IMac won't boot after iTunes Match - Get diskos2 i/o error. Help!

So after almost 24 straigth hours up uploading songs to iTunes Match, I woke up this morning and my iMac wouldn't boot. Gets stuck on the gray screen with the apple logo. I booted in verbose mode keep getting a "diskos2 i/o error." With a little googling some people say it's a bad sector and to erase and reinstall Lion others say it's a failing hard drive. Disk Utlity in Recovery Mode says the drive is ok. Any thoughts out there on what I should do? Thanks!

I am having the same problem. The machine loads just to the point when it says "Loading Mac OSX", then its non responsive for hours. The keyboard and mouse still work, but it won't move past that point.
When I try to repair the disk, it gives me an error message indicating that the disk cannot be repaired. I am bad at backing up my files, so I want to avoid a fresh reinstallation.
The worst part is I had just purchased Disk Warrior, and that won't boot up.
If no solutions are found, does anyone know a way that to initiate the computer in disk mode, so I can hook up another Mac to it, and save all the files?
-alfredo

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my imac won't boot up. I get a white screen with the apple logo and the spinning spiral--any ideas?
I have started having trouble since i had to upgrade OS the latest in July 12.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 Follow this article and when it gets to the part where you go into disk utility using your install disc, you'll actually boot up holding down Command and R

IMac won't boot after power failure during 10.5.6 update

Help!
Tried to update last night and at something like 80% install, we had a power cut. iMac won't boot at all now - get to a grey screen which tells me to restart. Don't have a wired keyboard. If I did - what are the steps to get this working again.
I believe I have a good backup, but don't want to risk as all the family photos are on the iMac.
Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the help, but can't even get to a screen where I could type anything! I know I'm being dumb here.

IMac won't boot after Lion install

I have an Intel iMac circa 2007/2008. I just installed OSX Lion on it. After installation, the computer would beachball frequently and eventually froze completely. I had to do a hard-reset as the system was completely unresponsive.
Now the computer won't boot up. It gets stuck at the grey screen with an Apple and a spinner at the bottom.
Please help; this computer runs my small business.

How much RAM is installed? Lion will run much better with at least 4 GBs of installed RAM.
I would guess you updated from Snow Leopard and that Snow Leopard was not in good shape. Reinstall Lion to see if this fixes things for you:
Reinstalling Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.

IMac won't boot after power outage

I got a power outage a couple of hours ago. And now my iMac won't boot. When I power it up, it gets pass the white screen with the apple logo. The screen than turns blue with a spinning cursor. The cursor spins for about 10-15 minutes and stops but the normal login screen never appear and it won't boot into the desktop either. I just got a blue screen.
I have boot into the install Disc1 and did the disk repair and premission repair but it didn't help.
Any idea?
Sidney

Oh man, what a disaster!
I tried to do an Archive and Install but the installation hanged at the end of disc 2 after running an iWeb script (according to the install log) with about one minute left. I have waited for two hours but it just hanged there with all the drives spin down.
To make the problem worse. There was no way to quit the install at that point because all the menu items were disabled. The only way out was to power off. But when I powered it back on, it booted right into install directly asking for the disc 2. If I put the disc in it will install again and hang at the same spot.
Disc 2 contains iLife. I know Apple wanted to make things simple but why can't they give me an option to skip it? After all, iLife was already installed.
I finally got it working by booting from disc 1 and did a clean install. It took me all night to re-download all the updates and reinstall many applications. Fortunately, I have my address book, calendar, and most of my works backed up to .Mac so it wasn't a total lost.
On the bright side. Now my iMac is working better than before. I used to have problem getting auto sleep to work but now it works perfectly. Safari also had problem accessing charts (but Camino was fine) in a few web sites like schwab.com. Now everything works.
Lenn and David. Thanks for all your helps.
Now I am looking for a better backup solution so that the recovery won't be this painful if disaster strikes again. Any suggestions?
Sidney

IMac won't boot after trying to migrate files to macbook?

While trying to migrate info from my IMAC to my Macbookpro all work froze on both puters. Macbook starts and runs alright. But my IMAC won't boot at all. Tried startup disc and it won't get past picking a destination because it doesn't list one. I made a boo boo hear and need help fixing this.

Drive Preparation
1. 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 Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install OS X.

IMac won't boot after ram upgrade

For some reason, my iMac late 2013 3.4Ghz quad core i5 won't boot with new ram modules added. New ram is exact same specs as original that came with the iMac. I've tested the new ones on their own in the iMac, and the system boots up fine. Same goes with just using the original ram. But when I put all 4 together, the iMac doesn't boot up. Not even the chime.
Combinations I've tried are:
1-Old
2-New
3-Old
4-New
No boot
1-New
2-Old
3-New
4-Old
No boot
1-New
2-Old
3-New
4-empty
No boot
1-Old
2-New
3-Old
4-empty
No boot
1-New
2-Old
3-Old
4-New
No boot
1-Old
2-New
3-New
4-Old
No boot
The only combinations that work are:
1-New
2-empty
3-New
4-empty
Boot good
1-Old
2-empty
3-Old
4-empty
Boot good
I just got off the phone with Apple, and they are saying all modules have to be the same size. ie. all 4GB or all 8GB. Can't mix and match sizes. Which is strange, because I've never heard of this. My Mac Pro has different speed ram modules, with different sizes in it. As long as I install ram in pairs, it runs like a charm. I've even heard the new iMacs don't have to have ram installed in pairs.
I'm wondering if slot 2 and 4 are maybe damaged? I haven't tried using just slot 2 and 4. To my understanding, you have to use 1 and 3 first. Can anyone confirm this?
Also, I've read a couple of people had to wait 30 seconds for the chime when they installed new ram in their iMacs. I didn't wait 30 sec to see if it would boot. Never heard of any Mac taking 30 sec to just chime in. lol Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a fix? Tx.

CLICKY CLICK---> iMac: How to remove or install memory
Or
Apple>About This Mac>More Info>Memory: Double click "Memory Install Instructions" at the bottom right of window.
my iMac late 2013 3.4Ghz quad core i5
Conflicting info. Your system profile shows: Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8). Please update/correct.

Imac won't boot after update

hi guys i am new to macs I bought this for my daughter and tried to update.The update said to hold the program button and push power,well now she won't boot up just a grey sreen and what looks like a file with a blinking question mark and a face..
I have a imac g3 400mhz with 256mb ram
osx and 9.2 i belive any help appreciated

The flashing folder icon is your iMac's way of saying, "where is my OS? I can't find an OS!" If this appears briefly and goes away, it's usually because the PRAM was reset recently. The 4.1.9 firmware does reset your PRAM in the process--but only if successful in its task. To fix this temporary hiccup, open the Startup Disk control panel and select the hard drive, then click Restart.
If this icon continues to flash, there are some steps you can try.
1. Reset the PRAM via Command (Apple)Option+PR at startup. Hold the keys down until the Mac chimes thrice. If your Mac starts normally after the third chime, end here.
2. Reinitialize the firmware. Enter Open Firmware mode (CommandOption+OF) and issue the following, pressing Return after each command:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
If successful, the Mac should reboot itself. Stop here if this solves the problem.
3. If you have the iMac restore disc, or a disc with OS 9.1-9.2.1, boot it and run Disk First Aid from the Utilities folder to repair file structure errors. If you have DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro Classic, you will be able to do more thorough repairs.
4. If all of the above fail, you can reinstall OS 9 if you still need to do the firmware upgrades, but you should reinitialize the hard drive with Drive Setup if you also want a clean install. Drive Setup can be found in the CD's Utilities folder.
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IMac won't boot after updates,have to reinstall loin from recovery drive

I have a 27" iMac running 10.7.1 and love it, but every time I do a software update it won't boot, it just goes to white screen with spinning gear forever! I let it set there for an hour and it never changed. I've tried restarting it but it just stops at that point,so I have to restart holding cmd-r to go to the recovery partition and have it reinstall loin,i've tried reparing the drive and perrmissions but it still wont boot unless i reinstall loin. I have five other macs running loin with no problem, so why just my imac?

Hopefully you have AppleCare. If so, call Apple to see if this if you are afflicted with the dreaded motherboard problem.
BTW, this area is for discussing iMac G4s. Since you have an iMac G5 you will probably want to make future posts in the iMac G5 discussion area.

Imac won't boot after 10.6.8 update

Not sure where to start with this...
Just tried to boot after the latest 10.6.8 update and have the grey screen with the spinning disk.

I would suggest that you do the following as a start:
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.
If the drive is OK then download the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo installer and reinstall the update. See if that resolves your problem.
If the above does not fix the problem then you will need to reinstall Snow Leopard:
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/.

IMac won't boot after install of itunes 7.6 with ipod connected

Just an FYI for anyone that comes across this issue. If you do, just disconnect your
ipod and the system will boot up.

Hi Dean, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Unbeknownst to you, you had problems on your HD before the update.
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, 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. (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. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot.
The usual reason why updates fail or mess things up, is if Permissions are not fixed before & after every update, with a reboot... you may get a partial update when the installer finds it doesn't have Permissions to change one obscure little part of the OS, leaving you with a mix of OS versions.
Some people get away without Repairing Permissions for years, some for only days.
If Permissions are wrong before applying an update, you could get mixed OS versions, if Directory is the slightest messed up, who knows!
If many Permission are repaired, or any Directory errors are found, you may need to re-apply some the latest/biggest updates again, or even do an A&I if you have enough free disk space.
An Archive & Install, which gives you a new OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120

IMac Won't Boot After Software Update

First off, I'd like to say that this is not my computer, rather a friend's; therefore I don't know a lot of what happened before the install.
So, my friend said that he opened iTunes and got an update message. I asked him if he had ever updated his Mac since he got it (August 2010) and he said no. By the way he explained it, it sounds like when he pressed yes to update, it opened up "software update" and also updated some other things. He was asked if the computer can restart and he said yes.
When the computer restarted, it showed the usual Apple logo and spinning indicator. But, it also showed a loading progress bar. Now, I am not sure how far it went, he said about 50%, but it then shut itself off. When he tried turning it on again, it did the same thing.
Finally I showed up and after seeing that happening over and over, I called Apple. The employee told me to safe boot, PRAM, etc and nothing worked. Then I tried verifying and repairing the hard drive using the install disk but the computer got an error saying something like this: "cannot repair disk, try backing up and reinstalling..." The Apple employee told that the computer cannot be fixed and it either had to be "erased and reinstalled" or to try and get the data saved which would cost "hundreds or even thousands."
Is there any way to fix this? I'd really like to help him save all his pictures, documents, etc. Thank you!
PS: His computer is a 21.5" iMac (mid 2010 model). I believe it was running 10.6.

That's because the volume is too damaged to mount. Depending on how valuable the data is, you should either remove the drive and send it to a recovery service, which will be very expensive as you've been advised, or try one of the software packages that purport to be able to recover data from an unmountable partition. I have no experience with those products because I make backups. Maybe someone else here can make a specific recommendation.

IMac won't boot after OSX Intel update crash - Newbie needs help please!

Hi,
at the weekend I updated OSX on my IMac 17 with an Intel update. An error message said that the update could not be installed and that the update was sent to the trash - a restart was requested. Since that shutdown my Mac chimes and gets stuck at the white load screen (hard drive is quiet).
I've tried the following:
Holding Shift key upon boot to initiate Safe Mode - No Joy!
Apple+S to run disk utlity/console - cannot initiate to cmd prompt!
Just as a little background - I'm a recent Apple convert and typical Windows defector. I've seen the light after many years in M**soft environments (I even trained to MCSE) but my Mac OS knowledge is considerably lacking. Let's be honest - so far I haven't had any problems.
Any gentle help would be most appreciated folks - I'm not sure where to start and I want my baby back!
Many thanks.

Same here. I have an iMac 20". It has been upgraded to Leopard and running fine since I purchased it 2 weeks ago. I downloaded the latest OS/X update (100+MB in size) but the installation failed. The system requested a reboot but it has not been able to ever since. It simply keeps beeping with a white screen. I put the Leopard DVD in, held the "C" key, but nothing works. Now I have a system that won't work. From now on, I will shy away from getting the latest update .... I am planning to take it to the apple store

IMac won't boot after replacing hard drive and restoring from Time Machine

I was having problems with my iMac but upgraded to Lion when it came out. Had a few good days and then my hard drive died.
I had the drive replaced and the repair people put Snow Leopard on the new drive.
I then tried to restore everything from my Time Machine backup. At first when I tried to log on the computer wouldn't accept my password (i know it was right).
I decided to reinstall again using the snow leopard dvd i had. This time, the computer booted up (didn't ask me for a passord) and looked like it was in the process of setting things up. But Mail kept saying it was going to import messages but then quit and restarted a few seconds later. When i quit it it just came back again and again. I could see Chrome open behind it with my bookmarks in the toolbar and see other restored things, but the overall look was grey and not everything was there.
When i restarted from the HD and not the dvd i could never get past various shades of grey and the circling progress indicator. Never booted up at all.
I read about Lion having some restore hd functionality but it doesn't show up when i restart with option key. Am I in limbo between operating systems?
Any advice as to steps to take? I don't know much about this stuff.
Thanks for any help.

Yes, if you picked a Snow Leopard backup, that's what you got.
You could pick a Lion backup, and it would restore it, but that wouldn't create the Recovery HD, which you will need, sooner or later. See Using the Recovery HD. You'll need to re-download Lion for that to be created.
When you do that, after downloading but before installing Lion again, you might want to do this: Making a Lion Install disc or partition. Then if you need to reinstall Lion again, you can do it from that, instead of having to download it again.

IMac won't boot after iTunes Match - Get diskos2 i/o error. Help!

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