Mac sometimes freezes to white screen out of nowhere?

I have a MacBook Pro late 2011 running on Lion. Out of nowhere the screen just turns white and item it will turn a grayish color and get really hot. I am out of the warranty, and I have no clue how to fix it. I can get it to turn on occasionally, as I have been trying to get files off of it, but then it will freeze and go to the white screen in no more than an hour.

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

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HT3964 I am not able to reboot my Mac desktop. When I switch on the Mac, I get a white screen with the Apple logo and the little wheel below that goes round and round but the computer refuses to boot.

Hi, I am not able to reboot my Mac desktop.
When I switch on the Mac, I get a white screen with the Apple logo and the little rotating circle.
The system refuses to boot.
What can I do?
Marcus

We need to get you moved. This forum is for mini-tower Macs built between 1998 and 2005 and doesn;t get as much traffic ("eyeballs on the problem") as the forums for newer Macs.
Please do "About this Mac" from you Apple menu and tell us what that says for "processor" and Mac OS version. Looks like this:
or this for later Mac OS versions:
With that we can figure out which of the two iMac forums you need and get the Hosts to move your post.

During upgrade screen freezes in white screen

during install of Yosemite my iMac freezes in white screen.

Have you searched for iMac freeze:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/11/07/imacfreeze/index.php
There is a known issue that effects some iMacs. Mine worked fine under 10.4 until I added iMac Software Update 1.1 through auto-update. I rolled back to 1.0 and my Mac worked fine again. When I upgraded to 10.5 my system would frequently freeze again.
I took it to Apple, they kept it for 2 days, and then they decided to replace the system entirely with a new iMac. I know of no fix, short of returning the system to Apple.

When i start my mac and i got white screen with apple logo

when i start my mac and i got white screen with apple logo n spening round n round

Try here
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4917686?start=0&tstart=0

Why does my mac sometimes freeze when waking up?

Why does my mac sometimes freeze when waking up? It only happens sometimes, but also happens spontaneously. 21' iMac 2011 model. It just started recenlty after a new firmware update from apple. Any advice or reasons why would be appreciated.

boot to lion recovery and run verify/repair on the hard drive. verify will say: appears to be okay OR needs to be repaired. No matter what outcome, you will repair anyways (as it will do some updating on the volume)
Process: hold command R during startup/ wait till you see mac os utility (might have to select english as the main language first) then disk utility/ select macintosh HD on the left, and then verify/repair on the right bottom side. Cheers!

After installing my Mac only shows a white screen. Help

I updated and now when it restarted it will only give a white screen.

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
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, start up 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 a desktop Mac hangs at a plain gray screen with a movable cursor, the keyboard may not be recognized. Press and hold the button on the side of an Apple wireless keyboard to make it discoverable. If need be, replace or recharge the batteries. If you're using a USB keyboard connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port.
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 in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is 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 11. 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.

Mac Pro stuck on white screen

Firstly, some details to save questions later:
Mac Pro 2006
Snow Leopard (latest update)
After using my Mac Pro as normal last night (no issues whatsoever), I go to boot it up today to find it is stuck on the white screen just after the Apple logo.
My first thought was that my OS drive had kicked the bucket and I'd need to resintall the OS. No biggie. So I attempt to boot from disk, holding "C" whilst booting - the same issue. Goes from the Apple logo to blank white screen.
So I try to boot from disk by holding Alt whilst loading to select drive and boot from the disk there - this time we just get stuck on a blue screen.
Strangely enough, the original OS drive DOES show in the list of available drives.
I have also tried booting in safe mode to no avail.
I've heard talk of video cards failing and causing issues similar to this, which could make sense considering in the last 6 months or so, my mac has had an awful habit of "forgetting" it's resolution, forcing me to restart it.
Can anyone else offer any suggestions?
I'd much rather avoid having to get a new video card unless this is 100% the fault with the mac.

The simplest thing your Mac can do is Alt/Option boot, because all the code for that function is in ROM. In that case, there is no Apple logo that appears, and the screen only goes to the list of available possibly-bootable Volumes, arrayed across the screen. If you are seeing the Apple logo (which is loaded off a Drive) you have not succeeded in Alt/Option booting.
Sometimes having the keyboard plugged into a Display or other Hub can cause the "snag keys" to be missed at Startup, and be ineffective.
If something interferes with your ability to Alt/Option boot, it is most likely to be the contents of your Hard Drive. If desperate, pull out the Boot drive and see if you can Alt/Option boot with only the DVD in the drive.

Mac mini freezes and then screen fragments

Our Mac Mini freezes up constantly. Some days it happens after a few minutes of running and other times after a few hors. After the computer freezes, the screen fragments. We seem to have enough memory and so not certain what the problem could be.
AKS

Hi AKS,
Maybe you have got a temperature problem affected Mac Mini as our Mac Mini Server. You can read about it here:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/13242219#13242219
Such problems sometimes gets worse by time so I suggest you should run the EFI test and then contact Apple service before running out of guarantee.
Good luck!
Johan

Why does my Mac stay on the white screen when I turn it on?

Why does my Mac stay on white screen when I turn it on?

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
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 3
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 4
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 5
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 6.
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 6
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 7
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 8
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 9
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, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a boot 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 10
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.

Why upon turning on my mac its just a white screen ?

why upon turning on my macbook pro it freezes on a white screen and dosent change ?

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
It's possible that your Mac has forgotten the startup disk. Turn off the computer, and then, turn it on and hold the Option (Alt) key until you see all the bootable devices on the screen. After that, choose the OS X partition and OS X will start up. After starting, open System Preferences > Startup Disk, and select your OS X partition.
Also, try doing a PRAM reset > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Start up freeze on white screen

My Macbook Pro 15' 2011 Starts up with the Apple logo then after freezes on a white screen. Before it was starting up then freezing in black screen, I restarted the NVRAM and then the computer was working fine and then after a week it froze and heated up in the middle of using it so I shut it down and ever since then it has been starting up with the Apple logo then freezing on a white screen.
I have tried with no success:
- SMC reset
- Start holding Shift down - grey loading bar for about 5 mins then freezed on blue screen
- again NVRAM reset
Please help!
Thanks

Your profile indicates your Mac has v10.8 installed.
Restart your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys.
You should be able to access OS X Recovery where you can repair the startup disk if necessary, or reinstall OS X.

Mac Pro freezes at login screen

Mac Pro (2008, dual 2.8GHz quadcore, OS 10.6.8) is set up with
Energy Saver settings: computer sleep 1 hour, screen sleep 5 minutes
Security settings: require password immediately after sleep or screen saver begins
After the computer goes to sleep, upon hitting a key, the login screen appears. However after typing password, there was a message "checking password" and then the computer freezes. I've followed recommendations in Mac Pro Freezing: Checking Password
After the computer goes to sleep, the login screen is frozen. I cannot even enter password. After hard-rebooting it, it appears OK.
Here are the last entries in system.log:
Jan 8 15:21:59 oldmacpro com.apple.backupd[402]: Post-back up thinning complete: 4 expired backups removed
Jan 8 15:22:00 oldmacpro com.apple.backupd[402]: Backup completed successfully.
Jan 8 17:09:27 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
Here are the last entries in kernel.log
Jan 8 15:50:55 oldmacpro kernel[0]: PM notification cancel (pid 47, cupsd)
Jan 8 15:50:55 oldmacpro kernel[0]: IOPMrootDomain: idle cancel
Jan 8 15:56:20 oldmacpro kernel[0]: PM notification cancel (pid 47, cupsd)
Jan 8 15:56:20 oldmacpro kernel[0]: IOPMrootDomain: idle cancel
Jan 8 17:09:27 localhost kernel[0]: npvhash=4095
Question: how can I find out what causes the computer to freeze and how can I fix it ?

I would say yes to the verbose mode and go one further and make it permanent. Coming to OSX from running Tiger on an XPF install on a beige G3 system (totally unsupported by Apple), it was ALWAYS a smart move and even in new machines running hardware they're built to, you can't lose. For the times I do have to reboot, it's good to be able to watch the startup, as you catch immediately if there's a problem with anything. It is verbose after all...
To turn the mode on, you open the Terminal, and at the prompt, type in
*sudo nvram boot-args="-v"* and hit enter. It will nag you about using the terminal (if you haven't done so before) and you enter your password, hit enter again and you're good to go. (if you want to turn it off, type in *sudo nvram boot-args=* and hit enter and your password again)

Mac mini stuck on white screen with logo during startup

Hi,
For the past couple of days my mac mini has been stuck during startup. It plays the startup chime, loads the white screen then the logo appears and it freezes there.
The RAMs were upgraded a few days ago, but it worked fine for a while after that.
Nothing is connected to the mac mini except the monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse. I have tried removing the power cord from the wall for some time, but it is still refusing to start up. I have also tried cmnd+options+p+r to reset the PRAM but nothing changed, I'm not even sure if this applies when startup isn't complete.
Please help.

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
When it says boot using install disk you can, if you have Lion or later, boot using Recovery:
OS X: About OS X Recovery
What model MIni?

After installing window 7 my imac dont boot mac os just a white screen appears before booting win 7

after installing win 7 through booth camp my mac doesnt boot mac os just white screen appears for sometime with a black cursor blinking onone side then it booth win 7...
Please help me out

Hi there,
As soon a you start your mac, hold the option/alt key on your keyboard. You will then get a choice of drives to boot from. Choose 'Macintosh HD' and your computer should boot as usual, to Mac OS X.
Let me know how you get on,
Nathan

IMac Freezes at white screen during startup

Hello,
I was off of my iMac for an hour or two so my screen saver when on. I went to wake the computer and it was frozen. I tried using the keyboard and mouse to wake up the computer from the screen saver, but it would not work, so I powered the iMac down manually from the button on the back. I let it sit for 15 minutes, then I tried to start the computer up again. Now at start up, I get to a blank white screen with the spinning moving pin wheel, and that is it. Any suggestions?

You could try to use SafeBoot mode on startup, essentially you'd hold the Shift
key down on startup, perhaps you may need to login after waiting quite awhile,
then continue holding the shift key down until you see a traditional desktop.
And then use Disk Utility to verify HDD, & repair disk permissions.+ Restart.
Or if you have a system install-restore DVD, boot from that and have the
Installer's version of Disk Utility check verify repair the hard disk drive.
It can also repair disk permissions, too, from the booted version of D.U.
Then when it is done, choose the startup disk from installer menu options.
The DVD should eject, but if not, it should be ignored as a boot volume
after you've chosen the Mac HD as a boot system.
PS: If your computer is now running a system later than Snow Leopard,
where no DVD would be needed if it has a Recovery partition in the HDD
then you could see about booting into Recovery (command + R) to access
the later system's OS X Utilities, and choose Disk Utility to check/repair, etc.
These may help.
Good luck!
edited

Mac sometimes freezes to white screen out of nowhere?

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