I've got the forever spinning gear on startup.

I've got the forever spinning gear on startup. The apple logo eventually turns into the symbol of the circle with a slash through it. I've run disk utility and repair disk finds no problem. I'm not sure what to do next.

Useful article here on the causes of the Spinning Beach Ball and how to troubleshoot it:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177479/Troubleshoot_the_spinning_beach_b all?taxonomyId=89&pageNumber=1
and also this:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html

Similar Messages

Spinning gear at startup (OS X Panther 10.3.9)

Hi, I have a Powerbook G3 Pismo that runs OS X 10.3.9. I have recently only been seeing only a spinning gear at startup and it will hang there. I tried safe mode, resetting the PRAM, and resetting the NVRAM with open firmware. Upon trying verbose boot, there were problems starting here:
"Creating RAM Disk for syslogd
hdik: attach failed: error e00002f0
syslogd:cannot create /var/run/syslog: Read-only file system
syslogs: child pid 103 exited with return code 1
Creating RAM Disk for crash reporter
hdik: attach failed: error00002f0
Launching Crash Reporter
Jul 4 6:55:32 com.apple.SecurityServer : database /var/db/CodeEquivelanceDatabase opened READONLY (R/W failed errno=30)
Jul 4 6:55:32 com.apple.SecurityServer : error writing entropy file /var/db/SystemEntropyCache
Jul 4 6:55:32 com.apple.SecurityServer : Entering Service"
Then it just hangs there with the big white block below that, but I can't type anything. Would trying to fix the disk by making it read and write via Single-User Mode help?

Hi deuce1981,
Your data will more than likely be "lost forever". Especially if you kept up on your security updates and had at least a 13 bit PW of utter nonsense.
I suggest you report your computer as being stolen to Apple and here's a helpful site link : http://www.freemacblog.com/how-to-prepare-for-a-stolen-mac/
Hope this helps,
Michael

Spinning gear on startup after update

After updating my mac mini to OS 10.9 all I get is the spinning gear upon startup. Tried booting in safe mode but got the same result. Is there a way to fix this without reinstalling the OS. Thanks

According to the link below, this is a problem with the display server crashing and that you can boot the Mini if you unplug the display, give it a few minutes, and then plug in the display:
http://medievalcode.com/blog/2013/07/30/osx-mavericks-developer-preview-4-boot-s tuck-on-wheel/

After successful restore, spinning gear at startup

I have a MacBook Pro with a new HD (free repair from Apple). Got it home and restored my last Time Machine back up. It reported a successful restore. Upon restart all I get is the grey apple logo and spinning gear. It never starts up. What am I doing wrong?

If you found no solutions to your problem(s) listed in the various Knowledge Base Articles see if the following suggestions are of any help:
Except for the keyboard & mouse, disconnect all devices/peripherals from your computer.
Step 1: Restart into Safe Mode by holding down the Shift key during startup. The comp will run a complete & lengthy file systtem check, then start up w/only the required kerenel extensions & w/o running any Startup items that you installed.
Try starting up normally again. If you are still stalling, restart in Safe Mode & move on to Step 2........... Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
Step 2: Open Library>Startup items folder-the root level Library, not the one in your user name folder. Look for potentially problematic 3rd party items such as virus scanning software components, etc. Remove 1 or more items to a location outside the Library folder, such as the Desktop, then restart normally & see if your Mac stalls. It it does, try removing all the items in the Startup items folder & restart. If all’s now well, place the items back into the Startup items folder 1 by 1, restarting each time you put one back. If and/or when the stall resurfaces, you just identified the faulty component. If the above does not work, then it’s time to move on to Step 3.................
Step 3: WARNING-This step can be tedious-removing .plist files from the /Library/Preferences folder. Remove the entire Preferences folder from the Library folder on your startup drive then place the files back 1 by 1 until you see the problem return. *The Mac will automatically create a new Preferences folder in the Library folder*Alternatively, you can take half of the items out (all non-Apple .plist file, for example), restart to see if your Mac stalls, then move to a smaller set of items, repeatingn the process until the culprit is found. Or you can use Preferential Treatment which is a FREE utility that does all the work for you.
==============
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301287 My computer stops responding during startup
Boot up from your install DVD and run "Repair Disk" from the Utility menu.
If none of the above works, return MBP to repair shop ASAP.

IMac gray screen (with frozen "spinning gear") during startup

Hello all - my first post to the community, so be gentle....
I'm having a boot issue with my early 2008 Intel based iMac. After a recent power outage, I can't get the machine to boot to OSX - the spinning gear spins for about a minute then freezes. When I boot to Snow Leopard install CD, it gets to the same point then displays a Kernel Crash screen. I can boot to Windows using the option key on startup, but Windows runds a little weird...mostly graphic display errors (dragging windows and scrolling in web browser is slow and jumpy, games crash with strange graphics displayed). I suspect a graphics card malfunction (the machine has an NVidia GeForce 8800GS), but I'm not convinced and I can't figure out how to test it. Here's more info:
- I'm running OSX version 10.6 with a Boot Camp XP partition.
- I've disconnected all peripherals except keyboard and mouse (including Ethernet)
- I've reset NVRAM/PRAM
- Safe boot, Single-user mode won't boot
- I haven't pulled and reset any RAM modules yet.
Any thoughts would be appreciated - I'm three hours from the nearest Genius Bar, so I'd like to try as much at-home troubleshooting as possible.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
When I boot to Snow Leopard install CD, it gets to the same point then displays a Kernel Crash screen.
OS X: About kernel panics
User Tip: Kernel Panics? Don't panic too!
How to troubleshoot a kernel panic
I'm running OSX version 10.6
Use Software Update or the OS 10.6.8 combo update to update your OS. Also, update everything SU has to offer for your computer. When done, repair permissions and restart your computer.
I'm three hours from the nearest Genius Bar
Apple Stores are not the only places that repair Macs. There may be an AASP that is closer.
International AASP’s & Other Services
AASP's Outside of the USA
so be gentle....
As opposed to....

IBook G3 Freezing at Spinning Gear on Startup.

I recently bought an iBook G3 700MHz (the silver tone one) online, and the seller had Ubuntu installed on it. He described that he didn't use Mac OS X as the installers froze. I thought I could fix this.
I then swapped the hard disk from my iBook G4 (with faulty logic board, and Leopard installed on the drive), turned it on, and it wouldn't get past the Apple logo and spinning gear (the spinning gear would usually freeze at a point). Sometimes it would only get to the Apple logo on grey screen.
I then tried to install 10.1 (Puma) from CD with an Erase and Install, and it worked and booted fine.
I put my iBook into Firewire Target Disk Mode, and used my iMac G5 to install Tiger on my iBook's drive from the iMac's original DVDs with an Archive and Install without retaining user preferences. (I've done this numerous times with G3 and G4 iBooks with no problems).
The same problem - freezing at spinning gear. Sometimes the gear would keep spinning but the hard drive would stop any activity.
Now I'm stuck, wondering what on Earth is going on! This is definitely not the iBook G3 video card issue, I know the problem intimately and this is nothing to do with it. The only thing I can think of is updating the firmware somehow.
Here's what I've tried on startup:
- Zapping the PRAM
- Starting in safe mode (shift key, maybe makes the gear spin for a little longer)
- Starting in verbose mode (no difference)
- Starting in single user mode (no difference)
- Removing Airport card
- Removing battery
Other notes:
- Startup disk chooser (holding option at startup) works.
- The iBook won't boot the iMac's drive when the iMac's in Target Disk Mode.
- The iMac Hardware Test boots on the iBook, but gives says it's unsupported.
- The hard disk is not faulty, the iMac boots the iBook's hard disk without problem.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer, I really appreciate it.
William

Yes, I have tried resetting the PMU with no effect.
I tried to install Tiger with the retail DVD today (using the iMac's DVD drive with it in Target Disk Mode), with no luck. The iBook wouldn't boot from the DVD; it has the same effect as booting Tiger from the hard disk.
I feel I'm running out of options. I have found more reports of this problem on the web, but none seem to have been resolved. One example being http://www.macfixitforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/460697/Ireformatted_iBook_G4_now_Ic
Thanks for your help,
William

Wont start, stuck at screen with spinning gear...

title says issue... today when i turned on my ibook, that i just recently purchased used for school, i plugged in a flashdrive to get something off of it. now this is my first mac so i dont know the proper way of things with it yet. but anyway, my laptop froze while doing so, all i got was the rainbow pinwheel that i was able to move. so i forced it to shutdown by holding the power button. now when i turn it on, all i get is the loading screen with the little spinning gear under the apple logo. any ideas on what to do?

HI,
today when i turned on my ibook, that i just recently purchased used for school
Hopefully the install disc(s) were included when your purchased the iBook. If not, you can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available. You will need the discs in order to reinstall the Mac OS X.
Try resetting the PMU, instructions here. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431?viewlocale=en_US
Try starting up in single-user mode and then running fsck:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
Carolyn

Upgrade from 10.3.9 to 10.4.3 - Problems freezing/spinning gear

Hello and Happy Holidays,
I have an 867mHz Titanium G4 Powerbook w/1gig memory, and the stock 30 gig hd. Recently, I upgraded my OS from 10.3.9 to 10.4.3. Since then, I have had weekly freeze-ups and perpetual spinning gears at startup.
Specifically, the freeze-ups occur after the computer has been asleep over night (no joke intended) and awakened. The only way out of this freeze is to restart the powerbook, which then leads to a continuous spinning gear. After this, it becomes necessary to reboot from the Tiger cd, and repair permissions. Upon concluding this step, the computer is operational once again.
Significantly, in 10.3.9 the computer ran beautifully with nary a problem, so I must conclude that the problem is Tiger–not the Tibook. Anyone with some useful thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Glenn
PowerBook G4 867 mHz 1gig ram Mac OS X (10.3.9)

A Tiger upgrade over Panther hasn't been the best way to go.
Clone your exisiting boot drive to a blank external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner (visit their forums)
Next do a Erase w/Zero option your internal and reinstall Tiger fresh (c boot from installer cd and elect Disk Utility from the installer menu)
Update completely and then install Tiger ready apps from fresh sources.
Aviod using Migration Assistant, it misses copy protection and other things, copies blindly, take the time to clean house properly.
Install files from the clone and when your set then erase the clone and make a new clone from your optimal OS install.
Spotlight and Dashboard will take some CPU here and there and is easily disabled using software by searching Macupdate.com
Tiger 10.4.1 has tested to perform better than Panther 10.3.9 in User Interface and CPU (on some machines)

Why do I keep getting the rainbow spinning wheel in Garageband 11

I have the latest MBP (see specs below) and I was recording today with Garageband like I always do. I was using my MOTU 828 MK1 8 channle audio interface with the lates compatible Lion update from Sept 2011. I have never had any problems untill last night.
I was recording an acoustic project consiting of 4 raw 'real instrument' acoustic guitar tracks with no effects, which I had no problem recording each track by itself. Next I recorded 1 raw 'real instrument' bass track with no effects then no problems.
I ran into the problem when I started adding the next 2 raw 'real instrument' vocal tracks and 1 click track. So my project has a total of 8 tracks.
When I was recording the vocals everything was going fine untli I tried to do another take and when I pressed the record button I got the rainbow spinning wheel. I let it spin for 2 mins and then went to Forc Quit and noticed GB had stopped responding. So shut down my audio interface and re-started the MBP. Once the MBP was up and running it could not find my MOTU audio interface or the built in audio device on the MBP. So I shutdown the MBP for 30 seconds and turned it back on and my MOTU was recognized and I was able to select it in GB. So I tried to record again with the same problems. I went through this process for 3 times and the fourth time GB told my I had too many tracks. So again I shut down my MOTU then shutdown the MBP then once MBP was up I opened GB, turned on my MOTU, selected it as the audio interface I wanted to use and then went to GB preferences and under the 'Advanced' tab I changed my audio resoultion from 'better' to 'good'.
Needless to say that did not work and I am not able to add anymore tracks to this song.
G
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thank you,
AJ

Try throwing out all GB preferences, and maybe Caches as well. Then restart GB (preferences and caches will grow back) and see if that helps.

MBP won't boot past grey spinning gear screen

I tried to turn on my computer the other day, it turns out it wont boot up past the grey spinning gear screen.
First thing I did was reboot from SL install disk, I ran disk utility and tried to verify and repair my HD, both came back with errors... uh oh
I then tried to back up the hard drive by creating a new disk image of my HD and placing it on my USB external, came up with and I/O error... oh sh*t
I tried reinstalling snow leopard and it could not be installed... F*CK!
I tried starting it up single single user mode to see what was happening, turns out it get to the line "dis0s2: I/O error blah blah blah" and then keeps iterating it indefinalty, leading me to believe my hard drive is dead or dying.
so now for the question:
Is it still possible to backup my hard drive in this state? I know, I know, should've been backing it up all along but I'm stupid and didn't. I don't really care about my user setting or anything like that but I use this computer for college and have tons of documents on it that I need.
Also my applecare has expired so i would like to stay away from those genious bartenders.
Any suggestions?

If you have access to another Mac with Firewire then you can connect the two via Firewire cable. You can then attempt to boot your computer into Target Disk Mode. If that's successful then boot the other computer normally. If your drive is accessible it will appear on the Desktop of the other computer. It may then be possible to copy your files if the drive is at all intact. If not you may be able to use recovery software to restore your files. If the drive is not accessible even to recovery software, then you would have to send it to a business that specializes in drive recovery. These are very expensive alternatives - $500 minimally.
You can also try third-party disk repair software. The best of the lot is Disk Warrior, but if the drive has a hardware failure preventing access, then I'm afraid there's little you can do to recover your files beyond sending the drive to a data recovery service.
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten with recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

Spinng gear at startup - HELP!!

Hi,
Ok, I only get the spinning gear at startup. Tried starting in safe mode, no go. The ONLY thing I can think of that I did was install the new Safari and Quicktime updates last night. The last time this happened, I installed new software. I had to go to the Apple store and have the OS reinstalled to fix the problem. Problem is, I don't have time to do that, and I need my computer ASAP.
Can anyone help?
Thanks.
Joel

Joe:
Try this:
• Shut down the computer.
• Locate the following keys: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously later.
• Turn on the computer.
• Press and hold the Command + Option + P + R keys immediately after the startup chime.
• Hold keys down until you hear the startup chime for the third time.
• Release the keys and immediately hold down Shift key to start up in Safe Mode.
• Log in and empty Trash.
• Restart normally and log in.
cornelius

Another iBook cannot get past the grey screen with spinning gear

I have read the other posts on iBooks not starting up. I too have used Onyx recently but this was to cure the problem of a freeze. Now start up cannot get past the grey screen. PRAM has been zapped and safe mode will not work. Worse, the CD drive will take CDs so cannot go back to start up disk.
Bizarrely, a visit to the Apple Store and the iBook started no problem. System was reinstalled using archive option and various health checks apparently showed no problems. But then got back home and again start up froze at grey screen with spinning gear. I have left it on this for over 15 minutes but to no avail. I have tried to connect to another ibook using T key to get target mode. I'm not sure if I am doing this right. I have started up working iBook plugged in the firewire to both machines and then started up ailing iBook holding down T key. 2nd iBook wont start at all.
Any suggestions?

An Archive and Install will preserve you user settings and data. You will need a minimum of 5 GB free on the hard drive to perform an A&I; you can reduce the space required by about 1 GB by selecting the option to install language support only for the language you use (assuming you don't need multiple languages).
However, after seeing your other post (BTW, it'll be easier to keep track if relted issues are in the same thread), you do not want to try an A&I if Disk Utility is reporting anything about 'could not be repaired'. Doing so will would ensure problems down the road, if it worked at all. It's possible for one disk problem to mask another. Whenever Disk Utility (or any other repair utility) reports making repairs, it's good practice to repeat the repair until it reports no problems found or it becomes clear it cannot repair the disk.
DiskWarrior has an excellent track record at repairing problems that Disk Utility cannot (especially Disk Utility versions prior to OS X 10.4.2).
If the drive cannot be repaired, you may be able to keep it by doing an erase install with the write zeros (one pass) option. That will update the hard drive firmware record of bad disk sectors to avoid using. If there are only a few bad sectors, that may let you keep using the hard drive for several more years. An erase install will do just that to your data, through. If you have access to another Mac with either a large amount of free disk space of a DVD burner, you can try using the other Mac as host and the eMac as target in FireWire target disk mode. You can run the host's copy of Disk Utility on the eMac hard drive, and hopefully be able to mount the emac HD so that you can back up the data in your Home directory.

HT1455 Did the lastest Apple update and now my Mac has gray screen with spinning gear and a status bar goes to half then turns computer off....help?

Did the lastest Apple update and now my Mac has gray screen with spinning gear and a status bar goes to half then turns computer off....help?

Thanks for your help.
Same thing happen when I hold the button, it idle for a while and then turn off by itself. Any more suggestions?
I got the disc..

My iMac will not boot past the logo and spinning gear

My iMac will not boot past the logo and spinning gear (After a Rogue Amoeba update). I can't access the recovery disk I made on a flash drive. (Am I doing it correctly? - Hold down option while switching on? It just stays on the logo). What (if anything) can I do please?

If you installed Lion onto your machine, it should have created a Recovery HD (hidden from view, but visible in Disk Utility with its Debug menu enabled, under Show all Partitions).
That article states:
Note: In order to create an external Lion Recovery using the Lion Recovery Assistant, the Mac must have an existing Recovery HD.
Would I see the recovery menu (by holding down option on power up)
Yes.
if there was no recovery disc connected do you think?
Shouldn't matter, since your int HD is always connected.

HT1455 I have started my computer in safe mode as recommended but not long after the grey Apple icon appears with the spinning gear it automatically shuts down! any suggestions?

I have started my computer in safe mode as recommended but not long after the grey Apple icon appears with the spinning gear it automatically shuts down! any suggestions?

Try these options:
Credit Kappy.
This support article addresses a 'blue scree';
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH7212
Ciao.

I've got the forever spinning gear on startup.

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