IMac experienced startup problem issues.

Good day Mac users,
I writing my recent problem here in the forum so that I can read other peoples' opinions and suggestions. This is the second time that I have this problem and the last one was solved by replacing the defect hardware unit. I assume the new hardware won't make any problem but unluckily it occurred. Through my experienced with the guidance of Apple Support Group troubleshooting tips I went to the process by doing safe mode, nvram/pram, disk utility repair and unplugging the cables. One thing I haven't done yet is reinstalling the OS X.
I would like some advises from you guys if I go to reinstall OS X by myself or go to Apple Center and they will diagnose the unit? My iMac still have one-year warranty and I am planning to purchase the Apple Protection Care this year.
Note: My iMac OS X is Maverick

Do you have backup to restore your data from?
Does the Mac boot at all? if not re-installing the OS could prove a challenge!
If it does actually boot, you can re-install the OS without doing an erase first, but if you do go the erase and re-install route and it still won't boot properly you will have done pretty much everything to troubleshoot the problem.
Maybe a trip to the workshop would be a good idea.

Similar Messages

Imac G5 startup problem

Need a little help here. My imac G5,20" (wireless keyboard and mouse) will not start up properly. No chime and no image on monitor but I can hear the hard drive and after 30 seconds or so the fan gets very loud. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi, Mike, and welcome to Apple Discussions!
Sorry you're experiencing problems. About the only things you can do are first remove all peripherals, printers, external drives from your iMac - if that helps plug them back in one by one until you can ID which is causing the problem. Also if you have bought additional RAM try removing it as well.
If that's not it try connecting a wired keyboard and mouse.
Then, with the wired mouse and keyboard, try booting into "Safe" mode - as you turn the machine on press & hold the "S" key until you see the Apple logo. If it starts in Safe mode chances are the problem is a program or software that is loading automatically on startup.
Finally try booting from your Apple CD: if you can insert the CD when the machine is on, even if you have nothing on the screen; shut it down again and restart pressing and holding the "C" key.
If none of this works it's off to Apple for service I'm afraid.

IMac with Startup tones issue - 3 short + 3 long + 3 short

Hello,
I recently acquired a 24" iMac (early 2009)model from a friend; it had been working perfectly when he had it but once I transported it to my place and set it up, its not properly booting up. The problems is:
1- On startup while the screen is still off, it gives 3 short tones, 3 long, 3 short tones, and then goes silent.
2- Then it seems like its trying to access an expected media in the DVD drive.
3- After a short while, it finally starts up but with a progress bar below the Apple icon.
4- On completion of the progress bar, it shuts down and then behaviour goes back to step #1. This loops continuously till I force it to shutdown.
I haven't been able to find anything in the support area here about 3 short, 3 long, and 3 short tone sequence. The only reference is to 3 long, 3 short, 3 long tone sequence (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2538?viewlocale=en_US), or http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2372353&tstart=0.
So far I have done the following:
1- Reset the RAM modules - no effect
2- Used the Firmware Restoration CD 1.7 & 1.8 - No effect
3- Reset PMU - no effect
4- Upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard - no effect
However, when I reset the PRAM, this is the only way for the machine to start up properly. And once it does, it works fine, but on restart/or starting after shutdown it exhibits the same behaviour.
If one of the RAM modules had done bad, I would recoken that it wouldn't be able to start up at all (as per reset PRAM technique). So what could this be?
Luckily the machine is under AppleCare but haven't had the chance to call them up (due to working hours clash). So just want to see if this issue can be user fixed or is a hardware issue which would require a visit to an Apple store (quite a bit away here in UK).
Many thanks!

3 long tones, 3 short tones, 3 long tones Firmware restoration from CD in process. See About the Firmware Restoration CD (Intel-based Macs) for more details.
from here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2538?viewlocale=en_US
Also seems the only update available for the 9,1 imac is related to the ATI Radeon HD 4850 Video card. Do you have this card?
See here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237 and here http://support.apple.com/downloads/iMac_EFI_Firmware_Update_14
This update fixes intermittent system freeze issues for iMac computers with ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics and fixes wake-from-sleep issues in Boot Camp.
Loading the 1.7 and 1.8 firmware does not seem a wise idea.. 1.7 is for the 4,1 and 4,2 imacs, and 1.8 is for the Mac Pro (Early 2009) 4,1 and Xserve (Early 2009) 3,1
Also this symptom has been reported as linked to faulty RAM refer here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2372353&tstart=0
Edited by: Richdave

15" imac Flatscreen startup problem

When I turn on my computer, it will chime, the screen comes on (bluegrey), the grey apple shows up, then less than a second goes by and I notice the grey apple icon shifts down 1/8”, then nothing else happens. Here is what I was doing when the problem starteed: I was cleaning up the computer (trashing file and programs I do not use anymore). First in ox 10.3.9. Then I restarted (with no problems) the computer in 9.2 cleaned up there. Restarted the computer in 9.2 again with no problem. Then I restarted the computer again, this time back to osx. It was at this restart that the problem occurred. I have tried most restarts as suggested to no avail. Each time I hear the chime. see blue/grey screen with the grey apple logo then nothing else happens. Any idea, thoughts or fixes would be greatly appreciated.

Try things in Apple doc.#106464 for your startup issue. The article says it's is for 10.3.9 and down but it still applies to 10.4 systems.
Also, try using Disk Utility to repair your startup disk (hard drive) as shown in this link, while booted on your install disk, as Barbara kindly suggested.
Let us know what errors DU reports and if it was able to repair them.
Try this before you buy anything. If you need help after this, we will be happy to advise!
Cheers!
DALE

New iMac 27 startup problems

Hello Support,
I've recently bought a iMac 27, some months ago, and all of a sudden it takes - hold onto your breath, more than 1 hour to start up.
I've been using disk utility and done whats to be done. It still takes forever.
It's got this grey screen with this spinning wheel on it when it's starting up.
What can be done. I've been looking for S.M.A.R.T in the info panel in disk utility, but I cannot find this S.M.A.R.T
I'm wondering if it's a hard disc failure.
Best
EuropeXL

Hello Paul_31,
I followed your suggestion and contacted AppleCare.
It took approx. 15. minutes and I was guided through what to do. I restarted my Mac and it works just fine again. I have to credit Apple for some first class support. After I contacted Apple on the net, and till my phone rang took about 15 seconds. I kid you not!!
And I want to give you some credit as well. You were right:
"but have you checked the hard disk using the Recovery HD? Restart holding down Command + r and select Disk Utility and click on Macintosh HD and the 'repair disk".
That's what AppleCare suggested and guided me through. I was told that my harddisc seemed ok as I didn't get a S.M.A.R.T negative feedback.
I've been checking about this Mac and I can see that I've been reversed to Version 10.8.3 however.
Maybe there's an issue with Version 10.8.4 slowing down your Mac.
Now it takes about 10 seconds to startup. Before it took 1 hour and 8 minutes!! I hope Apple will look into the Version 10.8.4 if there's an issue about slowing down the Mac.
However hanx again for your help.
Best
EuropeXL

IMac G3 startup problems OS 9

I press the power button, it clicks, but no "apple welcome boot sound". 5 out of ten times when booting the hard disk shuts off just like when the compuer goes to sleep, and it will not boot unless i restart it (pressing power button or unpluging) It runs OS 9 so just to note. It loads and I can't find the menu bar at the bottom of the screen (were the icons are on that grey menu at the bottom of the screen. What should I do? Help me guys!
Specifications-Imac G3 graphite (Summer 2001)
Prossesor-PPC G3
Additional-verry old

Is this the same model as your other post concerning iMac G3 issues? Are these the same ones?
There is a possibility the clock battery or PRAM battery may be dead, and if so, that can have a bearing on whether or not it would start normally. Of course there also are resets one could attempt as well; the power management unit has a reset (PMU) procedure that should be easy enough to find online or in an older Support document here on site.
And there is a probability something else may be the cause of the fail symptoms you cite. Troubleshooting what doesn't work, or can't really get started, is more difficult than fixing ones that can be resolved by trial-and-error.
I'd have to know a bit more, then do some research; been quite some time since I had the iMac G3 model.
Good luck & happy computing!

Imac G5 startup problems - and cannot access leopard install dvd

My imac G5 (3 years old) has been running fine - until the other day when I updated to the latest version of leopard using software update (dunno if this is related) - anyway the thing slowed down the next day - freezing/hanging/spinning coloured ball etc.
Then it wouldn't restart - took forever - I have discovered if you leave it 2 hours it gets to a blue screen, another hour or so it gets to login screen but everything hangs - unable to use it for anything!
I have tried to reinstall from DVD leopard BUT the dvd gets spat out of the drive when i C on boot - I also tried an older OS X install DVD but it also gets spat out! I can boot into unbuntu from a CD and the HD is fine and there - it seems the superdrive since the upgrade is only recognising CD's!!!!
Anyway I phoned Apple - unable to help - out of Warranty!
I cannot reinstall Leopard, cannot use imac and haev no idea where to go next (having already tried the old PRAM reset, verbose mode (showing I/O errors but going nowhere), safe mode not working, boot from DVD unable to work. The frustrating thing is I could install UBUNTU and erase HD and the system woudl work on this OS but I really want to get into OS X again!
Any help.....please.....?

If you used Software Update, you installed the Delta (only the latest update)version, not the Combo, which basically re-installs 10.5 up to and including the latest update.
If you can see the iMac on your PB, do install the Combo and see if that helps. Often it will fix problems that occur when data has been corrupted in a previous update and the Delta, since it only updates one step, but doesn't go back and start from scratch, can't correct the problems, but the Combo can.

IMac G4 Startup Problem

Hello Everyone,
I got an iMac G4 for free, wiped the HD and put 10.2.3 on it. But now when I start it up, it will be normal sounds and fan goes on, but it gets to the gray screen and Apple logo, and... Nothing. It won't load. I have tried putting in the Jaguar CD and it still won't go past the gray screen. All I have available are 10.2.3 discs. Any help would be much greatly appreciated. Thank you, Brian.

It's been a long time since I booted from a 10.1 disc but when you do you should be able to select Disk Utility from one of the menus and then you can run "Repair Disk" on the hard drive.
Let us know what it says.
cheers
mrtotes

IMac G3 Startup Problems

I haver recently purchased a second hand Apple iMac G3 Slot Loading Indigo 350MHZ with Mac OS9. Today I updated to Mac OS 9.1 and installed the firmware update from my OS X 10.0.3 CD Rom. When I restarted, the screen went blank. Whenever I turn on the iMac, it makes the start-up chime, you can hear the hard drive spinning however the screen is blank. Please Help, Thanks.

Dj,
Allan is probably right. Didn't know that the 4.1.9 upgrade was in the 10.0.0.3 upgrade disk. Was it specifically for the iMac? If it was the wrong firmware it shouldn't have installed.
When I restarted, the screen went blank.
As I remember that upgrade it restarts itself and you watch the progress bar finish and it restarts itself and says your firmware has been upgraded.
The firmware that you need is here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117
Richard

IMac G5 Startup Problems

I have a iMac G5 and when I turn it on it has like a bunch of lines going accross the screen and some times it will not boot past the apple symbol. Here is my Youtube video of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb-BiNcN7kA if you watch it it will give you more of an idea of whats wrong.

I was not able to see the video link.
However, if you have not already, you should try resetting PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
and resetting SMU (power management)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
When you connect the power cord, if you were using a power strip (surge suppressor) or some type, try connecting it directly to the wall outlet, by itself. Initially power it up with nothing else connected, then add only a standard mouse and keyboard. Use it that way for a while to see if it is any better.

Troubleshooting iMac Startup Problem

I've been trying to troubleshoot a problem with my mid-2007 iMac 24" where it sometimes will not startup. I can hear it turn on when I press the power button but it doesn't chime. I can also hear the fan. I don't boot from the internal drive as my main drive and instead boot from a larger firewire external drive attached directly to the iMac. When the iMac won't start up, I usually let it sit for about ten minutes and it will startup again. Yesterday though, this procedure wasn't working but it did eventually startup after I left it alone for several hours to run some errands.
After using it for about an hour, the internal drive unmounted and disappeared from my desktop -- I got the usual "disk was not properly ejected" warning when it happened. I ran Disk Utility but the drive did not show up on the list. I also ran System Profiler and it did not locate the drive either. Instead it said "There was an error scanning for Serial-ATA Devices".
My question is this, could it be that the internal hard drive has been slowly failing and has been the cause of the startup problem? Does the internal HD have to be in working order to be able to startup properly and boot up from my external? I've been told by others that it does appear to be a logic board or video card problem and I've inspected and reseated the RAM and it has not been the issue.
My iMac is out of warranty and I'm gonna have to bring it in for repair. If it is the internal drive that is the problem, I don't want to shut it down for any reason until I'm ready to have it repaired. Thankfully, I have full backups.

This sounds very similar to my situation. When I restart the computer it usually gives me the grey screen with ?-folder. Using the Install Disc to boot, I ran Disk Utility but the drive did not show up on the list. I also ran System Profiler and it did not locate the drive either. Instead it said "There was an error scanning for Serial-ATA Devices". Wait a while or repeated restarts eventually boots the system. When I can get the iMac to boot up I used the Install disc and ran Disc Utility Repair but no errors were detected. I have ran the extended AHT a couple of times and no errors were returned.
Did you resolve your problem? Bad HD?

Imac G5 having Startup Problems

First of all I like to say I've heard many wonderful things about the imac, but this has not been my experience so far after just purchasing an imac this weekend.
This particular imac has a problem with startup. On the second day of experiencing this mac it would not startup and would freeze at the grey screen with the apple logo and spinning wheel. I also heard intermittent crackling noise coming from the lower left side, by the apple logo. After waiting for about 10 minutes with nothing happening, I turned it off by holding the power button. I proceeded to turn it back on and it booted up fine the second time. Chatted w/apple support and they told me to remove some startup files and empty my cache in the finder library.
The third day(today) my mac booted up fine, but when I went to open up the system preferences I got the color wheel that kept spinning, and the crackling noise again. Had to hold down power button again to shut down. After turning on a second time it seemed to work just fine.
Now I had to return the first Imac I purchased a week earlier because it kept freezing on me since the day I got it (note I did have the wireless keyboard and mouse). Needless to say the mac I have now has wires. I called the store from where I purchased it from and the person on the phone told me it was most likely that my ram was not seated properly when they installed it. Don't they do checks on this before they hand it over to you? Somebody please tell me that macs are better than this, of course I don't know if I'll believe you at this point.
So does anybody have any idea what is going on with my mac.

Sorry, I don't have a solution, but came here with a similar problem - two days ago I took my brand new G5 out of the box and it crashed immediately after the Setup Assistant told me I could "GO" - I got a Restart message, and it's been randomly crashing ever since. The diagnostics show no problems with the hard drive or RAM, or display, or anything! No apparent reason. Now I'm forced to go to Apple Care voice jail...good thing I kept my trusty G3 running, I have separation anxiety, it has been SO GREAT, but running OS8.6, can't go on forever.

Startup Problems with my iMac

I am trying to troubleshoot a startup problem on my iMac and can't seem to get it to boot at all. The problem began last night when I tried to the whole HD to a previous time point in Time Machine. I only went back to earlier the same day to correct another issue that I inadvertently created. In an attempt to keep this short, I will stick to the facts.
Last night I started the restore process by booting from the OSX dvd and then restoring the machine from a TM backup from earlier in the day. (external firewire drive) Everything seemed to be moving along fine with the estimated completion time several hours away, so I went to bed. This morning I woke up to find my machine will not start up. I get the normal chime and the white screen but then it is as if a gray curtain falls down the screen and soon after a dark gray square appears in the middle with the instructions to turn off the machine and re-start it, in several languages. This happens whether or not the OSX DVD is inserted and regardless of any keys (shift,c I've tried so far) that are held during startup. I am trying to startup from the original disc that came with the machine (OSX 10.5.6), but I get the same result if the disc is ejected and I try to startup from the HD. All peripherals have been removed.
What am I missing? What is the trick to getting the machine to boot from the DVD?

Success! Not sure what happened, but this time I started up from the 10.6 dvd (SL) (instead of the 10.5 that the machine shipped with) and did the restore from Time Machine (same as previous attempts). This time it seemed to work and when I restarted the iMac, it came up like normal.
Thanks for the link Carolyn. I did do disk utility a couple of times and it consistently came back OK. It's now going through a very long TM backup, I guess it must be a new one even though all the previous ones are still there in the TM viewer.

IMac to HDTV - experiencing a problem

I have just connected my iMac to a 1080p HD TV via the Apple 'mini DVI to VGA' adapter and 5 metre VGA extension cable. In some ways the picture is surprisingly good (it is higher definition than SD or DVD) but there is visible ghosting on the TV picture. I thought ghosting was due to a weak signal or interference and only affected the old style analogue TV signal.
Does anybody know why I might be experiencing this problem? I don't know too much about this sort of thing but could the length of the VGA extension cable (5 metre) be a cause? Could it be interference from the other cables and media devices plugged into the TV? Or should I be using the more convoluted miniDVI > DVI and then a DVI > HDMI?
Any help much appreciated.

Balibari, Welcome to the discussion area!
If you have an iMac G5 it has a mini-VGA output not mini-DVI.
If you are using a mini-DVI converter, you have an Intel-based iMac not an iMac G5.

24" iMac having startup issues

I thought I would post here in an effort to try and see if there is anything else I can do before heading to an Apple Store tomorrow. I own a 24" iMac, which I got in the fall 2006. A few weeks ago, this problem first occurred. The computer started up and the chime sounded then it got to a gray screen with an Apple logo and a spinning wheel below it. Then the spinning wheel would freeze. Then the screen would go black. I don't quite remember how I got the computer working again after the first time this happened (probably one of the solutions below), but I did and now the same problem has occurred today and I cannot figure out any way to fix it.
Solutions I have tried today:
1) Unplugged AC adapter and let computer alone for 30 secs and then plugged in and restarted. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
2) Unplugged all the peripherals and restarted. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
3) I reset the SMC by removing the SO-DIMM modules and reinstalled them. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
4) I reset the PRAM and NVRAM by holding command option P R. Nothing changed. Computer froze as describe above.
5) I tried booting from the OSX Install disk. It would not do so. Computer froze as describe above. Computer froze as describe above.
6) I tried starting up holding C and it actually gave me the option of selecting the hard drive. But then it froze as described above.
So far, I plugged in a firewire cable and am using my MacBook to backup files so I can access the computer and its various files via this FireWire Target Mode.
Does anybody have any further suggestions before I take it in to an Apple Store?
24" iMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Add me to the list on of startup problems with my 24" iMac. First off the computer seemed to be slowing up and some of my icons were disappearing.....labels were still there but not the icon. Then I tried installing the 10.4.9 upgrade. Big mistake.......it wouldn't completely install even when I used the standalone installation. Kept getting errors and the try again message.
So after all of this, the computer would not boot up from the hard drive or from the install DVD. Fortunately, I have a external startup drive and eventually I was able to get the computer to startup from that drive. From there I was able to startup from the install CD DVD. I tried to repair Disk but it failed because of an error and I am now doing an install and archive while I write this. Keeping my fingers crossed.
This is my second iMac that I have had startup problems. With my last iMac, it was the hard drive......Apple replaced it and the computer works fine.(my wife is now using that computer) It was during my problems then that I learned it is helpful to have an external startup drive. I operated that iMac from the external startup drive a couple of months before I took it in for repair.
Oh boy, the first install DVD just finished and it won't eject and now I have the message "there were errors installing the software" Try again.
Complete frustration...........I will try the installation once more and then probably a clean install if that doesn't work.
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook
iMac G5, G4 Powerbook

IMac experienced startup problem issues.

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