Grey Start up screen - Dad trying to help

Hello to the mac family,
As a regular 9.2 user, I am stuck once again. I am trying to help my son's roommate at school. I have not seen the computer. I think....
He has a powerbook G-4.... On start up, he just gets the grey screen and the X sign. He is running X.4 (Tiger). The machine is just out of warranty time.
This problem just started. I told him to start up holding down the shift key to get into safe mode. When he holds down the shift key it just starts up and hangs at the grey screen with the X on it. It doesn't go further. Because he lives far away (from college) I am planning to bring my son's i-book disks to the college. My son has an i-book with Tiger.
Will this allow him to get to the utilities and check things from there?
As I stated I am a 9 user so I can't help too much.
Could someone give us step by step instructions or a link to an article that will help us.
He has disconnected all periphs and plugged into an outlet.
I am floundering and would like to help him. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated..........mGb...........Jim (dad)

Hello Sig, Thanks for the reply...Yes my son's friend has disks for the notebook, but he lives pretty far away and the disks are at his home.
I was thinking I could use my son's disks because I am close to their college.
As it turned out his mother drove the disks to him.Not much luck however, Started form his install disc and went to utilities...Tried to repair but was unable.It gave an odd message. He even was going to reinstall but the HD doesn't show as an option.
He took it to an apple "genius bar"?? (not sure if that is the correct name) but they said the drive is not mounted and to try Warrior.
I am not certain if he has the $$ to purchase it.
I woant to thank you for your help.......mGb........Jim

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http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
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My computer won't load pass the grey start up screen

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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.
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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
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 3
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 4
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 5
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Any Suggestions would be mucho appreciated.

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Hi
At this point you may consider contacting Kingston to ask them why your SSD is not running after POST when clearly Windows is installed .
Checkurtech
****Click the White Kudos star to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****

Blue screen freeze at start up desparate dad pleads for help..

It's been a longgg time...
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I have 10.4.11 installed.
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Sounds like directory damage of some sort. A few options.
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How can I solve grey start-up screen problem?

Hello all,
my seemingly healthy mid-2010 Macbook running the latest version of OS 10.6 has suddenly become unresponsive and won't boot up past the initial grey screen. Below is a list of things that I thought were relevant:
Over the last few months there have been frequent (a few times a week when connecting via USB internet dongle) kernel panics associated with Telstra Sierra AirCard 320U (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2776956?tstart=0 ; http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/210007-continued-kernel-p anics-can-damage-my-machine.html )
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Machine was really slow – almost freezing, then froze up.
Hard re-boot.
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Any suggestions very welcome!
Also, any insights into whether this is a HD problem or something else. I live very remotely, so taking it in for service is not feasible, due to both time, but mostly cost. If, despite the apparent OK SMART status and Disk Utility verification it is definitely the HD I can easily get another - if it's something else, well it might be time to buy a new mac.

After having no luck, I later tried removing and reinstalling HD, but that was no help. I then re-installed an old failed HD and was able to log in using Installation disk (but not prompt hardware test by holding D key at startup). Disk utility showed no HD (which may be expected as it was a failed drive). I then restarted again with no problem.
I powered down and returned the current HD and was able to start holding down C to boot from disk. Once I was in, Disk Utility showed my HD correctly and I performed a Verify on the disk and ‘Macintosh HD’ as well as repaired permissions on both and the result for all was a pass.
I then used the Startup tool to select the HD as the startup disk and this appeared to be successful. At the login screen I re-started again, this time in Safe Mode, which was also successful. I then saved some media files that are excluded from Time Machine backup and did a Time Machine backup to two separate disks. When I tried to check the time machine history of one of the disks (‘enter time machine’) the machine froze again. I selected restart from the options after pressing the power button, then restarted in Safe mode. Then I created a bootable clone on an external hard drive – just to be sure!
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Will also go through these steps - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353

Grey start - up screen

Hello there,
I have been having troubles with my PowerBook G4. I have searched apple.com for help, and I found a topic with a similar problem but it didnt help me.
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Message was edited by: serentor

I just started having the same issue last night. Computer worked fine all day at my office. Packed it up and will only restart after a PRAM reset. Did you ever get a fix or other suggestions? I was leaning toward the HD or a possible internal battery issue. Help!

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HI Anamusic,
Many thanks for the link I will save it, but unfortunately I have a wireless keyboard and tracker pad, so I don't think the keyboard is active when I need to use it, I have tried but it seems to be exactly the same.
Thank you for your help anyway.
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Quite perplexed with this problem, have tried everything I can think of.
Computer: iMac 2.16 gHz 24" mid 2006, 4 gig RAM
OS: 10.6.8
Froze and required hard shutdown. Subsequent to this, has behaved consistently:
Normal grey screen with Apple logo and spinning timer, can hear disk activity. Then the screen goes dark and nothing else happens (although the computer is still on). Have to perform hard shutdown.
Have tried:
1. Booting into single user mode (multiple times) and performed fsck, no errors noted
2. after using 'exit' command in single user mode, computer attempts to reboot but then freezes after noting 'panic'
3. Reset PRAM (no change)
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5. Reinstalled HD, reassembled computer, rebooted, same issue
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One update ... when I boot the computer and get the 'dark screen', I hear disc activity. So I started hitting the return key and I get the chime with each return as if I'm on the log in screen and hitting the return to log in without entering any text.
That would argue there is a problem with the screen.
However, it does not explain why the computer display works normally during single user mode and hangs (without the screen going dark) when trying to reboot from this mode.

Macbook won't get past the grey start up screen

I purchased my Macbook in 2008, roughly July.
My fiance unknowingly shut down my macbook in the middle of start up. Before that it was running perfectly fine, I had no issues.
After my fiance stopped the start up, the macbook won't turn on. It'll load up to the grey loading screen (example here)... It doesn't make much noise as it starts up either. I have all original discs that came with the macbook, if that helps any.
I'm frustrated, as I can't afford to replace my mac at this point.
Any idea what I can do?
Thanks..

Hopefully, nothing permanent. Do the following:
If you have Snow Leopard installed:
Reinstall Snow Leopard without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard 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 Utilities menu. 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 installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
If you have Lion installed:
Reinstalling Lion Without Erasing the Drive
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. Alternatively, 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.
If you have Leopard installed:
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, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) 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 installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
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.

Grey Start up screen - Dad trying to help

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