Intel Imac won't get past Apple on startup

One of our 17" Intel Imacs (early to mid 2006 model) will not get past the Apple on startup. I have done the following:
1. Replaced the ram. No luck.
2. Zapped the PRAM. No luck.
3. Reset the SMC. No luck.
4. Tried booting from several CDs including disk warrior. No luck.
5. However, I was able to run the Hardware test from the system disk. It found no problems the several times I ran it.
6. I was able to mount the drive using Target Disk mode. I then ran diagnostics on the harddrive. Fixed some things, but nothing major. Still won't boot.
7. I tried the opposite approach and tried to run the machine using the other machine in Target mode. No luck.
8. I downloaded firmware, created a disk per apple's instructions and tried to run it. No luck.
I think that is basically it. I've been able to backup all the data and was going to reformat the harddrive, although I don't see how that would work considering that the machine won't boot up from either a CD or another drive in Target Disk mode.
I'm thinking this machine is a goner. Any other ideas would be much appreciated.

Have you tried the diagnostics? Insert the original OS X Installer Disc One that came with the computer and restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the "D" key until the diagnostic screen appears. Run extended diagnostics and not any error codes reported.
If you cannot boot into the diagnostics then take the computer in for service.

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IMac won't get past startup screen, no matter what. Pls help?

I just inherited a mid-2010 iMac from a friend. It hadn't been used for months, and now when it is started up, it won't get past startup screen. It shows the 'slot' looking image on the bottom of the white loadup screen, then it's just the apple symbol and the whirly thing going around forever. I've had it going for over half an hour at one point, and nothing changes. I have tried all the different reboot key combos, such as C with a startup disk in it, D for hardware test, command S for safe mode, etc. The only thing which makes any difference at all is using the T key at startup, when I do get the three-pronged white symbol floating around screen.
It is a 21 inch with 500gig, and I believe it's running Snow Leopard. They never had a problem with it before, but now after the months of disuse, it is doing this. Please, can anyone help? Thanks!

I'm not sure if a dead PRAM battery would give you these symptoms, but one possibility is that if the computer was off wall power for months, the PRAM battery, a small coin cell battery that controls certain functions, may be drained and dead.
But, in any case, try an SMC Reset. You must follow the timing for this exactly.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
And then a PRAM Reset.
Hold down Option-Cmd-P-R together at the startup chime, listen for two more chimes, total three, then release all the keys to finish booting.
You might also try a Safe Boot by holding down Shift at the startup chime. (Cmd-S isn't for Safe Boot, it's single user mode.) Give it much longer to boot than usual, but if it doesn't finish in perhaps 5 or 10 minutes, then you'll have to give up on that.

IPhone 5 won't get past apple screen (keeps restarting)

Hello
Bought an iphone 5 just before the ios 7 release and for the last little while the phone would shut off a After a full charge when it hit approximately 97% of full charge it would shut off! Now it won't get past the apple screen and just keeps restarting over and over again.
Does anyone else have this problem with their iphone 5 and if so any solutions???
Our carrier Fido says this is an IOS 7 issue. Can anyone help
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Hey Shep77,
That definitely sounds frustrating! To completely isolate the issue, you may want to restore your iPhone in recovery mode, as outlined in this article:
iPhone: Hardware troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2802
iPhone is unresponsive and displays the Apple Logo
Review this article: iOS: Unable to update or restore.
.The above article also has great troubleshooting steps for Power issues, you may want to run through those if restoring does not resolve your issue:
Will not turn on, will not turn on unless connected to power, or unexpected power off
- Verify that the Sleep/Wake button functions. If it does not function, inspect it for signs of damage. If the button is damaged or is not functioning when pressed, seek service.
- Check if a Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) is activated or there are signs of corrosion.
Learn about LCIs and corrosion.
- Connect the iPhone to the iPhone's USB power adapter and let it charge for at least ten minutes.
- After at least 15 minutes, if:
               - The home screen appears: The iPhone should be working. Update to the latest version of iOS if necessary. Continue charging it until it is completely charged and you see this battery icon in the upper-right corner of the screen . Then unplug the phone from power. If it immediately turns off, seek service.
               - The low-battery image appears, even after the phone has charged for at least 20 minutes: See "iPhone displays the low-battery image and is unresponsive" symptom in this article.
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- If the iPhone did not turn on, reset it while connected to the iPhone USB power adapter.
               - If the display turns on, go to step 4.
               - If the display remains black, go to next step.
- Connect the iPhone to a computer and open iTunes. If iTunes recognizes the iPhone and indicates that it is in recovery mode, attempt to
restore the iPhone. If the iPhone doesn't appear in iTunes or if you have difficulties in restoring the iPhone, see this article for further assistance.
- If restoring the iPhone resolved the issue, go to step 4. If restoring the iPhone did not solve the issue, seek service.
Thanks,
Matt M.

Imac won't get past start up screen

My iMac can't get past the start up screen (white screen with apple logo). How can I get past this?

The following support article is somewhat outdated. Where it refers to booting from an installation disc, you should boot into Recovery (if running OS X 10.7 or later) by holding down the key combination command-R at the chime. If your startup volume is encrypted with FileVault, you’ll have to unlock it in Disk Utility before you can do anything with it.
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My iMac won't get past little apple screen icon

When I turn on iMac, it never goes past the white apple screen and the little wheel just turns and turns for hours if I let it. I turn it off, unplug it, turn it back on...but nothing! Any ideas?
Thanks

Have you tried booting from your install disc? You should also have a disc with Apple Hardware Test on it, try and see if you can start up from that and run the test.
It would be helpful to know which model you have (how to identify your iMac).
Also, see if anything here helps: won't complete startup.

IMac won't go past apple screen, keyboard won't connect

I cannot get my iMac to boot up past the apple screen with the loading circle. I would try booting up while holding the command and R keys or those other options, but my computer stopped working the one time my keyboard died and I had to change the batteries. Now it won't connect, and therefore will not register me holding down any keys. Are there any other options?

Restart the computer while holding down the C key. This will take several minutes to start up as it trying to start from the Install Disc. If you still cannot get it started call AppleCare immediately, the phone number is in your manual or you can
look it up here.
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IPad in a boot loop, won't get past Apple logo

Hi
My iPad 2 is stuck in a boot loop, doesn't get past the Apple logo. I've held the sleep/home button together many times and it hasn't worked. Tried to do a restore in DFU mode, goes all the way the end and starts rebooting again. Even tried re installing the firmware on it and it goes all the way to the end then starts rebooting again. Tried hitting it on the back and this didn't work. There has been no damage to the iPad.
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Thanks for the replies! Anyway, I gave DiskWarrior a try and it failed to work. The first time I tried it, I put the disc into the drive of my MacBook Pro and booted it from the disc. After going through the rebuild process it told me that due to a hard drive malfunction it couldn't append any changes to the drive. I then tried putting the disk into my iMac and used my MacBook Pro in Target Disk mode. This wouldn't even attempt to rebuild my drive saying that there was a hardware failure.
So, I booted into Windows 7 and saw that Windows was able to access the drive and read the files perfectly. All the files were in tact. I don't understand why disk warrior had a problem with it. Anyway, what I can do is reinstall Mac OS X Snow Leopard onto the hard drive again after moving the data onto an external hard drive using Windows. The only problem is that I would have to reinstall all of my programs while reimporting all of the settings and data that I can from the external hard drive. What I want to know is can I make an image of my hard drive (with SuperDuper?), and append that back onto my Mac's hard drive? Would that work again after reformatting the disk or would it just give me the same problems as before? Would it be better or easier to just start new and reinstall everything? Thanks!

Graphite iMac Won't Get Past Startup

I recently inherited a Graphite 600mhz iMac with 1gig of RAM and a 40gb HDD from my Television productions class. I used an iPod ripping program called iPod Access to load about 10gigs of music to the computer. I also installed a few programs like VLC and WMP. The computer was running a little slow after these installs and transfers, so I figured I'd restart. I did, and the computer made it to the gray Mac loading screen, where the little wheel revolved and revolved. As of now, the computer will not get past this point after many attempts. Is the HD shot? No hardware has been changed. Could it have something to do with my iPod?

Can you start from a Bootable CD? Hopefully, you inherited the 10.3 disks, or a copy of a 9.2.1 disk along with the iMac.
I'm guessing that the disk is full and the Mac has lost track of some important startup file. OSX writes a lot of files to the disk in the course of operation that are invisible but take up space. If you don't do regular house cleaning you loose a whole lot of space over time.
Some music import proceedures make two copies of each file, and that adds to the problem.
I'm guessing. At any rate, you are going to need a bootable CD to trouble shoot this situation.
David

Help, iPhone 5 won't get past apple screen.

My iPhone 5 will not get past the apple start up screen. Sometimes during start up the entire screen will either turn completely red or blue and that's where it stops. I need help, can this be fixed or do I need to buy a new phone??

My iPhone 5 will not get past the apple start up screen. Sometimes during start up the entire screen will either turn completely red or blue and that's where it stops. I need help, can this be fixed or do I need to buy a new phone??

IMac won't get past the Apple page when turned on...

I just bought a new iMac about a month ago. It is the 21.5" basic system. Of course the first thing that I did with it was update the software and have set it to update automatically, so everything should be golden there... Today when I walked by and turned it on it came on like normal, but that was it. The white screen with the Apple in the middle came on and then the loading icon popped up underneath it. It has been loading since... After about an hour and a half, I shut it off by holding the power button in, unplugged the modem, unplugged the iMac then plugged only the iMac back up. Turned on the power again. It powered up but did the same thing. Is something loading, updates maybe? If so it is something different than any of the other updates it has uploaded so far. THis is a new one on me.
I might add that this is my first Mac. I went with it because I get tired of rebooting my PC each year (I actually just did my PC again...bummer). Now if the iMac has already crashed, I am severely dissapointed in Mac. I have not downloaded anything that I shouldn't have, or anything that was even suspicious. In fact the only real things I have downloaded are Firefox and some of the add ons and a trial version of PS.
Can anyone help me, tell me it is normal and it will be ok?

It sounds like the update may have bee interrupted somehow and became corrupted, possible a power spike at your house. However I wouldn't get too upset. You have 90 days of free telephone support so now is a good time to use it. The number is in your owners manual.
You can also try doing a SMC and PRAM resets, this is probably what Apple will have you do to begin with so you can be pro-active and try them and if they don't fix the problem you can just let the tech know. The instructions for doing each reset are:
_SMC RESET_
• Shut down the computer.
• Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Release the power button.
• Attach the computers power cable.
• Press the power button to turn on the computer.
_PRAM RESET_
• Shut down the computer.
• Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
• Turn on the computer.
• Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
• Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
• Release the keys.
Also this is a good time to plug AppleCare. AppleCare will extend your warranty and phone support to 3 years from the date of purchase. If you don't already have it I'd recommend it, Apple charges $169 however you can pick it up from Amazon for less. You can only get it while the machine is covered by it's one year warranty. Let it go 366 days and you're out of luck.
Roger

My Mac Mini won't get past the initial startup screen with the Apple logo. What can I do?

After a long distance move, my Mac Mini won't startup past the logo screen. What can I do?

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.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, boot from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. 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.
d. 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 the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d 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
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
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 11
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 12
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 13
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.

IMac won't go past apple logo screen and vertical lines on display

I have an old white iMac that won't boot. When booting up the screen has vertical purple lines and I can see the Apple logo. The little "dial" just spins and spins. Does anyone know how to fix this? thank you for any and all help.

The vertical lines are indicative of a hardware problem. It is possible (likely) that this is also related to the inability to start up as well. It's almost impossible to diagnose and explain repairing hardware in these forums, so I think it best if you take the computer to a repair shop that is familiar with Macintoshes.

Imac won't get past boot screen

I have never had a problem with my mac, but recently I was surfing the internet, and the screen seemed to freeze. I powered it off by holding the power button until it turned off, then tried to turn it back on. the apple screen came up, then the rotating wheel, then a grey progress bar at the bottom. The progress bar loads a few centimeters, then the whole thing just turns itself on. Someone advised popping out the memory and reinserting it, but that did not work. I have attached a link to a video of what it is doing, please let me know if anybody knows what could be wrong and how I could fix it.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15260662/iMac.mov

So that worked better than anything else I tried, got me to disk utilities. Tried fist aid, but it said that the drive could not be repaired. I did notice that most of the details at the bottom were missing (mounting, # of files, used disk space, ect.). I also tried the option to instal a fresh version of the OS, but it said the disk was locked. I did notice somewhere in all the searching around that my HD only had 130MB free space, which I imagine may have contributed to the issue. Since I cannot get the computer to boot to the OS, is there a way I can back up my information to my external HD? (I now see the importance of keeping backups.) Or are there any other steps advised?

IPad 2 won't get past apple logo and various other problems...

I knew I shouldn't have updated to iOS 8, my iPad was getting increasingly slower with each software update since I bought it a few years ago.
A few weeks ago the first problem arose - the home button suddenly became unresponsive. Initially it would work on about 1 in 10 clicks, but then nothing at all. I managed to get to settings to turn on accessibility features and the gestures to replace the home button so that wasn't much of problem, just annoying. I tried various things online that people claimed fixed this issue but nothing happened.
Then about a week ago it suddenly wouldn't wake up in the morning. I tried turning it on and it would get to the apple logo and stay there for a couple of minutes then go black again. I plugged it into iTunes and restored it etc hoping something would happen but of course nothing did.
And I obviously can't reset it on the device itself due to the home button being completely dead.
I left it for a few days then today I came back to it and tried to plug it into iTunes again and now iTunes won't recognise that it's plugged into my macbook at all.
Basically does anyone have any advice or should I just accept that it's dead at this stage and give up? Let me down gently!

Hi there SraZamora,
The troubouleshooting steps in the article below can be helpful when troubleshooting unresponsive devices.
iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
-Griff W.

My iMac won't get past the loading screen, it has a little loading bar which won't move

I had the finder and Safari windows open. Safari was on youtube then it froze so I shut it down. It turned back on once to get to the login screen but then froze once again. Know it only turns on the apple loading screen with a little loading bar which won't move.

Please carefully read and methodically follow the instructions in http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570.
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Intel Imac won't get past Apple on startup

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