IMac not starting from internal drive

Strange one this, iMac won't start from its own hard drive. It starts happily from an external drive, and other Macs are happy to start using this Mac (in target disc mode) as startup disc. So there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the hard drive or the computer! In Verbose safe boot, it stops quickly after about 10 lines of text, the last line being "Loading System\Library\Caches\com.apple.kext.caches\Startup\Extensions.mkext........... ....", and just hangs there.
Any help / suggestions appreciated!

Must be a bad SATA cable undetected by Apple Techs. A result of the drop but they are also quite fragile.
Disturbing the cable can cause it to work for a while. Cheap repair at iFixIt.

Similar Messages

Macbook 2012 not booting from internal drive but booting from external usb drive

hi everyone!!
here is what happened:
i have worked all day on my macbook pro, normally. when i got home and turned it on (i always power it off for rolling with it) it just didn't load the OS.
i run mavericks on a i7 mid 2012 macbook pro 13". it had an accident on last december and fell on the ground, but i've changed the hdd and it worked normally until last week when this happened.
i have a copy of my system on a usb drive and tried to start up from it and it worked.
i took my hdd from inside the lap top and started from it (yes, the same hard disk that was inside the machine) and it worked.
i took the macbook to an apple store and the "apple genius" that was there started up my machine from inside with another hdd running yosemite that they have in the store for testing.
today i bought a new hdd and put it in. but i can't format it or install the system. i had these 2 errors on disk utility
"partition failed with the error: wiping volume data to prevent future accidental probing failed"
and
"restore failure an error (32) occurred while copying. (broken pipe)
so:
it loads from my internal drive, but only when its connected via usb
it loaded the apple store drive internally
it does not format my new drive nor install the system on it
ANY suggestions, please??? it's really difficult to me to solve this problem...
thanks a lot!!!

Must be a bad SATA cable undetected by Apple Techs. A result of the drop but they are also quite fragile.
Disturbing the cable can cause it to work for a while. Cheap repair at iFixIt.

EMac Will Not Start From Firewire Drive

I'd like to revive my old eMac to use as secondary machine for surfing, etc.
The internal hard drive failed so I bought a Western Digital My Passport drive. I used my old retail copy of Leopard (the same copy I had used on the internal drive) and installed Leopard. The Startup Disk application showed that 10.5 was installed on it and allowed me to choose it for the startup drive.
However, after startup the eMac refuses to see the FW drive. It doesn't even appear to poll it as the drive's light never blinks after the initial power on. Holding down the option key only shows the old internal drive and Leopard install disc as options.
What am I doing wrong?? I never had a problem booting any Mac from a FW drive before.
Additional notes...
1. I reformatted the drive and made sure it was set to Apple Partition Map.
2. I tried dividing it up into multiple partitions.
3. I disabled the stupid Smartware software with the Virtual CD Manager.
4. Looking at the drive on my current Snow Leopard Mac, it appears to have a valid installation.

A few ideas.
Did you use the Disk Utility app on the 10.5 Leopard DVD to format the drive as an Apple HFS+ drive?
Try another FW port. The eMac has 2.
My Mom's eMac is a 800 MHz model running Leopard 10.5.8 from an ext. FW drive.
It usually takes this eMac a good minute and a half to two minutes to see the FW drive and then it will boot to it.
Could try and startup the eMac and wait a little while for it to boot?
Do you get the flashing question mark folder icon when you first start the eMac?
If you do, you may need to wait a little while for the eMac to see the drive.

Macbook Pro will not boot from internal drive

I have a macbook pro model indentifier: macbookpro 7,1. The system would not boot what I have tried is first running apple diagnostics and all test fine, I tried booting from a snow leopard cd to re-install and it would not boot from the cd, however it does boot from the techtool pro 6 cd. I did run the test in techtool pro and all check out ok.
I removed the drive from the system and connected via usb to test and it boots fine from usb, put back internal and same result no boot. I did some research and I see that someone had a similar problem and it was the sata cable, but since the diagnostics test ok I am not sure that would be the problem.
Any Suggetions, this is driving me crazy
Thanks in advance
Bret

coffee would not HAVE to do anything except mechanically. It would not have any effect now since it has dried out, well short of corroding some components.
Check the points where the HDD casing "meets" the Macbook casing. How much pressure is there?
What about the pressure pins "pogo pins" are they all functioning?
What about pressure on the cables?
Please describe how it wont boot? What exactly does it do / happens

Bronze keyboard Will not start from hard drive

This computer (333 Mhz Lombard 192MB ram) has a 40GB seagate HD recently installed, It has Mac OS 10 on it and 9.2.1. I've run multiple tests on it using Apples Mac Test pro and all the tests have passed. It starts readily from the CD I have also recently replaced the battery and pram battery. All i get from the computer at start up is the flashing ? mark blinking system folder. I've reset the pram and power manager, not sure whats wrong. any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Mark

The blinking ? means the Mac can't find a valid startup system.
Look at A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
Are you trying to start up in OS 10 or OS 9? If OS 10, depress the Option key at startup which opens to the Startup Manager window. Then select the OS 9 icon & click the right arrow. If OS 9, do the same but select OS 10.
 Cheers, Tom

Is it possible to boot windows solely from an external hard drive so that it does not affect the internal drive

Is it possible to boot windows solely from an external hard drive so that it does not affect the internal drive. I already know that you can partition the internal hard drive to do the very same. Idon't want to use any of the internal space to run windows so I'm asking if it is possible to use a flash drive or external drive through USB to run windows when it is plugged in.

Read https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5043762?start=0&tstart=0 to discover you can't do it.
Allan

Computer crashed; new C drive. How do I restore/recover my bookmarks on Sync? Would rather not start from square one.

Computer crashed; new C drive installed. How do I restore/recover my bookmarks on Sync? Would rather not start from square one.

Without the Sync Key, even if you could connect and download your data from the Sync server it would be useless without your Sync Key. The Sync Key is used to encrypt & decrypt the data going to & coming from the Sync server.

Mac OS 10.5 / I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!! I do have the OS dvd that i purchased years ago... But my computer will not start from it on its own. My

Mac OS 10.5 /
I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!!
I do have the OS 10.5 dvd that i purchased years ago...
But my computer will not start from it on its own.
My question is what is the open source or terminal language code used to tell my mac to look in the DVD rom drive for startup info? I know that im not the only person in this world who has deleted the "PRIVATE" folder and emptied the trash so it no longer exists on their machine...
That said theres gotta be a common fix for a Power PC G4 that has the OS X dvd in the rom drive but wont look to it to reinstall the vital contents of the PRIVATE folder.
Once again there is not a copy of this file or its contents in the recycle bin...
Also rebooting the machine , pressing and holding the letter C does not prompt the machine to look to the dvd rom drive.
I was reinstalling pro tools and figured I would make some room by cleaning my computers HD...
Lol It was a bad choice to delete this file ...
Thanks guys

Okay sorry it took forever to respond... But for a while there I gave up on this computer!!!!
Money's been tight lately , so taking it in to a professional was not yet an option... though I did consider it eventhough.
Anyway long story short im glad I didnt spend any money because I already had all the tools necessary to fix this issue but was going about it in the wrong way. Okay so here is my scenario and the breakdown... Though this may not fix the issue for everyone :( which *****... But I know we all will have different circumstances.
Anyway here we go...
Okay so first things first.... Years ago I purchased the OS 10.5.1 disk ... So that has always been in my possession!!!!
I realize that some may not have a disk to reflash your OS to your hard drive... but if you do your in luck.
2ndly ... I had an external harddrive with all of my itunes downloaded music so it was more than okay with me to delete my primary HD because all the important stuff could either be copied over or repathed to be located.
-------If you dont want to read through the whole story the fix is summed up in the bottom section-------
Okay so now the SOLUTION!!!!
By trial and error , and pure boredom I opened up my computer to clean the inside...
AND
"Disconnected the primary HD"
and just because ....... REBOOTED my computer. Just to see what it would do.
Upon restart and though it looked like it would repeat its usual cycle...
About 1 minute in to that process my computer froze for about 2 seconds and flashed to the OS installation screen.
Mind you I havent seen this screen yet... Probably hasnt been since I installed the OS years ago.
After a bit of trial and error...
I decided to tell my computer to startup from the OS 10.5 disk located in my dvd rom drive and restarted once again...
this setting is under
Utilities / startup disk
After a little more trial and error ... I realized that I could reconnect the primary HD , restart the machine and return to the OS installation menu.
So upon this discovery
I went to the Disk Utility located under Utilities
Highlighted my primary HD located in the left hand column
Once highlighted ...
In the heading section on the right I selected the option
Erase
in which I erased My current OS on my primary HD ...
I used the first option in the list under security... Because it seemed like the least invasive and would take the least amount of time to see if this process would actually work.
I FORGOT to add something...
Another reason why I deleted my primary HD!!!!!
I forgot to say that it WOULD NOT!!!!! Show up in the STARTUP list as an option...Even After multiple reboots....
But like clockwork... Once I deleted its name IT SHOWED UP as an option!!!!
So back to the next step...
I returned to the STARTUP option under utilities ... And was then able to see MY primary HD now as a startup option...
But ofcourse it had no name because it we previously erased it.
So when Clicking my newly erased HD ... I was almost immediately prompted to REINSTALL the OS ...
Which said it would take about 57 minutes ... But I believe was alot less...
My issue was resolved ... My computer then stated the install was SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!! :))))))))))) lol ;)
It was like I was setting up for the first time ;) asking for my registration info...
The dilemma of deleting the private folder and emptying the trash is finally over resolved. Done ... and no extra money spent!!!!!!!!!
Its really crazy that the information for such a simple thing is not readily available. Especially being such a simple fix.
I know im not the only person who's had this issue , because i've seen numerous posts with similar wording.
I also know I wont be the last person to have this issue... So I hope this synopsis makes sense.
-------One more time the fix------
*Insert your OS dvd into your dvd rom drive.
*Unplug your primary HD or corrupted startup disk
*Reboot your machine...
Upon restart your primary HD will not be recognized...
* you will then be prompted to select your language.
Once selected
*Click Utilities/startup... Highlight the the selection that refers to the OS dvd located in the dvd rom drive.
* Click restart...
!!!!!!!!!!Be sure to reconnect your Primary HD Before your computer restarts and you hear the chime!!!!!!!!
If you do not replug your HD before the chime it will not be recognized.
In that case restart again.
Upon restart once again
*Choose your language...
*Click Utilities / disk utility
In the left column select and
*Highlight your HD ...
Then towards the top portion / center of the page
*Click the heading Erase
Then on the page toward the bottom
*Click security options
This will then provide erase options.
I USED THE FIRST OPTION
"Dont erase data"...
*click OK
* click erase...
Once erased which should take a few seconds
*Cancel the disk utility...
* Click Utilities / startup
And your newly erased HD should now appear in the list.
* Select your drive from the list by highlighting
It should no longer have a name.
*Once selected, you will then be prompted to restart and install the OS to your newly erased HD...
Thats it!!!!
Once everything reinstalls re-add your personal info or registration info and you are up and running.
Goodluck ;)

Mbp 15" does not start from set up disk

I formatted my MBP because it did not recognize the monitor, had to attach an extermal one to view image. Now, I cannot install the original OS because it does not start from set up disk. I was using OSX Lion latest version

Formatting the entire drive was rather excessive to solve a external monitor issue.
Likely a PRAM or SMC reset would have cleared it.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
10.7 Lion can only be reinstalled via the Recovery HD partition or via a external Recovery USB made in advance.
Hopefully the Recovery HD partition is still availalbe, hold the command and r keys down while booting (with a actve Internet connection cable attached to the router or modem) and see what happens. If you get something then format the Macinstosh HD partition in Disk Utility (GUID, OS X extended journaled) and quit, reinstall 10.7 from Apple's servers with your AppleID and password.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/08/lion-recovery-disk-assistant-tool-makes-external- lion-boot-recovery-drives/
If not, then hold c or option key and boot from the 10.6 installer disk, use Disk Utility to erase the entire drive on the left and format same (GUID, OS X extended journaled) then quit and install 10.6, then log into AppStore and update to 10.7 again, the Recovery HD partition will be reinstalled automatically.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
How to reinstall just OS X or erase/install OS X
If your attemtping to revert your 10.7 Mac to 10.6 then read this, it's a better explaination
How to revert your Mac to Snow Leopard
If your 10.6 disk doesn't work, then call Apple for a replacement disk.

Imac not starting up getting folder icon

imac not starting up getting folder icon

i got the same sithuation ..
apple icon and stop icon and folder icon alternating .. on grey screen.
I tried a NVRAM / PRAM reset using Option + Command + P + R buttons (hence refered to as "combo")
Press and hold the combo when you start the mac .. before the grey screen appears.ystem second time ..
keep holding until the mac restarts again (takes about 5-6 sec).
voila

Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.

Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.
The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).

kauribill wrote:
" The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.
The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).
This is a directory issue that Disk Utility cannot fix. Although it manifests itself as a software issue sometimes it may be hardware based. See DiskUtility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing avolume http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1901?viewlocale=en_US". You can try using a utility like TechTool Pro, Drive Genius or Disk Warrior to repair and replace the directory. Another option would be to use the Archive and Install feature to reinstall. If the problem returns after correction you may have a failing or failed HDD.
cornelius

I Mac is not reading from DVD drive. Disk will insert, then some noises but after a few seconds, nothing.

I Mac is not reading from DVD drive. Disk will insert, then some noises but after a few seconds, nothing. I am trying to install Broterh printer disks. Any ideas? I am on Mavericks.

Reset the NVRAM/PRAM and Reset the SMC, then try again.

HT1766 When I started my new iPad 2 I could not start from a previous backup because the os on the new iPad is not the latest 7.x used to backup the previous ipad2 to install the new os I had to start the iPad as new. But now I cannot backup from the pre

When I started my new iPad 2 I could not start from a previous backup because the os on the new iPad is not the latest 7.x used to backup the previous ipad2 to install the new os I had to start the iPad as new. But now I cannot backup from the previously backup ipad

Hi there,
You may find the troubleshooting steps in the articles below helpful.
iCloud: Troubleshooting restoring an iCloud backup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4036
iOS: If you can't back up or restore from a backup in iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2529
-Griff W.

How do I get a numbers spread sheet to open where I left it and not start from the beginning every time I open it?

How do I get a numbers spread sheet to open where I left it and not start from the beginning every time I open it?

There is no built-in setting for redirecting a bookmark to a new tab.
Is it possible that the computer which does that has an add-on such as the Tab Mix Plus extension installed? TMP has a setting for that (Events > Tab Opening).
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/tab-mix-plus/

Elements 5 will not start from the windows old file after upgrading from vista to win 7

Elements 5 will not start from windows.old after upgrading from vista to win 7

Ideally there should not be any impact of OS change, but officially PSE5 is not supported on Win7.
What exactly happens ? Can you see the processes running in Task-manager?

IMac not starting from internal drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for