Help!! - I am faced with the grey screen and spinning gear!!
Hi guys
I have an intel-based imac and when i performed routine updates on it, it took long to switch off so i manually turned it off with the button. Normally this gives no problem, but this time it refuses to go past the grey screen with the apple logo and spinning gear. I have tried many of the fixes but to no avail...does anyone have any step by step instructions/suggestions...I cant get to any of my uni work. I tried disk utility and it said my hard drive is fine, yet when i restart im back to the grey screen!
Please help, I cant access any of my files and cant risk having it wiped!!!
Thanks in advance - sorry if this might be in the wrong section!
I had the same issue, and I had recently backed-up my files (mostly because the mac was acting wonky before this even happened), so I did an erase and install. Then I ran through all the software upgrades and installed all of them. When I did a required restart (for the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update) it went BACK to grey screen with spinning ball. Talk about frustrating!
I think there is something weird going on with the iTunes update and the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update. But one can't be used without the other. So I'm not sure how to update everything safely and get an up to date system, without having all the problems I had before. So now I'm using Mac OS X 10.4.7 so I can have a stable system to do my work, but I can't run iTunes 7.0. I'm too scared to update OS b/c I can't waste another day re-installing everything (for like the third time).
I'm a pretty new Mac user (year and half) so this may sound really dumb, but any suggestions would be very welcomed. I may start a new thread instead of hijacking this one...
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I cannot get my MacBook Air to move from the gray start up screen with the Apple logo and spinning gear. Please help
I cannot get my MacBook Air to move from the gray start up screen with the Apple logo and spinning gear. Please help
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Start up problem-can't get past Apple grey screen and spinning gear
Upon trying to start up my laptop, got nothing but the apple logo, grey screen and spinning gear. I tried several things to resolve the problem on my own (hardware test said it could not verify the disk/could not start up from the OS X install disk/reset the power mgmt. unit/disconnected all peripherals)and finally went to the Apple store. Genius bar said they were able to start up from their hard drive and suggested that I buy an external hard drive, go home, start up again and back up all files. I bought a My Book. Got home and same thing happened: Apple logo and spinning gear. I am an Apple user of 18 years, but have not had to do much in the way of diagnostics. Have tried fsck routine today that I found on another posting here today. If the Genius guy got it going, I assumed that I could too. I was wrong. Any advice would be appreciated. It looks like this is the end of the road for my Powerbook, but I'd like a shot at recovering data.
Message was edited by: Debbie WachHi Debbie/Gregg -
I may have missed something but can't you just put a new hard drive in your laptops? You may not be able to recover your data but it doesn't mean the end for your computer. The same thing happened to my TiBook and I put a new 120Gig hard drive in and it's had a new lease of life.
I bought a new internal hard drive along with an external enclosure and connected it up to my computer and from there cloned it. Then I transferred the external into the TiBook and put the old drive into the external and I use that as an external now. I realise your hard drives are dead but you could use another computer to so the same thing and just install the OS on it.
I bought this -
http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/productinfo.php?productsid=452
Then followed the instructions here -
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G4-Ti-DVI/HD-Replacement/33/6/
Once your new hard drive is installed you may be able to try and repair the old one in the external enclosure? -
My mac needed new updates and after clickign update it soon told me there was an error and it froze. I then let it sit fo about 15 minutes adn nothign changed so I restarted it and ever since then all my computer will show is the grey screen and a spinning gear :/ can anyone help me with this problem?
I had the same issue, and I had recently backed-up my files (mostly because the mac was acting wonky before this even happened), so I did an erase and install. Then I ran through all the software upgrades and installed all of them. When I did a required restart (for the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update) it went BACK to grey screen with spinning ball. Talk about frustrating!
I think there is something weird going on with the iTunes update and the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update. But one can't be used without the other. So I'm not sure how to update everything safely and get an up to date system, without having all the problems I had before. So now I'm using Mac OS X 10.4.7 so I can have a stable system to do my work, but I can't run iTunes 7.0. I'm too scared to update OS b/c I can't waste another day re-installing everything (for like the third time).
I'm a pretty new Mac user (year and half) so this may sound really dumb, but any suggestions would be very welcomed. I may start a new thread instead of hijacking this one... -
Why do I perpetually see a grey screen and spinning wheel?
A few months ago my 2004 iMac froze as I was simply shutting down the power and attempting to restart. I was not installing any new O/S.
Today I attempted two things while booting with the O/S recovery disc-1:
(a) I slid the disc in and held down the "C" key while I attempted to power it on. Nothing happened and I continued to see the grey screen and spinning wheel.
(b) I slid the disc inside and held down the "ALT" key while I attempted to power it on. Three icons showed up: (a) Hard Disk; (b) Recovery Disc; and (c) Test. I clicked on the Test icon and it took me to a new screen with two options: ( i ) Quick Test and ( ii ) Extended Test. I clicked on Quick Test. The first aspect of the Quick Test (I think it was Airport) went through fine and passed. The second aspect of the Quick Test (Logic Board testing) continued to show "In Progress" for a really long time (about 15 mins.). From that I figured something must have gone wrong with the Logic Board.
Can anyone help me as to what could be done? I appreciate everyone's answer in advance. Thank you.Thanks to anyone who read this. I solved the problem in a convoluted manner. It appears as is if the hard disk had some issues and I ended up formatting and re-installing the O/S. Thankfully I had a back up that wasn't too long ago.
Cheers. -
Grey Screen and Spinning Circle When Trying to open a PDF from a website
I tried to view a pdf from a website and a little window popped up. At the time i thought it was to save the pdf but i guess it was in fact asking me to find the adobe acrobat program. I quit out of it and now keep getting the grey screen and spinning circle when i try to download the pdf. How do I get it so i can open pdfs if find on websites? thanks!
themercenary12 wrote:
Found another topic and was helpful
*Hi mercenary, Welcome (Back)* to Apple's Users Help Users Forums.
It would be nice if you could explain or link to the helpful topic.
Good Luck, JP -
My iMac won't boot up past the white screen with a grey apple and spinning icon
My iMac won't boot up past the white screen with a grey apple and spinning icon...please help!
command R did not result in anything different - still the white screen, etc. I do you Time Machine with and external hard drive, but I unplugged that. I have the installation DVD, but it doesn't seem to be reading it either.
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i accidently downloaded something that made my webcam flash on spuradically even once i deleted it. when i restarted my computer it got stuck at the white loading screen with the grey apple and wont go past there..what is wrong? will applecare cover this? my computer also slowed down drastically before it stopped working..thanks! HELP PLEASE!
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, 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. -
I just bought a new Macbook pro and i tried to rebuild my iphoto library from a time machine backup on an external hard drive. Even after pressing command+option when starting iphoto and selecting rebuild library from automatic backup, it still doesn't work with the grey screen with the white circle and a little window that says 'rebuilding library: 0 versions restored'. I also tried to make a copy of my iphoto library but that did not work either. how can i restore my iphoto library or at least gain access to my photos?
Your question is not clear
Rerairing or rebuilding the iPhoto library never involves using Time Machine in any way
TM is a totally seperate program and you can "restore" a file (including the iPhoto library) from the past using TM - you launch TM and go back to the time you want and select the file (or folder or package) you want and click restore - it probably is best to keep the current one until you are sure everything is good
LN -
Help I just get stuck with the blank screen and the white circle
help I just get stuck with the blank screen and the white circle after i erase all content and setting
i dont know how to do pls help.Try connecting the device to your iTunes library and restoring it. If necessary place the iPod into recovery mode using the instructions in this Apple support document.
iOS: Unable to update or restore
B-rock -
my iphone got wet and after letting it dry all i get is the black screen with the grey apple and a bunch of white writting, what do I do to fix it?
You can try and put it in a bag of uncooked rice for 5 days or so, but don't get your hopes up. If that doesn't work, you get an out of warranty replacement or buy a new phone.
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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 -
Ibookg4 will not go past the grey screen and will not accept a disc
my ibook will not go past the grey screen and will not accept a disc
Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode? If not, I suggest that you give it a try. This will take quite awhile longer than a normal startup because it does a file check and repair of the hard disk.
If this works you will see your normal desktop. Once completely started up in Safe Mode, try to restart normally, and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Click on the top hard drive icon in the left sidebar and note the S.M.A.R.T. status at the bottom right of the pane. What does it say?
Select the named boot volume in the left sidebar, ("Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). What is the hard drive capacity and how much space remains available on it? Repair permissions on it.
See if you are able to do a little hard drive maintenance to help things out. -
when i turn on my computer it stays on the grey screen and then turns off by itself. How can I fix that?
Hi , and a warm welcome to the forums!
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"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 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, (not Repair Permissions). 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 & clear caches.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
If 10.7.0 or later...
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.
Hold alt or option key at bootup, do asny boot choices show up? -
Tried twice to install Lion but both times on restart just end up with the apple screen and whirligig?? Anyone Help?
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/mac_os_x_v10.7_lion
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