Mac Pro Laptop stuck on grey screen

I just had a software update on my Mac Book pro, and now it is stuck on the grey screen. Can anyone help?

atebc wrote:
If I can save the files on the drive, that is fine, but I don't really care if I can just get through a re-install of Snow Leopard.
It's not installing you have a problem with the drive, I suspect it's a failed sector someplace and the only way to curre it is to Zero Erase the drive and reinstall OS X.
#20 Zero Erase and Install OS X
But before you do that, you install OS X on a external drive, this way you can option key boot from the external drive and GRAB YOUR FILES before Zero Erase the internal drive and reinstalling OS X again.
#19 Data Recovery
I did not go through everything inthe steps, most of it but not the hookup of an external drive.
Well do this now, when you option key boot off of it you can grab your files off the internal drive.
Create a data recovery, undelete boot drive

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My macbook pro is stuck on grey screen with apple symbol in center with the progress circle under it continusly spinning. After I had turned it on. Prior to turning it on I had to force close and shut down a few hours prior. Please Help?

My macbook pro is stuck on grey screen with apple symbol in center with the progress circle under it continusly spinning. After I had turned it on. Prior to turning it on I had to force close and shut down a few hours prior. Please Help I have tried everything I know to do

Unfortunately this means that there is a problem in the boot sector of your hard drive. It might be indicative of a fundamental corruption in the coding that allows your computer to boot your operating system from your hard drive. I had this problem twice and it resulted in me having to get a new hard drive and restore my data.
In other words, your computer can't talk to your operating system so you can't access your data.
Here is my advice: DON'T CALL APPLE TECH SUPPORT though they are kind and usually helpful it will take you an hour just to explain the situation and they will only tell you to do what I'm gonna say here.
First: Shut down your computer completely
Two: boot up while holding down the following keys: command, option, p, and r. The computer will reboot 3 times. This solution will likely fail so if you're frustrated skip to the next step.
Three: Boot up while holding down the option key. Select recovery drive. Select your default language. Select disk utility, click on Macintosh HD, and select "verify and repair volume." Likely the verification will produce some line like "unused node not erased." Or something like that. If anything using the words "node structure" comes up, you need a new hard drive.
If after verification and repairs you still can't boot I sincerely hope you have apple care because you will need a new hard drive. Set up an appointment to come in to the apple store, they will tell you to go and get data recovery, just ask them to give you the old hard drive. Unless you have an up to date backup in which case you can just restore from that. If you're lucky the only issue is with the boot sector which means that if you ask them to give you the old hard drive, you can buy an enclosure and you have effectively been given a free external hard drive. It still works to store data just not to load an operating system.
If you have a back up drive bring it to the apple store and they'll do the whole thing right there, it should take around an hour and a half but may take longer.
Hope this helps, it's annoying but it's your safest bet.
All the best.

Mac pro is stuck on gray screen

Ok I think this month has been the worst month of my life. My Mac Pro showed me the gray screen with a question mark on it. I took it to the apple store and they told me NOTHING can be done for me other then install a new hard drive ( so untill today 2 weeks ago I am still trying to retrieve my photos from my hard drive I took it to a place where they asked for $6K to do that ) I installed a new hard drive last week and installed every thing I need and yesterday in the morning my computer gave me the ORDER to shut downwith that dark gray screen with many different languages so I obeyed the MAC I shut down and turned it back on, then later that same night it told me to shut down again so I did and just NOW when I went to turn it on it got stuck on the GRAY screen. WHAT is happening? my comp. is on 10.6.8 can someone plse help me. I am LOST. ever since I bought this computer I had my main hard drive changed twice and my power supply was changed 1 year and half to 2 yrs ago.

The Directory on the Hard drive can get messed up. In 10.4, the cleanest way to deal with that is to boot from the Installer DVD, but do not Install. Wait a quarter minute for the menuBar to be drawn, then choose Disk Utility off the Menu.
Chose your Hard drive by Hardware_name and ( Repair Disk ).
When you are done, choose Set Starup Disk, and use it to set your startup disk and then Restart.

Mac book air stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel

I had a lot of tabs open and several applications as well. things really slowed up when I added El media player to the mix. finally computer froze completely and now can't get it to restart (stuck on grey screen) tried SMR plus PRAM procedures without success.

Hmm... try doing this:
1) Force your Mac to shut down by pressing and holding the power button for about 5 sec.
2) Start in Safe Mode. Press the power button to turn it on, and before you hear the Startup "Dummmmm" chime, hold down the Shift key. For a few sec, you won't see the Apple logo. Keep pressing the Shift key until you see it. If you press it after the Apple logo appears, start from Step 1 again.
3) This time, your Mac should take longer to boot. (Like a minute or 2 longer as it is going thru the necessary files to boot from, and not just everything like in Normal Startup mode; which caused it to hang)
4) Does your Mac boot sucessfully to the Login Screen or Desktop? The login Screen should show SAFE MODE in red at the top. The Desktop should have Sound disabled and seems a lot slower. If you see either of these, backup ALL your files (if you have not already done so) on to an External HDD. Create a new User Account in System Preferences>Accounts with about the same info as your current account (The name will have to be different though, if your previous account was John, this time, add your last name as in John Appleseed.) Make sure it is an Admin account. Then, login into the new account and delete your previous account. Copy all your files over to your new account and restart your Mac correctly by going to Apple Menu>Restart.
5) This time, don't press anything and let it boot normally. Does your Mac boot correctly? I hope that helps you a little. Get back to me if it does not work!

No OSX installer will boot on Mac Pro from any drive (grey screen), but Windows installer does...

Greetings,
Neither OSX 10.5 (shipped with my Mac) or 10.6 disks will start on either of my Mac Pro dvd drives. They will not run from my Macbook (Mac Pro on firewire target mode) either, nor from a partition on the Mac Pro HDD. They always go as far as the grey logo screen with the spinning wheel, where they get stuck.
Verbose mode will display the following lines where it gets stuck:
DSMOS has arrived
Warning - com apple.driver.InternalModemSupport declares no kernel dependencies; using com.apple.kernel.6.0
Then it lists two ethernet addresses and nothing else.
I have reset the PRAM about a hundred times in the last days. Same goes for the SMC, well, maybe only a dozen times this one... I have run fsck, too.
I can no longer run the hardware test on the install disk 2, but when I still could a couple of days ago, all was reported fine.
BTW Windows installer will load though... What is going on here?!?
Any suggestion (other than suicide, yet anyway!) would be greatly appreciated.

Windows won't give a kernal panic or BSOD because it is a Mac related hardware issue.
If you can't boot from CD/DVD:
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20050311073316780
What resetting NVRAM does:
http://devworld.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1103.html
Your asking about a Mac Pro, but those are not "G5" and the OS can't be transferred between PowerMacs and Mac Pro.... are you sure we are talking about only Mac Pros?
Putting XP and Mac OS on the same drive, that doesn't strike me as what one would do; keep them on different drives.
And, if they are on the same drive, then you really haven't reformatted the drive, which would involve wiping any and all partitions, and then creating your Mac Standard (HFS+ Journaling) and backup XP with WinClone or install it to another drive.
I don't have trouble with Windows, but I do with the Boot Camp Assistant and drivers.

My new MacBook pro is stuck on grey screen after loading kies, My new MacBook pro is stuck on grey screen after loading kies

My new MacBook pro is stuck on a Grey screen after I downloaded Samsung kies on it. How do I solve this problem?

Hi there,
You may find the troubleshooting steps in the article below helpful.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
-Griff W.

My macbook pro laptop has a grey screen at start up and doesn't boot up all the way

to whom this may concern, i have a macbook pro and the computer on startup has a grey screen i get the apple symbol and a status bar but as the status bar is filling it only fills 1/3 of the way and the computer shuts down i tried turning back on several times and have had no luck. what could be the problem ?

mr.edsr wrote:
Where is the SMC located and how is this done? Thank you!
Please read this link:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
Ciao.

MacBook Pro 2011 stuck on grey screen after loading

Hi guys. I've already checked many threads in many forums, but I can't succeed in this problem.
I have a Macbook Pro8,2 (2011) that doesn't go beyond the boot screen, regardless of which disc you boot it from (tested with 4 different bootable partitions). Apple logo with spinning wheel, then grey screen with fast spinning fans. I tried everything: safe mode, netboot, single user mode, accessing recovery, resetting SMC and PRAM, Apple Hardware Test (it states it's all ok). I even took off the ram sticks singularly and unplugged the internal hard drive to realise if the SATA cable is faulty. Nothing has worked so far.
Any other suggestions before I call Apple Supoprt and pay hundreds of euros for a new logic board?

ultraago,
You may have the problem that I, and scores of others, have had with the faulty GPU found in a number of 2011 models, as discussed here -> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?tstart=0.
Usually the problem begins with graphics glitches and then it's downhill from there. The AHT will not report any problems and neither will the tests that the Apple techs have available.
If you do have this problem, then having the GPU reballed is the least expensive, and longer lasting, 'fix.' Apple will want to replace your logic board - don't fall for that scheme (unless you're still under warranty). I had my logic board replaced because I have AppleCare until next year. But once my AppleCare runs out and the problems come back again, I'm going the reball route.
Good luck,
Clinton

MacBook Pro is stuck on Grey Screen with "restricted" symbol.

My MacBook Pro fans were loud and unusual, so when I looked up what to do on google most of the results told me to reset the SMC. So I did that, expecting it to work, and now my MacBook Pro won't go past the Reboot screen! The strange thing is, it doesn't stay on the Apple logo like most people say. Instead, the apple logo changes into the "Restricted" Symbol and just stays there.
I assumed it was part of the SMC process so I left it alone. But it's been happening for hours now. I even restarted it several times and it still stays with the Restricted sign. I tried redoing the SMC process and I even tried resetting the PRAM. Nothing has worked. Pressing Command-S or Command-R doesn't do me much good either. I'm worried that something went wrong with the harddrive and I cannot afford a new Mac or the repairs for it.
Can anyone help me?

Rieev wrote:
My MacBook Pro fans were loud and unusual, so when I looked up what to do on google most of the results told me to reset the SMC.
This is usually the remedy for out of control fans.
So I did that, expecting it to work, and now my MacBook Pro won't go past the Reboot screen! The strange thing is, it doesn't stay on the Apple logo like most people say. Instead, the apple logo changes into the "Restricted" Symbol and just stays there.
Ok, it's not booting up to OS X, which when loaded will control the fans to settle down, but the default if OS X doesn't load is eventually turbo mode.
You have basically what's called a "gray screen issue"
Go through the Steps here and it will fix it,, provided it's not a hardware issue.
Step by Step to fix your Mac

Mac Pro Stuck at Grey Screen, then will only boot into OS X Utilities.

My Mac Pro is stuck at Gray Screen. When I reset PRAM, it loads the OSX Utilities screen, prompting me Restore from Time Machine, Reinstall OS X, Get Help, or Disk Utility. I ran Disk Repair and Repair Premissions, same thing.... stuck at grey screen.
What will happen to the data on my HD if I choose to Reinstall the OS X? IS that the best choice? Thanks.

Off hand I think your drive may be bad. But to find out you need to erase the drive, so you will need to have a recent, bootable backup.
Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.
If this does not work, then you need to replace your hard drive.

My MacBook Pro is stuck on grey loading screen with apple logo and spinning wheel.

PLEASE HELP - Tried to start up my MacBook Pro and I get grey screen w/ apple logo & spinning wheel. It's stuck on this screen. Safe mode didn't help but reveled this: smc read key action error, BOOS key failed, BOPS key failed. Consider rebuild of prelinked kernal com.apple.kext triggers triggered rebuild. IOBluetooth host controller USB transport Suspend Device. I ran verifications/repairs in Disk Utilities, but nothing came back wrong on the reports. I'm a bit panicked, as I use this computer for work and have no other computer to use in the meantime. I should also note that I have very little technical knowledge, so if you can lend your help please keep that in mind when responding. I'd be over the moon if anyone can help.

Startup - Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
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My old mac powerbook g4 wont boot up, it wont show apple logo and spinner aswell just stuck on grey screen while booting please help me

i have a old powerbook g4 which i usally use to store some photos and to listen music. the battery of my powerbook is completly dead so i used to use my powerbook using charger adapter so whenever my power cuts down my laptop will be shutdown.
one day i had just bootedup my powerbook and some date notificateion poped up so i press enter and suddenly my power went off and laptop shuted down. and next time when i tried to boot its stuck at grey screen , i even cant reach the apple logo and spinner. please helppp me :!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM is not working
and i cann't boot it on safemode holding shift button and while holding option or c button at startup i can only see three things 1 is refresh button, 2 macintosh HD with X under it, 3 arrow forward button please help me

TS2570 My Mac is stuck on grey screen what's wrong with it and am I going to lose everything

My Mac is stuck on grey screen what's wrong with it and am I going to lose everything

Hopefully you have a backup, but...
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X 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
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

I have snow leopard installed as an OS. When trying to reboot a MacBook Pro I am getting stuck on grey screen with apple logo and rotating symbol. What can I do?

I have snow leopard installed as an OS. When trying to reboot a MacBook Pro I am getting stuck on grey screen with apple logo and rotating symbol. What can I do?

Maybe this might help.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

Macbook pro retina 2012 mid year stuck on grey screen

Hi everyone.
I've just update for the lastest mac os x mountain lion update, when half way the progress and it goes stucked. All the function are unable to function, so i've force shut it down. After mac shutted down and i tried to boots it back it stuck on grey screen which below apple logo forever loading icon. i've tried Reset the PRAM, but it still not working for me. Also, i tried when when start up hold with cmd + r to reinstall the os x , but it just won't let me to reinstall it , it wrote you can't upgrade this version of OS X because a newer version is installed?
Help please! need a solution that wont delete all my files at the same time

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 boot failure is to secure your 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 your last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Boot into 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.”
b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot 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.
c. 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
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot 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.
If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
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 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.
When you boot 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, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot 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 reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your 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 reboot as usual.
Step 6
Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 7
Repeat Step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 8
This step applies only to older Macs (not current models) that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery. Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 9
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested. If you can't get to an Apple Store, go to another authorized service provider.

Mac Pro Laptop stuck on grey screen

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