Macbook air Lion stuck at grey screen and spinning wheel

HI
I have a Macbook air with Lion installed. I pressed the On button, but it gets stuck at grey screen, apple logo and spining wheel. I then managed to get it to startup in Safe Mode.
How can I find out what the problem was?
Please could you let me know if there are some simple steps to fix this?
Thank you in advance.

Please carefully read Gray screen appears during startup, Apple will tell you how to trouble shoot the issue. I suspect your HD has crashed, not a big deal if you have been backing up. However if you haven't then you're probably about to learn a lesson on why backup is critical.

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Stuck at grey screen and spinning wheel

I have a IMac that suddenly can't move past the grey screen, apple logos, and spinning wheel. I have used the OS system disk to repair the Macintosh HD, the app stated that the repair of the volume was successful, but in trying to use the HD to restart, I am still stuck with the spinning wheel. What should I do next, or what am I doing wrong?
Vetaut

Please carefully read Gray screen appears during startup, Apple will tell you how to trouble shoot the issue. I suspect your HD has crashed, not a big deal if you have been backing up. However if you haven't then you're probably about to learn a lesson on why backup is critical.

Downloaded OSX Mountain Lion on MacBook now stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel HELP?!?!

Downloaded OSX Mountain Lion on MacBook now stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel. What can I do, will I loose everything on my laptop?

ashg23 wrote:
Thank you, I have restarted but it is still stuck at the grey page with the spinning wheel? Any idea?
Have you started up holding down Command + R and attempted to install again?
Pete

Imac 2008 stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel no discs I lost them

HI, I have a imac 2008 24" someone help please.stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel after 5 minutes mac just restarts again.I have no restore dvds as I borrowed them out and never got them back thanks

If you are in the US call Apple Customer Support 1-800-767-2775, provide the Serial Number and specifications of the Mac, and for a reasonable fee, they will supply a replacement set of system discs (if available).
The discs will be for the original version of the OS that was pre-installed when the Mac was manufactured.
If you are in another country:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57
Useful article here on the causes of the Spinning Beach Ball and how to troubleshoot it:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177479/Troubleshoot_the_spinning_beach_b all?taxonomyId=89&pageNumber=1
and also this:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html

Why do I perpetually see a grey screen and spinning wheel?

A few months ago my 2004 iMac froze as I was simply shutting down the power and attempting to restart. I was not installing any new O/S.
Today I attempted two things while booting with the O/S recovery disc-1:
(a) I slid the disc in and held down the "C" key while I attempted to power it on. Nothing happened and I continued to see the grey screen and spinning wheel.
(b) I slid the disc inside and held down the "ALT" key while I attempted to power it on. Three icons showed up: (a) Hard Disk; (b) Recovery Disc; and (c) Test. I clicked on the Test icon and it took me to a new screen with two options: ( i ) Quick Test and ( ii ) Extended Test. I clicked on Quick Test. The first aspect of the Quick Test (I think it was Airport) went through fine and passed. The second aspect of the Quick Test (Logic Board testing) continued to show "In Progress" for a really long time (about 15 mins.). From that I figured something must have gone wrong with the Logic Board.
Can anyone help me as to what could be done? I appreciate everyone's answer in advance. Thank you.

Thanks to anyone who read this. I solved the problem in a convoluted manner. It appears as is if the hard disk had some issues and I ended up formatting and re-installing the O/S. Thankfully I had a back up that wasn't too long ago.
Cheers.

TS1388 stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel

My computer was stuck on a program and i held the power down button to close it. When I turned back on my macbook pro the only thing I get is a grey screen wioth apple logo and spinning wheel, It stays stuck on this for hours.

Hi Rick,
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.

Intel-based iMac stuck in grey screen with spinning wheel. SMC::smcReadKeyAction ERROR THOP kSMBadArgumentError(0x89)

Hi guys,
since yesterday my Intel-Based iMac doesn't boot normally, its stuck in grey screen with a spinning wheel.
Its an Intel-based iMac 21.5'' purchased in 2011, and i recently (2 months ago) upgraded it to Mavericks.
-2 weeks ago, i installed smcFanControl app
-Tried start up in Safe Mode by holding Shift but its not working. i think i hear fans are working more than they were before the problem occurs.
-entered Single User Mode and i get an error
SMC ::smcReadKeyAction ERROR THOP kSMCBadArgumentError(0x89) fKeyHashTable=0x0xffffff8029fa1000
-followed some instructions found online, but can execute the correct commands in SingleUserMode
tried to remove FanControl as explained here: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/110667/errorr-kernel-smcsmcreadkeyactio n-in-console
any ideas what may caused this and how can i fix this?
Thanks in advance

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, boot from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 10. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
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 10
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 11
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 12
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.

Macbook air freezes up at grey screen and

My macbook air freezes up at the grey screen where you sign in. The mouse is stuck in the upper left corner and does not move. None of the buttons work either. What can I do?
It boots up like normal and then I cant do anything once it goes on the grey screen. HELP!

Reboot the computer and hold the Shift key as soon as it chimes. When you see the Apple icon release. This is will start you in Safe Mode (hopefully). Once the computer gets to the Finder (assuming it works) restart as normal and see if the cache cleaning solved your problem.
If that didn't work restart holding the Command R key to enter the recovery partition or Command Option R to enter Internet recovery mode. From one of these two options you can reformat the hard drive and restore from a backup.

Macbook Air 2011 Stuck on grey screen

Hello All,
I have a 2011 Macbook air running 10.8.1 which won't successfully boot up. I press the power button, (i have to hold it a long time) and then it goes to a grey screen with an apple logo and a slowly filling status bar. Once the bar fills up after about 15-30 minutes, the computer turns off. Has happened maybe 10 times, always the same result.
I tried booting in repair mode, and I decided to reinstall OSX. The software said it would verify my computer with Apple. Despite having a completely legit computer purchased from an apple store, it says there is an error and I should try again. Again I've tried many times, and each time it won't let me reinstall OSX.
I reset the PRAM but it didn't make a difference.
What should I do to reinstall OSX or at least get the computer to a desktop again?
Thanks!
P.S.
If it helps, this is a link to an old discussion which was dealing with my computers previous issue of running merely very slow. Since this is a different problem (I can't even get it to turn on) I created a new discussion.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4386839

Take this Mac to a local Apple Store (make a genius bar apointment first) and they can boot off ethernet and run a program called "MRI" which will run a bunch of tests quickly without loading OS X. This can pinpoint if there is a hardware, RAM or disk problem.

Old iMac won't start up and stuck in grey screen with spinning wheel

Hi, I have a very old imac which I purchased back in 2005, and has been working fine. I have left it in storage about 1 and 1/2 years ago.
Just now I try to restart it, the screen is forever stuck in the grey screen with the spinning wheel.
I tried many times off-on, hold down the apple function key but none worked.
I no longer have the rebooting CD with me. I wonder whether the computer can still be saved?
I have already backed up the contents so it doesn't matter if fixing the computer requires me to delete all my old files.
Thanks
If I am not wrong, I think it's tiger or earlier that it's using.

Do you have the Install Disc to try to boot from?
Might be time to replace the PRAM Battery, 4 years is close to their lifespan, far less if ever without AC power, & can cause strange startup problems...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/BAA36VPRAM/

My imac will not boot up... only grey screen and spinning wheel?

Can you help me get to the screen where I put in the mame and password?
I only see spinning wheel
boyd

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.

G4 Won't start. Stuck at Grey Screen with Spinning wheel

It won't make it past this screen.
I have a Dual G4 867Mhz with 2GB ram. (3) harddrives.
Any Help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
The last thing that happened was last night I left my computer on downloading some stuff. When I woke up my dad had unplugged the ethernet cable and It had locked up some programs with the spinning beachball. I proceeded by trying to shut the program with apple+q. It shut down the Finder window. I then was forced to just shut down the computer by holding down the power button. I didn't try starting up again at that time, but now about 3 hours later I tried to start up again, and it's stuck at this screen.

Install OS X on one of your disk drives. Or get a FW case and drive, then update to 10.3.9.
Buy a copy of Disk Warrior 4.
Ask Dad.

Grey screen and spinning wheel - and very slow iBook?

I have been looking around, and am afraid my sister's beloved (and heavily used ibook may have a common problem. Just now, she was trying to access our myspace page, but it was loading terribly slowly, so she tried to force quit - and it wouldn't quit. So she forced it to quit by holding down apple/option escape and then shut it down. On turning on the machine again, it began booting normally, but very slowly - the grey wheel was spinning a minute or more later, and she could not use force quit to stop the machine from booting.
I advised her to hold down the power button for five seconds to force the machine to shut down, and told her that tomorrow I would come over and run maintenance on it and also post her problem here. From the reading I've been doing, it sounds scarily like the logic board thing, but it's also true she has very little space left on her hard drive, so it could be that - or maybe something else entirely? I intend to start from her system disc, do the hardware test, repair and verify the permissions, and, if necessary, reinstall the system. Is there anything else we should do?
It's an ibook g4 1.2mhz, with at least 640 megs of ram but only a 30 gb hard drive. TIA for your help! Oh - she's running panther, and has had the machine for 3 years with no serious problems, except that hers had one of the defective batteries. Apple sent her a replacement battery two years ago.

Hi Mary.
I ideally you need to keep at least 15% of the HD capacity for the system to run smoothly. On a 30GB drive it's easy to use more than you should. Having less free space would make a big difference to the performance. Sounds like a good time to get rid of/back up unneccesary files that don't need to be on the HD. Also, the HD may have become quite fragmented which would also play a part in slowing things down. Once you have things backed up, could be a good time to reinstall a fresh system. You should notice an improvement.

Stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel

I have a mac mini server running snow leopard server
It has been slow to boot and now wont get past screen
I have reat PRAM and SMU
I have assed an externa, USB drive from which i can boot thge machine
boith drives are acccesible
I install SL on teh second drive as a bootable drive all dives are then accessible
the usb drive and the twi HDs show as startable drives when I boot with option key
I have checked all drives with Disk warrior
I can boot to single user mode
jusyt can't get any of the internal dives to boot
any thoughts where ro go next??

i refirmated all teh drives and started over three months later one of the two drives died completely.. M

Hi all- got an iMac 2006 iSight 24". Problem -- not starting up, gets to apple logo grey screen and spinning wheel. It had a new 1tb sea gate 7200 HD. Now I'm starting up and it won't boot, and won't disc boot Says 'restart'. Hardware test ok...?..

Yes as described problem. I think the new drive maynot have been formatted before attempted OS install. But I am unable to get the iMac to boot form CD. When CD is out I just get blinking question mark. When boot from cd I get please restart. D option gives info and hardware test which is ok. Any ideas at all would really help. Many thanks.

I went to Genius Bar- they were unable to boot the iMac into an OS.
They didn't do anything more? They just returned a broken iMac right back to you w/o telling you anything more? If this is the case, I would take the comp to another AS or an AASP for a second opinion.

Macbook air Lion stuck at grey screen and spinning wheel

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