HELP!!! intermittent boot failures - grey screen at startup

For the past six to eight months now I have been dealing with intermittent issues upon startup. My early 2006 Intel iMac will occasionally hang at the grey screen without the Apple logo showing up. No rainbow pinwheel, no nothing. Just a grey screen. The only option I have is to power off the iMac and then restart it.
When I first called Apple Care I was told that this was more than likely an issue with 3rd party software and that I should perform a clean reinstall. I followed the advice but still experienced the intermittent issues.
Lately, it got so annoying that I called Apple Care again and they set me up to take my iMac into the local Apple store for repairs. After five days without my iMac, I called the Apple Store today and was told that after 1000s of reboots they were unable to reproduce the issue.
That in of itself surprises me, especially considering last Friday I backed up, zeroed the drive and re-installed Tiger in preparation to taking the iMac into the store on Saturday and the issue re-occured twice with in 30 minutes of the initial reboot following the re-install.
Has anyone experienced this? How did you solve this?
I have found the following discussion but have yet to receive a response to my inquiry.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=835193
I have also seen posts on the net for similar issues, but those state that people have external drives connected and turned on. That doesn't apply in my case even though I have external drives. (They are normally powered off.)
2 Ghz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro - 2 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.9) Original 5GB iPod, Pepsi iTunes 6GB iPod Mini, Black 8GB iPod Nano

Well, after six days of being at the Apple Store, my iMac finally has found its way home without being repaired. The techs at the store were unable to reproduce the issue.
In the process of the repair, techs at the Apple Store installed an Apple-created app called RestartX, version 2.5(1). They used to the app they stated to restart the iMac over 1500 times without being able to reproduce the issue. They left the app on the computer for me to try with my set up of Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, MS Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0, USB hub and Epson CX4200, as well as external hard drives.
Well I didn't get as far as the external drives when the computer did the same thing upon boot try 17 after the Epson drivers install on boot 14, boot 15 with the printer on and boot 16 with the printer off.
Now the computer is failing to shutdown properly when using RestartX. If there are any Apple experts out there this is the last log entry before the computer hangs and needs to be powered down manually.
[04/13 01:12:58 AM] applicationWillTerminate exited
Any help would be much appreciated. Looks like I will be heading to the Apple Store again tomorrow.

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My iMac won't boot past grey screen and it didn't come with a os x disk

My iMac won't boot past grey screen with apple. I've tried booting in safemode but that didn't help and my iMac didn't come with a os x disk.

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 startup failure is to secure the 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 the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from 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, start 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
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use either of the techniques in Steps 1b and 1c to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up 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.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start 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 the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up 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, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 10. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup 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 restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the 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 restart as usual.
Step 9
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 10
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 11
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 12
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

G5 won't boot past grey screen

G5 2.0 Dual will not boot past grey screen. Running 10.5.8 on an old maxtor 160gb drive, drive is available as a startup disc in StartUp disk in system preferences. But when it is chosen the machine shuts down in the usual manner then switches to the maxtor disk and only gets to the grey screen with the apple log no progress clock appears. Using disk utility from install disk reports that drive is ok, running techtool pro 4.6.2 reports the drive is fine and all file structures, volume structures and directories are fine. So of course i am keen to find out what the issue is and wether it can be resolved without resorting to a clean install. When booted from another internal drive the icon for the errant drive is visible and all files and folders are visible and readily accessable.
It would be great to get back to booting from this drive as it is the main drive I use and has so much more on it than the secondary drive.
Any help will be of immense use
Thank You

I assume you have already tried a PRAM reset. If so, then the following three items may yield a clue.
Number one thing to try is a Safe Boot by holding the shift key down at boot. You may have a something in the non-minimal Apple kext set that is causing the hang. (If it safe boots, you may have a problem in kext caches which can be cleared. See below.)
Second is to disconnect all peripherals except monitor, keyboard and mouse and see if something there is contributing to the hang.
Third is to use verbose boot (hold down cmd-V at boot until you see a black Unix terminal screen come up) and see where the system is hanging.
Clearing the kext Caches (if indicated)
This is probably easiest done booted from the other drive, so I'll describe that method.
Open the Maxtor's System folder, then open the Library folder and drag the following two files to the trash:
Extensions.kextcache
Extensions.mkext
Empty the trash.
Open a Terminal session from the Terminal application in the /Applications/Utilities folder.
Type cd followed by a space in the command line and then drag the icon for the Maxtor into the window, which will put a properly formatted Unix path into the command line, then press the return key. Type the following three commands
cd System <cr>
cd Library <cr>
sudo touch Extensions <cr>
then give your password when requested and close the terminal session. Select the Maxtor as the statrup drive in System Preferences and give it a go.

TS2570 Grey screen on startup...

I am using 2008 White Macbook with OSX lion running on it. Recently I tried to update the OS and then I started getting a folder with question mark on startup. After that I started getting a continuous grey screen on startup. I tried various options like command + option + P + Q, then Command + R, etc. but did not get any response. After that I pressed option key on startup then there was a response. A lock icon appeared on screen asking for a password. I tried the MacBook password and it is not taking that password as well. I tired all the passwords I remembered but nothing worked. My cd drive is not working and also I do not have original OS disks with me now. The apple service centre told that they can resolbe it as it is a vintage model. I called apple care but they are asking 29 $ for a call Which is ridiculou. Pl. help me

Does the lock screen look like the one on this page…
http://osxdaily.com/2014/01/06/set-firmware-password-mac/
That is an EFI password - it stops the firmware accepting ANY startup commands so you cannot boot from other media or use the startup keys to get into recovery mode, single user mode, target disk mode etc.
If you can't remember the password you will need to remove the battery & leave it unpowered for a few days. If you are lucky it will reset. If it doesn't reset you need to open the case & remove the internal clock battery. Not something anyone should do without the skills to work on electronics - take it to an Apple Store or an Apple approved service centre would be my advice.
It is also possible that you have Filevault password instead of an EFI password - did you need to enter a password after every reboot before the OS failed. This shouldn't be confused with a normal user account password.
If you have Filevault enabled you can still try booting into recovery mode, but you must enter the password to repair the boot disk.
The 'question mark folder' means it cannot find an OS that is bootable - it need to be repaired but you can't get to recovery mode without the EFI password - a catch 22 situation.
Since you have no install disks or other ways to boot it seems you are probably not going to be able to fix this. If you have another Mac you could try to download 10.7 & create a USB install disk & use that to try to repair the Mac, but it seems unlikely since it appears to have a firmware password.

IMac wont boot Past Grey Screen, finder folder with blinking question mark

iMac G5 won't boot Past Grey Screen. The G5 froze and i restarted, It will not go past the grey screen and it has the finder folder with blinking question mark, also the fans kick on wide open. As it atempts to boot a sound plays "beepda beepda beepda beep" that starts quiet and gets louder and repeats a couple of times. I ran a hardware check on the startup disk and all hardware passed. I thought it might be the RAM any suggestions?
I have restarted using the troubleshooting methods in the guide.

Sorry for the late reply. The drive shows up when booting to disk, but it will not allow you to verify disk or repair. Also it will not allow you to select the hard drive to reinstall the software. Under disk utility Maxtor sabre shows up with total capacity:0 bytes.
I've taking the Mac to the Apple store to get looked at, and its probly the hard drive. Now Im trying to see if theres a way to recover the data myself. I've used software like "Data Rescue" the hard drive shows up "Maxtor Sabre" totally capacity: 0 bytes, and it will not recover anything.
Did this test just to see if it was power problem.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2173
Thats when noticed the beeps are coming from the hard drive. So its getting power.
Now just wondering how to recover data.
Any suggestions?

G3 Beige: grey screen at startup; no icon; won't boot from CD

G3 Beige, OS 9.2; working perfectly for past year.
I was using a D-Link wired router, to this and my other Mac, G4 Graphite OS X Tiger.
Having just gotten a netbook, I installed a D-Link wireless router (DIR-615), and changed the ethernet cables for both (non-wireless) Macs over to the new router. (It had been configured for me by a Staples Associate where I bought it.)
The netbook and the Graphite G4 worked as they should, but upon restart, the G3 Beige not only wouldn’t boot, it didn’t even show a sad Mac or a question mark. It chimed, but only has a grey screen. Cursor works (& keyboard); nothing else.
I disconnected ethernet cable; same grey screen upon restart.
Won’t boot from Norton or Mac OS 9 CD, pressing “C” at startup.
Zapping pram didn’t help.
Shift during startup didn’t help.
Now what??
TIA.
PS: Meanwhile, I'm afraid to connect my emergency spare 7300 w/G3 upgrade & OS 9.1 to that router. Should I?

The next thing to try is re-seating the sound card. The backpanel is only well-supported on one side, and the sound card takes a beating in all the Beige G3s and similar Macs with tumble-open or lift open designs (but not the All-in-One). Jeff suggests you remove the exterior third screw \[and leave it out] and bend the top tab slightly before re-installing the two screws on the rail. This helps push the sound card back into the slot and keep it firmly seated.
Do you have any SCSI devices or SCSI cables connected? A dangling SCSI cable or a badly-terminated SCSI device can cause a Hang where you describe.

My macbook pro wont get past the grey screen at startup. Help!!

After doing a run of the mill software update on my macbook pro (running snow leopard) it froze during the "moving items into place" stage. I forced a shut down and now it wont get past the grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel. I have tried booting from the original DVD but it still freezes. When I boot it in verbose mode it seems to stop at "jnl: unknown-dev: update_fs_block: error reading fs block # 3597880! (ret 5)", the Apple AHCD Disk Queue manager :: set power state is timing out and there is a disk I/O error. I have tried to reset the power manager (not sure if it worked or not) and I have also tried clearing the PRAM (again, not sure of that worked). When I try to look at the hard drive using target mode on my imac the hard drive doesn't come up but the DVD does. I'm concerned that my hard drive is fried. Any suggestions?

It would help to state in your post which remedies you tried that didn't work.
Start here > OS X Lion: If you see a gray screen at startup
If nothing there helped, try Starting up in Safe Mode
Safe Mode deletes some system caches that may help.
A Safe Mode boot takes longer than a normal boot so be patient. Once you are in Safe Mode, click Restart from the Apple menu.
If a Safe Mode boot didn't work, since your Mac has OS X v10.7 installed, restart your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys so you can access OS X Recovery built in utilities. The startup disk may need repairing.
Tip: Hold down the Eject key while starting up your Mac to eject a disc.

After update Mac Pro boots to grey screen with Kernel Panic. Help please.

It would be great if someone can help me out. Yesterday I did a software update of iTunes and osx (it said to ease update to Lion) and now my Mac Pro tower (MacPro3,1) boots to a grey screen, kernel panic, telling me that I need to power down and restart my machine. I can boot into osx via the safe mode but unfortunately I don't have an install disk to repair the system disk. What are my options?
The machine appears to work in safe mode. I have tried resetting the PRAM. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
In safe mode, I get this error report.
Interval Since Last Panic Report: 2403 sec
Panics Since Last Report:          4
Anonymous UUID:                    2F681FF9-168D-42D2-865B-C00AD4C8FA30
Thu Oct 27 14:29:21 2011
panic(cpu 7 caller 0x560821): "getPhysicalSegment() out of 32b range 0x3f10000000, len 0x0, class IOGeneralMemoryDescriptor"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1504.15.3/iokit/Kernel/IOMemory Descriptor.cpp:1594
Backtrace (CPU 7), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x840b3cc8 : 0x21b837 (0x5dd7fc 0x840b3cfc 0x223ce1 0x0)
0x840b3d18 : 0x560821 (0x5e6dfc 0x10000000 0x3f 0x0)
0x840b3d68 : 0x55d2df (0x15d9fd80 0x0 0x0 0x16a4f580)
0x840b3d88 : 0x55ceee (0x16a4f580 0x0 0x0 0x10000)
0x840b3da8 : 0x8e7ee97e (0x16a4f580 0x0 0x0 0xffffffff)
0x840b3e18 : 0x543f60 (0x8eb44000 0x15c68b00 0x1 0x506b76)
0x840b3e78 : 0x542137 (0x15c68b00 0x8eb44000 0x16abd180 0x51a1b0)
0x840b3f28 : 0x5426e9 (0x15c68b00 0x16aba8c0 0x0 0x516766)
0x840b3f78 : 0x5443d5 (0x15c68b00 0x8 0x840b3fac 0x1)
0x840b3fc8 : 0x2a179c (0x15858690 0x0 0x2a17ab 0x15f17904)
      Kernel Extensions in backtrace (with dependencies):
         com.aja.iokit.kona3(8.0)@0x8e7c0000->0x8e806fff
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily(10.0.3)@0x84130000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6.5)@0x84082000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily(1.8.3fc2)@0x8e635000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.2)@0x8e6b2000
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Mac OS version:
10K549
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 10.8.0: Tue Jun 7 16:33:36 PDT 2011; root:xnu-1504.15.3~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacPro3,1 (Mac-F42C88C8)
System uptime in nanoseconds: 22607847366
unloaded kexts:
(none)
loaded kexts:
com.aja.iokit.kona3 8.0 - last loaded 22387593921
de.novamedia.driver.NMSmartplugSCSIDevice 1.0.1
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43224 428.42.4
com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 4.7.0a1
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.5.1
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 2.1.0
com.apple.driver.CSRHIDTransitionDriver 2.4.5f3
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.6.8
com.apple.driver.AppleRAID 4.0.6
com.apple.BootCache 31.1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.7.3
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.6.4
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA 2.5.1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 4.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.3.6
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.3.6
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 142.6.0
com.apple.security.sandbox 1
com.apple.security.quarantine 0
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 2.1.12
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 142.6.0
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.2
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.8.3fc2
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.3
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.3
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 320.1
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.10
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.0d5
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 4.7.0a1
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.10d0
com.apple.driver.CSRUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.4.5f3
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.4.5f3
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.4.5f3
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHIDKeyboard 141.5
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 4.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 141.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.9.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 2.6.8
com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.6.1
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 2.6.8
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 402.1
com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.6.8
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 4.2.4
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.2.6
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.0.6
com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.4.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.6.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 6
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 289.1
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.6.3
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.3.6
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.3.0
Model: MacPro3,1, BootROM MP31.006C.B05, 8 processors, Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 3 GHz, 16 GB, SMC 1.25f4
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770, ATI Radeon HD 5770, PCIe, 1024 MB
Memory Module: global_name
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x88), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.42.4)
Bluetooth: Version 2.4.5f3, 2 service, 19 devices, 0 incoming serial ports
Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en2
PCI Card: pcif1d0,c0ff, sppci_video, Slot-2@3,12,0
PCI Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
PCI Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770, ATY,HoolockParent, Slot-1
PCI Card: pcif1d0,c0ff, sppci_video, Slot-3@10,12,0
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0, 1.82 TB
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0, 1.82 TB
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0, 1.82 TB
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD5002ABYS-01B1B0, 465.76 GB
Parallel ATA Device: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A
USB Device: Keyboard Hub, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x1006, 0xfd100000 / 2
USB Device: Apple Keyboard, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x0221, 0xfd120000 / 3
USB Device: Kensington Expert Mouse, 0x047d (Kensington), 0x1020, 0x1d200000 / 2
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8206, 0x5d200000 / 2
USB Device: HASP HL 3.21, 0x0529 (Aladdin Knowledge Systems), 0x0001, 0x3d200000 / 2
FireWire Device: built-in_hub, Up to 800 Mb/sec
and here is my system software overview once I have booted into osx in safe mode.
System Software Overview:
System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)
Kernel Version: Darwin 10.8.0
Boot Volume: System
Boot Mode: Safe
Computer Name: qdise’s MacPro3,1
User Name: q2dise (dty61)
Secure Virtual Memory: Not Enabled
64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No
Time since boot: 16 minutes

There's no point in reinstalling the same driver. It hasn't changed. It's incompatible with the OS update. Contact the device manufacturer to see if there's a driver update. In the meantime, you should physically remove the device so the driver doesn't load. If you uninstall the driver and leave the device installed, that might also cause a panic.

Help: Macbook Pro Retina won't boot past Grey screen w/ Logo

All,
My computer died last night with each application not responding. I couldn't shut down normally so I held the power button to turn it off.
Next morning, I tried to boot the MacBook Pro and the boot process stalled at the grey screen with the Apple Logo and spinning wheel. I let it go for an hour and there was no change on the screen. Based on Apple's help desk I ran Hardware diagnostics (extended with looping disabled) and got the following error
4HDD/11/40000000: SATA (0,0)
The screen shot is below
I ran this again with standard testing (no looping) and standard with looping and all gave the same results.
Any ideas? The compute will not boot.
Thank you
Phillip

That's what I thought but was able to do CMD-R and verify/repair permissions the disk. My hard drive is actually a flash drive so I'm guessing the controller or motherboard.
I do have it backed up with the last 24 hours ago.
Thanks
Phillip

Intermittent double beep and grey screen on startup

I just installed new third party RAM for my iMac (2008), because it was on sale. The initial RAM they sent me caused a kernel panic (forced shutdown) so I assumed they were faulty and sent them back. I just received my second set of RAM modules - which appear to work -- kind of. I have not had the kernel panic screen and no problems once the computer is booted, however about every second or third time I restart the computer I get the grey screen and a series of double beeps (which I have found out means incompatible RAM on startup testing). The hardware testing utility on my OSX Disc tests the RAM as being OK. I found a free app called rember which reports RAM errors. My question is: have I got a second set of faulty RAM - should I be looking at getting another brand (the one I have is "Add-On" and was specifically marketed as being for the aluminum intel based iMacs).
Thanks in advance,

Hi Machaon42
Welcome to Apple Discussions
That sounds like incorrect or incompatible RAM, double check the spec's of that RAM compared to either your User's Guide or > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1760
Then compare OWC's price, it is iMac tested and highly recommended by forum members.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/IntelCore_2_DuoPC2-6400
Dennis

Grey screen on startup - verbose mode:"We are hanging here..."! Please help

Dear everybody!
I'm cross-posting from the iBook forum, because I found some helpful posts over here after posting my problem there. I hope someone can help with these NEWS:
Here´s the short version:
Two days ago freeze during dragging a pdf to a USB storage. I shut down all other apps, then also finder, iBook becme unresponsive, so I shut it down with the power button. Since then, I permanently get the grey screen with four language "You need to restart your computer..." on normal startup, no problems starting in safe mode, but then some other strange things happen (e.g. no volume adjustable, no speakers and no mic in sound prefs).
AHT from original disc: no problems found
Tried Command S during startup with fsck -fy, same problem on reboot.
Tried Verbose mode, below is the very interesting last lines:
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x000954F8 0x00095BF8 0x00026898 0x0028D204 0x00296090 0x0029585C 0x0029929C 0x00292520
0x00297790 0x00297C24 0x002ABDB8 0x000ABD30 0x02461200
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x3154D500)
PC=0x9002FD20; MSR=0x0200F030; DAR=0x0007B39E; DSISR=0x00002C1B; LR=0x9002F95C; R1=0xBFFFF8F0; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.11.0: Wed Oct 10 18:26:00 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.24.17~1/RELEASE_PPC
panic: We are hanging here...
Am I having a kernel panic? If yes, why does the console panic log not state any panic since more than a year? What's my next step?
Thanks for any useful ideas in advance!
Keywan

As for now, only thing that helped was an archive and install with preserve user settings. Seems after the reinstall of 10.4. everything that was weird has become normal again. I hope very much this state stays on for a while - or ever!
A comment to everybody: with problems that are common you get a lot of help from friendly users in here, but if like in my situation things get a bit more uncommon than the usual querks and troubles your bound to go through a whole workflow of tests and algorithms - i did learn some new things but eventually I had to go for the ultimate - the reinstall (of course, erase and install would have been more work.) and it's frustrating not to find out how it came to this problem. I wish I could nail it down to something I did mistakenly - i guess I'll find out next time.
THANKS THOUGH to those who replied.
Keywan

Booting problem (grey screen with spinning wheel) PLEASE HELP!!

I have and ibook G4, i shut it down the other day and whent to school, when i got home, i tried booting it up, but its just goes to the grey screen with the apple logo and the spinning wheel, and doesnt go any further. i can hear the computer thinking, it that helps at all, but the weel just keeps spinning and it never gets to the login screen. Whats the problem? What can i do to fix it? somebody please help!!!

Hi,
Try starting in Safe Mode by holding the shift key as you start. Release it when you see the logo and spinning progress indicator. If successful restart normally.
If that doesn't work please post the version of OS X you are using (Panther,Tiger,Leopard) for more trouble shooting suggestions.
John

HELP!! Grey screen at startup....

I was cleaning out my computer, getting rid of some photos and I suddenly got the loading wheel and my Macbook froze, which never happens. I was forced to shutdown the computer and when I turned it on I just got the grey screen. No apple sign, no loading wheel, no folder with a ? in it,. Just grey. I can hear the fan going but nothing is happening. When I press the power button it just turns off. I tried to start it through Safe Mode. It wouldn't work. I did the Command, Option, P, and R commandy and it did was it was suppose to do but nothing happened after the second time it started. I don't know what else I can do because my OSX disk is not where I'm living now. Running out of options. Help please!

Well, after six days of being at the Apple Store, my iMac finally has found its way home without being repaired. The techs at the store were unable to reproduce the issue.
In the process of the repair, techs at the Apple Store installed an Apple-created app called RestartX, version 2.5(1). They used to the app they stated to restart the iMac over 1500 times without being able to reproduce the issue. They left the app on the computer for me to try with my set up of Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, MS Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0, USB hub and Epson CX4200, as well as external hard drives.
Well I didn't get as far as the external drives when the computer did the same thing upon boot try 17 after the Epson drivers install on boot 14, boot 15 with the printer on and boot 16 with the printer off.
Now the computer is failing to shutdown properly when using RestartX. If there are any Apple experts out there this is the last log entry before the computer hangs and needs to be powered down manually.
[04/13 01:12:58 AM] applicationWillTerminate exited
Any help would be much appreciated. Looks like I will be heading to the Apple Store again tomorrow.

Mac Mini just boots to grey screen - help!

My trusted mac mini a1176 (intel 1.66GHz) has always worked fine but now it just has a grey screen when it starts. There is no chime, and if I leave it long enough a picture of a file with a ? in it appears.
The events leading up to this could have an effect, I am not sure. The original hard drive had a mac and a PC division. I took this drive out 6 months ago and fitted a larger one. This larger one had a carbon copy of the mac part of the original drive made on it. I did not put the PC division on it. All worked fine since. Today I wanted to boot up the PC partition on the original drive so I put the old drive in a USB enclosure, plugged it in and then in settings chose to boot from the PC part of this drive. This is the last thing useful the mini did. It just went to grey screen on restart. So then unplugged the external drive, still no boot. Since then I have tried.
Pressing differen buttons on restart
Putting leopard instal disk in drive ( this is he os I am using)
Disassemble mini and put he original disk back in
SMC reset
Take out extra ram
Disconnected every other peripheral.
I use a apple wired keyboard
A dell mouse (I have a Bluetooth apple one)
Any suggested next steps would be warmly appreciated? Would the logic board just go like that? It seams a bit of a coincidence!
Thanks and sorry for he spelling, this is from my iPhone.

Here is YouTube video of what the screen is now doing.
http://m.youtube.com/index?client=mv-google&xl=xltsp&desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?xl=xlblazer&v=oGoeCSPV8ag

Macbook Won't Chime Or Boot Past Grey Screen W/ Apple Logo & Spinning Gear

So i took my Macbook into the apple store to get looked it, cuz i sensed it was a little too hot and maybe overheating........... I DJ so my Macbook is bascially used for that and that only, so after he ran a diagnostics he seen i needed a new fan, but they didn't have that fan in stock, so i went home.... Laptop still working fine until i went to boot it up and it didn't chime and was stuck on the grey screen with the apple logo and spinning gear. Does this indicate i need a new logic board or a new hard drive

Hi ds,
Sorry to hear you're having such trouble!
Unfortunately, the best thing you can do at this point is reinstall Leopard (and then attempt to install the combo updater, too). If you don't have a backup of your machine, you could boot it into Target Disk Mode (by holding down T at startup) and then attach it via FireWire to another computer to salvage your files.
I recently had to repair a machine with this exact same problem, and after messing around with that for several hours, I'd have to say that I think that an Erase and Install is the way to go. If you then migrate over your user data and start having troubles, you at least know where the problem lies. I suspect, though, that having a clean machine with all of the new updates applied will be the end of the issue.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There are a few other things you could try first; you could, for example, manually download the relevant combo updater from Apple's website and attempt to install it to your damaged machine while it's in Target Disk Mode. If you have a copy of Disk Warrior, that too is certainly worth a shot (and in some cases may be the saving grace). In my experience, though, a failure of this magnitude isn't easy to resolve.
Hope that helps.
—Hazy

HELP!!! intermittent boot failures - grey screen at startup

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