IMac won't start up: No login window appears.

Hello, there, everyone. The problem I'm addressing here is that my iMac is simply refusing to start up. Two days ago I turned it off (because of irrelevant problems), and since then it just won't boot up completely. Whenever I turn it on, it loads past the blue and white loading screens and the grey Apple logo, but once it loads the default Apple wallpaper it won't go any farther. No login window appears, preventing use. I've tried various alternative ways of booting it up, but nothing seems to work. I've tried safe-booting it (Which really doesn't change anything), initiating the Apple Hardware Test (Which freezes once I choose a language), unpluggung the computer both when it is on and off and retrying the start-up sequence, but still no progress has been made.
My iMac is about four years old, which isn't exactly a short life for a computer, but it still surprises me to encounter such a major problem. If anyone would happen to have any experience with this situation, I would be very greatful for any help at all. Thank you in advance.

Three beeps usually indicates failed or no ram. Try removing and reseating all of the ram. If that doesn't help and you have access to another mac can you start the imac in Target Disk Mode? OS X Mountain Lion: Transfer files between two computers using target disk mode
You'll probably need to take it in for service, but hopefully you aren't about to learn the hard way about backing up.

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IMac won't allow me to login after few hours

Hi everyone...
My iMac won't allow me to login after few hours. Actually I had a limited broadband connection which is free from 2AM to 8AM. So I have scheduled some downloads to start at 2AM and end at 8AM. Before going to bed, I just put on the screen saver. When I wake early in the morning and move my mouse.. blank screen turns on and colorful spinning wheel appears, but log-in window doesn't appear. This has happened thrice till now. Day before yesterday it was fine. But yesterday and today I got the same problem. Previously also it was working fine. I can't figure out why it is behaving like this...
Initially, in Power save options, I scheduled iMac to wake up at 2AM and sleep at 8AM and then used to put iMac to sleep before going to bed. It was working fine and did the same thing for more than a month. Now I have removed wakeup & sleep scheduled options from Power save options.
Following are the settings/options selected:
1. In energy save options, I have selected the option not to put iMac to sleep when it is inactive for certain time.
2. Put hard-disks to sleep whenever possible is checked.
3. I have scheduled the downloads in Azureus, Transmission and Speed download 5.
Following are the temps and rpms:
Temps:
HD: iMac, Vista: 124 F
CPU A: 117
Airport Card: 151 F
Ambient: 83 F
GPU: 133 F
GPU Diode: 137 F
GPU Heatsink: 137 F
HD Bay1: 124 F
Mem Controller: 121 F
Optical Drive: 110 F
Power supply1: 162 F
Fans:
CPU Fan: 1198 rpm
Hard Drive: 1199rpm
Optical Drive: 998rpm
One more thing, recently I have reset the SMU because it is taking too long to boot up. To my surprise, after restarting, fan (not sure which one) started to make bigger sounds. I then had to reset SMU two times and only then fan started to spin normally without any noise. I'm scared & worried...
Someone please help me where I went wrong.... what can I do to solve this problem..
You know I purchased this iMac for Rs.86000/- INR ($2097 approx.) ... after two months they slashed the prices by Rs.20000/- INR($487 approx.)... so this is how my luck seems to be

Hello and sorry. First, if you reset the SMU. make sure you do not hold the power button down while reconnecting the cable or it will reset the SMC incorrectly.
When you say you are logging in, are you logging onto the internet, or onto the computer/user account?
If it is intermittent than it sounds like your internet and that would be best handled by your internet provider first.
The following article is good for troubleshooting issues and you may wish to bookmark it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
Do you have the install dvd's for the computer with you?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1782
(another article for running disk utility)
If it is your internet you are referring to than try going to the Apple in the top left corner and clicking on it.
Than click on the System Preferences
Then click on Network
Then click on Assist Me.
Then Assistant
Maybe call it Test Location
go through the steps involved and see the outcome.
Sorry for the delay and if this does not help at all. But I will check back if you return with more information I will do what I can to help you. Also may wanna check out applecare protection plan from apple and also the article below:
http://www.apple.com/support/quickassist
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
If ya can reply back with more information

24" iMac won't start when iPod is connected

My 24" iMac won't start up/restart if my iPod is already connected to it. If I restart with the iPod connected, I just get a gray screen (with no apple logo) forever. Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, any solution? I have Windows installed with boot camp, don't know if that's the problem, but I tried reseting the p-ram, but to no avail...
Intel iMac 24", 7600 GT, 500GB, 2GB. Titanium Powerbook 667 MHz G4, loaded. Mac OS X (10.4.7) 30 GB iPod Video

My suggestion would be disconnect the iPod. That's just me though.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93953
I'm guessing Boot Camp is the culprit. Whatever emulated BIOS it's using doesn't like the iPod as a startup disk.

My iMac won't start normally it will start on safe boot unless I start in verbus mode single user mode or reset the pram but if I start this way it won't sleep

help mi imac won't start normally

Hello!
Can you tell us what happens?
I’ve offered the steps below to similar posts in the past and they helped out getting to the solution (or at least find the cause). I suggest them to you too in this case. It will take you about 30 minutes or less to do these, depending on how bad the problem on your Mac is.
The goal here is to boot your Mac to the so-called Recovery partition where you’ll have a chance to repair the disk and the disk permissions using the Disk Utility and Password Utility. This might solve your issue and even if it doesn’t- it’s still a decent maintenance step to perform. These steps won’t erase your data or reinstall your Mac in any way if you follow instructions carefully.
Here’s how:
1/ Make sure your computer is completely shut down.
2/ You’ll have to be quick next: Press the Mac’s power button. As soon as you either hear the loud chime, or see the display light up - usually after a second or 2 - on your keyboard press [cmd] + [r] Keep these keys on your keyboard pressed until you either see an Apple Logo with a loading bar or a spinning gear.
After a few minutes, you’ll be presented with a Utilities screen. This is the Recovery partition. If this step is already giving you problems, try using a USB-keyboard. It doesn’t have to be an Apple-keyboard. If you have a Windows-tailored keyboard laying around, use the “Windows-flag” key in stead of the [cmd]-key and it should also work.
3/ Choose Disk Utility and click [continue]
Disk Utility will display your computer’s harddrive in the left column. The default name for it is “Macintosh HD” and is usually the second one from the top. Click on it and click on the [verify disk] button. This will check your “Macintosh HD” harddrive partition for errors. If found, click [repair disk] unless you have a Fusion drive in your Mac and it says [fix] instead of [repair disk] please tell us before you continue! For a screenshot of what I mean, check this article from Apple: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202574
4/ Once done with the verifying or repairing of your “Macintosh HD” click [repair disk permissions]
This will check your partition for permissions errors. A common myth about this feature is that it will fix all permissions issues on your Mac, which is not true, but it will fix most systemwide issues. Also, here is a list of error messages that you can safely ignore if they pop up:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203172
5/ Lastly we shall do a permissions/Access Control List repair on specifically your user’s home folder with a somewhat hidden tool in the Recovery partition. Close Disk Utility and find the menu called “utilities” in the top left corner of your computer’s display. It’s in between the menus “edit” and “window” Don’t be confused with the menu called “os x utilities”
Choose Terminal. A somewhat old-fashioned looking window will pop up, waiting for a text command from you. This is the Terminal.
After the # type: resetpassword and press return. Note that there is no space between ‘reset’ and ‘password’
What you’ll see next is an rectangular window that gives you the option to reset passwords. We are not going to that, however. Instead, click on “Macintosh HD” at the top. In the pull-down menu below that, choose your user's accountname. Skip all the rest and at the very bottom click the [reset]-button.
A spinning gear will appear and may stay on for a second or several minutes. It’s hard to predict exactly how long.
If you have multiple users on your Mac, I advise you to repeat this step for all your users.
We’re ready to reboot your Mac now. Click on the Apple Menu and choose “startup disk” Choose to boot from “Macintosh HD” Please let us know if this solved your issue, or if the steps above did not work, or could not be performed for some reason.

Imac won't start white screen apple icon spinning gear

imac won't start. when turn on, I just get a white screen with apple icon and a spinning gear below the apple icon. what should I do to get it started and fix the problem? Thanks.

See if any of the suggestions in this link help:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

IMac won't start with Thunderbolt Display connected after firmware update

After updating my thunderbolt display firmware to version 1.2 this morning via the App Store, my mid-2014 iMac won't start up with the external display connected. I can get the iMac to start up only by disconnecting the display's thunderbolt connector. After the iMac comes up, I can reconnect the display and everything appears to function normally. I've tried several restarts and the iMac won't start up with the display connected. Anyone else experience this?

Hello rameta,
It may help to reset your Mac's SMC and PRAM.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Reset your computer’s PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Cheers,
Allen

After installing update, iMac won't start up

After installing the last updates my iMac won't start up, starts what look like install then just shuts down.

Would you care to tell us what exact model and version of iMac and what version of OS X you are using? We need a hint to help you.
Hope this helps .

IMac won't start - should I reinstall OS?

Recently my iMac won't start up - it goes to screen with folder + question mark. I've run Disk Utility, repaired hard drive, but there were no reported repairs to make.
Occassionally it will start up, and everything seems normal until suddenly the beach ball appears and everything freezes. 99% of tries it won't start up (i get the ? folder). Is it worth erasing the disk and reinstalling everything to see if a fresh start will help, or is it likely that the hardware is damaged?
Don't want to bother erasing it if there's no point... any advice greatly appreciated.
Also - anyone who's had their iMac repaired - what are the costs like?

I've just suddenly had the same problem - for no apparent reason as far as I can tell. The night before last I switched off my iMac as normal, and yesterday morning switched it back on. At first it would start, but crashed as soon as I tried to start any applications. Then it wouldn't start at all, and just got as far as the gray screen with the apple on it. After trying resetting the PRAM, switching on and holding the on button for 10 seconds, it was no different...
So, I tried doing a archive-reinstall from the original leopard DVD I bought from apple. This did a successful disk verification, but then said it couldn't install mac os due to a problem with the basesystem package. After that it wouldn't let me try another archive-install and only gave the options to install as new, or erase and install. The latter I don't want to do, and the former just gives the same basesystem error... All I get now is a flashing folder with a question mark and not even the gray screen...
I have tried using the diskutility to verify/ repair the hard drive and it says all is well...
I have heard this may all be due to dodgy RAM chips, but I have never messed with them or altered them. It just seems odd they should suddenly fail when they were working fine before.....
Any ideas would be much appreciated. A lot of data at risk
Dan.

IMac won't start without install disc

Hi, I'm new to all of this. I tried resetting my admin password using install disc on my iMac as I'd forgotten it. Now iMac won't start without disc. If disc is ejected on restart apple logo flashes between no entry sign and folder with "?" on it. Will start up with install disc in, but then wants me to choose language and install OS. Tried repairing and verifying HD and all seems ok. Tried holding option key and selecting HD on startup, but same outcome - choose language and install OS. How do I get back to normal desk top? Do I have to install OS again? Will I lose data? Please, please help! Thanks.

It should only take a minute or so at most to boot from the DVD.
If your sure you have the correct Install Disk for that iMac, I'd start over. Then if it still doesn't work then perhaps a trip to your Local Apple Service Provider with the Disk or Disk and iMac is in order.
http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
Alternately using the correct Disk as per the following article, see if you can run the Apple Hardware Test? > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

IMac won't start up passed the grey screen

Last friday my iMac (late 2006, 24", 2.33 duo core Intel, OS 10.6.8) gave me the spinning beach ball.
Restarting resulted in: first the apple screen with the progress indicator, followed by grey screen..
That was it. It hangs at the grey screen.
I've been busy this weekend testing all kinds of ideas to get my imac to fully start up again.
I checked the RAM, it's fine.
I flushed NVRAM, wild guess, but nothing changed.
Starting up in safe mode doesn't work.
Starting up in recovery mode doesn't work.
On the upside, I was able to start my imac up in Target mode. Using the host computer and Disk Utlity I can see there's nothing wrong with the HD. All the data is still there!, so later today I'll make a copy of the complete HD, hoping/thinking that I won't copy whatever is wrong.
I had Disk Utility repair all the permissions.
I've used the host computer to reinstall the OS on my imac.
But on start up my beloved iMac still won't get passed the grey screen.
I'm thinking something goes wrong before my Mac even gets to the HD. Maybe it's the firmware, but I'm not really sure that firmware matters in this case. And I wouldn't know how to reinstall the latest version of firmware because my imac won't start up from it's disk drive
I'm thinking maybe something could be wrong with the graphic card's RAM, though on start up I can see the apple logo just fine.
I'm not able to start up from CD, I've tried that because I wanted to reinstall my OS (before I figured out how to do that in Target Mode) by putting the OS disk in my imac's own disk drive. Staring up with the C key still gets me the grey screen. Staring up with Option key shows no other option but the HD.
So is there anybody out there who has an idea that could help me further along?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Frank

Hi Jan,
If you have another firewire Mac you can check if the HD of your Mac is OK by connecting them with a firewire cable and use target-mode. That way I found out my HD was just fine.
It also offers you the chance to run a diagnostic program to check if anything else is fine. I used TechTool to do that. But everything checked out fine.
In the end I decided the problem is probably hardware. Some electronic part that broke. Very frustrating that some small transistor or so is keeping me from using my otherwise fine iMac.
I contacted a repairshop that also works for the local Mac retailer. They told me my iMac was concidered 'classic' and therefor it wasn't economically not worth the trouble trying to repair it.
I gave up, took two weeks to mourn the loss of my beloved iMac, and bought a Mac mini.
FrankV
Judging by your name I'm guessing I could've anwered this in Dutch.

Imac won't start up n issues in single user mode

Imac won't start up after long time 'frazing' of Firefox. Manual start up ended up in the grey screen forever'processing' icon.
Had a look at other solutions, unable to enter safe mode. Someone mentioned to try single user mode and it went through half way with error messages on the screen which has no command line available for me to key in any letter.
My Imac has been out of warranty coverage for a while, how do I know if it's hard ware problems before paying for service?
Any help would be appreciated!
Alice

Yes, I have backed up and deleted old files using target disk mode with an old macbook. It's just the larger files I didn't have enough space and disks for. I really appreciate your help on this as I've never had any mac issues before this so am not really sure what to look for.

G5 iMac won't start! Help needed.

Got a new intel iMac. Gave my husband my old G5 iMac (not intel). It was working perfectly. For some reason unknown to me, he decided he was going to reinstall everything from scratch so he grabbed the first disk he saw and put it in the computer. It was the startup disk for an intel computer & NOT for the iMac G5.
Did he fry the computer? It won't start up. Keypad & mouse won't respond.
The screen can't find the driver (no surprise) and says "panic: we are hanging here...." I can't get the disk out of the drive. Service contract is up. Is there a way I can connect my laptop to it and get it to respond & spit out that intel disk? Perhaps if I open the cover up, I can into the CD drive and get the disk out. All ideas appreciated.

Quote
J.C posted "Re: G5 iMac won't start! Help needed." on Feb 4, 2008 4:53:20 PM.
Hi Mel Kev
Have you tried holding down the left mouse button when you turn the computer on. Holding down the left mouse button should force eject the disk.
Hope this helps
J.C
UNQUOTE
And it WORKED! (I really wasn't in the mood to do surgery on the computer this evening). Thanks all!!! You are awesome!
Now, if I can just find the original installation disks.... They are in this drawer somewhere....

Intel iMac won't start - HELP!

My iMac won't start this morning. I get the white screen with the grey apple,
and the swirling progress thing, then after a few seconds I can hear
the sound you hear when the system shuts down. like a soft switch
going off, then it just continues swirling, still with the white
screen and grey apple, then it restarts by itself. Then we go through
the same routine. Tried booting up by holding C with the Leopard disc inside but nothing happens.I have just reinstalled Leopard as Snow Leopard left too many printers and programs lifeless, so I did an erase and install a few days ago. Since then I have used the Mac fine, switched down normally last night, but this morning it doesn't want to play.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in anticipation
Chris
Message was edited by: ChrisRR

Have you reset PRAM and SMC?
Do this first
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
and then do this, if the PRAM does not help
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543
The second one is basically disconnecting your iMac from power (and all cables), then reconnecting following a precise procedure.
If that does not help, I would restart with the Snow Leopard installation disc (insert disc and start up with the C key held down). You probably did an installation of Snow Leopard over your existing Leopard system the first time. This time, erase it completely first, then install Snow Leopard. I assume you backed up your data already.
When you get to the Installer screen (after selecting language), go up to the menu bar. Under Utilities, select to run Disk Utility. In the sidebar, select the internal DRIVE, not the volume indented under the drive. Go to the Erase tab. Name the volume +Macintosh HD+ and set the format to +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+. Erase the drive. Since you have the drive selected in the sidebar (not the volume), it will also re-partition the drive.
It should take less than on minute to complete the process. Quit Disk Utility to go back to Installer. Run the standard installation onto the blank internal drive. Hopefully, a fresh Snow Leopard install on a reformatted/re-partitioned drive will work better for you.

IMac Won't Start Up/Boot

My iMac won't start up. I've tried holding all kinds of key combinations while I turn it on, but it doesn't even get that far. It gets stuck on a folder with the Apple picture alternating with a question mark. It doesn't do anything else for a while, and then the fan turns on (???).

This is indicative of a corrupted system or drive. The first thing to try is:
Repairing the Hard Drive
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.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) 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 this doesn't solve the problem then you will have to reinstall OS X. If the drive tests out OK per the above then you can reinstall without erasing the hard drive:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
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.
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Imac won't start beyond white screen apple logo and circle

Imac won't start beyond white screen, Apple logo and spinning circle

Follow the steps at > Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

IMac won't start up: No login window appears.

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