Frozen Load Screen and Bad Optical Drive

Last week I was using the Internet to check email. It was very slow and eventually froze up (couldn't force quit or anything). I had to shut down the computer by pressing the power button. I waited a few minutes and turned it back on. Since then I get stuck at the loading screen. It just displays the apple logo, the spinning gear, and also what looks like a scroll bar underneath that.
I have read through some other threads to give me ideas to try such as resetting the RAM and SMC, disk repair, etc. To make matters worse, my optical drive hasn't been working since December. (Basically I stick a disk in about halfway and then it makes a weird noise and spits it back out.) I've been using an external optical drive to fix that problem.
#1. Can I use an external optical drive to boot from an OS X disk?
#2. Is there anything else I can try (aside from what I mentioned above) as far as getting the computer past the frozen load screen?
Thank you for your help!

Hi, heres a link that might help..
http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/296102-updating-leopard-ex ternal-optical-drive.html
Your issue could be a failing HD....L

Similar Messages

My White Macbook is stuck at the loading screen, and disk utility, safe mode doesn't work either. What should I do?

I went on vacation a few days ago and in El Salvador, they have this mobile broadband sticks. Well, I was using one until it gave me a network error. After that, it shut down my computer entirely. The first time it happened, I didn't think much of it. I took the battery out and put it back in for it could work. It happened another two times, and after the third time, my MacBook stays stuck at the loading screen, and it will take 5-10 minutes on that screen, before it shuts down, or it wouldn't turn on at all. I've tried booting into safe mode, but it appears to not boot into it. I've tried resetting the Pram, and using disk utility, but that still won't work. I don't know what else to do to make it boot into OS X Lion.
I'm an AP student, and the majority of my work is in that computer, and it is very important! What can I do? Not only that, but I enter school in a few weeks and I need the AP work by the time I enter.
What can I do? Can someone help?
Thanks

Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
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. Alterhatively, 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.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU 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 DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.

Snow Leopard Install problems on Macbook Pro with bad optical drive

I've tried this (refer to article below) to install Snow Leopard on a Macbook Pro with a bad optical drive, but I am not able to choose a wi-fi network, or install disk after startup. Is there something else I need to do?
To use Remote Install Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server:
Insert the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server Install Disc into the optical disc drive of the other computer.
If the other computer is a Mac, open /Applications/Utilities/Remote Install Mac OS X. On Windows, choose "Remote Install Mac OS X" from the Install Assistant.
Read the introduction and click Continue.
Choose the install disc you want to use, and click Continue.
Choose a network connection: AirPort, if you are using an AirPort network, or Ethernet, if the other computer is on an Ethernet network and you have an optional Apple USB Ethernet Adapter connecting your MacBook Air or Mac mini to the same network. Click Continue.
Restart your MacBook Air or Mac mini and hold down the Option key as it starts up, until you see a list of available startup disks.
Click Continue in Remote Install Mac OS X.
If you chose AirPort as your network in step 5, on your MacBook Air or Mac mini choose your AirPort network from the pop-up list.
If the network is secure, you will be prompted for a password. You can enter a private network name by choosing the ellipsis (...) and typing the name.
If you chose AirPort as your network in step 5, when you see the AirPort status icon indicating signal strength, click Continue in Remote Install Mac OS X.
You can now reinstall software, reset your password or run Disk Utility using instructions from the User's Guide.

Are you able to connect the two via Firewire cable? If so you can boot the MBP into Target Disk Mode. Then boot the other computer from the OS X installer disc. The installer should detect the hard drive of the MBP as an eligible target destination.
If you have a spare hard drive or at least 10 GBs of usable space on an external drive, then you can create a small 8 GB partition on that drive. Then clone the installer DVD to that partition using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can then boot the MBP from that partition using OPTION boot: Start the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the cloned DVD then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4.Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external partition.
Source means the OS X Installer DVD.
Message was edited by: Kappy

Ihave a emac 1002 emc 1955 that igot from a auction,when i turn it on it never gets pass the loading screen and cant get into utilities

i have a emac 1002 emc 1955 that wont go pass loading screen and cant get into utilities,i got from a auction and dont want to take it apart if i dont have to so looking for a little help before it goes that far.thanks

Hi Mike, the Keyboard shouldn't matter, it should be OK in that respect.
Your kind of stuck without any Install Disc to try to repair it or reinstall, but...
Tough without the Install disc, but some things to try...
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Tough without the Tiger Disk problems, but try fsck...
To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse to open an application to do something, you'll need to type a text command at the prompt (#) to tell fsck what to do. The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) and single-user mode are two examples of command-line interfaces in which you can type such commands. To use fsck:
1. Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line. Hold CMD+s keys down at bootup. Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
2. At the command-line prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy
(SPACE between fsck AND -fy important)
3. Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found: 
The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK  If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****   Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
4. When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), & use Disk Utility from there to Repair Permissions, reboot once more.
Then Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
Does it boot into Open Firmware with CMD+Option+o+f ?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42642
reset-nvram (press Enter)
set-defaults (press Enter)
reset-all (press Enter)
Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD+Option+p+r...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

How do I install windows 7 on a macbook pro mid 2009 using bootcamp and no optical drive?

How do I install windows 7 on a macbook pro mid 2009 using bootcamp and no optical drive?
My optical drive is non-functional and I want to dual boot with win7. The only problem is my macbook does not boot from USB at all, even when I hold th ALT key down when it is starting up.
-I have a flashdrive with win7 on it.
-I mounted the ISO of win7 with toast for bootcamp to do its thing.

Good luck.
Consider this a bump so that hopefully someone with better news spots your thread.
Allan

How to clear grey loading screen and animated gif (Dynamic Action with "Show Processing" on submit)

APEX V4.2.3
DB 11.2
I have a classic report on page 1. I have a region button called "Export" (defined by a submit dynamic action with "show processing=Yes") that submits the page and then via a branch directs me to page 2 which has a slightly different version of the report on page 1 (i.e. no breaks) which I want to capture as a CSV export. Therefore I've set the report template on page 2 to " Export:CSV".
Now when I click on the page 1 export button the grey screen and loading gif appears indicating that the report is executing and then as expected, page 2 doesn't appear but instead the standard open/save window's dialog box appears asking to open or save the generated CSV file. All good..but the grey loading screen remains. How do I clear this loading screen and get back to the context of page 1 ?
thanks in advance
PaulP

Hi PPlatt,
We would love to help but you left out one crucial part of the puzzle: namely how does your CSV report get exported. With the way it is setup (a redirect to another page), I'm going to assume you do that because you have some PL/SQL on that page that prints the CSV.
Now there are two questions that are crucial here:
- How do we stop the icon from bugging us on the screen
- How do we communicate with the browser that it should no longer display the loading icon
The first question is rather easy, two simply lines of codes can do that:
$('#apex_wait_popup').hide();
$('#apex_wait_overlay').hide();
But when do we use this code? Quite simple when the document is downloaded. When is it downloaded? At the end of the PL/SQL code that prints the document to the browser.
What you could do is at the end of that code give an application item a certain value. For example :AI_PRINTED := 'Y';
Then all you need to do is let the browser ask for the value. You could do this by using JavaScript to continuously fire AJAX to the server using a JS timing event:
http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_timing.asp
Better would be a Server send event, but since you left out another crucial piece of information: your browser, I will not go deeper into this.
Start this timing event when someone asks for the document, and end it as soon as the process returns that :AI_PRINTED equals 'Y'.
Despite the lack of information, I hope I have given, or at least inspired you to get to the solution.
Regards,
Joni

I tried to update my iphone 4 to i07 but it's now just stuck at half way on the loading screen and I cannot get it to do anything

So like a moron, I made the mistake of finally updating my Iphone 4's OS to the new one that Apple has been bugging the crap out of me about for months now. The problem is, my phone is now stuck on the loading screen and I cannot get it to do *ANYTHING*. It won't connect to my PC, Itunes won't let me get on it without the pin lock being entered on the phone which I CANNOT do because the phone is stuck on the update screen.. and Apple won't talk to me for help because I cannot get them the serial number which I CANNOT do because my phone is stuck on the update screen!
Is there no way to just take the battery out or something? I looked for screws but they seem to be proprietary (because of course they are, because Apple) How do I force it to get off the update screen?!

If you open it to take out the battery from the iPhone then you forfeit all service for whatever reason from Apple in the future.
Have you attempt to connect it to your computer and then restore it from iTunes on your computer?

How do i insert a splash screen or a loading screen and a application image for a phone app on Dream

How do i insert a splash screen or a loading screen and a application image for a phone app on Dreamweaver 6, 5.5 had the mobile application setting that is seemingly no longer present? and i also heard you can use animanted backgrounds on the mobile application in dreamweaver 6 but figuring out how to set the splash screen and application image like it was in 5.5 would be nice. All i can get to pull up is the web application i developed i am trying to build into a phone app on google chrome, if i could officially designate it as a phone app where i can set each splash screen and app image to where it is recognized as a phone app that would be really nice.

Duely noted, the server will still not connect, so i have left an inquery in the suggested forum.
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:37:34 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: How do i insert a splash screen or a loading screen and a application image for a phone app on Dream
    Re: How do i insert a splash screen or a loading screen and a application image for a phone app on Dream
    created by David_Powers in Developing server-side applications in Dreamweaver - View the full discussion
jmed0411 wrote: the phonegap program loads for quite some time and eventually reaches to the unfortunate conclusion that the server cannot be reached and to please try again. Any ideas on how that problem can be mended if the solution is in my hands?? I haven't used PhoneGap Build recently, but I have seen several reports about problems connecting to the server. One suggestion that I've heard is that there has been unexpectedly high demand on the server since the launch of Edge Tools and Services as part of the Creative Cloud last month. As far as I know, the only thing you can do is wait, and try again later. You could also try posting in the PhoneGap Build forum: http://community.phonegap.com/nitobi/products/nitobi_phonegap_build.
     Please note that the Adobe Forums do not accept email attachments. If you want to embed a screen image in your message please visit the thread in the forum to embed the image at http://forums.adobe.com/message/4774799#4774799
     Replies to this message go to everyone subscribed to this thread, not directly to the person who posted the message. To post a reply, either reply to this email or visit the message page: http://forums.adobe.com/message/4774799#4774799
     To unsubscribe from this thread, please visit the message page at http://forums.adobe.com/message/4774799#4774799. In the Actions box on the right, click the Stop Email Notifications link.
     Start a new discussion in Developing server-side applications in Dreamweaver by email or at Adobe Community
For more information about maintaining your forum email notifications please go to http://forums.adobe.com/message/2936746#2936746.

Turned iphone off cause it wasnt working , not stuck on circle loading screen and apple screen, they go back n forth tried rebooting didnt work

My iphone was acting up, so i turned it off and it got stuck on the black circle loading screen and apple screen, thhey go back and forth. tried rebooting it and it didnt work, goes to apple then back to circle loading screen. connect it to itunes reads it but wont sync it or restore it.

From http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3694#error3194:
Unable to contact the iOS software update server gs.apple.com
Error 1004, 1013, 1638, 3014, 3194: These errors may be the result of the connection to gs.apple.com being redirected or blocked. Follow these steps to resolve these errors:
Install the latest version of iTunes.
Check security software. Ensure that communication to gs.apple.com is allowed. Follow this article for assistance with security software. iTunes for Windows: Troubleshooting security software issues.
Check the hosts file. The restore will fail if there is an active entry to redirect gs.apple.com. FollowiTunes: Advanced iTunes Store troubleshooting to edit the hosts file or revert to a default hosts file. See section "Blocked by configuration: (Mac OS X/Windows) > Rebuild network information".
Try to restore from another known-good computer and network.
If the errors persist on another computer, the device may need service.

My macbook pro will not start up. stuck on grey loading screen and spinning dial. HELP

my macbook pro will not start up. stuck on grey loading screen and spinning dial. i shut it down last night and now when i try to turn it on it will not get past this page. lights and sounds work but nothing happens. please help

Power it down by holding the power button down. Then try to power it up again. Post back. It would help if we knew what OS you are running, the model MBP...

My ipod 4g has a frozen white screen and will not turn off, any advice?

My daughter's ipod 4th gen (only 4 months old, bought direct from Apple) suddenly has a frozen white screen and will not turn off. We cannot reboot it by pushing and holding the two buttons, even when held up to one full minute. When we plug it into the computer, the computer does not recognise it nor does iTunes, so we can't even do a full system restore. Help! Any suggestions of how we can reset to factory settings without using iTunes please?

- Let the battery fully drain. After charging for at least an hour try :
iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
- If still not successful that indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.

I downloaded ios5 an error message 3002 came up now my iphone stuck on loading screen and itunes doesnt recognize my iphone.

i downloaded ios5 an error message 3002 came up now my iphone stuck on loading screen and itunes doesnt recognize my iphone.
now my iphone has a blank screen for a couple seconds the loading screen appears then apple re appears.
A REPEATING CYCLE now i have No PHONE!!!! Help ME PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Try it...
Leave the USB cable connected to your computer, but NOT your phone, itunes running, press & hold the home button while connecting the USB cable to your dock connector, continue holding the home button until you see “Connect to iTunes” on the screen. You may now release the home button. iTunes should now display that it has detected your phone in recovery mode, if not quit and reopen iTunes. If you still don’t see the recovery message repeat these steps again. iTunes will give you the option to restore from a backup or set up as new.
i´ve done it and worked 100%
Good lucky

HT4528 my iphone 4 shut off and wont turn back on so i had to go to restore it and it wont reload or anything just stays on the loading screen and does nothing?

my iphone 4 shut off and wont turn back on so i had to go to restore it and it wont reload or anything just stays on the loading screen and does nothing?

Hi marissacav,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The following article will provide some troubleshooting steps for this issue:
iPhone, iPad or iPod touch: Not responding or does not turn on
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3281?viewlocale=en_US
Cheers,
- Judy

How to start MacAir with frozen blue screen and no light on keyboard?

How do I start my MacAir with frozen blue screen and no light on keyboard?

Hey 7manya,
Thanks for the question. I understand that you are experiencing an issue with your MacBook Air frozen on a blue screen. The following resource provides some troubleshooting steps that may help to resolve your issue:
OS X Mavericks: If you see a blue screen at startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14061
If you see a blank blue screen or a blue screen with a colored pinwheel when you try to start your Mac, but starting up doesn’t progress, you may have a problem with damaged or incompatible startup items or software.
- If you are starting up from a DVD, it must be a disc that came with your Mac or OS X retail package. Discs from other Mac models may not work with your Mac.
- Restart your Mac in safe mode. If the Mac successfully starts up in safe mode, choose Apple menu > Restart to see whether the Mac will restart normally.
Start up in safe mode
- If you see the login window prompting you for a user name and password, but starting up doesn't progress, you may have incompatible login items.
If you think you have incompatible login items
- Repair your startup disk or disk permissions using Disk Utility.
Repair a disk
- Back up your disk, then reinstall OS X.
Reinstall OS X
Thanks,
Matt M.

My iphones has frozen when updating and now is on the loading screen and i cant turn is off or restart it, help please? i need my phone

help please, my iphone has frozen when updating and now its stuck on the loading screen, i have tried holding the buttons down : didnt work, i have taken the sim out : didnt work.... i really need my phone to be working i dont know what to do.. help please?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

Frozen Load Screen and Bad Optical Drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for