Imac stuck at startup screen. Help!!

When i turn my mac on it makes the startup noise and then goes to the white screen where the circle thing appears and begins to load, it stays on that for ages and then it resets its self and comes back to the same white screen except then it doesnt load, it just stays plain white forever. WHAT DO I DO???

I don't want to change the subject but I'm experiancing almost the same identical problem. The iMac frooze up while I was using iTunes; I had to disconnect the power to get it to respond and now when I power it back on, it gets to the user login screen and then freezes (maybe just one step further than Karls). I can move the mouse, but not click on any of the users; I get no response.
Any feedback would be appreciated.

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21" iMac stuck on white screen, help!

I have had my 21" iMac for about three months, it is brand new, not second hand and has never had any problems up until now. My iMac was running fine today, not a glitch or anything, but it was unplugged from the power socket and when I plugged it back in and turned it on, the power on sound played, then a white screen appeared with an Apple and spinning wheel. I left it on for SEVEN hours while I went out, came back and it is still not loading, so it has nothing to do with the speed of it. I ran the FSCK and it told me there were modifications made and that the Mac was okay. I rebooted it and the same thing happened. I can not use the installation disc because a) I can not find it and b) there is a disc in tere that will not come out.
Is there anything I could do before having to make an appointment with an Apple Genius?

I have rebooted and managed to reach the Recovery HD and used “Verify Disk” on the Macintosh HD and it said “The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.” so I ran the disk repair just in case. I then selected “Restart” from the Apple menu. It returns to the white screen with the Apple logo and the spinning wheel, but it is still not loading any further than that. Is there anything else I could possibly try?

HT1455 My iMac stucked at loading screen( Spinning gear )..

My iMac stucked at loading screen( Spinning gear ), i tried everything including reboot process while pressing shift key in keyboard but it is not responding, please help me with this. thanks in advance.

You might try the following:
I would first reset the SMC:
Shut down and unplug the Mac.
Keep the Mac unplugged for at least fifteen seconds.
Plug the Mac back in and do not turn it back on for at least five seconds.
Press the power button to turn the Mac back on.
Then I would reset the PRAM by rebooting the iMac while simultaneously holding the Command-Option-P-R keys until the machine restarts a second time.
Hope this helps

Intel Imac stuck at white screen and 3 beeps sound continously....

Intel Imac stuck at white screen and 3 beeps sound continously when power on. Pls help......

Well Barry, as for the Ram, all this while are install by apple technician since very day i bought iMac on july 2008. Just wondering What's actually went wrong..
Very first day I bought iMac, few days later, system cant even on. AppleCare Centre exchanged a new set of iMac.
two weeks later, i notice several dead pixels appearing on screen, call to log a case with them, later on, they changed a new panel.
After several months pass, been using happily with iMac... but since now, this problem occurs. So fastrating... My third time encounters problem with iMac. sign
Any suggestion? If not, I guess i have to bring this bulky iMac to applecare centre again. sign

Completed Mac to Mac Migration. Now new iMac is Stuck at Startup Screen.

I did a mac to mac migration, both iMacs running Lion. Got the message that it was completed successfully. Unfortunately none of my apps or files would open. I rebooted, hoping that would help. Now the new mac is stuck on the startup screen and won't go past it. Help!
It took three attempts for the migration to work. I have never had this much trouble with any of my macs.
I feel like I'm using a PC at this point. What can I do to fix this?

I would restart the new mac from the recovery partition and restore it to new.
The recovery partition is invisible. If you restart, wait for chime, press and hold OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. You should then see the Recovery HD.
To boot directly into the Recovery HD restart, wait for chime, press and hold COMMAND-R.
Then repeat the Migration.
How did you performed the migration before: From old to new with new as target or to new with the old as target ?
Try to do it in another way.
Do it wit FW800 or if possible with Tunderbolt.

I have 2 iMac 24". Just successfully upgraded to OSX-Yosemite on one. The other has gotten stuck at startup screen. White screen w apple

I have 2 iMac 24". Just successfully upgraded to OSX-Yosemite on one. The other iMac has gotten stuck at the startup screen. On power-down then powerup, I get a White screen w apple logo.....then the loading bar is on and goes about 1/5 of the way.....then switched to plain white screen......where it has been for 8-10 hours unchanged.....what can I do? HELP!

OH.....it has the mouse cursor that moves around on the blank screen. I have tried control+command+power button....it restarts, but goes thru the same process.....Apple logo then loading bar to about 20%, then back to the white screen.....no apple logo.... Help me someone? Please?

Itouch stuck on startup screen-please help!

My itouch has been stuck on the startup screen since last night; first I tried letting it charge, and after 30 minutes with no results I unplugged it, let the battery drain completely and started again. After another hour of charging with no results I tried restarting it, again with no results-upon restarting it returned to being stuck on the startup screen. This morning I tried letting it drain again and it became extremely hot until it turned off again. A while ago I plugged it into my computer, hoping to reset and restore it, but it is now, once again, stuck on the startup screen. It's not even being recognized by iTunes or my computer. My ipod is NOT jailbroken btw. Please help!! I don't think I can go on much longer without my music lol

What do you mean by startup screen?
Try here:
iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
An appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is likely in order since the hotness tends to indicate as hardware problem.

Stuck on startup screen; locked firmware (password) won't allow CD Boot...?

When the system began to act strange, I tried to install with a 10.5 Update/Install Disk. When the software wouldn't install ("You can not install this software on this disk."), I restarted the drive, but nothing happened. I ran Disk Utility from the 10.5 CD. I repaird the HD, and restored the permissions by pressing the "Repair", and "Repair Permissions" buttons. When it indicated that the hard drive was "OK", (using the 10.5 Install Disk,) I set the firmware password locking it to keep others from starting with a CD.
Now, the startup screen will not display any users; the blue "load" indicator will not complete, and appears to be stuck. First I tried holding down the "C" key, but it wouldn't start from the CD. Then I tried re-setting the PBG4 to factory settings by holding down the option, command, "P" and "R" keys, but it won't make the second "reboot" sound, and continues with the blue "start-up" indicator. (I'm in real trouble, because I'm supposed to have my College Papers ready by this weekend, but they're stuck on my computer.) Does anyone have any sollutions??? Pleeeeeease help; I'l l b u y y o u s o m e c a n d y!

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
Usually you get a 'can't install on this disk' when you try to use a gray-faced system disk from another system, like MacBook or iMac or other non-Powerbook. Those disks are locked to the systems they are distributed with. The only way to upgrade to 10.5 is with a black-faced retail disk.
Have you tried starting the system holding the alt/option key down? That should prompt you for the firmware password, then give give you a choice of device to boot from.
You didn't indicate why your system was beginning to act strange, so don't know if that has any bearing on your current start issues.

IMac stuck on white screen, no shortcuts work. What to do?

Hello,
my iMac is just a few moths old and it is now stuck on white screen. Trying to hold alt or command+whatever at startup doesnt work. cmd+option+r+p havent helped as well. It starts, makes sound and stucks on this white blank screen. I have Win 7 installed as well. I have also tried unmounting all peripherals.I used it yesterday, booted in Win 7 and I installed new wireless logitech mouse. Than restarted, installed new Win updates, restarted again. Then I worked in Win 7 and finally I shut it down. And today it is just stuck. Please help. Thanks a lot.

As I have written in my first post, trying to hold alt (option) key does not do anything

IMac stuck at blue screen, then finder

Hi, I've searched for the forums for this answer but haven't found anything. Sorry if this has been discussed already.
I'm a user of a 24' white iMac with 2.16 GHz, 300 GB HD. I have 4GB of RAM installed from OWC.
Early last week I started having problems with my iMac. Nothing specific, just a general slowdown and stutter in programs that should have run fine. Things like typing for 5 seconds and waiting for it to show up, scrolling in iTunes would sometimes hesitate, etc etc. The strange thing is I noticed no substantial slowdowns in heavier programs like WoW, Photoshop and Aperture.
I ran Onyx maintenance on it with no real discernible difference.
Today I returned from a weekend of non-use, and when I tried to start it up it got stuck on the blue screen after the grey startup screen. I tried a safe boot, but for whatever reason it didn't recognize my keyboard and was still extremely slow. I finally got it to boot up normally, but it didn't load any desktop items, dock, or anything else. It just showed the finder bar. I clicked on all the available bars (finder, file, edit) with no response.
Any ideas on how to go about troubleshooting this problem?
Thanks in advance!

It sounds like it might be a problem related to the hard drive, with three possibilities.
(1) It is too close to being full - Mac OS X needs free space on the startup drive.
(2) There is disk directory or other type of data corruption/error.
(3) The hard drive is becoming faulty.
If you are able to start up and operate the computer, back up at least your personal data, if it is not already, before doing anything else. If the problem is (1), move or delete some data so that you have at least 10% of total capacity as free space.
Otherwise, restart from your Mac OS X installation disc (for the installed system). Note if it is running normally when you are booted from another disk. At the first Installer screen, go up to the menu bar and select to run Disk Utility under Utilities. Use +Repair Disk+ on your internal drive. Note if any errors are reported, and if any are reported, if they are repaired.

My Lenovo s10 is Stuck on Startup Screen

Hey Guys,
My computer s10 is stuck on lenovo boot sceen after a factory restore. After the full restore i had the screen for choosing language etc and after that my laptop resart alone and stuck on the screen .... Tried rebooting, took out the battery, tried it pluged in, unpluged and it keeps stopping at the startup screen. I pressed all the key f12 etc but nothung happenning Any suggestions?
I tryed to call the support but they tolded me that they can help me because my computer is out of waranty.
see ya

@skippy75015...
HMM: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-71062
Hope this helps.
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IPhone stuck on startup screen, crashes iTunes when I connect

I'm running an original iPhone. I upgraded to v2 of the OS when it came out, and was running apps with no problems until today. Today I bought a couple of new apps. When I connected the phone to my Mac, it backed up, updated the apps, and ran fine for a while. Then I tried one of the new apps (Grocery List). It didn't run. I tried it again. It crashed my phone. I'm stuck on the startup screen (with the centered Apple logo). I've tried rebooting, but I can't get past this screen. iTunes runs fine on my Mac laptop until I connect the phone, at which time I get the spinning beachball. My phone is stuck on the startup screen, and is getting real hot.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Same frustrating boat. Attempting to force a restore as I type this out. iPhone was fine all since the 2.0 update, and did the 2.0.1 update earlier today. All seemed fine throughout the day. And at the end of the day I decided to delete an app from my iPhone and then decided to restart. That's when the apple logo stayed on the screen for what seemed forever. I've noticed it taking a while in the past, but I let it "work" for about 5 minutes and still the same apple start-up screen. Tried a force restart which did no good. Now as it's restoring I keep thinking about how long it's been taking to do a backup of the phone and so I usually just skip it.
Granted there will always be growing pains when you let hundreds of other developers all "play on your playground" at once (referring to the app store), but I can't help but feel that Apple better (great itunes just told me that the backup is corrupt) fix these problems quick as they're losing the faith of new customers and even loyal early adopters.

Stuck on Startup screen with 10.5.2

I've tried to install the 10.5.2 update on a G5 iMac ppc, but get stuck on the white startup screen with the apple logo. I've tried re-installing (archive and install) successfully, then applied the 10.5.2 combi update, with the same result. Am I stuck with 10.5.1?

I was able to get past the Apple logo startup screen lockup by repairing my directory with DiskWarrior.

Macbook Pro stuck at startup screen.

I've ran Disk Utility, there were problems that were fixed, but it's fine now (I've ran it again to double check), and I've ran Apple HHardware Test and I received" no trouble found".
But everytime I try to start up it gets stuck on the grey startup screen with the apple and the oration under it. So I'm at a loss at this point.
Thanks for any help you can offer.

System files are missing or damaged so you need to reinstall OS X:
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
If you have an earlier version of OS X installed then do this instead:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Intel-based iMac stuck in grey screen with spinning wheel. SMC::smcReadKeyAction ERROR THOP kSMBadArgumentError(0x89)

Hi guys,
since yesterday my Intel-Based iMac doesn't boot normally, its stuck in grey screen with a spinning wheel.
Its an Intel-based iMac 21.5'' purchased in 2011, and i recently (2 months ago) upgraded it to Mavericks.
-2 weeks ago, i installed smcFanControl app
-Tried start up in Safe Mode by holding Shift but its not working. i think i hear fans are working more than they were before the problem occurs.
-entered Single User Mode and i get an error
SMC ::smcReadKeyAction ERROR THOP kSMCBadArgumentError(0x89) fKeyHashTable=0x0xffffff8029fa1000
-followed some instructions found online, but can execute the correct commands in SingleUserMode
tried to remove FanControl as explained here: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/110667/errorr-kernel-smcsmcreadkeyactio n-in-console
any ideas what may caused this and how can i fix this?
Thanks in advance

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.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, boot from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. 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.
d. 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 the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d 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.

Imac stuck at startup screen. Help!!

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