Grey Screen restart w/o Lion disk?

I have an iMac which was upgraded to Lion some time ago.
Due to user error, I have the grey screen of death.
Am I able to reboot from my Snow Leopard install disk? Lion install was done from a download, and I don't have a startup disk for it.

Which model iMac do you have? If you have one of the latest models, or you have one of the Mid 2010 models and you installed the recent iMac EFI Update 1.8 that enables the Lion Recovery from an internet connection then you just need to hold down the command-r keys when you power up the system. For more information on your options see:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
http://www.apple.com/macosx/recovery/

Similar Messages

  • Grey screen restart in several different languages

    My ibook G4 (2005/6) greys out. My friend's computer did the same thing and replaced the airport card and sorted the problem. My apple dealer told me it was logic board? My airport card isn't easily found as the puter is older.
    what do I do.

    Hi wickovski, and a warm welcome to the forums!
    Grey screen restart in several different languages
    That is a Kernal Panic, your dealer may be right. See if it does it trying below.
    Could be many things, but it's best to start with these two steps, which may fix it also...
    "Try Disk Utility
    1. Insert the Tiger 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. (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. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
    5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
    6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
    Then 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 finishes.
    Safe Boot... holding Shift key down at bootup. Safe Boot is a special way to start Mac OS X 10.2 or later when troubleshooting.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392
    Have you booted off the Install Disk by holding the *d key* down at boot-up, (not the c key), and run the extended Apple HW Test? Some Install disks require holding the Option key at bootup to select the AHT. Some Macs came with separate AHT CDs.
    Here's the list and downloads for AHT...
    http://www.info.apple.com/support/aht.html

  • IMac dead, grey screen, won't start from disks

    I'm sure this is going to go over familiar territory.   We have a housefull of Macs and have had for a long time, and I'm fairly used to hunting down issues.  This particular one is a problem I've fortunately not seen before.  I suspect a serious hardware problem, but only got a look at it once it was fairly advanced.
    My teen son was using this computer, a 21"  iMac, I think from 2007 (it was a hand me down from his Mac-savvy Grandma).   He says that it was freezing on him for the last week or two, and he'd have to restart.  Then a couple of days ago when he restarted he got a folder icon with a ?, so he took the install discs and reinstalled the OS, which was 10.4.   Yes, at this point he'd already goofed, because he'd gone over his data, and though he had an external HD, he had not used it with Time Machine for several months.  I don't know what he was thinking, but he's 16...he probably was not. 
    This was where I finally came in. Yes, get old Dad involved once an issue has reached the crisis stage. :-\
    At that point his desktop showed a fresh install of 10.4, which we wanted to update at least, and possibly retrieve his last Time Machine, but I figured there was likely an underlying problem.   Disk utility showed that the disk needed repairing, but I figured that needed to be done from an install disk, and for good measure, I should probably run the Hardware Test as well. 
    Now things got complicated, because I have been unable to get the computer to start from any install disk I've tried.  We have two sets of original install disks from this generation of iMacs (two similar computers), and complete install discs for 10.5 and 10.6, as well as Disk Doctor.   The computer refuses to start up from any of them, with either 'C' or 'D' held down, nor will it start up in Safe Mode.  And now the fresh install of 10.4 has disappeared as well.
    All that occurs on restart, after the 'bong' is a grey screen. If a disk is in the optical drive, there is a brief sound of it spinning up, then silence for a good while, maybe 2 mins, then the disk is spit out.  Nothing more.  I have zapped the PRAM or whatever it's called these days, with no change.
    We did have an external DVD drive somewhere and I'd like to try that, in case there's a problem with the optical drive itself, but I am thinking this computer may have both disk and hardware issues.  
    Any advice welcome...thanks in advance!

    Hi, sounds like the Hard Drive is dying, & that can prevent booting up.
    Hold alt key on bootup, what shows as boot choices?
    Have you unplugged all peripherals, cords, & AC power, let sit 30 minutes & try just with AC connected?
    If you don't know the model, find the Serial# & use it on one of these sites, but don't post the Serial# here...
    http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html
    http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
    How to find the serial number of your Apple hardware product...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349
    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

  • Grey Screen "Restart"...

    Since attempting to install the new 10.4.8 patch, my computer will no longer start up. I get a grey screen with the message to restart in like 5 languages.
    I've done that a few times. Then whipped out the OSX disk and used disk utility, repaired permissions. (Not sure if it matters much but with a small amount of bar left it hangs there for a LONG while before it finishes. I've even run it a few times, it always does this, and doesn't claim to find any more errors.)
    I then try Repair Disk and I get this error,
    "Invalid sibling link
    Volume check failed.
    Error:The underlying task reported failure on exit"
    It still doesn't run if I restart either. The same grey window.
    I've also tried an archive and install so that I didn't lose anything important but doing that just gives me an error that says there were errors installing the software, please try installing again. 
    Anyone have any clue if this is at all fixable, or am I basically screwed and need to format/install. There is some important information on my computer that I need badly (yeah, yeah, backup, I know...).

    I get a grey screen with the message to restart in like 5 languages.
    This indicates what is called a kernel panic.
    Why Apple doesn't recommend this as a warning message or at least an FYI but you should check the hard drive for any directory errors with Disk First Aid repair via Disk Utility when booted from the Tiger install disc #1 that shipped with the Mac or with the Tiger retail install package if an older Mac that shipped with an earlier OS X version installed which now running Tiger that was installed via the Tiger retail install package before installing a major OS update such as 10.4.8.
    More than likely, this was an underlying/unnoticed hard drive directory problem that was brought to the surface by installing the 10.4.8 update.
    If there is a hard drive directory problem that Disk First Aid repair cannot successfully repair after running repair several times, the problem is substantial and you have two options which does not include re-installing via an Archive & Install.
    Purchase a more substantial disk repair utility such as Disk Warrior (with no guarantees but DW has been known to work miracles when other options have failed) or reformat the hard drive with your Tiger install package and re-install the OS and all included software along with re-installing all 3rd party software.
    And as you indicated, one of the reasons why maintaining a backup is so important. If you have access to another Mac, you can try connecting this Mac to the other Mac via Firewire Target Disk mode in an attempt to recover the important information before reformatting the hard drive.
    For future reference before installing a major OS update such as 10.4.8, check this link.
    http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html

  • MacBook Pro Presents a Grey Screen & Restarts Over and Over

    I just got my new 2.7Ghz i7 last tuesday and even after the first time I turned it on and completed updates, restarted, and I was just running safari and itunes, randomly a grey screen came up saying that I needed to restart the computer. I thought it was a one time deal, but then it happened on thursday. Now, today I was working on assignment on pages, with safari running as well, and then the same screen came up and I lost everything. And then it did it 2 more times within the span of 10 minutes, those times not even having anything running. It's been fine for the rest of today, other than having to restart my assignment since I hadn't saved it yet, but the things is I had my previous macbook pro 13" that I purchased in october 2010 and that never happened once. Now, I've had this one for a week and it's happened 7 times. What do you recommend? If I bought it online, can I bring it to a store to exchange it.

    Hi clifton, and welcome to apple DIscussions.
    I would bring it to an Apple Store asap and if it's not something simple, I'd ask for an exchange.

  • Grey Screen Restart Crash

    Hello,
    I had a quick look through other posts and saw lots of grey screen bugs, but nothing quite matching mine, so sorry if this has been asked before...
    My 2010 Macbook Air has recently - in the last couple of months or so - started randomly crashing while typing, or browsing the internet. Everything suddenly stops, including any music playing, and the Mac responds to no keyboard inputs. Then the whole screen turns grey for 5-10 seconds, and then everything reloads as if I've just booted it up, losing any work in the progress.
    It does this around once or twice a week, but I think it may be becoming more common. Any ideas?
    Thanks,
    Alan

    Yes. OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery

  • Yosemite grey screen/restart loop- Mac Pro

    Hi - I am trying to instal a fresh copy of Yosemite onto a new SSD in my Mac Pro 2009 and cannot get it to complete the installation. I am currently running Mavericks 10.9.4 from the stock HDD.
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    I have tried two types of instal:
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    2. Via the Yosemite installer straight from Mavericks. It lets you choose a destination drive, so I select the SSD, it does it's thing but after the first reboot just goes right back to the very first installation screen....
    Any help gratefully received.
    Thanks

    Hi - I am trying to instal a fresh copy of Yosemite onto a new SSD in my Mac Pro 2009 and cannot get it to complete the installation. I am currently running Mavericks 10.9.4 from the stock HDD.
    I have carefully followed steps to format the new SSD drive using Mac OS Journaled with a single GUID Partition.
    I have tried two types of instal:
    1. From a Bootable USB stick - created by Disk Maker X
    The instal goes though initialisation, then the timed instal screen stage (which it completes), then it reboots to a grey screen (completely blank). It sits there for a few mins and eventually I hear the disks starting up and it boots straight into Mavericks.
    2. Via the Yosemite installer straight from Mavericks. It lets you choose a destination drive, so I select the SSD, it does it's thing but after the first reboot just goes right back to the very first installation screen....
    Any help gratefully received.
    Thanks

  • Reloading everything back onto laptop after a disc erase due to grey screen - steps

    1) I have had grey screen problem & have done start jo sox re install. Now I want to reload all my files from time capsule back onto my 17inch pro.
    What are the steps
    The mac17 has had full backup just before it stopped. Last piece of software loaded was a flash player update for YouTube videos .
    But worked ok after that . But had an coloured spinning wheel later when tried to close program's. then after a power restart could only get a grey screen. Tried disc repair & got messages to say invalid record count & invalid node structure . Worker my way through recommended grey screen restarts & now doing re install of OS X
    2) I have since bought a Mac Pro 13 with retina display - due to the 17 mac pros weight.
    I want to reload all my files onto this from time capsule.  Link both via iCloud .

    sabeque wrote:
    4) make a new time machine backup with the fresh os and no data
    This step is superfluous.
    If reinstalling the OSX will allow you to make a Time Machine backup, do so.
    Remember that the first thing you must do with a new HDD is to format it in Disk Utility>Erase to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).  Only then can you install the OSX and the data from Time Machine.
    5) restore from the first time machine backup on the old disk. If this works, great, but im worried that if I had corrupt data on the old drive then when I restore from the old disk, it will bring all that corrupt data onto the new disk. In this case, I would restore again from time machine but this time from the one I did in step 4 when the disk was fresh and clean. I will have lost my apps and have to count my losses. Is this a good plan or will this taint the new disk if the old data is corrupt?
    What makes you believe that you have corrupt data?  Is the issue not the HDD?  Step four only copies the OSX and NO user data.  That has no benefit for you.  All of you applications should be on the first Time Machine backup, assuming it is successful.
    Ciao.

  • Could the grey screen on start up mean a harddrive failyre?

    I have been having a problem with starting my IMAC G5. I am running OS X (10.3.9) and have had the machine since March 2005. This started two weeks ago and has gotten worse since then. It makes the start up chimes and goes to a grey screen and sometimes the grey screed with the Apple logo and then just stops, there is no spin sound either. For a while it would finally start after three or four trys, several days later I had to start using install disk 1 to get it started. Even with that it would take two or three trys.
    I used the hardware test disk that came with the machine and it showed everything fine. Next I used the start up disk 1 with c key down and used disk utility and ran verify disk permissions and then repair permissions. everything was checked and repaired. I then ran disk repair just in case and it checked out ok also. I thought I had it fixed.
    The next day could not get it to start up. Stopped at grey screen. I got the disk 1 out again and rebooted to install disk to go through it again but this time no harddrive was showing, only my install disk. rebooted again and got the same thing. Third time I had the harddrive back. Did the thing again. etc
    Rebooted and everything worked fine till the next day. Repeat same thing all over.
    I think that the harddrive for some reason is not turning on and that is the problem. Is it a drive going out? Software?
    Two weeks worth of this. I have the Apple Care protection plan. Is it time to call them?
    Thanks,
    Dick

    Dick,
    If you have gone through all of the steps/suggestions stated in the above link and its associated links and if you choose to try Tech Tool and have no luck then it is probably time to try a reinstall of your system. If for any reason that you cannot do that at this time then, yes, I think it is probably time to talk to someone at Apple Care.
    It would seem that you have exhausted all remedies other than that that I can think of and apparently others that have posted to your topics.
    The only causes of grey screen startup that I have seen have been due to hardware or software conflicts and are usually to my knowledge corrected when these are corrected (such as bad ram, conflicting software, pci cards, bad USB devices etc.) I would truly be surprised that it would be a bad drive causing those symptons but I have been surprised before.....
    Good luck,
    littleshoulders [:-)

  • I have a MacBook Pro bought in dec 2009. Currently has mountain lion osx installed. Worked like a dream until today. Randomly froze, so I restarted it. To find I got a grey screen. It wouldn't start. Also note my DVD drive doesn't work, but mountain lion

    I have a MacBook Pro bought in dec 2009. Currently has mountain lion osx installed. Worked like a dream until today. Randomly froze, so I restarted it. To find I got a grey screen. It wouldn't start. Also note my DVD drive doesn't work, but mountain lion was installed via App Store anyway.
    So here's what I done so far:
    tried resetting PRAM - No success
    Done disk utility. Disk verified with no errors. I even re formatted disk. - no success starting.
    Tried re installing mountain lion via download . It froze halfway installing -no success.
    Tried backing up a time machine backup from my USB hard drive. It froze at 1% - no success
    Tried booting from safe mode - no success
    Tried the command line boot - no success.
    Please someone help!

    Sounds like the hard dre has left the building, Died, in the Sh*tter, Gone to the hard drive resting place in the sky.
    Buy a new drive connect it to the system with a SATA to USB adapter and see if you can install Mt Lion on that drive connected externally. If you can then the drive inside your system has failed.
    Oh Wait!!!! You have the 2009 model. They are known for bad drive to logic board cables. So it may not be the drive itself but the cable going from the drive to the logic board. Do the same as above then if the system runs OK with the new drive connected externally install it in the system and see if it boots. If it does you are good to go. If it doesn't then it is more then likely the cable that hs failed.
    I would suggest you also SAVE a copy of that download of Mt Lion and create a USB install drive from it using Lion Disk Maker, once you get your system up and running.

  • My problem started when system preferences was unresponsive and would not force quit.  I tryed to restart and got the grey screen, but it never restarted.  I closed the lid and now the screen is blank.  Has anyone had a similar problem after Lion?

    My problem started when system preferences was unresponsive and would not force quit.  I tryed to restart and got the grey screen, but it never restarted.  I closed the lid and now the screen is blank.  Has anyone had a similar problem after Lion installation?

    No, as I have yet to be convinced on Lion.
    Did a permissions repair help from the install DVD?

  • I recently updated my MacBook Pro and now it says I need to restart every time I turn the computer on.  It is on a grey screen.

    I have not used my MacBook Pro for a few months and when I started it up did all the microsoft and system updates.  Now it will not turn on and it goes to a grey page that state "You need to restart you computer. Hold down the Power button untilmitmturns off, then press the Power button again." I have done this several times and keep arriving at the same page. 

    OK, then there is little else to do other than to reinstall OS X.
    Make sure you removed everything connected to the MBP including any USB devices.
    If your Mac came with a System Install DVD, then insert it and hold the c key while starting your Mac. This will boot from the DVD instead of your internal disk.
    If you find the grey screen reappears then it may not have restarted from the disc, so try again. You have to get past this step to do anything. If you can't, the problem may be a dirty or damaged DVD or an inoperative optical drive.
    When it gets to the Mac OS C Utilities screen, select Disk Utility and repair your hard disk. Record any errors that it finds, since your problem may be due to a failed hard disk. If that is the case, the failure will probably arise again.
    Then, reinstall OS X. Reinstalling is non-destructive to your user accounts or data.
    If your Mac is running Lion, or Mountain Lion, you can boot OS X Recovery and perform all the above without a disc.
    Read about OS X Recovery here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

  • After upgrading to Lion should I have tatty grey screen on opening with boxes for password user?

    After upgrading to Lion on Wednesday last I now have a tatty grey screen on booting-up with the two boxes for user name and password.Gone is the old blue screen. Does anyone else have a grey opening screen?
    Also this evening on booting the grey screen appeared but I could not immediately type any info into either box.After switching on/off several times I gave up and left the iMAC on with an inactive grey screen.About five minutes later the HP printer went through a re-calibration or cleaning process,of its own accord, and I noticed that the cursor on the screen had moved of its own accord.I then found that I could insert info into the two boxes and here I am with the iMAC open.Anone come across this issue?

    Hello again Gary,
    After trying your PRAM suggestion, everything was OK however, when I restarted my iMac the next day, the same Grey Screen apppeared whith the request for user name and password?
    This has repeated for the last 3 days!
    I have tried the Utility to check the HD "Verify Disk Permissions" which shows a long list of "faults"? and I have done this twice now.
    Also I have to do the PRAM start-up in order to get online and use other programs. I get frequent messages that say my "Applications" are for the wrong OS?
    After using the PRAM keyboard start-up I get a screen with a "Bar" similar to the Windows XP start-up proocess and a grey blob moves along this "Bar" until the iMac starts.
    On one site it mentioned that this iMac may need an "Firmware" update/correction; however I can not find any Firmware to download for this machine.
    My iMac is a 21.5" Model A1311. 
    Do I need to do a complete Format of the HDD and re-install Leopard and then try Lion again?
    Very frustrated,
    Maureen

  • Help need my mac pro for school..it has Grey screen..spinning wheel...repaid disk ok...repair disk permission all repaired but one warning...

    Help need my mac pro for school..it has Grey screen..spinning wheel...
    I think I have  mountain lion OS X....I have done I think almost every suggestion I've seen in discussion boards.
    Boot in recovery repaired disk...ok...repair disk permission...all repaired but one warning...I've tried to reinstall lion (without losing data) and it Got all the way to one minute to be done and then the time change back two hours and kept doing this all night long.  I haven't done a back up due to no external for time machine.
    I hope someone can please help me I've been going crazy for a week now trying to figure this out.  I use my computer for school and I'm currently very behind from in my school work  thank you
    Also I've checked my available space  424.91 free of 750 gigs....disk is verified

    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
    Try holding the Shift key while your Mac is starting to start into safe mode. Then, after starting in safe mode, open Finder, select Go menu (on the menu bar) > Go to Folder, and type /Library/StartupItems. Then, empty this folder and restart the Mac.
    If your Mac starts after doing this, it was a problem with a third-party app that starts automatically when you turn on the computer. It won't start automatically anymore after doing that

  • Mac book air crashed, when restarted it gets stuck on grey screen

    I was using my MacBook Air (mountain lion osx) this afternoon as normal when the screen froze on me as if the computer had crashed. After a minute or two I decided to restart it by holding down the power button. The air turned off and back on, and got the the grey screen with the apple symbol as if it was re-booting but has been stuck there ever since?.
    Any idea what's happened and how to resolve please.
    Thanks in advance.

    Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
    Step 1
    The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.   
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
         a. Boot into the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
    c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
    Step 2
    Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
    If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
    Step 3
    Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
    Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
    The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
    When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 5.
    If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
    If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
    Step 4
    Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
    Step 5
    Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
    This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
    Step 6
    Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
    Step 7
    Repeat Step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
    Step 8
    This step applies only to older Macs (not current models) that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery. Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
    Step 9
    If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested. If you can't get to an Apple Store, go to another authorized service provider.

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