Mac not starting up

My mac is not starting up as normal, comes up with grey screen and apple logo with the cog.

Take a look at this link, http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

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Mac not starting and cannot view harddrive

Hello,
My Power Mac G5 is not starting anymore. I've tried putting in the installation disk and starting the disk utility but I can't see my disk in the list (only the DVD-ROM appears) so I can't repair anything. I'm not sure what to do from there. Are there some other utilities I could try to detect the harddrive? If it doesn't appear at all, does it mean it's dead, or can it be a broken FAT?
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Laurent

Hi-
Welcome to Discussions!
If the drive doesn't appear at all, it could have failed mechanically. If it were a directory problem, it should still show.
Are there some other utilities I could try to detect the harddrive?
Could try DiskWarrior, if you have it. Or, try Data Rescue II.
I would consider installing a new drive, formatting and installing the OS. If the old drive can have data recovered from it, you will need another drive for that data.
Just in case, check the drive connections. If it is something that simple, it would be nice to know right away.

Invalid Node Structure, Mac Not Starting

*THE PROBLEM*
My MacBook does not start. All I see when I press the power button is a gray screen with an apple logo and a spinning wheel.
*WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM*
I changed the input languages settings in international in system preferences to “Devnagari-QWERTY”. Then I typed my name in 'Devnagari' in Textedit and copied it. I created a new folder on desktop and pasted my name copied earlier. It worked. So I went ahead and tried renaming my startup disk (Macintosh Disk) in the same manner. I clicked on its icon, hit enter and command+v. Immediately my mac froze. Noting happened. Even commandoptionesc did not work. After a long time I pressed the power button for 5 sec and tried a restart. Now it won't start.
*SOLUTIONS I TRIED*
1. *Safe Boot (shift while startup):* No result, all I get is a gray screen, an apple logo and a spinning wheel appears after a minute and its stuck there.
2. *Tried Single User mode (command+s):* Computer does not start and is stuck with the following text.
Probe booting in single user .. do not match
disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
Load of /sbin/launchd, errno 85, trying /sbin/mach_init
disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
Load of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 85
3. *Tried Verbose mode (command+v):* Computer does not start and is stuck with the following text.
disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
Load of /sbin/launchd, errno 85, trying /sbin/mach_init
disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
Load of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 85
4. *Disk Utility from OS X Install disk:* Tried using repair disk. But it does not work either. All it says is
Verify and Repair disk “Macintosh Disk”
Checking HFS Plus Volume
Checking Extents Overflow file
Checking Catalog file
“Invalid Node structure”
Volume Check failed
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit.
1 HFS Volume Checked
1 Volume could not be repaired because of an error.
*5. Reinstalling OS X from install disk:* I tried this as a final resort.
a) The normal install did not work because my startup disk had OS X 10.4.11 and my install disk had 10.4.6, so it gave an error that I have a “newer version installed”.
b) I can not do an archive and install because I have only 4 GB free space and it requires at least 15GB.
c) I do not want to do erase and install because I do not want to loose my data.
*MY MACBOOK*
1. I have a first generation MacBook, Intel Core Duo 1.83 with 512 MB Ram and 60 GB HDD with Mac OS X 10.4.11.
2. S.M.A.R.T status of the disk is verified
3. I can browse my files on the disk if I click on new disk image in Disk Utility from Install Disk.
4. There is no problem in mounting the disk.
LIMITATIONS
1. I am not at my university so I do not have any other external HDD or any other Mac for a “Target Disk Mode” for data backup.
2. All I have is my Mac and 10.4.6 install disk.
3. No broadband so can not download large files.
4. I can not loose my data.
Is there any way of fixing the Mac, given the limitations given above. Something using command line, or anything that will make it work again. How do I fix the invalid node structure. I really do not want to loose my data and I am in transit so I really need my Mac to work.
Any help would be appreciated.

Ambarish:
The article Disk Utility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing a volume gives more information about the issue you are experiencing. The reference in the article to a third party utility is the utility referenced by BGreg, Disk Warrior.
Please do post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius

Mac Not Starting Up When Ethernet Connection Removed

Hi
I took my mac away from home and as of yet don't have any type of internet connection. I was hoping to still use it for itunes, photos, etc. until my cabel internet is up and running.
However, I powered it up without the Ethernet connection and it didn't seem to boot up. I just got the gray screen with one of those cirlces with a line through it (think Ghostbusters) and it didn't seem to boot up.
I am going to try it again tonight but was wondering if anyone had similar experiences. ??
Thanks!

Your Mac appears to have forgotten the location of its boot volume. Restart the Mac while pressing and holding the "Option" key. This should then give you the option of selecting the boot volume.
After the Mac has started and has opened your account, go to System Preferences > Startup disk from the Apple menu and select your boot volume to reset it as the Startup disk.

Another Mac not starting up out of the blue

Hello all,
I know this topic has been discussed quite a bit and I have searched through the archives. However, I figured I would post my experience in the hopes that someone out there may have insight for me which may be unique to my situation.
I have a modified G4 Digital Audio machine which over the years has given me some trouble from time to time. Usually however, I can figure out what is plaguing it and fix it.
My computer was on and had been on for some time yesterday (multiple days). As I was watching a Quicktime video, all of a sudden the computer just powered itself off. When I tried to restart the machine, the power button would glow, but nothing would start up. No startup chime, no nothing. The power button would stay lit only as long as I hold it, a red light goes on the motherboard, fans try to spin, once I release the button, everything goes dead.
PMU reset does nothing. Also, I have put a fresh battery in and that changes nothing either. I left the machine unplugged overnight, also left it without the battery, same behavior when I try to start it back up.
All of this seems like it might be the power supply, right?
I replaced the power supply about 6 months ago. Could be the case again, but I am doubtful since it was replaced and I had done nothing to cause this (no pinched cables) as the computer was running fine, then powered itself off out of the blue.
I will say that when I opened the case, the motherboard, computer contents were hotter than usual when I open the case.
Also, I noticed recently that my GeForce2 video card's fan had recently stopped spinning.
As an educated guess, I am thinking that my video card has fried since it was so hot in there and the fan has stopped spinning on it for who knows how long. Would that prevent power up and cause behavior like the glowing button?
Power supplies and video cards are not cheap items for a Mac, therefore I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for how to test this without replacing all those parts? Since I'm leaning towards it being a video card, does anyone know of other AGP video cards which may work in this machine? I've looked at replacing GeForce cards in the past, but they never say anything about being compatible with OSX. Does anyone know if they will work anyway? I'd like to get a cheaper video card to see if that may be what is causing this.
Any help appreciated...
Thanks,
Shane

What applications are open? You can tell by viewing the Dock.
Not knowing what the installer is trying to install I would close the disk image and delete it. If you don't know where the disk image file is located Control (right) - click on the Installer icon on the Desktop and select Get Info from the contextual menu.
The Info window will show where the disk image file is located like in this screenshot:
Since the installed is generically named as is the disk image be very wary of it.

Mac not starting up after installing Logitech Control Center

Hello,
Since I installed Logitech Control Center I am not able to start my Macbook.
The single mode revealed issues mentionning Logitech classes. The disk tool is not able to repair the disk.
Booting on a snow leopard CD and using Disk Tool from there gives the same results.
Invalid Node Structure is the given message.
Would you have any idea on how I can fix this?
At least is there any way to backup some files? (I didn t succeed to copy/paste files in the Disk Tool)
Thank you in advance for your help!

It likely that DiskWarrior or Drive Genius might repair it.
Other than that, get an external drive, install OSX on it, boot with the Option/alt ket held down, & on 1st boot from the external & putting your info in, avail yourself of the Migration Assistant offer, se how much it can migrate off your internal drive.

Mac not starting.

Last night I installed 10.4.6, I already had 10.4.5 but a new update came in so I put it on and, seince I was going to bed, I clicked shut down instead of restart. But this morning when I turned ony my computer it just stays on the "Starting up Mac OS X". The loading bar is compleat so it should come on. It is taking longer than it normally dose but I waited for a while and left the room anyway. When I came back it was still like it so I restarted and it's still the same thing right now.
I have no idea what so ever how to do anything before the Mac is actully started up. I'm new it it all. Can anybody help me out??

Hi Diane
I am having precisely the same problem as Pop7.
I managed to startup from the tiger disk, open disk utility, repair disk permissions and verify the disk. I then repaired the permissions again. Tried to restart as normal but it hung in the same place again (when blue bar has gone all the way across).
I have also tried to restart in safe mode but ended up with the same problem.
Please help.
Adrian.
Imac G4 flat panel Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Battery fully recharged but mac not starting up

My battery drained completely. I recharged it. The green light is on. I turn the computer on but all I'm getting is the spinning wheel and the apple logo.
Is there any way to fix this myself without having to bring it in for repair?
Thanks,
Christine

Apple/About This Mac/More Info/Hardware/Power/Battery Information - copy and paste the information here. Do not include any serial numbers.
If you see "Replace Now" or "Needs Service" you need a new battery.

BIG PROBLEMS - mac not starting up!!!!

i had the latest version of tiger installed, got the leopard cd, carried out the installation process and upon restart when finished ive only managed to load up until the blue screen (which proceeds the gray screen of the apple logo and spinning gear)
was like this for over 30mins with no sign of progress, i shut it down by holding the power button which im not sure was a good idea but done now and now when i try to boot up, i can only get as far as the same point - the blue blank screen,
ive tried to boot into safe mode but to no avail
any help greatly appreciated!!!

You didn't mention which process you used to install Leopard. Did you back up all your data before? Did you run Repair Disk from Disk Utility prior to updating? Might also be a good idea to post in the Leopard forum area.

I am experiencing problem (the installation does not start) when I try to install ArchiCAD 17 Educational on my mac. I am using Yosemite. How can I fix it?

I am experiencing problem (the installation does not start) when I try to install ArchiCAD 17 Educational on my mac. I am using Yosemite. How can I fix it?

You need to contact the developer/manufacturer directly to determine if their product is compatible w/Yosemite. It is not listed on their system requirement website:
Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks
Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard*
Note: ArchiCAD 17 is the last version of ArchiCAD to support Mac OS X 10.6
Only case insensitive file-system volumes are supported.
http://www.graphisoft.com/support/system_requirements/archicad17.html

Lightroom 5 on a Mac os 10.8.5 will not start. It fails to open. And it worked fine the other day.

lightroom 5 on a Mac os 10.8.5 will not start. It fails to open. And it worked fine the other day.

Reh... Doesn't work on my 2012 Mac mini. A function key set in Sys Prefs worked in Leopard and Lion on my MB but I cannot get any key to work using SysPref Dictation & Speech. It is befuddling and now I have to go to Edit-Speech to turn on and turn off speech to selected text.
I have used Macs and Apple 2es since cave man days and Apple is becoming so befuddling I am wondering if there is even an advantage to it over Windows XP. I spent a lot on this little box, it looks good (the first one had to be exchanged as it wouldn't link to my keyboard ???) but Apple intuitive does no longer seem meaningful.
If speech to text no longer is accessible by short cuts using Fkeys, why bother to have it in Syst Prefs?
Apple is losing its way. The pleasure is gone and no one at Apple seems to care.

My mac book pro does not start but has error message with a question mark on screen. took it in and was told probably the hard drive as could not reconize it so bought new one but still not connecting.what do i do

My mac book pro does not connect but shows an error message with a question mark on the screen.I took it to a retailer that said it was not reconizing the hard drive.He said i needed a new hard drive but it may be something else as well but he was sure a new hard drive would fix it.So putting faith in someone who deals with them i purchased a new hard drive to find it was still not working although he said the computer did know reconize the hard drive and i may have to send it away to get it checked .After already paying 120 pounds for a new hard drive and they wanting another 80.00 pounds to diagnose it i am a little sceptical.
That's why i am interested on anyone's help.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
I think that your Mac detects your hard disk, but the problem is that your new hard disk doesn't contain any operating system, so your Mac doesn't find any bootable partition and you see a question mark.
If your Mac came with DVDs, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and hold the C key while your Mac is starting. Then, just install Mac OS X. If the hard disk isn't prepared to install Mac OS X, you will have to erase it using "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". See > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html

Mac OS 10.5 / I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!! I do have the OS dvd that i purchased years ago... But my computer will not start from it on its own. My

Mac OS 10.5 /
I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!!
I do have the OS 10.5 dvd that i purchased years ago...
But my computer will not start from it on its own.
My question is what is the open source or terminal language code used to tell my mac to look in the DVD rom drive for startup info? I know that im not the only person in this world who has deleted the "PRIVATE" folder and emptied the trash so it no longer exists on their machine...
That said theres gotta be a common fix for a Power PC G4 that has the OS X dvd in the rom drive but wont look to it to reinstall the vital contents of the PRIVATE folder.
Once again there is not a copy of this file or its contents in the recycle bin...
Also rebooting the machine , pressing and holding the letter C does not prompt the machine to look to the dvd rom drive.
I was reinstalling pro tools and figured I would make some room by cleaning my computers HD...
Lol It was a bad choice to delete this file ...
Thanks guys

Okay sorry it took forever to respond... But for a while there I gave up on this computer!!!!
Money's been tight lately , so taking it in to a professional was not yet an option... though I did consider it eventhough.
Anyway long story short im glad I didnt spend any money because I already had all the tools necessary to fix this issue but was going about it in the wrong way. Okay so here is my scenario and the breakdown... Though this may not fix the issue for everyone :( which *****... But I know we all will have different circumstances.
Anyway here we go...
Okay so first things first.... Years ago I purchased the OS 10.5.1 disk ... So that has always been in my possession!!!!
I realize that some may not have a disk to reflash your OS to your hard drive... but if you do your in luck.
2ndly ... I had an external harddrive with all of my itunes downloaded music so it was more than okay with me to delete my primary HD because all the important stuff could either be copied over or repathed to be located.
-------If you dont want to read through the whole story the fix is summed up in the bottom section-------
Okay so now the SOLUTION!!!!
By trial and error , and pure boredom I opened up my computer to clean the inside...
AND
"Disconnected the primary HD"
and just because ....... REBOOTED my computer. Just to see what it would do.
Upon restart and though it looked like it would repeat its usual cycle...
About 1 minute in to that process my computer froze for about 2 seconds and flashed to the OS installation screen.
Mind you I havent seen this screen yet... Probably hasnt been since I installed the OS years ago.
After a bit of trial and error...
I decided to tell my computer to startup from the OS 10.5 disk located in my dvd rom drive and restarted once again...
this setting is under
Utilities / startup disk
After a little more trial and error ... I realized that I could reconnect the primary HD , restart the machine and return to the OS installation menu.
So upon this discovery
I went to the Disk Utility located under Utilities
Highlighted my primary HD located in the left hand column
Once highlighted ...
In the heading section on the right I selected the option
Erase
in which I erased My current OS on my primary HD ...
I used the first option in the list under security... Because it seemed like the least invasive and would take the least amount of time to see if this process would actually work.
I FORGOT to add something...
Another reason why I deleted my primary HD!!!!!
I forgot to say that it WOULD NOT!!!!! Show up in the STARTUP list as an option...Even After multiple reboots....
But like clockwork... Once I deleted its name IT SHOWED UP as an option!!!!
So back to the next step...
I returned to the STARTUP option under utilities ... And was then able to see MY primary HD now as a startup option...
But ofcourse it had no name because it we previously erased it.
So when Clicking my newly erased HD ... I was almost immediately prompted to REINSTALL the OS ...
Which said it would take about 57 minutes ... But I believe was alot less...
My issue was resolved ... My computer then stated the install was SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!! :))))))))))) lol ;)
It was like I was setting up for the first time ;) asking for my registration info...
The dilemma of deleting the private folder and emptying the trash is finally over resolved. Done ... and no extra money spent!!!!!!!!!
Its really crazy that the information for such a simple thing is not readily available. Especially being such a simple fix.
I know im not the only person who's had this issue , because i've seen numerous posts with similar wording.
I also know I wont be the last person to have this issue... So I hope this synopsis makes sense.
-------One more time the fix------
*Insert your OS dvd into your dvd rom drive.
*Unplug your primary HD or corrupted startup disk
*Reboot your machine...
Upon restart your primary HD will not be recognized...
* you will then be prompted to select your language.
Once selected
*Click Utilities/startup... Highlight the the selection that refers to the OS dvd located in the dvd rom drive.
* Click restart...
!!!!!!!!!!Be sure to reconnect your Primary HD Before your computer restarts and you hear the chime!!!!!!!!
If you do not replug your HD before the chime it will not be recognized.
In that case restart again.
Upon restart once again
*Choose your language...
*Click Utilities / disk utility
In the left column select and
*Highlight your HD ...
Then towards the top portion / center of the page
*Click the heading Erase
Then on the page toward the bottom
*Click security options
This will then provide erase options.
I USED THE FIRST OPTION
"Dont erase data"...
*click OK
* click erase...
Once erased which should take a few seconds
*Cancel the disk utility...
* Click Utilities / startup
And your newly erased HD should now appear in the list.
* Select your drive from the list by highlighting
It should no longer have a name.
*Once selected, you will then be prompted to restart and install the OS to your newly erased HD...
Thats it!!!!
Once everything reinstalls re-add your personal info or registration info and you are up and running.
Goodluck ;)

Help, my Mac mini will not start up, only keeps thinking on first page( white screen with apple emblem)

Help, my Mac mini will not start properly. Only goes to the white screen with thinking. Will not go to the password section

Are you sure about your hard disk health, any clicking noice recently?
Go to boot menu (press option button or button left to your space bar while booting) > Select Recovery drive > Disk utility > Verify the volume on which OS X is installed.

Help! After interrupting an installation of a program downloaded from the internet on my mac in a reboot cycle will not start, I've already done the disk check and it's ok and I reinstalled the OS 10.8 Lion

After interrupting an installation of a program downloaded from the internet on my mac in a reboot cycle will not start, I've already done the disk check and it's ok and I reinstalled the OS 10.8 Lion

In this case, I think that there's something damaged that can't be fixed just reinstalling OS X.
If you don't want to lose files, you will have to create a second partition in the hard drive and install OS X there, so you will be able to recover everything you need. Then, you will have to erase the first partition and reinstall OS X. Follow these steps:
1. Hold Command and R keys while your Mac is starting to start into OS X Recovery, and open Disk Utility.
2. You can follow the steps of this site to create a second partition > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html
3. After creating the second partition, close Disk Utility and install OS X on the second partition.
4. When the installation finishes, open Finder and, in the sidebar, you will see the other partition. Open it and recover the files you need.
5. After doing that, repeat the step 1.
6. Select “Macintosh HD” in the sidebar, go to Erase tab and erase the disk.
7. Close Disk Utility and install OS X on the first partition.
After doing all of these steps (you will need a lot of time to do this), you can delete the second partition you created and add the size of this partition into the first one > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU4.html

Mac not starting up

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