Ibook g4 won't go past gray screen, hard drive making whirirng noises

I think I'm in pretty serious trouble here...
I left my 2-yr old ibook g4 running last night downloading a couple of torrents, and woke up in the middle of the night because it was making a loud whirring noise. I tried to close everything, but found that it was frozen. So I just powered it off. I've never had it freeze on me, or otherwise had any problems with it before.
When I turned it on this morning, it would make the initial startup chime, but would not go past the grey screen with the apple. I tried several times, with a couple of slightly different results. The first time I got the apple with the circle underneath. The second time, I got no apple, but the circle with a line through it. And the final time, its just been the apple. And all the while, the hard drive is making a really ill sounding whirr.
I read another post about trying to boot from the install CD, so I inserted the CD & pressed c, but nothing happens, and now the CD won't eject.
Is it possible that it overheated? I got an e-mail about the battery recall, but according to my serial number, mine wasn't one that was being recalled.
Please help!
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Haven't had any replies yet, but I do have some progress to report...
I was able to eject the Panther Install CD1 after all (pressed the eject button immediately after I powered on). Have tried booting from it a couple of times, to no avail. I was, however, able to boot it from my friend's Tiger Install DVD. I went into Disk Utility, as I have read elsewhere and tried to repair my hard disk using that, but got the following error:
"Repair disk failed. Could not unmount disk"
Probably a stupid question, but is it because its not the correct operating system?
I still don't know why it won't boot from my Panther CD.
I have tried to boot in Safe Mode, but all I get is a little folder icon that alternately flashes the finder icon & a question mark.
I purchased my ibook online when I was still living in Canada, but its no longer under warranty and I didn't purchase the protection plan. I am currently living in rural Japan, with absolutely no Apple Stores anywhere remotely close to where I am.
I've also seen elsewhere that I could probably just get a new hard drive, which is fine as I could use the extra space anyway, but does this mean I lose everything that's on my current hard drive??
If anyone has any suggestions, it'd much appreciated!
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Desperately Seeking Genius: iBook G4 won't go past gray screen w/ apple...

Hi AppleHeads. I am looking for some assistance from a nice mac genius. I am trying to fix my sister's computer and am not sure exactly what to do here. Her laptop is an iBook g4 with 1.33GHz Power PC, G4 processor, 512 MB and 40 GB hard drive. She had noticed her computer getting really slow and crashing frequently. She ran some updates this morning and then the computer crashed. Now, it will not turn on past a gray screen with the apple logo. I attempted to trouble-shoot the issue using the guide the computer came with and also ran the Apple Hardware Test. Everything passed -- see the results below. What is my next option? I would like to try and save all of the data as she has not backed up recently (tsk tsk). I'm sure a lot of people post this kind of request, so if there is a solution out there that you know of, please share the information or links. I know that one option is to wipe out the computer and reinstall Mac OS X but I'd like to only do that as a last resort until I can pull the files. Thanks!
Apple Hardware Test - Extended Test results:
Extended Test
AirPort Passed
Logic Board Passed
Mass Storage Passed
Memory Passed
Model Device found
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AirPort Passed
Logic Board Passed
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Hi Doley and welcome to Apple Discussions,
is an iBook g4 with 1.33GHz Power PC, G4 processor, 512 MB and 40 GB hard drive. She had noticed her computer getting really slow and crashing frequently.
Was she aware of how full the hard drive was? That can often lead to problems.
Uh oh just noticed this:
Mac OS X (10.0.x)
Is that right?
the 14.1" 1.33 ran Mac OS X 10.3
the 12.1" 1.33 Mac OS X 10.4
Saving Data:
Does she have the original install disks?
See if it can boot from them or an appropriate installer for the size.
If so then save to an external drive or another Mac in target mode.
If her iBook will go into target mode it would then act like a big expensive external hard drive:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
After saving data:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
or use disk utility. Depends on what OSshe was running.
She ran some updates this morning and then the computer crashed.
If it happened while the computer was updating after downloading them that would really mess up the OS.
If that's the case it might take a program like Data Rescue II to retrieve data off that hard drive.
Richard

IBook will not start up past gray screen w/ apple logo

iBook will not start up past gray screen w/ apple logo. So I have zeroed out the hard drive and reinstalled tiger. No change except if I start up holding shift it will boot and welcome comes up then black screen that says you must restart by holding down power key.
Zeroed out the HD again with same results. Also I have a iBook G3 with the same symptoms.

What you are experiencing is a kernel panic.
Try starting up from the Mac OS X Install Disc by inserting the disc and restarting your computer, holding down the C key as the startup chime is ending. Then choose Installer > Open Disk Utility (in Panther) or (in Tiger) click 'Next' at the language screen and choose Utilities > Disk Utility and select the hard drive in the left column. Choose the First Aid tab. Click Repair Disk to test and repair the hard drive.
Once you have repaired the hard drive with the Install disc's Disk Utility, then 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 a little hard drive maintenance helps things out.

Computer won't boot past gray screen

I can't get my computer to boot past gray screen. It keeps showing the apple logo and the spinning wheel. What can I do to get into my system?

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IBook G4 won't boot past white screen gray apple.

I'm having problems with my iBook G4 booting up. It won't get past the white screen with gray Apple and clock thing turning. I successfully hooked the iBook to my G4 tower via firewire and can get files off of it as well as run a series of TechTool Pro tests and repair procedures. However, I still have the same startup problem. It never gets past the white screen with gray apple. It's stuck there with the clock continually turning. Is there anything else I could try before getting everything off and wiping the drive clean and starting over? I don't know if it's a hardware or software issue at this point. Thanks for any help you could suggest.
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Startup Issues - computer won't go past gray screen

PLEASE HELP! I have a Power Mac G4. I installed OS X Tiger on it. Then I tried to install Quark 5, which is a Classic program. The computer said there was no longer Classic support on it. I mistakenly thought I would try to boot the computer in OS 9 to install Quark, so I changed my startup disk. Now the computer won't go past the gray screen at startup, because apparently there is no more OS 9. How do I boot up the computer to OS X again?
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Hi, KHickey -
Will I have to back up my files?
Not usually. You should be able to re-install OS 9 (Classic) on that model via a Clean Install with no loss of any files.
That machine originally came with a model-specific version of OS 9.0.4. You can use the original OS 9 Install CD that came with it to install that version, and update via download updaters to v. 9.1 or later in order to use it as Classic (the OS 9 install must be at least v. 9.1 in order for it to be used as Classic by OSX; OS 9.2.x provides better compatibilty in that mode). Or, you can use a retail OS 9.1 or retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD.
In either case, a Clean Install would be the method to use. A Clean Install of OS 9 removes nothing, and gives you a new, uncomprimised System Folder.
Article #58176 - Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9: Performing a Clean Installation
<hr>
There is a situation where the OS 9 install can be good, but the machine is still not able to boot to it. This can happen when the hard drive was last initialized using OSX's Disk Utility, and the option to install OS 9 drivers was not selected. IN the absence of those drivers the volume can not be mounted by OS 9, including an OS 9 on the volume - hence it can't boot to it.
An easy way to tell - while in OSX, do a Get Info on the drive; I believe one of the pieces of info given about the drive is whether it has OS 9 drivers installed.
Or, boot the machine to an appropriate version OS 9 Install CD - if the drive has OS 9 drivers, the volume will appear on the desktop; if it does not, it won't.
More info about that, including a small possibility of recovering from the situation, can be found in this Apple KBase article -
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Won't boot past gray screen

I recently tried to upgrade RAM from 2x256 MB to 2x512 MB (PNY PC133 SODIMM 133Mhz). This worked at first and checking "About this Mac" indicated 1GB of RAM. But trying to use Safari or Firefox would freeze the computer and I'd have to hold the power button to reset. I put the original RAM back and now I can't get past the Gray Screen with spinning gear. I'm stuck at this screen with either set of RAM in. I tried to boot with the Apple Hardware Test disc, which worked and showed that everything was working fine (Logic Board, HD, & Memory included). Any suggestions?

thunderable and fantast1cdan
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thunderable
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Are you referring to the internal hard drive when you say that you were able to reboot almost to the login screen? Or were you trying to reboot from the external drive?
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Virus is just a hopeful whimsy.
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I hope that you have a backup of your data.
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Hold Shift while starting to enter Safe mode. Be patient, as it can take several minutes to complete.
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Disconnect your boot drive and try booting to the OS X disc.

Macbook Pro 2.16 15" won't go past gray screen

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I'm out of ideas and I'm pretty sure something is up with the logic board. What do you guys think?
I've also heard that the video card on the late 2006 models of MBP give users fits.
all help is appreciated.

Ok. I think I got it.
I reset the NVRAM.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Macbook won't boot past gray screen.

Macbook will not boot past the gray screen with the Apple logo. I tried booting in Safe Mode... tried booting to the Leopard install DVD (can hear it spin)... tried resetting the PRAM... all to no avail (hangs on the gray Apple screen... no progress indicator). I am able to connect to the hard drive via Firewire from my MacPro no problem. Just to make sure, I also tried swapping the hard drive for the original hard drive that it came with (upgraded hard drive 2 yrs ago) but it did not make a difference, still did not boot.
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Thanks for all the replies. I do think it is probably the logic board. Unfortunately the nearest Apple store is about 3.5 hours away from me and from what I've read online the price to put a new logic board in by them is around $700... that's about $300 shy of a NEW 13" Macbook! I am finding used or new logic boards for sale online for around $350 to $450.
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Any final last words for me?

Won't go past gray screen

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Hold the Mouse button down while powering up to eject the Disk, but is this a USB KB/Mouse, or the cantankeroos Wireless models?
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
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Welcome to the Apple discussions.
You're getting a kernel panic, which is usually, but not always, caused by a hardware problem. This FAQ may help: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
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Won't get past gray screen/apple

My son's mac book will not start. It shows the grey screen and apple logo but no further. I ran utilities from leopard install disk and it says SMART said the disk is about to fail. I ran DW 4.1 and Drive Genius 2.0.2 to no avail.
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Thanks
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See if you can get DiskWarrior to mount the drive in "Preview" mode. I recently cloned all my files off an external drive that was hosed. Thanks to DW I recovered all my files.
-Bmer
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Imac won't go past gray screen with apple w/circle of bars spinning. Help!

I let the circle spin for over 15 minutes, and occationally you can hear the little sound that makes you think it's going to
start... It just doesn't. I tried pushing the power button then holding down the Command, Option, P, and R keys... Held
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Hold the Mouse button down while powering up to eject the Disk, but is this a USB KB/Mouse, or the cantankeroos Wireless models?
Are you using...
Firmware password protection in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
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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.

Ibook g4 won't go past gray screen, hard drive making whirirng noises

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