GREY SCREEN ERROR HELP

Hi I have a MacBook 10.5.8 laptop its a few years old & it was working/running fine up until about a week ago then it started taking ages to startup so I started it in single mode and typed "/sbin/fsck -fy then a message came up "harddrive appears to be ok" so next I typed "reboot".Now it starts as normal apple logo & spinning chime,then just before the login screen would normally pop up the screen suddenly turns mid grey with no logo only the pointer arrowwhich I can move around.I was wondering if there was a sh# command line I could use in single mode to force open startup or any other solution to fix this problem or even any other ideas  would be much appreciated I just wouldn't mind retrieving my kids photos off my desktop at minimum as I made the mistake of not backing them up..I also don't have a installation disk & was wondering if its possible to download a copy onto my pendrive because my cd drives out of action,
THANKS VERY MUCH !!!

The problem with fsck and Disk Utility is that neither check for bad blocks on a drive. They correct index problems. If a file has become corrupt and it can't be indexed then and only then will they identify it as a problem, otherwise the problem persists.
I'm guessing the hard drive is bad. I'd try the following:
If you have the install media boot from it just to make sure the system will boot completely at all. If it will it's good because you know the system is working. If it won't then you've got system problems.
If you can gain acccess to another bootable external hard drive, try to boot from that. If it comes up, once again it implies the system is OK.
The odds are the HD has simply gone bad. The symptoms you're describing are those of a drive failure. We use Scannerz to test our stuff and the company that makes the product has lots of info and downloads  about drive problems that may be of use to you. Here's a link:
http://www.scsc-online.com
I wouldn't rush out and buy their drive testing product without doing the other things I've mentioned first because if your system is at fault you would just be wasting your money.

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    com.apple.filesystems.autofs          3.0
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    com.apple.driver.AppleHDA          2.5.3fc1
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    com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver          2.5.3fc1
    com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor          3.0.4d1
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMCPDRC          1.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltIP          1.0.10
    com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient          3.5.13
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMCLMU          2.0.4d1
    com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet          1.0.0d1
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    com.apple.driver.AppleHWAccess          1
    com.apple.driver.AppleLPC          1.7.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000Graphics          8.1.8
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferCapri          8.1.8
    com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight          170.3.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl          1.1.12
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCButtons          240.2
    com.apple.driver.AppleIRController          325.7
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard          240.2
    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.BootCache          35
    com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient          3.6.0
    com.apple.driver.XsanFilter          404
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage          2.4.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub          650.4.4
    com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331          700.20.22
    com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC          1.4.0
    com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet          3.6.9b9
    com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI          4.9.9
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI          650.4.3
    com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort          2.9.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI          650.4.1
    com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager          161.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleRTC          2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons          2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleHPET          1.8
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS          2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC          2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC          1.7
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient          216.0.0
    com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall          153
    com.apple.security.quarantine          3
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement          216.0.0
    com.apple.kext.triggers          1.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily          10.0.7
    com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib          2.5.3fc1
    com.apple.vecLib.kext          1.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily          1.9.4fc11
    com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib          1.14
    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport          4.2.0f6
    com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController          2.5.3fc1
    com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily          2.5.3fc1
    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP          2.2.5
    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily          4.2.0f6
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI          1.0.12d1
    com.apple.iokit.IOSurface          91
    com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2          98.7.1
    com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl          3.4.12
    com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin          1.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMC          3.1.6d1
    com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily          5.5.1d27
    com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert          1.0.4
    com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport          2.3.6
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController          1.0.11d1
    com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily          2.3.6
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter          2.5.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily          2.5.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter          1.4.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch          240.6
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver          650.4.4
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub          650.4.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite          650.4.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice          3.6.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily          1.7
    com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily          1.7.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily          1.7.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCISerialATAPI          2.6.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily          3.6.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI          1.9.2
    com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily          2.8.5
    com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family          600.34
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient          650.4.4
    com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController          1.0.3b3
    com.apple.driver.mDNSOffloadUserClient          1.0.1b4
    com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily          3.2
    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily          4.5.5
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily          2.6.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily          650.4.4
    com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM          2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime          2.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily          2.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily          1.1
    com.apple.security.sandbox          278.10
    com.apple.kext.AppleMatch          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet          7
    com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore          2
    com.apple.driver.DiskImages          371.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily          1.9
    com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily          21
    com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore          28.30
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform          2.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily          2.8
    com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily          1.4
    com.apple.kec.corecrypto          1.0
    com.apple.kec.pthread          1

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    Message was edited by: Touch

    Maybe this will be if interest. Hi everyone. First post...
    Anyway, I was updating my 1.5 G4 Powerbook to 10.5.7 and scored the interminable grey screen. No joy from Option, C, Safe Boot, Verbose Mode etc, etc. Ran fsck in Single User Mode and got the all clear from the hard drive. So...
    Off to the Genius Bar in Sydney's new Apple store. Again, all clear on the hard drive, so must be an operating system error.
    Back home, transferred everything I could think of via Target Disk mode and Firewire to the other Mac and re-installed Panther - yep, it's an oldie but a goodie. Then updated. Then upgraded to Tiger. Then updated. Then tried to load Leopard again. No joy. Grey screen, blue screen, spinning beachball, and clicks and whirrs from the DVD drive.
    After about a day of wracking my brains - I may be slow - I checked the About This Mac feature and it hit me. The RAM was 256MB, not the standard 512. Which is a prerequisite for Leopard. And the Diagnostics line said Memory Failure...
    Then I found the faulty RAM slot thread/lawsuit/recall notices... None of which applied to my serial number.
    To cut a long story shorter, either the RAM module or the slot is stuffed. I need to do a bit more diagnosis, but I can see an expensive swap to a MacBook Pro coming up...
    If you're having trouble booting your G4 Powerbook, check it for memory failure. Apparently it's not uncommon. And apologies if this has all be covered before. Hope it helps.

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