Mac OS X won't boot, logo doesn't even show! Cannot reinstall OS X

I'm really frustrated. I'm logging in from Bootcamp Windows.
First, I formatted my Hard Disk yesterday, and I accidentally erased the bootcamp partition without using Bootcamp assistant, so the "free space" partition was created. I formatted the Mac OS X side reinstalled Mavericks and everything was working perfectly. Next, I wanted to install Parallels 7, using the Bootcamp partition that I wanted to reclaim. So I created another windows partition and unistalled using the Bootcamp assistant, and the free space was merged with OSX hard disk this time. So things seemed to be perfect. The Mac OS X hdd had all its original volume.
Second, this is where everything turned haywire. Because I needed to use Revit and Rhino on a larger partition, I had to install Windows again, creating a 115 GB partitiod. I used BC assistant. It installed Windows fine, but on restarting, Mac OS X did not boot. It didn't even show up as a disk when I hit the ALT key. But when I checked Disk Utility in Recovery mode, the disk was showing up fine. So I decided to reformat it again - erasing the contents and tried installing Mountain Lion, which was the only option I had using Internet recovery. The installation did not work! It said, the recovery system from the main volume was missing, or something like that.
Third, I tried to restore from Time Machine. Now, it boots, and the apple logo shows up, but then after a few seconds, the logo is replaced by a (X) sign instead, and nothing shows up. I'm so afraid my computer is permanently damaged, can somebody please tell me how to fix this? I have loads of assignments due this week, I'm about to cry

You may need another Mac so you can boot up into target disk mode. Some how you need to get that software off. You may need those OS installer disks. Are you near an Apple store or AASP? By the way it is perfectly legal to make a copy of your OS installer disk to take with you when you travel. Never leave home without it.

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Mac LC 580 won't boot

My Mac LC 580 won't boot. I have tried the following in a attempt to get it to work:
Reset the logic board. Replaced the hard drive. Cleaned the logic board's end connector with contact cleaner. Cleaned the RAM modules with contact cleaner. The only thing I know for sure is that Apple's service manual for the LC 580 keeps pointing towards a bad logic board or analog board or both as the cause of death. I'm not even getting a bong from the Mac. The only thing I hear when I turn it on is the sound of the Mac running. Maybe the hard drive too. No video appears on screen either. The original hard drive was a Apple OEM Connor 800 MB OEM drive. Personally I've heard far too many horror stories about Connor hard drives from the PC world online to trust it as being reliable. It even said right on the drive that it was made in Malaysia of all places. Not a good sign if you ask me. I have managed to locate a replacement logic board on eBay if that turns out to be the cause of the Mac's death. What's the next step in getting this old Mac up & running?

Update: I have more info on what's been going on with the LC 580. I finally figured out that the 33MHz Motorola 68040 processor I installed may be defective. After switching the the original Motorola 33MHz 68LC040 & removing the RAM the Mac booted but I got a Quizzical Floppy on screen indicating the Mac couldn't find a valid System Folder. After that I figured out that the Apple SCSI 4X CD-ROM drive was defective. I replaced it with a known good Apple 8X SCSI CD-ROM drive. I then attempted to boot from a Mac OS 7.6.1 CD-ROM. I got a error type 41 & restarted with extensions off like the error told me to. I then attempted to boot from a Mac OS 8.1 CD-ROM but I got a Sad Mac error code. The error code looked like this:
0000000F
00000001. Just now I tried to boot from the Mac OS 7.6.1 CD-ROM. Again I got a error type 41. After that I booted with extensions off from the Mac OS 7.6.1 CD-ROM. I still got a error type 41 too. I then restarted & got the following Sad Mac error code:
0000000F
00000033. I also have a Mac OS 8.0 CD-ROM that I haven't tried to boot from yet. What does all of this mean & what should my next move be?

My MacBook won't boot past the grey screen showing a folder sign with question mark, My MacBook won't boot past the grey screen showing a folder sign with question mark, My MacBook won't boot past the grey screen showing a folder sign with question mark

Hi, I need some serious help immediately. I have been using an external hard disc to watch movies and stuff on my MacBook. However last night I removed the external hard disc accidentally without closing the programs that were still using the data from the hard disk and hence the complete MacBook got hanged and nothing responded. I tried using command Q to shut down the program buy it didn't help either. So finally I gave up and shut down the MacBook manually by pressing the power on/off button.
However when I tried restarting my MacBook I faced a serious problem. The start up won't boot beyond the grey screen showing a folder sign with a question mark sign in it .. I just don't know what to do. Somebody please help me and guide me through this problem
Awaiting quick response
Gratitude in advance
Regards
AJ

If you try booting your Mac holding down the Option key, you should see the icon for Macintosh HD. Try selecting that to boot. If you can get in that way, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select your Mac HD, then click Restart.
If you can't see the Mac HD, the volume may indeed need repair as Niel said.

Why won't my ipod touch sync? It is all up to date and everything, and i know it is connected because when i plug it into my computer it charges, but it doesn't even show that it is connected so i can't sync all my new songs:(

Why won't my ipod touch sync? It is all up to date and everything, and i know it is connected because when i plug it into my computer it charges, but it doesn't even show that it is connected so i can't sync all my new songs:(

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1591

My time machine backup disc has apps from Mountain Lion that won't open now that I have Yosemite. They all say need to be upgraded to Yosemite. Go to app store. But app store sees that I have yosemite so doesn't even show me an udate option. How can

My time machine backup disc has apps from Mountain Lion that won't open now that I have Yosemite. They all say need to be upgraded to Yosemite. Go to app store. But app store sees that I have yosemite so doesn't even show me an udate option. How can Update these files??

How do you know they won't run in Yosemite? You're not trying to fiddle with stuff in your backup from the Finder, are you? If so you are likely to render that backup unusable.
WHen when you restore them from your backup, they should be updateable.

Can't eject disc & it doesn't even show up on system!

I installed Parallels 5.0 from the installation disc, which seems to be installed just fine, but now I can't eject the disc and it doesn't even show up under devices. I tried all these things below except the last one (because I couldnt get my mac to start like it describes). What now? I just bought this Macbook Pro new a week ago - soooo annoying!
Ejecting a CD or DVD when all else fails
If you've tried all the usual methods of ejecting a CD or DVD from your computer's optical drive, there are some other methods you can try.
First, quit all applications that are using files on the disc. Then try one of these alternate methods:
Open Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder), select the disc, and choose File > Eject.
Choose Apple menu > Restart and hold down the mouse or trackpad button until the disc ejects.
If your drive has an emergency eject hole, put the computer to sleep and insert a large, straightened paper clip in the small emergency eject hole of the drive (the location varies, depending on the drive). Push firmly until the disc ejects.
If all other methods fail, you can try to eject the disk using the firmware. (This may not work on all computers. For example, it does not work on Intel-based computers.) The steps below describe how to start up and briefly use the computer with only the firmware loaded, not the standard Mac OS X interface.
To eject a disc using firmware:
Restart the computer.
When you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Command-Option-O-F keys. (The Command key has an Apple on it.)
Release the keys when you see a white welcome screen.
At the prompt, type:
eject cd
Press Return, then wait a few seconds. The disc drive should eject the disc, and "ok" appears on the screen when the action is complete.
Type:
mac-boot
Press Return.
Your computer starts up normally and you see the familiar Mac OS X desktop.

Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following:
/usr/bin/drutil eject.
If this fails then try this:
Boot the computer into single-user mode. At the prompt enter the same command as used above. To restart the computer enter "reboot" at the prompt without quotes.
I suggest that to start with you shutdown the computer. If you are unable to remove the DVD then it's possible there's a problem with your optical drive. Take the computer in for service.

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- If you did not charge the iPod for a couple of hours before you did the reset then charege and reset:
Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
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- Next see if recovery mode will allow iTunes to see the iPod so you can restore the iPod. For recovery mode:
iPhone and iPod touch: Unable to update or restore
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Bought two songs from iTunes store on my iPhone 4s. Tried bringing the songs from my phone to my computer iTunes through iCloud but it doesn't even show the option to choose music?

My computer has been authorised and has the newest version of iTunes. My iPhone shoes the option of choosing my computer's music but my computer doesn't even show the option of music, but shows apps, movies, tv-shows and books. When i choose the option of find music to download from my phone, it says i have downloaded all yet i haven't and the music isn't in my library.
This was my first time when i bought anything from iTunes store and it also shows in my account information that i have bought these two songs but when trying to download them from my iCloud it doesn't work. Also when i click on the songs in my iTunes store on my computer, it says i have bought them but doesn't show the option of playing them. Is the problem in my iPhone or is this something to do with the songs' copyrights?

Hi Petrafin,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The article below may be able to help you with this.
Click on the link to see more details and screenshots.
You can download your purchases directly to your computer.
Downloading past purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
Cheers,
- Judy

Mac Mini server won't boot.

Our server is on, but when we try to access it via its screen it excepts password but returns to login page. Any ideas?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, or by a peripheral device.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin. Test while in safe mode. Same problem? After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Mac Pro 2008 won't boot from install disc - black screen

Hello,
I recently purchased a new hard drive to replace the original that came with my Mac Pro 2008. I was able to format the new drive using Disk Utility. I am now at the point where I need to install OS X onto the new drive, but the computer refuses to boot from the disc. The disc is recognized by the computer (I can access the disc and am able to use the BootCamp applications, etc.) but I just get a black screen when trying to boot directly from the disc. The computer boots fine otherwise.
I have tried the following:
I have tried using both the gray install disc that came with the computer and the Snow Leopard Install DVD disc.
I have tried booting using the "C" key and the "option" key but still receive a black screen following the chime (I've held these down for several minutes).
I have tried restarting from either install disc using the Bootcamp Assistant.
I have tried running the installation software to get it to restart from the disc.
I have tried a combination of the drives, i.e. trying to boot from the discs with just the new drive installed, just the original drive installed, and with both in bay1 and 2.
Everything results in the computer starting up, hearing the chime, and then nothing..just black screen. I have the original drive partitioned with BootCamp with OSX Snow Leopard and Windows 7 installed (I don't know that that matters).
I am at a loss as to what to try next. It doesn't seem like the superdrive because it is recognizing the disc, it just won't boot from it.
Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Clone should be a must and easy to do and learn (learn by doing! 2)
6800 would 'qualify' as 5x70 series flashed etc and same rule: 10.6.5
In the past there was 10.4.6, 10.5.6, but not 10.6.6 - even though strong need for such a DVD.
10.6.8 DVD would be excellent
Lion or ML - buy, download, make an installer flash card would be what I would do at this point.
Then keep both - dual boot as you learn and test and see what ML does and waht you had that required Rosetta to support PowerPC. See www.roaringapps.com about that.
With Carbon Coyp Cloner - was share, now commercial, great utility been around since 10.2.2 at least - this time 2003. 10 yrs.
You can clone the system folders, you can even selectively choose. You can skip copy of most of your home account and do that separately to another drive if you want.
Clone Windows with Paragon or WinClone and use Windows 7 or 8 DVD to do a system repair (automatic) or to edit the BCD file. It can and should - and all you do is boot Windows 7 DVD w/ only the one drive present and go at it. Piece of cake. But yes, Windows gets fussy if you change or remove or move. BCD to the rescue. A proper program for cloning like Paragon's "Clone OS" meant for going from disk drives to SSDs, knows that and how to do it.
Back to how to clone etc:
Clone
Disk utility has RESTORE which will also clone your system but not the Lion Recovery partition. Oddly Apple did not 'endorse' making bootable clone of the system which works too but most choose Carbon Copy Cloner - it works more consistently; it allows for smart update of the backup volume. Both can backup to a sparse disk image if desired.
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
OS X Lion Install to Different Drive
How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt
Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
Create an OS X Lion Install disc
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html
The DVD is dependent on your hardware. And your hardware changed. The drivers for the 5780 and 6xxx are bundled in the OS and lacking. Minimum build thing.
Put the new drive anywhere you want. Does not matter. Can move it later. Can be drive bay 0-3 or a Firewire external or under the DVD drive.
When you clone pull the old drive and boot from the newly cloned.
After that keep a backup clone around all the time. Takes less than 10 minutes to do a smart update to copy just the changes to keep it current. So you have working copy of the system. I keep Clone "A" that I keep "as was" the system as of last month or whatever (like 10.7.4 before upgrade to 7.5).
Comes easier after doing it once and have all your ducks in a row.

Mac OS X Won't Boot Up

Ever since I have installed the new Yamaha Pro Audio network driver, http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/downloads/firmsoft/network_driver/networkmidi.html My Mac won't boot up, when I turn it on, it is stuck at a violent apple/"do not" icon strobe. See the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUrb1LLgnJ0
I can still boot into my Windows 7 boot camp partition (ironic isn't it) which is how I'm typing this. I don't have my boot disks with me, and the shift key at start-up for safe mode has proven ineffective too. Zapping the PRAM seemed to not work as well (The startup sound doesn't even happen
Thanks for any help!

You may need another Mac so you can boot up into target disk mode. Some how you need to get that software off. You may need those OS installer disks. Are you near an Apple store or AASP? By the way it is perfectly legal to make a copy of your OS installer disk to take with you when you travel. Never leave home without it.

Mac Pro 2010 Won't boot after adding Ram

Just got my Mac Pro 2.8 a few days ago. My 4x2 8Gig Crucial Ram upgrade arrived today along with my SIIG FireWire400 PCIe card. It seems as though the Mac Pro won't boot with both the Crucial Ram and the Samsung Ram that came stock with the Mac Pro. I kept 2 of the 1 gig Samsung chips and put in the 2 4Gig Chips from Crucial. They are all the DDR3 1066 240 pin chips. I've moved the 4Gig chips to slots 1 & 2 and I've tried them in slots 3 & 4. I've moved the 1Gig Samsung chips accordingly. The power light on the Mac Pro blinks continuously when they are both installed. I even tried removing the new SIIG FireWire 400 card but that doesn't change anything. It seems as though combining these two types of ram just doesn't jive. Any ideas? I'm dragging the tower from queens to SoHo tomorrow to let the Apple Genius gang have a look at it.

FYI, when I did install the Registered or "buffered" 8 Gigs of Crucial Ram by themselves the system did boot up normally and a memory notification popped up and said that my ram was in the "correct" or "suggested" configuration. I can't remember the exact phrasing but the OS definitely gave me a thumbs up. So now I am trolling the web trying to find out if the Registered memory is ok. I'm fine to just have 8gigs for now. But don't want to jeopardize the stability of my system. So, Is it ok to use Registered memory and if it is, am I using a lesser quality of ram in doing so?

Start-up disc is full and mac book pro won't boot

I got the your startup disc is full pop-up a few hours ago, but didn't do anything about it. I powered down my machine, but now when I try to power it on again, it won't boot, I simply get the spinning gear and apple logo. I opened disc utility and performed a disc check and it said the disc was ok, however there is only 700 kb of free space. I want to free up some space to allow the computer to boot, but don't know how. Is there a way to do this? I don't have another mac available to me, not sure how to fix this issue.

You're Welcome. Glad you got it sorted and Thanks for posting back.
All Kudos goes to the Author of the User Tip by ds store

Startup Manager displays Mac HD but won't boot to it

I have a 2008 MacPro (2x2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon) that has been successfully running Bootcamp for a couple years with a Windows XP partition and a Mac 10.5~ partition (actually I can't remember if it was 10.6 or 10.5). We recently made a new partition for Windows 7. (This is in a classroom full of identicle MacPros, but noteably, the problem machine is the teacher's station).
As of today, the MacPro no longer boots into the Mac OS partition. It boots, by default, into Windows XP every time. Holding down option on start up brings up the Startup Manager, and the Mac HD is visible, and you can click on it or tab to select it, but then nothing happens. We tried a bootable external hard drive, but had the same problem with the Startup Manager and an inability to select anything (the keyboard and mouse both seem to work) but nothing happens when you click on your selection.
Once booted into XP, you can see the "Mac HD" option in the Boot Camp Control Panel. You can select it, but then the computer boots back into XP.
I did get the computer to start up off a Mac OS Snow Leopard install CD by holding "C" on start up. I ran "Repair Disk" using Disk Utility and found no problems. I tried repairing the disk permissions, and although they seemed fine.
I tried zapping the PRAM but there was no effect (booted into XP).
I unplugged the computer for a few minutes to reset the "NVRAM". No effect.
I tried different key combinations to attempt to boo in Safe Mode, Single User Mode, Verbose Mode, and none of those things worked, the computer booted straight into Windows XP every time.
I tried holding "d" for a hardware test, but nothing happened. Do you need to be on the internet for this? Because, I also tried, based on some suggestions I saw online, unplugging all peripherals (like our bootable firewire drive) and ethernet cables and not using a third party mouse. No effect.
Finally, I let the Snow Leopar install CD install, and although it seemed successful this had absouletly no effect. It still boots straight into Windows XP. Granted, I did not delete everything for a clean install, as I'm not sure the files are backed up anywhere.

""To update anyone watching this, we tried putting the hard drive in a different machine and still had the same boot issues,""
Are you saying that the questionable HD was put in another computer and THAT computer had the same issue as the Professors?
If so I would just backup and erase the hard drive, reformat and reinstall everything as something buggered up the Boot Manager and your going to take more time figuring it out as to redo everything.
I don't think the HD is going out but you MAY have some bad sectors on the Mac partition, if that's the problem then the bad sector might be in the bootable part and thats why it can't boot. If you want to save the HD have a disk utility do a Surface Scan to make sure.
As far as not being able to boot into Safe mode, etc, if it had a bad sector it won't be able to read the boot part which is why you can still boot into the Install DVD.
You know, looking back at your original post if you can't boot into safe mode while pressing the Shift Key after the bong, can't boot from an external HD or any of the other ways, then I would say it's a hardware problem.
Like I mentioned before, if you can put in another Dual boot HD from another machine into the Professors machine and it still won't boot into both OS's then you have confirmed it's a hardware problem.
Good luck...

Mac Performa 405 Won't Boot

I have a Mac Performa 405 that won't boot. It's running Mac OS 7.6.1 with maxed out RAM & VRAM. I have installed a networking card with optional Motorola 68882 FPU in the LC PDS slot. It has a Revision B LC II logic board. I have already tried replacing the power supply. I also updated Open Transport to v. 1.1.2. My next move is going to be trying to replace the fan. The Mac won't even bong. What should I do to get my Mac working again? Is the hard drive dead?

Update: I have swapped the RAM in my Performa 405 out for the RAM that originally came with it. This resulted in some very odd things happening. The RAM I was using before was parity memory. The RAM I found in the Mac when it was given to me was non parity. The RAM I had in the RAM slots before had three memory chips. The RAM I found in the Mac originally only had two RAM chips. Swapping the RAM also appears to have affected the logic board too. Now polarity on the fan plug as measured with my digital multimeter has changed. Before when the parity memory was installed the plug at the left was negative & the middle plug was positive. Changing back to the original non parity RAM changed the polarity of the logic board's fan connector so that now the middle plug is negative & the plug on the right is positive. I was also wondering what other tests I should perform too. The Mac also now bongs & is acting more normally than before.

Mac OS X won't boot, logo doesn't even show! Cannot reinstall OS X

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