IMac won't read startup disk

Longstanding problem. Older iMac won't read the Leopard disk. I got around this by using my daughter's iBook in slave mode and then installing 10.5. Everything works but I can't start up with the disk to use disk utilities. It was suggested that I get a new ext dvd drive which I did. (Kanguru qs2)
I started it up and installed Office for Mac without a problem. Then I tried to use the 10.5 disk and it would not read it. I had a hard time getting the disk to eject. After it did eject I tried using some other disks including Office and none of them work now. Any ideas?

rafterdog wrote:
I started it up and installed Office for Mac without a problem. Then I tried to use the 10.5 disk and it would not read it. I had a hard time getting the disk to eject. After it did eject I tried using some other disks including Office and none of them work now. Any ideas?
Sounds like your new drive broke.

Similar Messages

IMac won't locate startup disk

Hi everyone, I hope you're having a great weekend!
My iMac is less than 2 years old and all of a sudden it won't start. It fails at log in and makes me do an online repair, then takes me to a screen with 4 options, restore from Time Machine, Reinstall iOSX, seach online & Disk Utility. And a few times I've received the folder with a question mark error also.
I've read through a few help articles and they all seem to want to direct me to choose my startup disk and that's where my problem is.
The Apple Menu is almost empty and I can't access any other apps.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks so much!!!

Your startup disk is no longer working properly. You need to reinstall OS X. On your next restart you will be presented with the Recovery HD's Utilities Menu. Do the following:
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility 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 Disk Utility and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
Alternatively, see:
Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Choose the version you have installed now:
OS X Yosemite- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Mac OS X 10.4.4 Install CD Won't Read Startup Disk

Hi, when i was installing Windows XP, i accidentally erased my Mac startup disc, and when i try to reinstall Mac OS X, this message comes up "Alert This software cannot be installed on this computer" and it gives me two options to restart or to change the start-up disk. When i try to change the start-up disk it doesn't read the disk. So i fire the iMac up into Target Firewire Disk mode and connect it to my iBook (Which runs Mac OS X 10.4) and i format it and make sure it is a GUID partition table so that my Intel iMac can read it, but when i restart and go back to the setup it shows the same message and when i go to the startup disk option the setup still does NOT see the drive. !!!!!!!! someone plz help!!!
Thanks

You seem to know that an Intel Mac requires a drive formatted with a GUID partition table to boot from it, so that much of your scheme should work, even if you are formatting the drive from 10.4.4 via Target Disk Mode with a PPC Mac, as long as you are using a version of Disk Utility that offers the GUID partition table formatting option (in the Partition tab, in the "Options..." drop down sheet.)
However, it isn't clear if you are then trying to install the OS onto the Intel iMac while still in Target Disk Mode, or which installer you are using. As already explained, you can't install an Intel version of the OS from a PPC Mac while in TDM -- as far as the installer knows, the target is just a drive attached to the PPC Mac, so it will inform you that the Intel OS version can't be used with that Mac.
So, the solution is to make sure the drive is formatted with the GUID table & then install the OS onto the Intel iMac while booting it from the iMac's own installer disk. If necessary, you can access the installer's version of Disk Utility before you begin the installation by selecting it from the "Utilities" menu & checking or reformatting the drive before the install.
This should work fine, unless for some reason you cannot boot the iMac from its original installer disk. If that is the case, please let us know.

IMac won't boot, startup disk gone?

Hello, my name is Jesse. English isn't my main language so I'm sorry for grammar mistakes!
I didn't use my iMac much last week. A few days ago I checked my email or something and left it on for about 30 minutes.
When I tried to start up the computer in the evening it went to a grey screen and there were 4 option I could do:
- use a backup
- reinstall mac os x lion
- use safari for help
- something else I forgot
Every time I try to boot the computer it goes to this window so I cant use the computer anymore.
I think the StartUp Disk is broken.
I am pretty sure I didn't do anything bad with the computer to cause this.
Maybe because of the high temperatures lately it broke??
There are files for work etc on the computer that I NEED. So I don't want to reinstall the computer and lose all the files.
My questions are:
- What might of caused this?
- Do I lose all the files on my iMac?
- Can this be fixed easily or is it very expensive?
I tried starting up holding Shift/Option key but both times I ended up at the grey screen with the 4 options.....
Thank you so much if you can help me!
- Jesse.

Have you tried booting into Recovery Mode (see OS X: About OS X Recovery - Support - Apple) ?
What version of the OS did the system have on it when you bought it?
As for what caused this, there are a lot of things that can cause a disk drive to fail, age, temperature, shock can all make a disk fail. How old is the iMac?

My 24" iMac won't read audio cds--ejects them after about 15 seconds

My 24" intel iMac won't read audio cds. It ejects them after about 15 seconds. I have virtually never played cds on this machine in five years. It plays dads with no problem. Anybody have any feedback. I also saw a fix by deleting some presence files.

I saw this on a forum from about four years ago:
Trash the following folders:
com.apple.kernelcaches (from System/Library/Caches
extensions.kextcache (from System/Library
CDInfo.cidb (from Home/Library/Preferences
Restart
Could this be a fix.
Unfortunately, I can't reset PRAM. I've done it a thousand times over twenty years,but my machine simply boots up without the extra chimes.

IMAC won't read sandisk 8gb sdhc from canon hf m-31 hd camcorder

IMAC won't read Sandisk 8GB SDHC card from Canon HF M-31 HD camcorder

Your camcorder is fine with iMovie 09. My suggestions are two;
1)Canons sometimes take a little bit of effort to connect. Try disconnecting and then reconnecting your camcorder. Try shutting down iMovie and then turning it back on. I have a Canon hf100 usb camera also and love it. I just put up with the odd frustration of it sometimes not recognizing the connection.
2) Click on the camera icon in the main iMovie interface (middle, extreme left). See if your camera is "seen" my iMovie. If not, try disconnecting and reconnecting the camcorder.
Hugh

Why my new iMac won't read my external hard drive?

Why my new imac won't read my external hard drive??

Liz,
Sorry for not responding sooner, I support your position completely - as for the external drive I assumed that the individual was a previous mac user and knew about that (my mistake) at home I have a couple of external drives
one drive is acknowledged regardless of format (mac/win) its a partitioned drive.... the other one - far as the mac is concerned does exist when i connect it. I believe its a win only drive (will have to check the specs on it) but it works on the win-notebooks.
so my point of reference was coming that perspective, with no additional posts I have to assume you had the correct answer. have a great day.

G5 iMac won't read 10.5 install DVD

Hello good people! Here's my problem:
When I instert my OS 10.5 (Leopard) install DVD into my G5 iMac, the computer will not read the disk. I can hear it spinning the disk and it makes a few strange grind-like noises, but I never get an icon on the desktop and it eventually (after about a minute) just spits the disk back out. This is a 20" 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 iMac (no camera) w/ a Super Drive and 2GB of RAM, currently running 10.4.11.
A few things to know:
• I know the 10.5 install disk is good because it worked fine on a G4 iBook.
• I know the Super Drive will read from and record to other CDs and DVDs.
• I tried duplicating the 10.5 install DVD onto another DVD and got the same result: can't read the copy either.
• I looked into updating the Super Drive's firmware and the updater told me I did not need to update it.
So it seems that this drive is just not happy with this disk or a copy of this disk for some reason. If anyone knows why, I would be grateful for an explanation, but what I am more interested in knowing is this:
IS IT POSSIBLE to run this installation either from a disk image that I put onto the iMac's desktop; OR by inserting the physical disk into the drive on my iBook (which as I said previously WILL read the disk without a problem) and then running the install from the iBook's drive onto the iMac, either over a network or by connecting the two machines directly via some sort of cable? (The iBook is running 10.5 and the iMac is at 10.4.11). If this is possible, please explain how to do it! Desperate!
Thanks in advance for everyone's help and expertise.

When I follow the 6-step procedure described here, I get a screen at startup from the iMac where I can select either the iMac's hard drive or the iBook's hard drive to startup from, but I do not see the install DVD as an option.
I also tried starting the iBook in Target disk mode (by holding down T @ startup) and then connecting it to the already-running iMac (which I started and logged into without holding down option). When I do this, I get icons on the desktop for the iBook's hard drive and for the install DVD in the iBook's optical drive (yes!). Unfortunately, the install DVD shows up as a "volume" (i.e. a drive with a white rectangular icon) and NOT as an actual DVD with a round DVD icon. When I try to launch the installer from the DVD, I get a box with a message telling me that I can't use the installer from this "volume" and that I need to run it from the actual DVD (even though it IS an actual DVD). Frustrating!

Imac won't read Cds

5-yr. old iMac: suddenly won't read CDs. It spits them out after 10-20 seconds with no error message.

Thanks everybody
I too have suddenly developed this failure to burn. Worked well last week, now doesn't even get to the multiplexing stage, just ejects the blank disk. Ejects original Leopard disk, won't write to CD with Toast 8. Couldn't even check the hardware diagnostic as it just spits the disk out.
Tried Unix single usere mode Command S to type in fsck -y after the prompt localhost# (p840 - The Missing Manual series Leopard) but never got to this prompt. Upgraded to lastest iMovie and iDVD
Tried your FINDER- PREFERENCES - TICKED THEM BUT THEY DON'T SHOW UP IN THE SIDEBAR. . Starting to look ominous. Here I am in the middle of the South Pacific with no Mac repair shop within 3000 km.
OR any other suggestions - may be "life saving" or this iMac is going on a long flight soon or could you send your father-in law.

G5 Slot Load XServe 10.4.11 won't save startup disk preference

I have a G5 XServe (Slot Load). If the server is 'Shut Down' or it loses power (UPS goes down) it won't boot from the selected Startup Disk.
I have to use the System Identifier buttons to select 'Startup from internal drive'.
But if I instead only Restart the machine, it always boots from the selected Startup Disk.
How can I get this G5 XServe running Tiger 10.4.11 to retain its Startup Disk settings?
Thanks

I ran 'sudo systemsetup -liststartupdisks'
and got '/System/Library/CoreServices'
Should this be working as is or should it be '/System/Library/CoreServices/System' or something else?
What should the file path be? Can you please post an example?
I am planning on using 'sudo systemsetup -setstartupdisk <path to disk root>' to try to reset it. I found that in the Snow Leopard literature, should that work for Tiger as well?
Thanks for your help.

Won't read install disk in drive-any way to restore HD to factory settings?

I am trying to wipe my iMac's hard drive and restore the computer to factory settings so that I can donate it to a nonprofit with none of my data. However, even though the CD/DVD drive works fine with other CDs/DVDs, when I install the iMac "Software Install and Restore" disk (#1), the computer isn't able to read it. It doesn't pop up on the desktop and when I try to restart holding down the C key, it doesn't work either. Is there any other way to restore the computer to factory settings?
I inserted the same disk in my laptop and it is readable there, so clearly a problem with the disk drive, but yet it's able to read other disks... I'm stumped...

Unfortunately, neither of these worked. The problem is that the drive is not reading this disk, for whatever reason. When I tried to reboot from the disk by pressing "option", I only get the HD as a choice and after attempting to read the install disk, the CD/DVD drive gives up and the drive tray opens. When I tried putting the disk in and going to System Preferences and Startup Disk, the only two choices I get are "Macintosh HD" and "Network Startup". No sign of the disk in the drive. Is there someway to log on to the install disk online, via the web? or to download the software from the web?
What's particularly baffling is that I just used the drive yesterday to burn some photo archives as well as to view some old disks to see what was on there. The drive worked fine then.

Power Mac won't recognize startup disk.

I am trying to use a Norton SystemWorks 3.0 original boot CD as my startup disk so I can run Norton recover file app.. I tried booting with the CD in the internal Superdrive by holding down the option key. The pick your startup volume window appeared but only the internal HD startup volume appeared. I also tried booting from the same Norton CD by using the Preference Startup Disk options. When I tried this, the Norton CD appeared, I selected it and confirmed that I wanted to change to the Norton CD as my startup disk. However, when the system rebooted it booted from the internal HD startup volume and not the Norton CD as selected. I finally tried to boot with the Norton CD in the Superdrive and holding down the "c" key. The system never booted. I got the mac folder and ? mark instead. This is my first Power Mac...can you tell me what I'm doing wrong? If I try the same Norton CD as a startup disk in an iMac using 10.4.3, it works ok. THANKS!

Hi:
Back again. I tried the OSX install disk and its startup disk menu option. However, since I had the install disk in the Superdrive I could swap it out to see if the Norton CD would be recognized. I was glad to find out that the Superdrive will recognize a startup or boot disk, i.e., OSX install disk. So, it's not the Superdrive. There's nothing wrong with my system...I just wanted to try to use Norton file recovery to retrieve some Mail messages I deleted by accident. I know there is a problem with Norton and 10.4.x. I'm looking at replacing it with either Tech Tools Pro, Drive Genius or just using Apple Disk Utility, Onyx and iPartition and iDefrag. If you think of anything esle, please let me know. Thanks for your time. I love my Dual...your're going to love the Quad! Cheers!

New iMac - won't read Adobe 9 or 9_

my new imac 27" OSX 10.6.2 won't read any PDF files. I get an error message saying "You can't open the appliation Adobe Reader because it is not supported on this type of Mac. i then went to the adobe web site and downloaded another version of Reader that i thought was compatible with my computer. i did not uninistall the original. now i have two versions in my applications folder, neither of them work. i was also told that to uninstall adobe is a serious matter and that if it's not done properly it could be a nightmare. it already is. Help!

Trash all versions of Reader and install the one you want.

Won't remember startup disk

Every now and then my iMac forgets which is my startup disk.
I have two external drives attached.
I HAVE made the selection in system preferences many times, but occasionally, when I start up, instead of the apple, I get a blank screen. If I unplug the attached drives, the computer starts up properly. Then I plug the drives back in.
One of the external drives is bootable, but even when I leave that one turned off, the other drive which is NOT bootable but which is used as time machine backup (and doesn't have an on-off switch, so must be unplugged), seems to cause the same problem.
And yes, I've repaired permissions regularly...

Hmmm,might try this...
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, when done trash this file, then reboot & try it...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
Reboot

Eearly 2006 iMac Won't Read DVDs or CDs

It seems suddenly my drive won't read DVDs or CDs. These are both blank or store bought. Everything I load one, it spins, tries to read and then just spits it out. I tried the preferences turn to "ignore" and that didn't work.
Anyone know why my drive suddenly is being picky?
So frustrating...thanks in advance!

Hi Gully
Just for the record what brand(s) are you using? I ask because even if they are the same brand you always use, it could be because there from a new of different batch.
Two things you can try on the iMac are resetting the SMC and PRAM and see if that helps!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
I burn quite a few Photo & Music CD's using both Maxell and Fujifilm CD-R's, in the five packs they have always come thru. I don't burn a lot to DVD's, but I've never found a bad Memorex DVD-R in a five pack. I know lot's of folks will swear against Memorex, but in the last 2½ years I've never found a one that the SuperDrive in my Early Core Duo would not burn. Lastly I know it cost more to buy media in the five packs instead of 25 or 50+, but I've always done that just in-case they don't work.
Dennis

IMac won't read startup disk

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for