Macbook Pro 2.16 15" won't go past gray screen

My MBP 2.16 15" that was running on Snow Leopard stop loading past the gray screen.
I was able to recover the data via connected to my imac. So I can see the orginal hard drive just fine. So my first guess was a bad hard drive so I bought a SSD and put it in. The Snow Leopard DVD install disk shows up when you hold the "option" button at startup, but when you choose the Install DVD disk, it doesn't get past the gray screen. I even tried with the DVD install disk the MBP came with 10.4.8 I think, but the same results.
It will boot in safe mode, with the cursor looking like it has small bars underneath it.
I've tried numerous things including
- PRAM/ SMC reset
- taking RAM out and using just the factory RAM
The Mac "Genius" said the hardware test ran fine on everything, but it wouldn't boot up with the network startup, a USB startup or Firewire startup.
I went back to the orginal hard drive last night and went into safe mode. Tried to install Snow Leopard and it starting installing..it took 55 minutes and my hopes were high at midnight. But when it rebooted itself...it just went to the gray screen again.
I'm out of ideas and I'm pretty sure something is up with the logic board. What do you guys think?
I've also heard that the video card on the late 2006 models of MBP give users fits.
all help is appreciated.

Ok. I think I got it.
I reset the NVRAM.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

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MacBook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. Tried to start in safe mode but get the same screen. The only thing different was that I loaded the zedge sync app yesterday. Now getting this problem.

Macbook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. I tried to start in safe mode, but get this same screen. The only thing different is that I added the zedge update app to do a sync for adding ringtones to my apple cell phone. How can I get a good boot. I am fairly new to apple computer.

Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405 and then try a normal boot.
Run the Startup Manager to select Startup disk: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
If those did not work your disk may be sick or dying. The top priority at this point is to make a backup copy of your data.
Check the health of the disk. Boot in Recovery Mode (Boot, Command-R). Run Disk Utility. Click on the upper left disk icon. Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”? If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced. Even if it does not show “Verified” you can still attempt a backup.
Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD” and Verify Disk. If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk. If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address once the system is backed up. Do not attempt software repairs until you have secured the data.
If the disk will not show up at all in Disk Utility as your ran the tests above then it may be dead or it may have a bad internal SATA cable. A trip to an Apple store for confirmation would be in order.
If you have an external disk drive you can use as a backup drive then do so. If not Google “Hitachi USB 3.0 external hard drive 1TB” to purchase one or go to a brick-and-mortar store (including an Apple store) to pickup one. Any 1 TB external drive will do.
Assuming it is still breathing you can try to recover the data without booting from the sick disk.
Reformat the external disk. (This will erase all data on the external disk.)
Boot in Recovery Mode. Start Disk Utility. Plug in the new disk. Select it’s disk Icon (the second one down, left justified). Select the Partition tab.
Partition Layout > Single Partition
Name: Emergency Recovery 1 (or whatever name you wish to use)
Format: Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Options… > GUID Partition Table > OK
Apply
Select the Restore tab.
Drag the old system volume (Macintosh HD) to Source.
Drag the new disk volume (Emergency Recovery 1) to Destination.
Click on Restore.
It may take a long time for the backup.
If that will not complete post back for other emergency data recovery methods, including those from a brody.
If the backup succeeds, use the First Aid tab in Disk Utility to select the old volume (Macintosh HD) and Repair Disk. If it does not finish with a green OK message try to repair it once or twice more. If it repairs with a green OK message, will it boot normally? If not, boot from the Recovery Partition and reinstall OS X.
If it is still not healthy, post back for further instructions.

MacBook w/10.5.7 won't progress beyond gray screen

I have an administrator and user log-in profile on my MacBook. I tried to update Firefox to 3.5 and install the application in my alternate user log-in. The computer reported that I didn't have permission, so I went to the main administrator log-in, selected the hard drive icon on the desktop, selected get-info, and changed all permissions to read and write. I logged back in as user and installed and ran Firefox. Restarted machine and now just have gray screen with spinning icon. It keeps trying to restart, screen goes black and then to gray again with spinning icon. Help anyone? I reset PRAM and tried to start from a friend's 10.5.6 CD for a MacBook Pro but the machine spits it out. I bought the MacBook used so don't have original CDs. Thanks!

And by the way it won't boot in Safe Mode either, but by holding down option/shift/delete I can see my Hard drive icon. Again, thanks.
Richard

Macbook won't boot past gray screen.

Macbook will not boot past the gray screen with the Apple logo. I tried booting in Safe Mode... tried booting to the Leopard install DVD (can hear it spin)... tried resetting the PRAM... all to no avail (hangs on the gray Apple screen... no progress indicator). I am able to connect to the hard drive via Firewire from my MacPro no problem. Just to make sure, I also tried swapping the hard drive for the original hard drive that it came with (upgraded hard drive 2 yrs ago) but it did not make a difference, still did not boot.
Not sure what else to try, any suggestions?

Thanks for all the replies. I do think it is probably the logic board. Unfortunately the nearest Apple store is about 3.5 hours away from me and from what I've read online the price to put a new logic board in by them is around $700... that's about $300 shy of a NEW 13" Macbook! I am finding used or new logic boards for sale online for around $350 to $450.
The reason it seems that it is the logic board is like I previously said in the opening thread that it would not boot to two different hard drives that I put in the Macbook, nor would it boot to the install disc that I put in the Superdrive.... "tried booting in Safe Mode... tried booting to the Leopard install DVD (can hear it spin)... tried resetting the PRAM". Being able to connect to the Macbook's hard drive from a MacPro via a Firewire gives me reason to believe the hard drives are not the problem.
Now I guess I'll have to make a decision as to whether or not to shell out cash during this weak economy for a new Macbook or scrounge for components for a 4yr old laptop.
Any final last words for me?

Startup Issues - computer won't go past gray screen

PLEASE HELP! I have a Power Mac G4. I installed OS X Tiger on it. Then I tried to install Quark 5, which is a Classic program. The computer said there was no longer Classic support on it. I mistakenly thought I would try to boot the computer in OS 9 to install Quark, so I changed my startup disk. Now the computer won't go past the gray screen at startup, because apparently there is no more OS 9. How do I boot up the computer to OS X again?
Power Mac G4 Mac OS X (10.4)

Hi, KHickey -
Will I have to back up my files?
Not usually. You should be able to re-install OS 9 (Classic) on that model via a Clean Install with no loss of any files.
That machine originally came with a model-specific version of OS 9.0.4. You can use the original OS 9 Install CD that came with it to install that version, and update via download updaters to v. 9.1 or later in order to use it as Classic (the OS 9 install must be at least v. 9.1 in order for it to be used as Classic by OSX; OS 9.2.x provides better compatibilty in that mode). Or, you can use a retail OS 9.1 or retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD.
In either case, a Clean Install would be the method to use. A Clean Install of OS 9 removes nothing, and gives you a new, uncomprimised System Folder.
Article #58176 - Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9: Performing a Clean Installation
<hr>
There is a situation where the OS 9 install can be good, but the machine is still not able to boot to it. This can happen when the hard drive was last initialized using OSX's Disk Utility, and the option to install OS 9 drivers was not selected. IN the absence of those drivers the volume can not be mounted by OS 9, including an OS 9 on the volume - hence it can't boot to it.
An easy way to tell - while in OSX, do a Get Info on the drive; I believe one of the pieces of info given about the drive is whether it has OS 9 drivers installed.
Or, boot the machine to an appropriate version OS 9 Install CD - if the drive has OS 9 drivers, the volume will appear on the desktop; if it does not, it won't.
More info about that, including a small possibility of recovering from the situation, can be found in this Apple KBase article -
Article #106849 - Disk Is Available in Mac OS X But Not in Mac OS 9
If you do have to re-initialize the drive in order to get OS 9 drivers on it, then you will need to back up all your files - initializing a drive will erase everything on it.

Won't boot past gray screen

I recently tried to upgrade RAM from 2x256 MB to 2x512 MB (PNY PC133 SODIMM 133Mhz). This worked at first and checking "About this Mac" indicated 1GB of RAM. But trying to use Safari or Firefox would freeze the computer and I'd have to hold the power button to reset. I put the original RAM back and now I can't get past the Gray Screen with spinning gear. I'm stuck at this screen with either set of RAM in. I tried to boot with the Apple Hardware Test disc, which worked and showed that everything was working fine (Logic Board, HD, & Memory included). Any suggestions?

thunderable and fantast1cdan
It sounds like both of your PowerBooks are suffering from a failed internal hard drive. If you have a cloned, fully bootable, backup on an external FireWire hard drive then try starting up from that. If that works then it suggests the PB's logic board is alright and the problem is most likely to be the hard drive.
If the failure is due, perhaps, to a software corruption then DiskWarrior might be able to resurrect it by repairing the directory.
On the other hand a complete erase and 'zero all data' might sometimes help as it will map out any bad blacks that are on the drive. Obviously to do this you need to be able to startup using the original installer disc - but that does not seem possible at the moment.
Alternatively if you have access to another FW-equipped Mac then try using FireWire Target Disk Mode to see if the drive can be accessed.
thunderable
Unable to eject properly, I unplugged the external drive and was able to reboot and get almost to the logon screen, but it wouldn't go any further. Since then I cannot get past the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning circle.
Are you referring to the internal hard drive when you say that you were able to reboot almost to the login screen? Or were you trying to reboot from the external drive?
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G4 Power Mac won't boot past gray screen

I have a mirror door g4 power pc that had been having some issues with not turning on, and after testing the power supply, it failed miserably. We placed a refurbished power supply in it from a company in New York and the computer was working wonderfully. I went on a cruise last week and went to turn the computer on for the first time in a week and a few days. The CPU turns on, the unit chimes, the fan turns on and the computer starts to boot up, but it won't boot past the gray apple logo screen.
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The computer will not boot from the OS X disc.
What's going on, hard drive? Virus? Something else?

You likely have hard drive directory issues or worse.
Virus is just a hopeful whimsy.
No virus.
I hope that you have a backup of your data.
Try a Safe Mode boot. This forces system repair of the directory (if possible).
Hold Shift while starting to enter Safe mode. Be patient, as it can take several minutes to complete.
Failure to boot to the OS X disc is not good. A severely damaged drive can prevent boot while connected.
Disconnect your boot drive and try booting to the OS X disc.

MacBook Pro model A1150 that won't boot past the gray screen.

I have tried to boot in Safe and Single User modes with no luck. I just need this to boot one more time so I can get my class notes off of it. Any Suggestions? It has Snow Leopard on it but I no longer have the installation disc and I do not have a FireWire that will fit into it.

If you cannot get the MBP to boot, then it is a Firewire (assuming it will power up and can be put into Target Disk Mode) or an enclosure. Those are the only two choices you have.
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Ibook g4 won't go past gray screen, hard drive making whirirng noises

I think I'm in pretty serious trouble here...
I left my 2-yr old ibook g4 running last night downloading a couple of torrents, and woke up in the middle of the night because it was making a loud whirring noise. I tried to close everything, but found that it was frozen. So I just powered it off. I've never had it freeze on me, or otherwise had any problems with it before.
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I read another post about trying to boot from the install CD, so I inserted the CD & pressed c, but nothing happens, and now the CD won't eject.
Is it possible that it overheated? I got an e-mail about the battery recall, but according to my serial number, mine wasn't one that was being recalled.
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Haven't had any replies yet, but I do have some progress to report...
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Probably a stupid question, but is it because its not the correct operating system?
I still don't know why it won't boot from my Panther CD.
I have tried to boot in Safe Mode, but all I get is a little folder icon that alternately flashes the finder icon & a question mark.
I purchased my ibook online when I was still living in Canada, but its no longer under warranty and I didn't purchase the protection plan. I am currently living in rural Japan, with absolutely no Apple Stores anywhere remotely close to where I am.
I've also seen elsewhere that I could probably just get a new hard drive, which is fine as I could use the extra space anyway, but does this mean I lose everything that's on my current hard drive??
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Desperately Seeking Genius: iBook G4 won't go past gray screen w/ apple...

Hi AppleHeads. I am looking for some assistance from a nice mac genius. I am trying to fix my sister's computer and am not sure exactly what to do here. Her laptop is an iBook g4 with 1.33GHz Power PC, G4 processor, 512 MB and 40 GB hard drive. She had noticed her computer getting really slow and crashing frequently. She ran some updates this morning and then the computer crashed. Now, it will not turn on past a gray screen with the apple logo. I attempted to trouble-shoot the issue using the guide the computer came with and also ran the Apple Hardware Test. Everything passed -- see the results below. What is my next option? I would like to try and save all of the data as she has not backed up recently (tsk tsk). I'm sure a lot of people post this kind of request, so if there is a solution out there that you know of, please share the information or links. I know that one option is to wipe out the computer and reinstall Mac OS X but I'd like to only do that as a last resort until I can pull the files. Thanks!
Apple Hardware Test - Extended Test results:
Extended Test
AirPort Passed
Logic Board Passed
Mass Storage Passed
Memory Passed
Model Device found
Video RAM Passed
AirPort Passed
Logic Board Passed
Mass Storage Passed
Memory Passed
Model Device found
Video RAM Passed

Hi Doley and welcome to Apple Discussions,
is an iBook g4 with 1.33GHz Power PC, G4 processor, 512 MB and 40 GB hard drive. She had noticed her computer getting really slow and crashing frequently.
Was she aware of how full the hard drive was? That can often lead to problems.
Uh oh just noticed this:
Mac OS X (10.0.x)
Is that right?
the 14.1" 1.33 ran Mac OS X 10.3
the 12.1" 1.33 Mac OS X 10.4
Saving Data:
Does she have the original install disks?
See if it can boot from them or an appropriate installer for the size.
If so then save to an external drive or another Mac in target mode.
If her iBook will go into target mode it would then act like a big expensive external hard drive:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
After saving data:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
or use disk utility. Depends on what OSshe was running.
She ran some updates this morning and then the computer crashed.
If it happened while the computer was updating after downloading them that would really mess up the OS.
If that's the case it might take a program like Data Rescue II to retrieve data off that hard drive.
Richard

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See if you can get DiskWarrior to mount the drive in "Preview" mode. I recently cloned all my files off an external drive that was hosed. Thanks to DW I recovered all my files.
-Bmer
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Macbook Pro 2.16 15" won't go past gray screen

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