1/2 way across when the logo disappears and the screen goes all white for 10-15 secs or so, then the machine shuts down and restarts.

My MacBookPro (mid 2012) will not complete the boot process. Yosemite's progress widget gets about 1/3 to 1/2 way across when the logo disappears and the screen goes all white for 10-15 secs, then the machine shuts down and restarts. This sequence will repeat seemingly forever unless I shut it down manually.
I upgraded to Yosemite from Mountain Lion a couple months ago, skipping Maverick completely, and I've done any associated updates that Apple told me about. I don't recall which version of Yosemite I have, but I'm sure it is the "latest and greatest".
I've tried re-starting in Safe Mode / Safe Boot and that does the same thing as described above except without the endless restarts. Instead of restarting at some point, SafeBoot proceeds to the white screen and then it hangs until I restart it manually. (I've waited as long os 20-30 minutes with no response).
When I tried the option-command-p-r key combo I never get any chimes or other noises besides the original 1 time boot sound that you would expect to get when starting up a macbook pro.
I was using the mac quite normally (meaning I was doing work I normally do on it and there was no indication of anything wrong) immediately prior to this happening.
The machine is BootCamp(ed) with Windows 8.1 which I use from a VMWare virtual machine instead of natively so that I can have both OSes running at the same time. I also think this is unrelated to my problem. I have been using this setup for more than 2 years.
My upgrade to Yosemite was uneventful and I thought it went well and was very smooth. I don't want to lead attention away from Yosemite, but at this point my problem does not seem related to the upgrade.
Any help is appreciated.

Install or Reinstall OS X from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard 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.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
      the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
           because it is three times faster than wireless.

Ff comes on, I go to site w/ pics the screen goes black & then w/ with a bubble from the bottom saying recovery from igfx display failure..Chr & Op = OK

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Try disabling hardware acceleration in Firefox.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration#w_turning-off-hardware-acceleration

Display freezes, goes wonky, then gray... machine wont start.

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