HT1310 Why wont my start up disk appear after I hold option key?

At start up I hold the option key but after waiting for a bit the only thing that appears is the arrow icon instead of the folder icon with the question mark. Im not sure what to do. this is a MacBook I purchased on 2007ish (Blk macbook) and I dont think i can find the software to restart. any suggestions?

I have heard of others with problems getting that particular drive to mount, or boot the OS; but try this: Shut down, turn everything off, and unplug everything, firewire, keyboard, mouse, AC, etc. Wait 15-20 minutes. Plug everything in again, AC power last.
Make sure your external drive is powered up, then start up your Mac; see if it will boot.

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Hold Option key at start up only show Mac OS but Windows

Hi all,
i have installed windows xp on my macbook(the new one with leopard).
and windows work well.
but when i hold option key at start up, it only show me mac os.
i don't know why.how can i make it show me 2 systems(mac and windows) after i hold option key at start up?

If I remember correctly, Bootcamp needs an NTFS partition for Windows in order to work correctly. This is the default file system for WindowsXP. The Bootcamp assistant tells you during installation that a FAT32 partition already exists and, curiously, gives you the default selection of leaving this intact. You need to ignore that and format using NTFS. If you don't, then Windows wont boot. To convert to NTFS, you will need to run the assistant again and reinstall Windows.
To overcome the problem of data portability between WinXP and OSX, I use a small 30 gig USB external drive formatted using FAT32 as a bridge between the two. Hope all this is useful?

What's happening on my iMac? There are two choices of selected start up disks appearance without hold down option key. On the other hand, it start up normally show apple picture when I hold option key.

There are two choices of selected start up disks:Main HD and Recovery HD, appearance without hold down option key. On the other hand, it start up normally show apple picture when I hold option key.

Hi artdiva28
Welcome to Apple Discussions
First go to *System Preferences > Startup Disk* > select the *Mac OS X 10.5. on Macintosh HD* > click the Lock > hit the Restart button.
Then if the iMac is still having trouble starting up, insert your Install Disk and restart holding the Option key. In Startup Manager select the Install Disk and boot into it, choose your language, skip the Installer and go up on the menu bar to Utilities and open Disk Utility. In Disk Utility select your Macintosh HD and hit the Repair button. Once finished note any errors and what was repaired for future reference. Quit Disk Utility and restart once again holding the Option key boot back into the Macintosh HD and eject the Install Disk.
Also see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2956
Dennis

Since I have iTunes match, why does my iTunes library not appear in iPhoto music options for slideshow?; only songs purchased or placed on iTunes over a year ago appear in the iPhoto library under the iTunes or purchased option.

since I have iTunes match, why does my iTunes library not appear in iPhoto music options for slideshow?; only songs purchased or placed on iTunes over a year ago appear in the iPhoto library under the iTunes or purchased option.

10/20/14
Yes, I am signed in to iTunes match on the macbook pro, iPhone , & iPad (all updated & correct music libraries) where I bought all the tunes but still no updated tunes on the iPhoto music library after 3 days of being on iTunes match.
Thank you,
TMAbanjoman

Start won't appear after clicking start button or win key on keyboard

It's happened after update to 9926. First start menu works properly but after reboot it broken-down. Right click works fine. Before reboot i disabled "Windows search" service but i don't think it related.

Start won't appear after clicking the start button or win key on keyboard on the second user account. It works fine on the administrator account. UAC changes have no effect. Re-booting has no effect. Build is 9926

How do I start firefox in safe mode on a Mac as the equivalent of holding option key whilst starting doesn't open dialogue on Mac?

I am trying to reset toolbars and am following firefox's help instructions. How do I start firefox in safe mode on a Mac as the equivalent of holding option key whilst starting doesn't open a dialogue box on the Mac?

Thanks Morbus.. I hadn't noticed that but it was already set at Mac. I tried it again and it worked this time... but alas my main problem persists:
My back and forward buttons don't work in Firefox and I've lost all of my bookmarks! I've tried a few of the suggestions but without success at the moment.
Particularly unhelpful are the instructions to back-up your lost bookmarks - which I can't do cos they're lost!!

Why my Startup Manager does not appear when I hold the Option key when starting to boot.

I no longer have the Startup Manager appearing when I hold the Option key when starting to boot.
Instead, the system just boots into whichever OS was last selected in the Startup Disk Preference.
How to get back my Startup Manager so that I can boot up from my external hard disk.
Thank you.

Can you please run the following in terminal and post the output in your reply:
diskutil list; echo; nvram -p | grep boot-args; echo

Why wont firefox start?

i cannot open firefox at all. i have tried all the things listed on the help - can't open firefox on the "run- firefox.exe" etc, can't create a new profile etc!
NOTHING seems to happen whenever i try to get into firefox.

-> press '''CTRL + SHIFT + ESC''' keys to open Task Manager -> Processes tab -> right-click '''firefox.exe''' and click '''End Process Tree''' -> close Task Manager
-> Start Firefox in Safe Mode by holding down SHIFT key while starting Firefox
* As an alternative method, by using '''Win + R''' key combination and enter one of the following in the Windows Run box:
** firefox -safe-mode
** "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode
** "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode
-> Firefox Safe Mode window will appear -> DON'T SELECT ANY OPTIONS, just click '''Continue in Safe Mode'''
After that, perform the suggestions mentioned in the articles provided in my previous post. Also see this - Firefox will not start
* https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Firefox%20will%20not%20start
Check and tell if its working.

Why Wont my mac Mini Shut Down After SSD Install?

Heres the Gist,
I have a late 2009 Mac Mini (A1283) 2.53 GHz, 4gig ram. that i've been running as a media server. Recently the harddrive died in it. I decided to install a Intel 320 Series GEN3 SSD Drive. The install went fine and clean, Mac booted up perfectly, installed a new version of OSX 10.6, no issues, did all the updates. The only software I installed was Plex Media Server (http://www.plexapp.com/) and Google Chrome.
Now my issue is, when i go to shut the Mac Mini down, all that happens is the dock disappears and all the desktop icons then it just sits there, nothing happens. I reset the PMU and it still does the same thing, except now the fan is on high all the time.
Other things i've tried:
Verifiying and Repairing the Disc Permissions
Verifiying and Repairing the Disc
Closing all apps before shut down
disconnecting all network drives and external drives before shut down
reseting the PMU
When I get home im going to try:
Resetting the SMU.
Running YASU (Although its a fresh install with no apps so not to sure what it will find)
Im looking for any and all other suggestions to try. I was considering upgrading to 10.7 to see if its just a software glitch, but im not to sure why this would be happening now.
thanks for any and all advice in advance

It's SMC > Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Wait fifteen seconds.
4. Attach the computer's power cord.
5. Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
Plus the PRAM > Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Disk utility on startup using (option key) is locked

When trying to restore Macbook air disk utility dose not work. I start up using the command+R and the option key and at every time it goes straight to a big lock asking for some password I have no clue of. Please help! I cant get into disk utility to restore. the lock looks like this. Is there any type of password?

You need to supply the computer's firmware password. If you don't know and can't get it, contact Apple.
(85266)

Windows disk doesn't show up in Startup Disk -- only on reboot w/option key

Greetings,
I installed Windows XP on a separate SATA drive, and all is well with it. But it doesn't show up as an option in Startup Disk. The only way I can boot from it is to Restart and hold the option key down. Its icon DOES show up in the "choose disk" screen that follows.
Another user posted the same problem here, and someone suggested zapping the PRAM. I did this, allowing it to cycle through four times, but it didn't help.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
DM

Hi,
Try posting in the Windows Compatibility Forum.
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=687
Carolyn

My Macbook air 2011, one line of key board (a to l) do not respond, but when an external keyboard is hooked up these keys starts functioning as normal, after disconnecting the external key board (from the USB) the problem comes back...Please help. Thank y

My Macbook air 2011- key board (a-l) do not respond, but when you hook up an external key board to the usb these keys on the computer also starts functioning as normal and when you disconnect the external key, these keys stops functioning...?

Perform SMC reset
Shut down the computer.
Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

Why is my start-up disk showing "Server"?

Here's a snapshot of my disk under System Preferences>Startup Disk:
As you can see, it shows Macintosh HD OS X Sver, 10.8. Although I downloaded the Server package I have not installed it and do not intend on installing it for a couple of months.
What's up? Any help would be appreciated...
Clinton

Oh, I'm not worried - it's been that way since I installed the GM developer seed - and everything is running just fine. I'm just insatiably curious! And I know that I am not running Server at this time - it's sitting in my Applications folder waiting to be installed.
Thanks for the quick reply.
Clinton

Why is my start up disk full

I have 120 gb and i know there is no way I used it all up yet.

Helloooo,
I have a Macbook air middle 2009, with 121 Gb hard disk, and have the same problem of jeff0124.
Could I upgrade the hard disk with more capacity??
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.0.x)

Start up disk appears full

The hard drive on my iMac (250 GB) appears to be nearly full, but I know that there is (was) only about 80GB used. Is there a way to see what is taking so much space? I don't see anything in the hard drive folder (if I add up all the items there, I get about 65GB in total).

Use a tool like [OmniDiskSweeper|http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper> or [GrandPerspective|http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net> to see what's taking up all the space. Don't delete anything you're unsure of without checking here first, though.

HT1310 Why wont my start up disk appear after I hold option key?

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