IMac won't boot! (gray screen of death?)

Hello,
I just had a kernel panic on my main iMac computer, so I had to restart it...
When it logged in automatically, it restarted again (by itself)...
Now, once it booted, I'm staring at the horrendous Gray Screen of Death/Doom...
No apple logo, no loading wheel, nothing... just a blank gray screen.
Please help! I have no idea how to fix this!
Thank you. All help is greatly appreciated.

Hi mik.e245
Pop in the Install Disk 1 that came with your iMac and run disk repairs as described in the articles below:
http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=3810
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1018.html
Not always, but many times Kernal Panic's are associated with a ram issue's. If a ram module was recently added it may have become partially dislodged/unseated and needs to be reseated.
If your still having trouble run the Hardware Test from the same install disk as per this article.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081-en
Dennis

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Hi David
Try booting the Install DVD holding the Option key or run the Apple Hardware Test as described in the following Apple article > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
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MBP 13" Won't Boot, Gray Screen w/ ? Folder, Hard Drive is perfectly fine

I have a 13" Macbook Pro that won't boot up. When I used my install disk to get to disk utility, it did not recognize that there were any drives in the computer.
I tried:
Removing the hard drive and plugging it into another computer using a SATA to USB adapter. It worked fine and I could see all of the files on the hard drive. I ran the disk utility on another Mac to see if there were errors. It found none. I then restarted the other Mac and selected to boot from the USB drive and it booted perfectly fine. I tried reconnecting and seeing if it would boot now for some reason (machines are funny like that). It didn't; same problem.
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Installing a different hard drive to see if the disk utility program would see it. It did not.
Then, I tried:
Connecting the original hard drive to the defective Mac using the SATA to USB adapter and trying to boot from USB. This worked fine.
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I have pretty much the same problem, although I don't get the question mark, I get the gray screen with a symbol like a "no entry" sign. In other words, circle with a slash through it. Very odd. Never seen that before. I booted from two different external drives and the computer boots fine. The internal drive mounts on my desktop and is accessible, nothing is wrong. I cloned the internal drive to one of the external drives and booted from that fine as well.
The disk has been repaired via Drive Genius. I rebuilt the directory through Drive Genius and it seems to run just fine.
It seems it may be as simple as a bad or loose cable, but since the icon is something I'd never seen I wanted to see if anyone knows what that icon might mean. The only new thing I did last week was defrag the drive through Drive Genius.
Oh also, I replaced the battery last year from OWC. The glue holding the silver outer plate has come off so that battery, though working fine, is a bit of a pain. Since the battery is lose inside that casing, I was wondering if maybe there is a strain internally. I don't know the wiring that's near the battery connection.
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Computer crashed while using Safari. Restarted with gray screen and beeping sound

Not good, sounds like a hardware failure. Navigate to Apple Gray Screen and closely follow the troubleshooting steps, if none work the final step says to take ht machine in for service. Here is the link to the page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
Good luck!

IMac won't boot, dark screen after normal grey start up screen

Quite perplexed with this problem, have tried everything I can think of.
Computer: iMac 2.16 gHz 24" mid 2006, 4 gig RAM
OS: 10.6.8
Froze and required hard shutdown. Subsequent to this, has behaved consistently:
Normal grey screen with Apple logo and spinning timer, can hear disk activity. Then the screen goes dark and nothing else happens (although the computer is still on). Have to perform hard shutdown.
Have tried:
1. Booting into single user mode (multiple times) and performed fsck, no errors noted
2. after using 'exit' command in single user mode, computer attempts to reboot but then freezes after noting 'panic'
3. Reset PRAM (no change)
4. Tried safe mode boot, progress bar on grey screen progresses, then spinning timers comes on, then same crash with dark screen
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5. Reinstalled HD, reassembled computer, rebooted, same issue
6. Attmepted to boot with Snow Leopard Install disc to perform a fresh Achive and Install - after prolonged grey screen with spinning timer and audible DVD drive access, same switch to dark screen and no further progress
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I would welcome hearing any other observations, similar experiences or other ideas. MTIA.

One update ... when I boot the computer and get the 'dark screen', I hear disc activity. So I started hitting the return key and I get the chime with each return as if I'm on the log in screen and hitting the return to log in without entering any text.
That would argue there is a problem with the screen.
However, it does not explain why the computer display works normally during single user mode and hangs (without the screen going dark) when trying to reboot from this mode.

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My Xserve is having some serious difficulties and as a result, so am I.
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Hi mik.e245
Pop in the Install Disk 1 that came with your iMac and run disk repairs as described in the articles below:
http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=3810
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1018.html
Not always, but many times Kernal Panic's are associated with a ram issue's. If a ram module was recently added it may have become partially dislodged/unseated and needs to be reseated.
If your still having trouble run the Hardware Test from the same install disk as per this article.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081-en
Dennis

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My computer was working fine but I had to force quit a few programs. Finally I had to shut it down, and when trying to reboot, I get stuck on the grey screen with the progress wheel spinning. I tried holding the C button, used the Install disc to try "Disk Utility". What came up with Disk Utility was it said it was rebuilding a B-tree, and then just hung. I tried that again (all with Apple Care on the phone) and then it couldn't find the hard drive.
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The easiest, least invasive thing I've done has been to just reseat the two memory sticks. Didn't hurt, but didn't help, either.
It's able to boot in Safe Mode, which I've been doing for quite a long while now, but it would be nice to have everything functioning normally again. Other than opening the iMac up to have a look inside, is there any other test(s) that can be done to get a better idea of what the problem might actually be?
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It restarts okay and does what it's able to in Safe Mode. That's what I've been doing for a while, now.
Sure would be nice to have a fully functioning iMac again, though.
AppleCare is way in the past at this point. One of these days, I'll take it to an Apple Store and let them have a go at it. Or, at least give me the (bad) news as to how much it'll cost.
If it should turn out to be the graphics unit (been reading less than complimentary things about Nvidia 8800 gs), any estimate on what Apple might charge for that sort of repair? If not, no worries. Guess I'll find out soon enough.
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My iMac won't boot up it makes a steady beeping sound and has a gray screen, occasionally it shows a picture of a file with a question mark blinking in the center, can anyone help

The blinking question mark indicates that the firmware could not find a valid Operating System on your machine.
Your harddrive may have failed. Your filesystem may have bcome corrupted.

My iMac won't boot up fully. It stays stuck in the gray screen with the pinwheel spinning, then after about 5 minutes just shuts itself off.

My iMac won't boot up fully. It stays stuck in the gray screen with the pinwheel spinning, then after about 5 minutes just shuts itself off.

Try SMC Reset (unplug it from the back of the computer for 10 seconds then plug it back. in)
Try PRAM Reset Cmd + OPtion + P + R on start up.
Try safe boot - hold down shift on start up.
Try booting to install dvd (C on start up) or recovery hd (CMD + R) and using disk utility to run a verify and repair. If you still can't boot after that reinstall the operating system. If you can't find the disc or it wont boot to the disc.
Try single mode which is cmd+S on start up. It will open with a terminal looking window in the terminal. type in /sbin/fsck -TL. If it returns *system has been modified* continue to type that command in until it comes back with macintosh hd seems to be ok. If after 5 tries it still gives you system has been modified. You may have to replace the hard drive.

My iMac won't boot past grey screen and it didn't come with a os x disk

My iMac won't boot past grey screen with apple. I've tried booting in safemode but that didn't help and my iMac didn't come with a os x disk.

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.”
b. 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.
c. 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 either of the techniques in Steps 1b and 1c 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.

My iMac won't boot. I only get a white screen. Won't open in safe mode or recovery mode. Any suggestions?

Hey, any help? My 24" iMac won't boot. I only get a white screen when turning on. It won't open in safe or recovery mode. Any suggestions?

If you can't boot from your installer DVD, then take it in for service.

Gray screen of death ... macbook boot failure

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I worked with support via telephone and their solutions failed also:
1. power up, hold down the eject button (nada)
2. power up, hold down the mouse button (nada)
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Now it chimes when i start up but still sits there cycling the cdrom which has a movie disk in it.
The support rep asked me if there was a small extraction hole by the drive. HELLO: are you really Apple ??? On the new macbook?
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My apologies to everyone if I raised an alarm. The hardware (i.e. the MacBook) is fine and the problem was that I am a new user. I have to say that Apple Support was unprepared to address the issue but I did resolve it myself by accident. Here is the resolution:
I looked up the SMC reset instructions on the Apple Support site as a next step and the instructions said to try 3 things before doing the SMC:
1. Force Quit (Option - Command - Escape)
2. Restart (Control - Command - Power)
3. Force Shutdown (hold down pwr button for 10 seconds
As a new user I could not know that the key with the Apple was the Command key, but I guessed since the words control and option were called out, it had to be the Apple key with the Squiggle.
I did each step but nada. I did get a different alert tone (lower pitch) after doing step 3. Each time I turned the computer off.
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The system is just like I left it and the rom drive works fine. Again, my apologies to all you macbook users for raising any alarms. We are new to using Apple and have much to learn. I did not have any cheat sheets to work from so it took time. Many thanks for the responses.
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Gray screen of death on boot-up

I have a 2.1 GHz MacBook with a 120GB hard-drive that I bought last November. I've been doing a lot with video and music and I keep running out of disk space. So, I keep deleting files that I thought I didn't need. Unfortunately, I must have deleted something important (for the OS) yesterday, and now, when I try to boot the machine, I get the "gray screen of death". And, to make matters worse, I cannot find the boot-CD that came with the MacBook. I don't have back-ups for many of my files and am hoping that I'll be able to recover my files. So, I've just bought an external hard-drive (which I should have done before). Any ideas how I can get the MacBook to boot and repair the problem without the original boot-CD? Will I have to erase the hard-drive to repair the problem, and if so, will I be able to save the files first? Thanks!

Hi MB-GSofD,
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Are you near an Apple Store? Do you have access to another Mac, say a family member, friend, roommate, co-worker, etc? There is Target Disk Mode if you can get access to another Mac and a Firewire cable.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

IMac won't boot! (gray screen of death?)

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