IMac gray screen when turning off computer

I added an external harddrive for timeline, since doing so I have had problems when I try to turn off the computer. It has a gray screen with a little circle that cycles. What can I do to stop that?

Hello,
Ideally you need to boot from the disk as you have no other media advisable. (e.g your hard drive)
Without some form of system disk or restore you wont be able to diagnose the problem with your hard drive.
By using a Mac OS X system disk you can load up the Disk Utilities and repair the hard drive if shown it's available. If it's not available you would need to replace the hard drive and reinstall Mac OS. Without any disk to support you, you are going to struggle.
You can obtain replacement disk, both retail copies or system disk on the Internet.
If you know what version of Mac OS X you had install (I'm guessing that it would have been 10.3, but would recommend 10.4) A retail disk is normally black with a colored 'X' on it, while system disk are always.
Always try and obtain a copy of the system restore disks (Gray) for your iBook
Ebay is another outlet that has genuine system disk for sell, but like any auction site, it's as and when someone is selling them.
The only other thing you could do is take it to a Apple repair agent who could check the hard drive on your behalf. That way you can get confirmation if the problem is the drive or some other fault. They may even help restore the OS for you.
I can't think of anything else to try without some form of disk to help you.
There maybe just one other small thing you could try.
When booting up, firmly rest your palm of your hand on the iBook next to the tracker pad on the left side.
If it works then it's another fault that I'm aware of.

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Gray screen when turning on iBook G4 with tiny file folder in center of screen blinking the finder icon and a question mark. Have tried several things. Any help please??

Gray screen when turning on iBook G4 with tiny file folder in center of screen blinking finder icon and question mark. I cannot figure this out. Tried everything I know. Can someone help please???

Hello,
Ideally you need to boot from the disk as you have no other media advisable. (e.g your hard drive)
Without some form of system disk or restore you wont be able to diagnose the problem with your hard drive.
By using a Mac OS X system disk you can load up the Disk Utilities and repair the hard drive if shown it's available. If it's not available you would need to replace the hard drive and reinstall Mac OS. Without any disk to support you, you are going to struggle.
You can obtain replacement disk, both retail copies or system disk on the Internet.
If you know what version of Mac OS X you had install (I'm guessing that it would have been 10.3, but would recommend 10.4) A retail disk is normally black with a colored 'X' on it, while system disk are always.
Always try and obtain a copy of the system restore disks (Gray) for your iBook
Ebay is another outlet that has genuine system disk for sell, but like any auction site, it's as and when someone is selling them.
The only other thing you could do is take it to a Apple repair agent who could check the hard drive on your behalf. That way you can get confirmation if the problem is the drive or some other fault. They may even help restore the OS for you.
I can't think of anything else to try without some form of disk to help you.
There maybe just one other small thing you could try.
When booting up, firmly rest your palm of your hand on the iBook next to the tracker pad on the left side.
If it works then it's another fault that I'm aware of.

My iPod Nano 2nd gen. has a black caterpillar-like shape on the screen when turned off. I recharged and reset. What else should I do?

My iPod Nano 2nd gen. has a black caterpillar-like shape on the screen when turned off.
It disappears when turned on. It must mean something. I recharged and reset. What else, if anything, should I do?

You can work through the remaining five 5 R's of troubleshooting.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
It might also be a good idea to let the iPod's battery fully drain. Then charge it back up and restore it once more in iTunes.
Otherwise, it's likely a hardware issue with the iPod's LCD display, meaning you'll need to take or send your iPod in for service either via Apple or a third party repair service. Here is Apple's repair pricing.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/prices/
Note that they don't actually repair the device, but exchange it for one of the same generation, model, and capacity. A third party service will actually replace the damage part for a little less. Google "iPod screen repair" and you should get a number of results to work with.
B-rock

Gray screen then turns off?

help please

Hi mesposit,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
Try the steps in this article first if you only see a gray screen when starting your MacBook Pro:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
All the best,
Jeremy

Can i disable the save windows screen when turning off the computer? It is very anoying.

Please if anyone can help i want to disable the window that wants to save the windows when closing the computer.

If you do not want windows to open when rebooting and don't like to have to uncheck the option every time, there is a keyboard shortcut:
Press Command + Option + Control + Eject key. This will cause an immediate shutdown without the window.

N8 stuck of dim Logo screen when turned off

Hello, my mobile was working perfectly fine until I turned it off.
And as soon as I turned it off, it got stuck on dim NOKIA logo screen. It vibrates when I slide the side switch. And also when I press the Menu button the Lock screen comes, but when I press the Unlock tab it goes back to NOKIA logo But doesnt do anything else... I really don't want to loose any data... If I wait until it runs out of battery (as the battery was also low, probablly 20-30% left) and then I plug the charger will it start working?
I want to keep the hard reset as a very very last option...
Guidance please...
Cheers
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thanks alot mate
It worked I slept after posting as I had just returned from the party & just woke up as my mobile was ringing, but by the time I picked it, it ran out of battery & turned off. Now it is working when I connected the charger
Cheers

How can I turn off computer screen, when mirroring to apple tv?

How can I turn off computer screen, when mirroring to apple tv?
Thanks.

Welcome to the Apple Community.
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Grey screen with message "turn off computer with power button until switch off then press again power button"

Dear all,
I'm very hungry with my iMac and my Time Capsule :
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I wait 80 hours to finally have the message again and again : "to restart your computer : turn off computer with power button until switch off then press again power button".
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Could you help me?

Hello, that's a kernel panic...
http://thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X 10.6 Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

IMac stuck at gray screen when booting

Hi - My 2011 iMac with 10.8.2 is stuck on the gray screen when rebooting. I was in Windows 7 bootcamp, and restarted to OS X. I see the screen below, and once the progress bar reaches 100%, the computer shuts off. Every time I reboot, the same problem. I've disconnected everything, except for the standard bluetooth wireless keyboard. I've tried some various boot options, such as holding down Shift while rebooting, as well as command+R, but neither had any impact, it is the same problem over and over. Any tips on what to try next?

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2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3474
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IMac gray screen when turning off computer

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