MacBook Air stuck in grey screen after ML installation

Hi everybody,
I have downloaded and installed Mountain Lion on my MacBook Air (2011). After the installation the computer restarted and stuck in the grey loading screen, showing the apple logo and the turning wheel. I've left it alone for hours but nothing happens. This is still the case and I cannot find a way out.
Here is what I have tried so far:
- Reload and reinstall ML via recovery mode (twice). Recovery mode shows me that 10.8 is installed, by the way
- Restart without peripherals connected
- Reset PRAM and NVRAM
- Disconnect all cables and let the computer rest
- Diagnose and repair hard drive (showed me a message that a Java-related group has a value of 80 but should be 0. Repair was "successful")
- Safe boot (A bar appears in loading screen but disappears after it is about halfway full and I'm back in grey screen)
Unfortunately none of this worked. I have a Time Machine backup but it is located at the other end of the country (long story) and I can't access it easily.
Do you guys have any more ideas what else I could try? I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks!
B4sti

I'm having the same issue. My MacBook air is stuck on the grey screen with the apple logo. I've waited for hours. Has anyone found a resolution to this issue?

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If you can't start up and log in in the usual way, try in safe mode.
During startup, you’ll see a progress bar, and then the login screen, which appears even if you normally 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.
Log in as an administrator to carry out these instructions. If you have only one account, you are the administrator.
☞ If you don't see any reports listed, but you know there was a panic, you may have chosen Diagnostic and Usage Messages from the log list. Choose DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION instead.
Safe mode is slower than normal, and some things won’t work at all.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t start in safe mode.
If you're able to log in, launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
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In the Console window, select
DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION ▹ System Diagnostic Reports
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View ▹ Show Log List
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There is a disclosure triangle to the left of the list item. If the triangle is pointing to the right, click it so that it points down. You'll see a list of reports. A panic report has a name that begins with "Kernel" and ends in ".panic". Select the most recent one. The contents of the report will appear on the right. Use copy and paste to post the entire contents—the text, not a screenshot.
I know the report is long, maybe several hundred lines. Please post all of it anyway.
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MacBook Air stuck on grey screen

My MacBook Air 2011 will not boot, as it gets stuck on a grey screen. Nothing works, not even any keyboard shortcuts.
What ive tried:
- Recovery Mode (Wont even change the screen, waited about 5 minutes)
- Resetting PVC or whatever its called (Just reboots the computer)
- Safe Boot (trying right now, told that it takes a while)
Taking it back to the apple store is my last resort, and I think im out of my warranty (no applecare).
Any help?

ANSWER
I totally understand this issue!
It's happened to me when I can't even move my mouse around. It's stuck on a grey screen and it's driving me nuts. i know this answer. This problem happened to my last night actually.
What I did was leave it be for as long as it needs. My screen was grey for 24 hours. When I woke up in the morning, the screen was back to normal, on the screen I needed to log on with. BY THE WAY, I prayed for my laptop. LOL! I really hope you don't end up with a "hunk" of $1000 dollars on you're desk. Maybe this will take longer than mine did, OR shorter amount of time.
QUESTION.
JohGoins wrote:
My MacBook Air 2011 will not boot, as it gets stuck on a grey screen. Nothing works, not even any keyboard shortcuts.
What ive tried:
- Recovery Mode (Wont even change the screen, waited about 5 minutes)
- Resetting PVC or whatever its called (Just reboots the computer)
- Safe Boot (trying right now, told that it takes a while)
Taking it back to the apple store is my last resort, and I think im out of my warranty (no applecare).
Any help?

MacBook Air stuck on grey screen! Help! Help!

I was trying to uninstall Firefox so I moved the icon into the trashcan but it wouldn't delete. So I moved the two files I found in the trash to the desktop and then I restarted. Now my mac is stuck on the grey apple screen with the little timer. I did the PRAM restart thing...it chimed and went to the grey screen again. I am pretty sure the problem is that the Firefox is screwed up and Firefox is supposed to be the first app to load. What can I do???? Please please please help! I am totally lost here. Thanks!

Being stuck at the grey screen generally means there's something wrong involving reading something from or writing something to the hard drive. Letting the battery die may be something that is sometimes useful for a phone or iPod, but never for a computer.
Step 1: try restarting in Safe Mode. Reboot and when you hear the chime and/or the LCD backlight comes on press and hold the shift key until you see the Apple icon. The bootup will take longer than normal because the hard drive is being examined and repaired. If this works you'll get to the desktop but Safe Mode only loads a minimal number of drivers so some things won't work. Reboot normally and see if you can get to the desktop now. If Step 1 failed or if after rebooting you returned to the gray screen try step 2.
Step 2: try restarting in Recovery Mode. Reboot and when you hear the chime and/or the LCD backlight comes on press and hold the command and R keys. You should boot into a utility mode where you can a) check the hard drive directory and repair it if need be and b) download and reinstall the operating system and that's what you should try doing.
If step 2 fails reboot holding option, command and R. This is Internet Recovery mode which is similar to Recovery mode except the drive will probably need to be formatted or partitioned before the OS can be reinstalled. This will erase all your data.
And if this fails call AppleCare or make an appointment at the Apple store.

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ashg23 wrote:
Thank you, I have restarted but it is still stuck at the grey page with the spinning wheel? Any idea?
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
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Stuck at grey screen after reboot

I seem to be stuck at the grey screen after a reboot of my server. Here are the symptoms and I'm wondering if anyone has experienced them before or has some idea of where to look:
1) Over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed the entire system freezing up for 10-20 seconds. The spinning pinwheel pops up and when my office is really quite, it sounds like either a fan is starting on the system or a hard drive is spinning up. Note that I've turned off all 'spin drives down when possible' in energy savings.
2) After the 10-20 seconds, a bunch of disk activity occurs and everything goes back to normal.
I've tried repairing permissions, checking for errors with the drive, etc. I've got two drives striped in Raid 0 (yes, the system is backed up--so I'm not worried about loosing data).
After a recent software update, I had to reboot it, and that's where it got stuck. Could be something there for some time, but my server usually runs for months at a time, unless an update requires a reboot.
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Could you be more specific about what disks you used to boot with and exactly what programs you ran...
I cannot seem to get it to boot from the "Admin Tools" disk using the "D" key.
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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.
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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,
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Macbook Air 11" Overheat Grey Screen.

Help Help Help !!!! I have a 2010 11" MBA 128Gb 4Gb RAM running Lion. About 1 month ago whilst attempting to upload a video to youtube (which was going to take about 3 hours) about half way through I came back to the room to find my display had a grey screen with no words or spinning ball on it and the base of the laptop was boiling to touch. I switched it off manually and then switched it back on immediately and it started up no problem.
I attempted to upload the video 10 minutes later but the same thing happened again and the base got very hot. I therefore left the upload and performed it on my imac with no problems.
I use the MBA very occaisionally, mostly for surfing the web, Lightroom, Photoshop and iphoto without any overheating problems at all and certainly no locked out grey screen. Anyway the same thing happened again yesterday so I immediatley trawled the internet forums for any help and others experiences.
From what I have read so far I have not really seen a remedy for this. I am using Google Chrome, something which has been mentioned however others, who have had overheating issues, have had the same issues when using Safari and Firefox so I have elimenated that cause. I am using Lion and not Mountain Lion so I have eliminated that one. I have read about resetting the SMC and PRAM however I have not tried that yet.
I guess I am really asking others who have experienced this if their is an ultimate remedy, or if it as motherboard or fan replacement issue ??
As it is out of warranty I don't want to go down the road of taking it to the local Apple Reseller to be charged stupid money for them to have a look and fob me off with something which you guys and gals may be able to help me with.
Any idead much appreciated, thanks

ANSWER
I totally understand this issue!
It's happened to me when I can't even move my mouse around. It's stuck on a grey screen and it's driving me nuts. i know this answer. This problem happened to my last night actually.
What I did was leave it be for as long as it needs. My screen was grey for 24 hours. When I woke up in the morning, the screen was back to normal, on the screen I needed to log on with. BY THE WAY, I prayed for my laptop. LOL! I really hope you don't end up with a "hunk" of $1000 dollars on you're desk. Maybe this will take longer than mine did, OR shorter amount of time.
QUESTION.
JohGoins wrote:
My MacBook Air 2011 will not boot, as it gets stuck on a grey screen. Nothing works, not even any keyboard shortcuts.
What ive tried:
- Recovery Mode (Wont even change the screen, waited about 5 minutes)
- Resetting PVC or whatever its called (Just reboots the computer)
- Safe Boot (trying right now, told that it takes a while)
Taking it back to the apple store is my last resort, and I think im out of my warranty (no applecare).
Any help?

Stuck on grey screen after update

Hi,
I had my MacBook formatted about 2 weeks ago because of some software malfunction. I got the Snow Leopard installed and it was working perfectly fine until I had to update it.
I've updated the software from the Software Update pop-up and it would work fine but the latest update (October 9th) messed up my laptop.
It was an update for the SL software, two security updates, Java update and some other update I can't remember. All of them required a restart and I clicked to proceed.
The computer closes everything to go into restart and starts installing the software before it shuts down. Once it starts up, I get the start up chime but it stays stuck on the grey screen with the logo and the spinning wheel at the bottom. Its been stuck like this for a good 45 mins.
I shut it down by holding the power button and restarted it but it's stuck on the same screen as before.
What's wrong with it?

Start by trying this:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
If you are still unable to start then reinstall Snow Leopard. This will not erase your hard drive or disturb your data.

Stuck on grey screen after restore

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I installed Lion and had the now-famous "lost user account" issue. So I "added" my old account and everything seemed ok. But when I tried to use Aperture, it couldn't find my library, which is one of the main things I use the Mac for. Not finding any solutions after quite a bit of Internet research, I reluctantly did a full restore (from 2 days before Lion was launched). The restore took literally all of yesterday. When I woke up, I was greeted with a notice saying that the restore had been successful. Great, right? Not so fast.
Since I hit restart, the machine has been stuck on the grey startup screen. (I'm typing this on my iPad)
I am about ready to break out my trusty copy of Disk Warrior, but before I do I thought I would ask the friendly folks here if you have any helpful suggestions so I don't make things worse. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Well, I got off the grey screen by doing a force shutdown and re-installing Snow Leopard, in case anyone else is having the same problem. I'm now in the process of verifying that everything that was on my machine is still functional before I contemplate "upgrading" to Lion again. Needless to say, I recommend regular backups. I've been doing so for a long time and have never needed the backup until now -- I'm glad I have it!

My 2014 MacBook Pro stuck on grey screen since trying to update software over an hour ago

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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 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 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.

TS2570 macbook air : start with grey screen... help !!!

I have a new macbook air (3 months old) and all the sudden when I start it I have a grey screen with a question mark. The relevant Apple support page doesn't take into consideration the fact that you can't put an install disk into a macbook air. Help !

Thank you for your answer.
Unfortunately, I had already tried this online recovery (it also works if you boot holding the option) but the utility program didn't offer me the possibility to repair (when I selected the disk, this option wasn't available. In fact, I couldn't choose any option at all for my disk).
I had just done the last system update proposed by Apple today. I never had any problem with a mac before and I am really in trouble in my work because of that. How can I try to save the most important files I was working on ? I am in Brazil so there is no Apple store available near my house.
I also have external hard disk, an imac and a macbook but I don't know if I can use any of them for that...

MacBook Air stuck in grey screen after ML installation

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