Grey apple start up screen

when I try to start up my macbook i get a grey apple screen that starts to switch between that and a folder and a circle with a line through it

It means system files needed for startup are damaged or missing. You will need to reinstall OS X. Try the following:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

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Non operational USB ports and stuck on grey apple start up screen

Two problems
1. USB ports are non operational. I believe I fried them by accident. When hooking up an external USB hub, I may have connected an incorrect power supply. Now the USB ports on the front and back of my tower are non operational/do not work. As a work around, I bought a USB pci card and installed it. This has been working for my keyboard, mouse and external hard drives but my iPhone will not sync. My ilok is recognized in system profiler but I cannot download anything to it.
Anyone know how to fix this? Is it possible I fried my main USB port?
2. I was reading different threads and a possible solution to the USB port problem was to reset my PMU. I have no clue why or if this would fix it but I gave it a try. Disconnected power supply and everything else after shutting down the computer. Found the pmu button on logic (or is it the motherboard or is it the same thing?). Pressed it, waited 20 seconds, put computer back together, connected power supply mouse and keyboard and tried to power up. The computer would not power up and the front power light was on but would not power up/boot. In a dumb panic, I opened up the tower and pressed the pmu button again without disconnecting the power. This seemed to work bcause my computer powered up! A red light on the logic board turned on and I got to the grey apple screen. This is where it froze. Hard reset, powered up, same problem. Unplugged power supply and tried again. Same problem. Tried pmu reset (unpluged power this time) and a repeat of the first pmu attempt. I tried starting up with cmd opt o p (I forget the exact letters but it was a reset with starting chimes), then I tried reinstalling with boot DVDs. It would get through the first DVD then restart and get stuck. Finally, I got it to accept second Boot DVD and finish installing and tried starting in safe mode. Got to safe mode and went to disk utility and checked first aid. No reported repairs necessary. Copied all files needed from HD and shut down. The computer did not shut down properly (this has been an ongoing problem before all these current problems and it has had problems booting fulling with hard resets needed once and a while). From here I tried restarting, pulling power supply, staring again and it keeps gettin stuck on grey apple loafing screen. The spinning wheel spins and then gets stuck, fans increase in speed and nothing. I can get back to safe mode either.
I'm very wordy I guess but more info the better, right?
The tower is very very very dusty. I will compress air it to clean it and attempt to clean connectors with alcohol. I will let it sit over night disconnected an then try powering it up.
What could the possible problems be? What can i do? Any suggestions on proper cleaning. I know how to ground properly and not to use a vacuum. I might have pressed the pmu button more than once. I'd the battery dead? Could it be a power supply problem. ****, I'm out of ideas and I really tried solving without posting but I'm poor and need my computer! Help!

Welcome to the forums. Lots of good information and help to be had here.
OK, first, let us know more specifically which of five flavors of Power Mac G5 you have. Find the serial number on the build plate on the inner bottom panel just below the CPUs and use this site to get the exact configuration:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html
In the meantime, assuming that you haven't replaced the PRAM battery in quite a while or ever, that would be a good thing to do.
Getting dust out of the system is a must. The power supply is especially prone to dust buildup. You might want to deal with that by taking the machine outside, as it can get pretty thick coming out.

Grey apple start up screen with spinning line

I have been running Leopard on my iMac flat panel for the last 4 months without any problems. The other day I had a software update notification which I think covered 4 applications I downloaded them and restarted my mac, however it has never restarted it tries to but does not get past the initial start up screen...... the Grey apple screen with the spinning line in the centre.
I haven't received any message to do anything no exclamation mark etc, so I take that as a good sign! I have Time Machine so I don't think I have lost everything if I have to do a reinstall. Is there anything that I can do other than take it into the Apple store?
Many thanks for any advice.

I am having a similar problem on a G4 flat panel (Luxo) iMac.
When my sister gave me her old iMac it still had 10.1.2 on it, so I reformatted the drive and installed a clean copy of 10.4 (Tiger) on it.
As I was going through downloading and installing the software updates, it seems to have choked on one of the security updates. Now it will not boot and sits there at the grey screen with the spinning 'gear' icon.
I tried resetting the parameter ram, no luck.
I rebooted holding down the mouse button to get the DVD drive door to open and inserted the 10.4 install DVD in an attempt to either use disk tools to troubleshoot, or to re-install the OS, but the machine will not even boot when starting up with the 'C' key depressed.
I've kind of run out of options in my trick bag.
Can anyone tell me how to get this machine to recognize my install disk so I can start over?

Brand new MBP stuck on grey Apple start up screen

My new MBP 13" arrived today. I removed the SSD from my current Macbook and installed it in my MBP. I pressed the power button, and it got stuck on the grey start up screen with the grey Apple for 5 minutes. I shut it down and put the SSD back in the Macbook - worked perfectly. So I tried installing it again in the MBP, and had the same problem. It just stays stuck on the grey screen with the Apple.

Last night the electricity went out and my power surge protector was not working so my iMac just force shut downed.
So, when the electricity came back i turned on my Mac but it is *Stuck in the Startup/Boot Screen with a Grey Apple Logo,a Empty Progress Bar with stays for 1 or 2 minutes and a small Spinning Wheel which would Spin Forver! I Have tried the SMC and Pram reset but no use, i have also tried to insert my OS X Lion 10.7 Installation disk and it would not load if i hold the C Key in the Startup, I Have Managed to go to Disk Utility Through "Recovery HD" but the Volume "Macintosh HD" is Greyed out and Unmounted and i cannot repair it. There are some files that i'd like to Recover if there is a way to fix it without deleting files.
**PLEASE HELP ME FIX THIS!**
Details about the iMac:
iMac 21.5 Inch i think from Mid 2010,
OS X Lion installed maybe 10.7.2 or 10.7.3 (im not sure)

Mac won't start up; shuts down after grey apple start up screen :(

Well I have just recently came off a two week holiday from Mexico, and straight away I log onto my iMac, as usuall I try to update it as often as I can so I am upto date.
Well I did that, and I found that I had loads to update because I had been away. Soo as normall I allowed it to update. I left my iMac to its own devices for about 2 and 1/2 hours, so it can update, whilst I was on the PS3. Once I had finished on the PS3 I had came to find, that when the iMac automatically starts up to install/update software, that it had frozen.
So I left it for another hour, to see if it could sort itself out, but just my luck nothing happened.
So I held down the power button, until I forced shut down my iMac. When I came to start my iMac back up again, it chimed like usual, and went onto the grey startup screen like usuall, then it took ages to respond, the wheel thingy, just kept spinning and eventually it stop and my iMac shut down.
And it keeps on shutting down like that and won't boot up, but some how it has gone into Safe Boot Mode.
What shall I do, a go from here on, to get my iMac back to normal?
Many thanks to any posts in advance.

Think I have sorted it guys with a bit of searching:
Solution:
Reset System Mangement Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543

Grey Apple Start Up Screen, Then The Fans Go Mental

Subject title explains all really. but basically switching my iMac on go to the grey screen, apple pops up, then the spinning grey wheel, then the fans kick in relentlessly and OSX refuses to boot up. Any suggestions, cant really find anything on the discussion boards. Thanks

"cant really find anything on the discussion boards."
In that case, see if your model G5 iMac qualifies for the The 20-inch iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Power Supply Issues (Rev B)
**WARNING: DUE TO SECURITY REASONS, PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR COMPUTER'S SERIAL NUMBER ON THESE MESSAGE BOARDS.**
Also, see Knowledge Base Articles: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86817 iMac G5: Loose power cord could cause power loss
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301287 My computer stops responding during startup

Grey Apple Start Screen with Grey 'bar' above, half thick, half thin

Hi
iMac G5 1.8 20" crashed, restarted holding power button.
Restarts with Grey Apple start screen and a 1/2 thick 1/2 thin bar above the Apple logo, fans on maximum, no further progress.
Any thoughts people ?
Thanks
Simon

HI Simon,
Have you tried booting from your install disk?
Insert the installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
If you cannot boot from your install disk, try booting in Safe Mode
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

My iphone keeps flashing the apple start up screen

i've tried to update my iphone, but when it went to reboot it just flashes the apple start up screen over and over again! i've tried charging it and holding down the buttons but nothing is working. any suggestions?

Place your iPhone into recovery mode as described here. You may have to try to enter recovery mode more than once to succeed.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

10.3 to 10.4 upgrade freezed on apple start up screen.

I just upgraded my os 10.3 to 10.4 via an independent copy (not bundled with any computer)...every thing seemed to go well, except that when it restarts it freezes on the gray apple start up screen. I've both verified permissions and repaired the harddrive with the installation disk and even tried reinstalling os 10.4 again,...with the same result.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

You're Welcome Phat Slyce!
Yes, I would recommend an Erase & Install, at this point.
Gulliver's article 10.4 Tiger Upgrade: Decision tree+Checklist, will be very helpful to you.
Be sure to ask any more questions you may have.
And perhaps, at some time, you would care to mark this topic accordingly. Info here What are question answers?.
Thank You For Extending That Courtesy, And Good Luck!
ali b

My iphone 5 is crashing after updating to iOS 7 . It shows the apple start up screen . Need some further update from apple .

My iphone 5 is crashing after updating to iOS 7 . It shows the apple start up screen . Need some further update from apple . It often happens when I am on a call or browsing the net on chrome . My chrome app is also updated .

See Here for
Unable to Update or Restore
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

My iPod Touch (2nd Gen) is stuck on the Apple start up screen.

My iPod Touch (2nd Gen) is stuck on the Apple start up screen. I have restored it three times so far, but every time it turns off the problem returns. Since restoring yesterday, the battery life has been dramatically shortened as well. I have no idea what to do, as my iPod is out of warranty and this problem started for no reason what so ever. I also have no local access to Apple support. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've tried this. Though it brings temporary success, in the fact that the iPod functions until it is turned off again. Then the problem seems to return. I thought it might be a problem with the backup file, but I have since restored it completely (to have nothing but the basics on) and the problem is still there.
Thank you for the responses so far though. Hopefully, they can help others with a similar problem.
mary annfromhamilton wrote:
my ipod touch ( 2 gen ) isnt even updating from version 4.2.1 like its says its up tp date
I believe mine is also 4.2.1. I made an error when selecting the OS at the bottom of my posts and have no idea how I change it.
*EDIT* - I have now managed to change my iOS, not that it makes much difference. I've heard people have been having trouble with iOS 4 on the 2nd Gen iPod Touch?
Message was edited by: Rickithly @ 14:40, 03/08/2011

TS2570 My 2010 MacBook pro gets stuck at the apple start up screen

I think I've tried almost everything possible and my computer gets stuck at the apple start up screen with the loading bar under every time I shut the computer down and restart it. I've tried all the resetting, trying to do the apple hardware test (which never worked), and so many other things that I can't even remember everything that I've tried. Could someone out there possibly help me?

Yes. I turn it on like I normally would. I hear the chime and everything. It looks like it wants to start up and it acts like its loading. Then it just gets stuck when the loading bar gets to right about the middle.

Apple start up screen keeps spinning

I can't get past the apple start up screen. It just spins and spins. I tried starting up with the shift key and nothing. I installed the leopard installer disc by holding down c. I ran repair 4 times through disk image and they all came out fine. When I wanted to created a disk image so that I can have a backup of my information, it gave me an error. I am now forced to reinstall leopard and have a previous folder with all of my previous items stored. Are there any other suggestions? How can I clean up my system so that I don't have multiple folders with the same things floating and taking up memory? How would I know which folders the system is actually using and which are just from the previous?
I recently lost my external HD with most of my work on it; I heard the 3 clicks. Then 2 weeks later my powerbook's HD died which I then had to replace the HD, again loosing everything that was on it. Please help me resolve this issue.
Thanks!

I take it you don't have a backup? with so many drives failing you should have figured out by now that backing up is a good idea. Having a backup would have saved you a LOT of trouble. so, get an external hard drive (buy one if you don't have it). also, to make a backup now you'll need another mac. reboot yours and hold "t" at the chime. this will start it in target mode. connect it to the other mac and the external drive. copy what you need from your computer to the external. the best would probably be to clone the whole drive using [CCCloner|http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html]. having done that you can do an archive and install and if that fails an erase and install. see [this post by kappy|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1582866&tstart=0] on doing an archive and install. after you make sure your new system works correctly you can delete the previous systems folder.
if an archive and install doesn't work, do an erase and install and migrate your data from the backup. that's likely has to be done by hand.

About two weeks ago, it would randomly shut off. It would restart fine, but shut off sooner. Sometimes, it wouldn't even restart. Now, it's at the point where when I power it on, it rarely restarts past the white apple start-up screen. mbp mid 2012 i7

About two weeks ago, it would randomly shut off. It would restart fine, but shut off sooner. Sometimes, it wouldn't even restart. Now, it's at the point where when I power it on, it rarely restarts past the white apple start-up screen.

Backup in case your disk is failing.
Start up in Safe Mode; http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204?viewlocale=en_US
If it boots reliably in Safe Mode then it is probably a software issue.
Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405
Boot in Recovery Mode. (Hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys as your computer restarts.) Run Disk Utility. Click on the upper left system disk icon. Does S.M.A.R.T. report “Verified”? If not the disk is failing and will need to be replaced. Click on the icon underneath and indented to the right, usually called “Macintosh HD”. Repair Disk. It should finish normally with a green OK message. If it does not try to repair it again.
If it will not finish with the green OK message then use Disk Utility to erase the drive and then reinstall OS X. (Be sure you have a backup before erasing the disk. Post back if you need instructions on how to do that.)
If it repaired all errors and is still not booting normally, reinstall OS X.
If it is still sick after all these steps then the disk probably needs to be replaced. You can do that inexpensively and fairly easily yourself or take it to an Apple store for them to do it for you at a higher cost. If it is still under warranty or AppleCare have Apple do it for you for free. Post back if you need instructions on replacing the disk. You may want to have Apple check the health of the system and disk before replacing it yourself.
Message was edited by: Dibenkorn

G5 starts and then doesn't go further than the grey apple on the screen

Dear all,
My G5 (2*2 GHz) starts and as soon as the apple appears on the grey screen, it doesn't go further anymore. The screen remains unchanged and nothing happens.
Is it the hard drive ? How can I check what is going wrong (connect it to a second Mac ??) ? What can I do ?
I thank you in advance for your help
Didier

Okay so I was able to get back into my system and the computer starts up fine, although now a set of partitioned drives I had access to are locked and I can't seem to understand how to gain access.
BUT first here is what I did to get the system to start up without hanging on the Grey Apple Screen.
1. Shut down computer...NOTE: Leopard 10.5 DVD Install disc was left in computer. Because previous re-starts my computer automatically ejects the disc I'd do a hard shutdown and restart and it would still eject the disc even though I was holding down C and trying to get system to start from disc. Difference is I had not done step 2 - 4 yet...
2. Unplugged power directly to computer and all peripherals
3. Changed out my keyboard to Apple Keyboard model A1048 and an optic mouse model M5769, instead of FCP keyboard and WACOM notepad/mouse
4. waited about 10 - 15 mins (about the time I was cruising the forums for answers)
5. Restarted computer holding down "C" this time disc did not eject! After Grey Apple Screen appeared, I waited 10secs while holding down the C key then let go.
The grey bar pinwheel showed up and the computer re-booted from DVD!!
6. After settling with install screen I went up to top bar drop down menues and opened Disc Utilities from the Install disc screen. NOTE: My main hard drive was accessible, all the partition drives had a LOCK icon on them. I believe this is because they are from an external drive. Ignored the lock icon....
7. Ran a "Repair Disc" on main hard drive. It spun through that request quickly stating everything was okay.
8. Obviously with a permissions issue for my situation, I ran a Verify Permissions. It was taking a long while before differences appeared. After a slew of them rolled by and a 7 hour verification time showed up I canceled the verification and went straight to "Repair Permissions"
9. Repair Permissions began and I let it run it's course taking about 2.5 hours.
10. Quit Disc Utilities. Quit install disc and restarted from my startup disc.
11. Computer restarted and opened to my desktop successfully!
12. Shutdown from menu.
13. Plugged in all peripheral drives and devices.
14. Computer has restarted to my desktop!! BUT...even after plugging in all peripheral drives the partitioned drives are still locked and I can't seem to move any items on my desktop!
I'm going to try starting up with the Install Disc again with all the peripheral drives plugged in. And hopefully see if I can run Disc Utilities from install disc on those drives. Again, they were unplugged with the first attempt to re-boot from disc.
I also know I have some issues here with access and permisssions. And even though I am the Administrator of this computer and have authority to regulate permissions I do not know how it works to successfully have access to the media and content drives myself and some co-workers need access too.
thanks for your attention to this message I hope some of it was helpful to you.
peace
GGD

Grey apple start up screen

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