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

Similar Messages

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 power failure?

My iMac wont boot or respond in any way after I experienced a brief power outage. Now it can't seem to switch on at all even after attempting the different resets I've read on other discussions. Please help with advice on any techniques to fix it otherwise steps I must take to get it repaired. Thanks.

Hello, not much you can do other than try this...
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Mac mini won't boot after power outage

I have a Mac Mini Server which runs all the time in my house. We had a power outage a couple fo days ago but I didn't happen to check the mac mini until today. I found it at the login screen, and proceeded to log in. Everything was slow and taking way too long. Finally it froze. I restarted, but this time I got to a grey screen with a progress bar (no progress shown).
At this point one of two things happens - either it switches to a spinning wheel forever, or it just shuts itself off. I've restarted many times and it seems to randomly choose one of those outcomes. I tried resetting the SMC by unplugging, waiting, and then plugging it back in, but this had no effect. I want to reset the PRAM, but it doesn't seem to work, although that might be because my keyboard is not an Apple keyboard. I'm trying to get another ekyboard to try, but besides resetting the PRAM, does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks.

Try booting to the OSX disk that came with the Mini
and run disk utility and try Repair Disk on the boot drive.
Also, if you have a bootable clone, try that.
If you have another Mac, another thing to try is
getting the Mini to start in Target Disk mode and connect
via Firewire to the other Mac and try a repair disk that way.

Mac won't boot after power chord became unplugged accidently.

Mac won't boot after power chord became unplugged accidently.
I have a Mac Mini running very latest version of OSX. I was making a recording with QuickTime; when I needed to plug in a USB recording device into the back of the Mac Mini, as I pulled the Mac off my shelf to do this, the power cable came out and the Mac lost power.
I plugged it back in and powered up the Mac. I get the grey screen with Apple logo and the spinning grey wheel; then it goes to a blue screen (as usual) and I get the "starting OSX..." progress bar. When the progress bar finishes, I'm left with a blue screen only, no dock, no apple icon at top left, nothing across the top, no nothing.
So far, I've booted from the original disc and repaired the permissions as well as the disc, then re-booted, but same old blue screen.
I have another iMac G5 machine, so is there any way I can at least retrieve the important HD files from the Mac Mini to my G5, before throwing the broken Mac Mini away?
Can anyone advise please?

Hi, Nigel.
Not to differ with my colleagues here, but there's an important question that wasn't asked.
1. You wrote: "So far, I've booted from the original disc and repaired the permissions as well as the disc, then re-booted, but same old blue screen."Did Disk Utility report any errors it could not fix when you ran Repair Disk? I suggest you run the procedure specified in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ. Perform the steps therein in the order specified.
2. You may also want to run the Apple Hardware Test that came with your Mini to be sure nothing shorted when the power cable was removed from the computer. I've seen it happen, hence I usually recommend removing the power cable at the wall before disconnecting the power cable from the computer. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ.
3. Repair Disk gives your Mini a clean bill of health, the blue screen may be the result of some Startup or Login item that was corrupted due to the sudden power outage. My "Troubleshooting Startup and Login Items" FAQ can help you pin that down if such an item is causing the problem and may help you avoid and Archive and Install.
4. If you elect to go the Archive and Install route, see my "General advice on performing an Archive and Install" FAQ for some important tips on this process.
5. As FYI, this is the kind of problem that makes one glad they've implemented a comprehensive backup and recovery solution. For advice on the backup and recovery solution I employ, see my "Backup and Recovery" FAQ. Computing without a comprehensive backup and recovery solution is like driving without auto insurance.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

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 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.
Nate

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 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

Computer won't start after power outage

After a circuit breaker was shut off the computer won't start. I cleaned out the computer and got the light to go green by putting a hair dryer to it.
When I push start button and hold it up to 10 seconds it will not start.
The computer is a compaq presario sr5130nx

Typically what happens during a power outage is not good. It can do strange things. If it took using a hair dryer to get the green light on the back to come on, that is a bad sign. HERE is a troubleshooting guide for power supplies. Start with that.
{---------- Please click the "Thumbs Up" to say thanks for helping.
Please click "Accept As Solution" if my help has solved your problem. ----------}
This is a user supported forum. I am a volunteer and I do not work for HP.

Help! P6N wont boot after power outage.

We had a power outage this morning and after the power was restored I reset my UPS. Now my system is almost dead. The only indications of life are that the HD access light, and the power light flash at a 1 Hz rate. I tried resetting the BIOS (SW3), but no change.
Motherboard: MSI7320 (P6N)
CPU: Intel Q6600
RAM: 4Gb OCZ Platinum

try with a different power supply first.
remove all components...
test a RAM stick by stick a time
left it boot only with minimal processor, a stick of ram and a graphic, maybe if you have.
you can leave not to put your hard disk / optical devices at a moment.

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 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.

Won't boot after power loss

I've got the MSI Neo-FIS2R and have been living through all the various Bios issues with the rest of you.
One trick my motherboard has since day one, is when I pull the power plug. If I move the 'puter to another location, or just pull the power plug to open the case. When I put the power plug back in, the 'puter won't boot. I have to clear CMOS, and only then it'll boot. This has happened on every Bios from 1.1 to 1.5.
Any ideas?
3.0C CPU, 2 x Cosair CMX256A-3500C2

Hi DVDGuy99,
I've not came across any like yours, but I'll suggest that you shut down your computer completely, wait for 1 min, switched off AC power from the wall socket, wait for 2~3 mins, then unplugged.
All the Best... :D!!!

PowerMac won't boot after power failure during install

Hi, sorry if this has been asked. I searched, but I'm not quite sure how to phrase it.
I bought a used PowerMac from craigslist and went to install a newer version of OSX. I had a power failure in the middle of the install and now the computer won't boot up. How do I go back to a fresh re-install and get the computer to boot up?
Much appreciated!

Did you use a retail install DVD? If you used a gray disc from another model Mac, that could be a problem.
Because of the power failure, suggest you reset the PMU. How long was the power Off? You may need to replace the PRAM battery.
Resetting Cuda/PMU on Power Mac G5, Power Mac G4, Power Macintosh G3
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760
 Cheers, Tom

IMac won't boot after power outage

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for