Intel iMac stuck at blue screen.

I have a 2007 model intel iMac running 10.4.11
Never had any problems until about a week ago, then it just locked up. Nothing was responsive although the mouse was still moving (spinning beach ball). I left it for about an hour or so before concluding it wasn't going to work itself out and held the power button on the back until it turned off. Now whenever I start it up it gets stuck at the blue screen. It goes through the grey screen with the apple then to the blue screen but never brings up the "Mac OS X" loading box. I left it for 30 min and still nothing.
So I started perusing these forums for help and have tried a few things.
First I loaded in the original grey disks and erased the hard drive and reinstalled the system software. This worked and the computer worked for about 2 hours before crashing again and having the same problem. Since then I've tried resetting the PRAM, using disk utility on the grey disks (came up with "invalid volume header").
I've taken it down to the apple support store here where I live and they told me it was a dead logic board. Would I still be able to reload the system software and use the computer without problems for 2+ hours with a dead logic board? Any help would be great, also I'll run vebose mode and post again with what it says.

I would suspect a bad HDD. What is the SMART status reported in Disk Utility when you highlight the drive itself, not the boot volume?
Dah•veed

Similar Messages

  • Intel iMac stuck at blue screen on start up

    Our G5 Intel iMac flat panel is stuck at the blue screen on startup. Won't go past it, no sad mac, just blue screen. Yesterday it kept locking up with the rainbow circle of death in all our applications. Now it won't even start up, seems to be stuck in the startup process. Any suggestions?

    Hi
    Have a look at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
    Though article says 10.3.9 or earlier, it also can apply to 10.4.
    Also, you either have an iMac G5, Intel Core Duo (Jan-Aug 2006) or Intel Core 2 Duo (Sep 2006 onwards).
    Steve

  • Intel Imac stuck at white screen and 3 beeps sound continously....

    Intel Imac stuck at white screen and 3 beeps sound continously when power on. Pls help......

    Well Barry, as for the Ram, all this while are install by apple technician since very day i bought iMac on july 2008. Just wondering What's actually went wrong..
    Very first day I bought iMac, few days later, system cant even on. AppleCare Centre exchanged a new set of iMac.
    two weeks later, i notice several dead pixels appearing on screen, call to log a case with them, later on, they changed a new panel.
    After several months pass, been using happily with iMac... but since now, this problem occurs. So fastrating... My third time encounters problem with iMac. sign
    Any suggestion? If not, I guess i have to bring this bulky iMac to applecare centre again. sign

  • Intel iMac stuck at desktop screen, no menu bar, no finder, spinning ball

    Hi, I've just run into a serious problem with my 24" Intel iMac not starting up properly. At first it was getting stuck on the gray screen, then I got it to the blue screen, and now finally I can get it as far as loading the desktop picture, the cursor comes up and is responsive to the mouse, but has now become the spinning beachball. There is no menu bar, and the finder will not load. It's been in this state for about ten minutes. What I did to get it to this state is:
    1. Disconnect all peripherals. I'm using an Apple wireless keyboard and mighty mouse, too.
    2. Reset the PRAM.
    3. Reset the PMU.
    4. Used the installation disc to run Apple Hardware Test (the short version) successfully...no problems.
    5. Used the installation disc to run Disk First Aid. Corrected a minor problem with the file structure.
    6. Used the installation disc to run Disk First Aid. Repaired permissions.
    7. Performed a Safe Boot, and got to the log-in screen, did not log in, but restarted normally as suggested in one of the Apple support articles.
    8. Am now staring at my desktop picture without the menu bar or the Finder, but the spinning beachball is chugging along and is responsive to my mouse.
    If it is of any help, I've noticed for several months that the computer would occasionally fail to wake from sleep, and I'd need to force a shut down by holding the power button for several seconds. Could this have been a precursor to the current problem?
    At this point, I'm not certain which version of 10.5 I have, because I can't check. But I've installed all the Apple updates that have come through, so I must be at the current version of 10.5. I can't remember exactly how much RAM I have installed, either, but it might be 3 GB. I installed a second memory module at the time of purchase, which I bought from Crucial.com.
    I'm having to write this on my ancient PowerBook G4, which is still performing admirably under OS X 10.4.11. Thanks for any help or suggestions anyone can provide! : )

    It appears to have been a short of some sort on my power supply...it blew a capacitor somehow, though I don't know how/when that happened. Computer is on a surge protector, and generally sleeps during day while I'm away, but no power outages or other electrical issues occurred while I was out that I'm aware of.
    Anyway, I had a new power supply installed by an Apple certified technician...opted not to do it myself...and discovered that the HD is perfectly fine. No data loss. Phew! Just two weeks w/o my computer, and no way to recover backup files on Time Capsule in the meantime.
    Thanks for all the help and advice!

  • IMac stuck at blue screen, then finder

    Hi, I've searched for the forums for this answer but haven't found anything. Sorry if this has been discussed already.
    I'm a user of a 24' white iMac with 2.16 GHz, 300 GB HD. I have 4GB of RAM installed from OWC.
    Early last week I started having problems with my iMac. Nothing specific, just a general slowdown and stutter in programs that should have run fine. Things like typing for 5 seconds and waiting for it to show up, scrolling in iTunes would sometimes hesitate, etc etc. The strange thing is I noticed no substantial slowdowns in heavier programs like WoW, Photoshop and Aperture.
    I ran Onyx maintenance on it with no real discernible difference.
    Today I returned from a weekend of non-use, and when I tried to start it up it got stuck on the blue screen after the grey startup screen. I tried a safe boot, but for whatever reason it didn't recognize my keyboard and was still extremely slow. I finally got it to boot up normally, but it didn't load any desktop items, dock, or anything else. It just showed the finder bar. I clicked on all the available bars (finder, file, edit) with no response.
    Any ideas on how to go about troubleshooting this problem?
    Thanks in advance!

    It sounds like it might be a problem related to the hard drive, with three possibilities.
    (1) It is too close to being full - Mac OS X needs free space on the startup drive.
    (2) There is disk directory or other type of data corruption/error.
    (3) The hard drive is becoming faulty.
    If you are able to start up and operate the computer, back up at least your personal data, if it is not already, before doing anything else. If the problem is (1), move or delete some data so that you have at least 10% of total capacity as free space.
    Otherwise, restart from your Mac OS X installation disc (for the installed system). Note if it is running normally when you are booted from another disk. At the first Installer screen, go up to the menu bar and select to run Disk Utility under Utilities. Use +Repair Disk+ on your internal drive. Note if any errors are reported, and if any are reported, if they are repaired.

  • Imac stuck on Blue screen after upgraded to 10.6.8 combo

    Hello,
    I been using imac since 2007, I started upgrading my imac this week from Tiger to Snow Leopard. I want to get mountain lion so I was doing the final upgarde from Snow Leopard 10.6.7 to 10.6.8 and it was almost completed the install when my screen went black. I shut down the computer and when it rebooted the screen stayed on blue and it's not moving. The wheel is spinning on the screen like it searching for something. I try to reboot in safe mode not doing anything. I don't have the original Tiger 10.4 disc that the iMac came with, all I have is the Snow Leopard disc that I just purchase to do the upgrade. I am stuck and I don't know what to do at this point...HELP!! Can anyone confirm if there is an issue with the Snow Leopard upgrade 10.6.8 combo. I downloaded it from the apple support site.

    Hi, there is no problem with the combo10.6.8 for 99.99999% of the people.
    Do NOT attempt to use a Tiger/10.4 Disc to repair anything even if you had one.
    "Try Disk Utility
    1. Insert the Mac OS X 10.6 Install disc, 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 at top of the screen. (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. Select your Mac OS X volume.
    5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
    If it still reboots to the blue screen, reinstall 10.6.x
    Then the big 10.6.8 Combo...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
    Repair Permissions afterwords, reboot.

  • 10.6.3 imac stuck on blue screen

    Hi
    wondered if anyone could point me in right direction.
    When i boot my imac it gets stuck on the blue screen, if if then press the power up key on side of imac it goes to sleep and when i wake it up (2 secs later) the imac behaves totally normally.
    anyone know why this might be and how to resolve this issue?
    I have tried-
    a) repair disk permissions
    b) reinstalling system software and it was fine for a week and then started to do the same thing again!
    many thanks

    Hello peter:
    Welcome to Apple discussions.
    This article provides Apple's guidance on trying to resolve the blue screen issue:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8963.html
    Barry

  • IMac stuck on blue screen on startup

    I recently purchased an iMac 21.5". It is running Mac OSX 10.6.2 (Snow leopard). When I turn it on it passes the screen with the gear and the apple logo, but gets stuck on the blue screen, with only the cursor showing.
    I have already tried:
    1. Booting into safe mode and deleting all startup items.
    2. Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
    3. Running Disk Utility and repairing the disk.
    Anyone have any suggestions on hwo to fix it?

    Try this:
    You will need to type some Unix commands. If you are not comfortable with this, I don't know of anything other than a re-install. But if you are careful, you should be OK. I recommend you print this out in a largish mono-spaced font so you don't miss any spaces (or add extra ones). Note that case is important.
    Be careful. Some of these commands are dangerous, since you are going to be root.
    Start up in Single-User mode by restarting the computer. After the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-S keys until you see white text on a black background. When this has finished you will see a prompt ending in '#', although there may be other messages. Enter the following commands after the prompt:
    /sbin/fsck -fy
    Press RETURN. Wait a few seconds for 8-10 lines of output. If the last line says repairs were carried out, repeat this command until you get a message 'The volume <yourdiskname> appears to be OK'. Then continue with:
    /sbin/mount -uw /
    cd /Library/Preferences
    rm com.apple.loginwindow.plist
    rm com.apple.windowserver.plist
    cd /Library/Caches
    rm -r *
    cd /System/Library
    cd /System/Library/Caches
    rm -r *
    reboot
    Press RETURN after each command.
    This should now take you to a proper login screen after the normal boot sequence. You should then Repair Permissions by using Disk Utility (in your /Applications/Utilities folder).

  • IMac stuck at blue screen after 10.6.6 update

    Hello,
    I updated to 10.6.6 via Software Update today. I left it to install, then rebooted when it asked to. Upon reboot it sat at the blue screen indefinitely and would not get to the log on screen.
    I left this for over an hour, and then forced a reboot with the power button, brought it back to the same blue screen though.
    I then booted with the disk and tried a disk & permissions repair, but the same thing still happens.
    Booting in safe mode also doesn't get to the login screen, just sits there.
    Is there any way to recover this installation? Suffice to say i'm mightily pi**ed this update has bricked my machine :/
    thanks

    i am having the same problem - been going on for over a week - blue screen won't open - used snow leopard disk to run disk utility - disk checks out fine - doesn't help - then reinstalled snow leopard from install disk, starts perfect runs normal, software update updates everything, and it still runs fine for a while then boom, same thing - REPEAT - three times. Hangs up when switching users or starting up.
    Today - started again, only this time the reinstall of Snow Leopard fails, says it cannot copy support files. Call to tech says I have to wipe the drive and start over, something is corrupted. Am running right now on a bootable clone on an external hard drive and preparing to wipe my drive. Not happy about it - had not considered that it was the 10.6.6 update causing it... should I wipe the drive or not?

  • Imac stuck on blue screen

    After inserting a cd in my mac, it started making really loud noises and now won't eject. After trying to restart the computer at the start up screen it didn't make it past the blue screen and is making a weird noise. What do I do?

    If you can't eject a CD or DVD or open the drive tray

  • IMAC intel A1208 is stuck on blue screen after start-up. What is the fix?

    IMAC intel A1208 is stuck on blue screen after start-up. How can this condition be resolved?

    Please carefully read Apple's Gray screen appears during startup

  • Imac 8,1 does not boot stuck on blue screen

    imac8,1 mid (2008) 20" stuck on blue screen after boot ,It starts in safemode, below is a list of thing i have check so far
    1 Apple hardware test (says every thing is ok)
    2 Disk utility repair (was successfull)
    3 reset PRAM ,SMC
    3 Boot for OSX dvd and reinstalled (still only starts in safe mode )
    4 boot in single user mode and used fsck ( said every thing was ok)
    Yet when i boot i get stuck on a grey/blue screen . it starts in safe mode though, Is there some EFI , firmware restore file that i can install ???
    What else can it try????

    Please closely follow Apple's advice in Gray screen appears during startup. There are a number of steps to take, be methodical and follow the directions closely.

  • MacBook won't start, stuck on blue screen

    My MacBook is stuck on blue screen... forever....
    MacBook info:
    13.3in, 2.0GHz Intel Core2 Duo, 120GB HD, 2X1GB RAM with Leopard
    MacBook was running great until last night...  My screen got frozen while browsing, and force quit did not work.  So I used power button to turned it off.  After that, my MacBook won't boot up anymore...  gray screen for about 3min, apple icon screen for 15min, then stuck on blue screen.
    I think I've tried everything in here..
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
    The only command that I was able to use was "Reset the NVRAM / PRAM", but no change there...
    I tried install DVD (came with the MacBook), but I cannot boot with DVD with C button and now the install DVD is stuck....
    Is there any way to fix this?  My warranty expired already, and I am trying to do everything before taking this to the store...
    Thank you.

    Thanks Eric.
    I have tried that before, but I gave an another try.  I held the option button longer this time, until I saw the apple icon.  Then cd (DVD?) image came on, so I clicked on it.  But after apple icon went away (10 min?), my macbook is again stuck on blue screen.  I only saw cd image, and did not see any other drives...  Is that a bad sign?
    Thanks,
    - Hidemi

  • 10.6.8 update stuck on blue screen... 4 hours and counting

    Upon selecting automatic software update my system seems stuck on blue screen with spinning grey gear.  How long should I tolerate this (going on 4 hours now) before attempting to do something?
    I can access the hard drive of this computer from others on my local network and am able to copy files from it.  I'm wondering if I should try to grab all that is valuable to me before anything worse happens.
    Advise?

    If your data is not backed up copy any important documents you can from your Mac's startup drive.
    Once you are done copying your data, use the power switch to turn off your Mac and disconnect everything except a wired keyboard/mouse and monitor. Start up in safe mode by holding the shift key down right after you hear the startup chime. Keep holding down the shift key until you see the Apple Logo and spinning gear.
    Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode Mac
    OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?
    Safe mode will do some maintenance routines and checks/repairs the disk if needed so it will take quite a lot longer than normal to boot. Once your Mac boots restart normally. It will take a little longer than normal to boot but not as long as booting in safe mode.
    If things don't work as expected install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo

  • 10.5.3 won't install... stuck in blue screen loop

    I chose to install it from software update. It told me to restart. I did.
    I got hung up on a blue screen loop.
    But no error messages or anything.
    I had to hard reset.
    Then started up fine- but system profiler shows I'm still 10.5.2.
    And software update still shows the update as "downloaded".
    If I click "install" it immediately asks me to reboot, and sticks in the blue screen loop again.
    I have done this three times now.
    If I choose restart from the apple menu- same thing.
    So I decided to shut down- can't shut down. Get stuck in the looping blue screen.
    So it seems like something is gumming up the shut down process. I've heard of startup items making things freeze- can the same thing happen when shutting down?
    Not sure what the issue is.
    The other people posting problems seem to be getting error messages, etc.
    I am going to try to repair permissions, and if that doesn't work maybe I'll try the standalone installer- but why is this happening? this is like a 2 week old MBA with next-to-no third party stuff installed on it... what could be corrupted already?
    fortunately I have backups if worse comes to worse...
    Any other tips/thoughts?
    Thanks!

    Alexroet wrote:
    should i try the standalone installer?
    You could try, it's been known to sort system issues because it's fuller than the incremental "delta" update, so it should overwrite any files that are damaged or missing.
    Remember to Verify Disk before update and repair permissions after update from /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
    But if you can't boot into Safe Mode something is amiss*. Since, you are able to use your system (not stuck on blue screen, try this first:
    Go to System Preferences >> Accounts >> Login Items and remove them. Boot normally and test. If not go to ~(yourHome)/Library/Contextual Menu Items and move whatever is there to the desktop. Then do the same with /Library/Contextual Menu Items. Lastly, try moving ~(yourHome)/Library/Fonts to your desktop and restarting.
    *EDIT: You do have to hold the shift key for Safe Boot until you see the spinning gear, just in case you didn't do that.
    -mj
    Message was edited by: macjack

Maybe you are looking for

  • No two-finger swipe for month, year, day in iCal

    I can't use a two-finger swipe to switch forward or back in iCal in day, month, or year view, only week. How can I get it to do this in the other views?

  • 5530 xpressmusic - unlocking the screen using a sw...

    Hi, this is my first post. I have a 5530 xpressmusic. According to the manual,when the keyguard has been applied it can be unlocked either by sliding the keyguard lock switch on the right hand side of the phone, or by briefly pressing the on/off swit

  • Discussion PNP or PNPCE

    Hi guys!!       We are just start using  PNPCE in our HR programs .The only thing I am posting this thread, I want to get feel that what kind of <i><u><b>Problems/Issues/limitations</b></u></i> facing after using PNPCE and how you’re solving that out

  • My new MacBook Air keeps shutting down the screen while I use it

    My new MacBook Air keeps shutting down the screen while I use it and has to be rebooted. I took it in to the Genius desk at my local store, but they couldn't find anything wrong and said that they have never seen this problem before. I Spoke to the I

  • IBook PDF files

    Can't find my PDF files stored in iBooks after restoring my iPad 3