G5 wont boot past grey Apple screen and spinning cirlce

I cam in to work this morning and found my Mac on with fans blazing the the display just showing the grey Apple screen and spinning circle. I have it set to turn on before I arrive at work and it has been doing so flawlessly for all the years I've had it. When I shut down last night everything was working fine. Now this.
I've scanned some help forums but can't quite determine what the cause might be. Old battery on the memory card, a bad memory chip, ...I'm not sure.
As I said, things had been working flawlessly for years.
I've tried unplugging and re-plugging in the power cord (nope), resetting the PRAM (didn't work), Pressing the PRAM button on the memory board (again no), resetting things from Open Firmware (Using these commands: reset-nvram, set-defaults, reset-all -- no luck)and now have Disk Utility repairing permissions from the install DVD. That doesn't seem to be doing anything, it has been "Determining correct file permissions" from my startup disk for about 20 mintues now...usually it goes a lot quicker.
Any thoughts? This is my primary work machine and if I can't get it running I'm dead in the water. I'm accessing these forums from a PC in the office and would rather not have to, hahah.
Thanks.
(also, when running permission repair, do you repair the volume or the primary disk? I'm repairing the named sub-volume of the hard drive.)

(also, when running permission repair, do you repair the volume or the primary disk? I'm repairing the named sub-volume of the hard drive.)
I repair the hard drive that contains the Startup volume, unless multiple partitions are present.
In that case, only the startup volume.
Rather than "repair permissions", "Repair Disk" is what you should run on the startup volume.
Troubleshooting:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
Reseating the RAM and graphics card may also be helpful.
If you get the machine started again, install Applejack for future help:
http://applejack.sourceforge.net/

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MacBook Pro: Tiger wont boot past grey apple screen w/ spinning gear, HELP!

Hey everybody,
I have a 1.83 Ghz MBP with 512 mb of RAM (lame I know). The other day someone was using my computer to burn a CD on iTunes when all of my programs began failing. On instinct I rebooted my computer to solve the problem. Alas, now I cant boot past the grey apple screen, and the gear is spinning away. Saddest part of the story is that I had time set aside to back up my computer the day after this happened . Anyway what is the best thing to do from here? I haven't made any moves to fix it yet really, so what is the best thing that I can do to try and get my files back?
Thank you,
Sam A.

Hi, I posted to you in yoour other thread.
I very much doubt Disk Utility or fsck will fix an +Invalid Node Structure+ error. That's a pretty serious error and DU is just not robust enough of a utility to repair it.
If Disk Utility can't fix it, you'll need a more robust utility for the repair. I would recommend DiskWarrior. It is the best at directory repairs. It rebuilds then actually replaces your old directory. I feel every Mac owner should have a copy. Make sure you get the disk so you can boot up on it to run repairs. You can also install it on another drive and run it from there to repair this one. DW works faster that way.
I use DW once a month to try and catch errors in my system from getting too far out of hand.
If you have a good backup, hopefully a clone of your system before you had issues, an Erase and Install will also rid you of this issue. But, beware! You will lose everything on the drive with this procedure. Let us know if you need help with that!
Cheers! DALE
p.s. If the +Invalid Node Structure+ is real bad, there's a risk even the mighty DiskWarrior will not be able to help. Normally it will come thru; it's only in the severe cases it won't be able to do it. If you don't have a backup, and need the data bad, it's worth the try!

Crashed drive with Grey Apple Screen and Spinning Circle!!

I need some help!!
My G5 desktop computer had Font error, and then it crashed. I pressed the power button to restart and it won’t booth up! All I get it the Grey Apple Screen and Spinning Circle with loud fan noise.
I’ve tried using the install CD to booth up to use the Disk Utility, but it won’t let me select the primary Seagate drive (I do see the drive name), therefore I can’t repair or do anything.
When I tried to re-install the OSX, the system won’t even see the primary drive to reinstall.
Is this drive dead? (I never had clicking noise before) or is the Drive corrupted? How do I fix this problem?
Can someone please help me?
Thank you

I’m not sure which button I pressed, but I was able to see my Hard Drive with OSX and OSX Disk, but when I clicked on the Hard Drive it just does the gray screen
So, I used the OSX install Disk to boot up to run the Disk Utility.
I can see the drive name, but when I click on the drive nothing happens. Verify and Repair buttons are grayed out.
I’ve tried the Safe mode but it won’t start up.
I never had Applejack installed on the hard Drive so I can’t test it that way either.
How can I save this hard drive?
Is there another way to repair this?
Thank you all for your help!

Hard Drive Crashed with Grey Apple Screen and Spinning Circle

I need some help!!
My G5 desktop computer had Font error, and then it crashed. I pressed the power button to restart and it won’t booth up! All I get it the Grey Apple Screen and Spinning Circle with loud fan noise.
I’ve tried using the install CD to booth up to use the Disk Utility, but it won’t let me select the primary Seagate drive (I do see the drive name), therefore I can’t repair or do anything.
When I tried to re-install the OSX, the system won’t even see the primary drive to reinstall.
Is this drive dead? (I never had clicking noise before) or is the Drive corrupted? How do I fix this problem?
Can someone please help me?
Thank you

Hi, it does seem like the HD is a goner.
For internal Storage options see this...
http://tinyurl.com/ygtbaan
For external get FW/800...
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntt=firewire%20800
Once you get a new Drive installed...
If DiskWarrior can't fix it, you might try Data Rescue II...
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to).
Or FileSalvage...
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?%20mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
to recover what you can.

Another G5 iMac won't boot past grey Apple screen!! HELP!!!

Last night I tried to put my iMac to sleep. it took about 3 times, and it finally went to sleep. Today I tried to wake it up but I got the little spinning disk, and it would not wake up. I could not restart it from the screen, so I pulled out the power cord as I have had to do a few times in the past with no problems. Today when I plugged it back in it got to the grey Apple screen, but no little progress circle. I waited & waited, nothing happened so I cycled power again. This time I got the progress timer circle, but again after about 20 minutes nothing happened. I then put the install disc in and booted from that. Tried verify disc, but it failed saying it could not un-mount the volume. Tried verifying permissions, but it seemed to get stuck with just a fraction left on the progress bar, so I quit & tried again (basically where I'm at now). I have also noticed that if I choose the "start up disc" (while running from the disc) the only thing that shows in a network icon. My HD does not show up as an option. For about the past 5 months I have noticed my HD has been a bit noisy. Kind of a whirling sound that seems to get louder then quiet down & repeat....not real loud, but loud enough so I have noticed it. I have been worried that something like this might happen.
update: while repairing permissions I just got a "Disc utility error" says Disc utility has lost it's connection with the disc management tool and cannot continue. Please quit and relaunch Disc Utility. This is the same message I got the last time I tried to run it. I also have an OSX Leopard install DVD...should I be starting from that disc, or the install disc that came with it? If I should be using the newer disc, how would I get the other disc out of the machine?
So....am I up the creek with out a paddle, or is there anything I could try?
any advise would be greatly appreciate as ALL my data is on my iMac and not this POS PC I have to use now.
Thanks,
Jeff

Using Target Disk Mode is an excellent, idea, you should be able to drag your data on to the new machine.
Let us know how you made out,

G4 won't boot past grey apple screen

Hi. I have been having the same issues with my G4 15". I'm frustrated. The whole thing started with stalling during applications. So I decided to reinstall my OS X 10.5. After reinstall, I copied my saved files from my "My Book" drive back to my hard drive. Stalling issues returned. I reinstalled again. still had some stalling issues, so I performed disk utilities. I repaired permissions. SMART status is verified. System still ran extremely slow. So, I followed directions on apple support for resetting the PRAM and NVRAM. After I did this, the computer won't boot past the grey apple screen. I have reset the PRAM and the NVRAM again. Still nothing. I rebooted up from OS install disk. I performed disk utilities repairing permissions and repairing HD. I did this for both my drive and the computers drive. I choose restart and again the grey apple screen. I have been trying to get this thing going for a week now. I'm near tears. Cornelius or anyone, can you help me? It says no errors are found, SMART is verified. But I can't get the computer to boot unless it is from the CD. Is the computer confused on where to boot from? Or is it shot? HELP ME PLEASE, before I play frisbee with my dear beloved mac!!!! It seems like this ALL started happening after I installed the update 10.5.8. I had ZERO problem prior to any software updates!!!

There have been report of some external drives/enclosures that do not work as a boot device. Not sure if the MyBook is in that category or not, just make sure that there is nothing else plugged into the Powerbook then try again.
Does the WD need its own power to be plugged into an AC power source? Try the other firewire port
I have one more question for ya... You were able to load OSX on this EHD using the OSX install disk in the Powerbook? And the installer saw the EHD with no problems?
If non of the above works try booting while holding down the x-key, this should force it to look for an OSX volume, not sure if it works the same on an EHD but worth a shot.

Can not get past grey apple logo and spinning spokes ?

I've tried holding down keys (command-s,option,c ...etc) but it just stays on the spinning and there are no sounds ie chimes.
I've tried booting into osx disk holding the c key and it takes a little longer for the apple logo and spinning wheel to come up but eventually it goes right back into the spinning and I've waited out the spinning for ten to fifteen minutes with no luck.
The harddrive looks healthy when plugged in externally to my Win7 machine, I've tried moving the memory sticks around with no luck.
I'm trying to fix this for a friend , there are two actual keys missing the f5 and the #6 key (broke off I guess).

Ptown wrote:
Thanks for replying , I'm pretty sure my friend does not have the hardware test disc that came with his macbook pro 06 anymore but I'll ask.
Yes.
Is there anything else I could do to solidify that the logic board is toast ?
If no AHT, make an appt with the "genius" bar at an Apple Store.
I would think that I wouldn't get anything (black screen) if it was the logic board.
The LB basically "controls" everything, so depending on what circuits have issues, a bad LB could account for (almost?) any symptom.
RAM is also a suspect here. It sounds like you did some troubleshooting, but if both modules are third-party (not the original Apple-supplied) RAM, see if the original RAM can be found and tried.

Mac Air locks on startup with grey apple screen and spinning wheel

when I start my MacBook Air all I get is the grey screen with the Apple and the spinning wheel. This screen does not change. Ive shutdown and allowed to charge overnite with no success. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Grey Screen and spinning wheel at startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11044
Repair Disk
Steps 2 through 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10763?viewlocale=en_US

G5 wont boot past white Apple screen.

To anybody that may have some advice. I hadn't used my power mac in about 4 days then when I turned it on last night it wouldn't boot past the white apple screen. I still have the chime my fans and processor still spin up. I tried resetting the SMU, and I also took out 3rd party ram I had installed and tried booting up to see if that was the problem. I'm prepared to take it to the apple store, I just thought somebody might have some advice before I take it there. So again when I boot up it reaches the white screen with the grey apple and then it just gives me the little grey spinning dial and just spins and spins. Thanks in advance to anybody with any advice.
Dual 2.0 GHz Power mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Well first I booted holding option and it just booted into target disk mode or something like it, a screen that would allow me boot from a different drive if I had one that was formatted with Tiger. So then I rebooted holding >shift and OPtion. And it kernel paniced, it said it didnt have the driver for this version Tiger 7,2 or something along those lines and then it gave me apples screen of death asking me to restart.

Help: iMac won't boot past Grey logo screen with spinning lines

My fiance's iMac (intel based) running snow leopard (upgraded from Leopard a couple months ago) will not boot past the logo and spinning lines. This started after at attempting to restart after installing updates to Safari and iTunes.
When booting in verbose mode I get these lines:
Launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchDaemons
Launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
Launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /etc/mach_inid.d
AppleYukon2: Marvel Yukon Gigabit Adapter 88E8055 Singleport Copper SA
AppleYukon2: RxRingSize <= 1024, TxRingSize 256. RXMAXLE 1024, TXMAXLE 768, STMAXLE 3328
Then it just stops and does nothing.
I've unplugged everything except the apple keyboard and mouse. Ethernet is not connected.
She doesn't seem to have the original disc that came with the computer, but I do have the Snow Leopard upgrade disc.
What do I do? It won't boot in Safe Mode either, freezes at the same spot.
I'm not a particularly savvy Mac user as I recently embraced them when we moved in together.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Repairing permission is not the first answer. Should try to run fsck and reset the PRAM
Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
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.
At the command-line prompt type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
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 OKIf 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).
When fsck reports that your volume is OK, typerebootat the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.
Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

My imac wont boot past the apple screen

I installed a Java update and now my system wont start

Was this from Software Update, or some direct download?
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)

MacBook Pro 2011- Allowed updates to install for iTunes software and Microsoft office (I think). After rebooting, computer wouldn't progress past grey apple screen with loading circle.

I have a MacBook Pro 2011. I allowed updates to install for iTunes software and Microsoft office (I think). After rebooting, computer wouldn't progress past grey apple screen with loading circle. No progression bar ever appeared. It just sits and spins. I tried rebooting with Command + Option + R + P and hearing the chime twice....this did not work.
I also tried Command +Option+R which took me to internet recovery. From there, I chose reinstall Mac OS X Lion 10.7 but it says my hard drive is locked so I wasnt able to select it. What do I do???? Help! I don't want to lose my files and it doesnt appear that I've used Time Machine Back Up.

macbookpro2011ISU wrote:
I also tried Command +Option+R which took me to internet recovery. From there, I chose reinstall Mac OS X Lion 10.7 but it says my hard drive is locked so I wasnt able to select it.
I you upgraded to OS X 10.8, then use RecoveryHD by holding Command R at boot time (no option) and reinstall OS X over itself that way so your installing Mountain Lion.
Also Disk Uility can be used to Repair the Macintosh HD parttion.
Also you can use that RecoveryHD to format and install OS X onto a external drive, then option/alt key boot from it and access your files on the non-booting internal drive before erasing, reformatting and reinstalling OS X fresh.
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Most commonly used backup methods
..Step by Step to fix your Mac

My phone froze so i switched it off using the power button and home. now everytime it switches on, it wont go past the apple screen??

my phone froze so i switched it off using the power button and home. now everytime it switches on, it wont go past the apple screen??

Hello 3m4nz4,
After reviewing your post, I have located an article that can help with your device. It contains a number of troubleshooting steps and helpful advice for the issue you are experiencing:
iOS: Not responding or does not turn on - Apple Support
Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch may occasionally stop responding to buttons, switches, or touchscreen input and may exhibit one or more of these symptoms:
Does not return to the Home screen after you press the Home button
Does not wake from sleep after you press the Sleep/Wake button
Does not turn on (or power on) when you press any button
Does not start up past Apple logo
Appears frozen or unresponsive
Is unable to "Slide to Unlock" or "Slide to Power Off"
To troubleshoot these symptoms:
If a single application is not responding or stops responding when it opens, you can force it to close.
If the device is unresponsive or if certain controls aren't working as expected, restart your device.
If the device remains unresponsive or does not turn on (or power on), reset your device.
If there is no video or if the screen remains black, verify that the device has enough charge to turn on:
If you are using an iPad, ensure that it's connected to the USB Power Adapter supplied with the device.
Let it charge for at least twenty minutes, then see if it starts normally.
If there is no image on the screen, press the Sleep/Wake button to attempt to wake the device.
If the screen displays a red battery icon, continue charging the device until the battery is fully charged. Learn more about charging iPhone and iPod touch, or iPad.
If the above steps do not resolve the issue, or the if the screen remains black or shows a persistent Apple logo, try restoring with iTunes:
Connect the device to your computer and open iTunes.
If the device appears in iTunes, select and click Restore on the Summary pane. Learn more about restoring iOS software.
If the device doesn't appear in iTunes, try to force the device into recovery mode, and then restore it.
If the above steps do not resolve the issue, contact Apple.
Thank you for contributing to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
BobbyD

Mac won't boot, starts with white apple screen and spinning wheel. Also has grey loading bar which disappears after loaded then stays at white apple screen.

Mac won't boot, starts with white apple screen and spinning wheel. Also has grey loading bar which disappears after loaded then stays at white apple screen.

Hi cybertoof,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities.
It sounds like you're seeing a startup issue with your Mac, it's booting to a gray screen with an Apple logo. Try the suggestions in the article linked below, they will resolve most issues related to starting up your Mac.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
I hope this helps.
-Jason

I tried to update my ipod touch to ios 6 and now it wont boot past the apple icon. please help

I tried to update my ipod touch to ios 6 and now it wont boot past the apple icon. please help

Put your ipod in recovery mode and then restore your software again.

G5 wont boot past grey Apple screen and spinning cirlce

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