MacBook Pro stuck on start up screen - HELP!

I was using my 13" unibody MacBook Pro the other day when it froze. After trying everything I resorted to turning it off by holding the power switch.
Since then it hasn't been able to completely start up, getting stuck when the apple logo appears and the spinning loading wheel first starts. It also does this when trying to boot in safe mode. I ran hardware tests and disk management from the start up DVDs, both said everything was fine, I have also tried to reset pram, which did nothing.
Lots of valuable things on the hard drive so trying to avoid reinstalling 10.6 at the moment.
Any thoughts on what it could be?

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Safeguarding your data should be your first priority. One thing you could do is to buy and install a new hard drive, and then reinstall the OS to it. You could then place your existing drive in an external enclosure, and access your data from it that way--or possibly even migrate it to your new drive. OWC sells drives and enclosure kits, and there are instructions for replacing the drive in your owner's manual.
It's possible that the freeze was caused by a dying hard drive, and if so, the drive will need to be replaced anyway.
Do you have access to an Apple Store? If so, make an appointment and see if they can diagnose your Mac. They have the ability to boot a Mac from their store feed and run a different and probably more sophisticated and comprehensive hardware test.
Good luck!

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MacBook pro stuck on white loading screen, help please.

Hi guys, yesterday I was playing on my MacBook pro and all of a sudden the screen went black and it turned off. Once trying to turn my laptop back on it was just stuck on the white loading screen with the appe logo and loading wheel. I've been surfing around the forum and tried some things that others have said worked for them but none seems to work for me, so I decided to create a question so I can get more personal help. I don't have any installation CDs for the MacBook, either which I know makes things more difficult but hopefully ill be able to solve this some other way. Please help if you can!

jenan123 wrote:
I have the same problem. We need hellp here.
I can't help the other person, it's a old post and it sounds like they had a hardware issue anyway, which we can't fix here.
If you can start a new discussion in the MacBook forum and describe your problem in detail, perhaps we can assist.
The system works via email responses/notification and rewards points, but only for the original poster.
jenan123 wrote:
WHy is this forum if noone seems to care to answer
We are other Mac users who volunteer our time, we recieve nothing from Apple.
Sometimes if the poster posts at the wrong time of day (not day time USA/Europe, their post can drop off or be missed.

Macbook pro stuck on start up screen

Help.
My mac is stuck on the start up screen with the spinning wheel. I've tried everything i can find short of reinstalling the os. I just completed a software update for airport extreme, and a couple other programs(didn't pay much attention to what they were) Did the restart and now I'm jammed. I've tried booting from the disk; I repaired the disk and nothing, so I tried to verify permissions and it quits out on me.
Am I screwed? Can I do anything else, or do I need to suck it up and reinstall. Ugh.

I'm having the same problem. Both my friend and I have the same computer and we just did a software update from 10.4.8 to 10.4.9 and have the same start screen and spining icon. Have you any info for me? I've been folowing this post. I'm sure it's related to the update because two seperate computers are doing this both at the same house. Both right after the software update 30 minutes apart. They both had an error downloading 10.4.9 the only option was a restart, and that's when the trouble began. Any way of going back to 10.4.8? When I ran disk utilities it shows 10.4.9 on the harddrive. My problem is I can't install the OS off the install disk because it says "A newer operating system exists" my only option is to erase and reinstall and that isn't an option.
Please Help
Dave
Mac Book Pro & Dual G5 Power Mac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Macbook pro stuck/hangs at login screen ??

Macbook pro stuck/hangs at login screen and no any controls while i restart last time..3 days before i found many solutions but no one is perfect like PRAM/SCM format command option+p+r and other many but no any perfect solution which can fixed my issue..please help me asap i am so much upset for that coz i am developer and there is many of the data , i also run windows on it win 7 so now i am running with that i have latest 2011 mac OSX 10.7.5 with Core i5 ,4GB, 320 GB so please help me to resolve this issue i am waiting thanks in advan
Regards,
Muneeb
Developer
<Email Edited by Host>

Macbook pro stuck/hangs at login screen and no any controls while i restart last time..3 days before i found many solutions but no one is perfect like PRAM/SCM format command option+p+r and other many but no any perfect solution which can fixed my issue..please help me asap i am so much upset for that coz i am developer and there is many of the data , i also run windows on it win 7 so now i am running with that i have latest 2011 mac OSX 10.7.5 with Core i5 ,4GB, 320 GB so please help me to resolve this issue i am waiting thanks in advan
Regards,
Muneeb
Developer
<Email Edited by Host>

My MacBook Pro won't start up please help me

MacBook Pro won't start up what should I do?

Hey eddydamasio,
Thanks for the question. I understand that your MacBook Pro won’t turn on. The following article may help to resolve your issue:
Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1367
Note: if you hear a startup chime or the fans running, see this article instead:
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1573
Thanks,
Matt M.

MacBook Pro Problems at Start Up: Please Help!!

Hellos and Saluations,
Lads and gents: I first want to say what a brilliant board you all have here. Congrats to the admins and mods for a splendid job!
My new friends, I have a MacBook Pro (Intel) that I purchased a little over 1 year ago. I was still running Tiger when, about 6 weeks ago, upon opening the book, I started getting a gray screen that would stay there for a few seconds, then allowing me to start working. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago. The same thing happened, but it got stuck on the gray screen. The next morning it had the same symptoms, but eventually after messing with the mouse pad it came back on. Unfortunately, today it's doing the same thing, and it's stuck on gray.
Being a noob to this forum doesn't make me a board noob in general. I did some searches on this and have tried a number of things from other thread suggestions.
Things I've tried:
A. At start up, holding the Option, Apple, P, R buttons.
B. At start up, holding the Shift button
C. At start up, holding the C button (this produced an audible sound only)
D. There is no Apple icon on the screen, just gray/blue
E. There is no spinning wheel of death
F. I haven't spilled any liquid on it, nor dropped it
A couple of weeks ago, I took the computer to the Apple store. They ran a stress test and tried to replicate the issue, but couldn't. I was advised that they determined the issue to not be hardware/hard drive related; but that the problem was most likely software based. At this time I took the opportunity to upgrade to Leopard. For a little over a week the book was good to go -- no issues at start up. However, not even a week later, when I returned home from work the issue reared it's ugly head again. After a couple attempts at hard shut downs I gave up. The next morning, same thing except that it eventually came back on...
Fast forward to last night.. the MacBook Pro has been on the gray/bluish/greenish screen for close to 24 hours now. I've tried re-booting several times now; pulling the battery then restarting, restarting in safe mode, letting the battery go completely dead then powering up after plugging it in, etc. NOTHING works...
This really fails. The book is only 14 months old and only used for a couple of hours/day. The "genius" at the Apple store advised me that this issue isn't hardware related, but I'm beginning to think that it's a video card issue, which, if I'm not mistaken, is incorporated into the motherboard -- making it a hardware issue. I'm gonna be hells p!ssed if they tell me it's the video card or the screen. Both will be stoopid expensive and, after only 14 months of light use, very very disappointing to their quality.
Anyways, sorry if this is long winded, but I don't know any other way of explaining..
Thanks in advance for any help that people can provide! Again, great forum too!
Darren

So yea. Just returned from the Apple store. They've deduced that the culprit to this issue is my video card. Whilst they were diagnosing the problem, I let the genius know that this is my first Mac product; that I run an international mail order business with 45 windows based pc's; that this book was somewhat of a trial to determine whether or not we would switch to Mac for our network; that we have a deal with Dell on the table to provide us with all new Dell computers; and finally that, given this catastrophic qc failure, we would more than likely be going with Dell (depending on if Apple was going to take care of me on this or not).
Apparently this got through to the genius, as he advised me that, given the book was only 1 month out of warranty, they would be replacing the motherboard pro-bono. This was greatly appreciated by me (and my company) and we will be in talks with Apple to have them provide us with our new network. This whole ordeal, while somewhat insignificant to the overall day-to-day issues of my life, still had me rather concerned about the quality control, and especially customer service of Apple/Mac. I have a new found positive outlook on their service at this time and will report my dealings on all of the international forums that my company is a prominent member/vendor on.
Last,I will continue to update this as it still offers to add to the comprehensive knowledge base of MacBook issues and Apple customer service.
Darren

Help! My Macbook Pro won't start up! Help me ASAP? Thanks

My MacBook Pro Starts up however I'm only stuck at a page with grey back ground, an apple logo and a loading bar it looks like this. Can Someone please please help me because I have a trip coming this Friday. Thanks:)

Hey there Jesstasmin,
I see that you are getting a gray screen upon startup of your Mac. I have an article that will help you address and troubleshoot this issue effectively:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-us/ts2570
Thanks for being a part of the Apple Support Communities!
Regards,
Braden

Macbook Pro stuck on boot-up screen

When I woke up this morning, I found that my Macbook Pro has turned off while I was sleeping (I have it on constantly for convinence sake because it takes to darn long to boot-up), So I didn't think about it. Untill I found out that it would not boot on. Let me explain what happens
1) Presses power button
2) No boot-up sound
3) Loads up Apple logo
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5) After a few seconds, the bar dissapears.
6) After a second or two, the wheel stops turning.
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I would really like somebody to help me out.
Note: I've tried to go into safe mode, but it doesn't want to boot up from that mode either.

ShadowofColosuss708,
you can try this: boot your MacBook Pro into Recovery mode by holding down a Command key and the R key as it starts up. Once the OS X Utilities menu appears, select Disk Utility. On the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window, select your internal disk’s boot partition (typically called “Macintosh HD”). On the right-hand side, press the Verify Disk button if it’s not greyed out; if it is greyed out, or if it reports that errors were found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu to restart in normal mode. Does it reach the login screen now?

2010 mackbook pro stuck on start up screen

I bought a used 2010 Macbook Pro and it worked just fine. I tried to do a factory restore with the disk that the old owner provided to me. I did the reset and noticed that she gave me a 2011 disk. It would never get pass the apple startup screen after that. I tried to do a factory restore (command s)thinking that it would bring it back to before I did the restore with the 2011 disk and now it is still stuck on start up apple screen but I can hear the tutorial on how to set up your macbook pro. I will get the 2010 disk but for right now would like to be able to use the laptop. Help

Command s boot enters Single User mode, so all you need to do is hold the power button down and reboot again (without command s) and you should see the welcome video for setup.
2010 MacBook Pro's need the machine specific dark disks (not white) from Apple.
Also try a factory restore again, (hold c or option/alt to boot) this time use Disk Uitltiy (under the Utilites menu) to erase the ENTIRE drive, then quit and install OS X 10.6
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Macbook pro stuck at gray startup screen w/ apple and spinning dial

Hi, every time I try to start my computer, it gets stuck at the gray screen w/ the apple logo and the dial just keeps spinning and spinning like it is loading or something, but nothing changes and I've waited for an hour. What should I do?

First,
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 and 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 shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger, and 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) 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 this doesn't help (and it probably will not) then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with the OS X installation until you reach the screen where you select a destination drive. Select your hard drive then click on the Options button. Select the Erase and Install option then click on the OK button. Finish installing OS X.

MacBook Pro stuck on grey loading screen, MacBook Pro stuck on grey loading screen

My MacBook Pro is stuck on this loading grey screen I have tried everything but nothing works I pressed option command + P + R the shift key everything PLEASE HELP! I'm going crazy and apple support won't help me over the phone

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http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11044
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http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
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http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10763?viewlocale=en_US
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http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

Macbook Pro stuck on start-up

Hello All,
Suddenly today, my macbook pro on startup is getting stuck and all it displays is a white screen with Apple log.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Regards.

Hello All,
Suddenly today, my macbook pro on startup is getting stuck and all it displays is a white screen with Apple log.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Regards.

Macbook Pro stuck at the login screen

This morning I dropped my laptop by catching the charging cable the laptop fell on the floor but everything seemed to be normal.
I then decided to back up straight away so I started time machine. I stupidly started doing some user instensive things on my mac whilst this was going on e.g. playing a game which can sometimes crash. When it did crash I left it for half an hour or so to see if it would bring up force quit or switch out of the crashed programme. This didn't happen so, like i've done in the past, I hard reset holding down the power button.
When I turned on the mac everything seemed normal I got to the login screen and it offered to startup the computer as it was before I restarted. This was a bit odd as I normally get this message when i've actually logged in. My Backup drive also asked for a password which was also strange for the same reason. I then attempted to login to the computer I typed my password in. It was accepted and the screen went white and then went back to the login screen.
I repeated this a few times, restarting etc before I tried using disk utility in recovery mode. When verifying the disk no problems were found. Disk permissions found two problems, which unfortunately I can't remember (1 was to do with the library), I then repaired disk permissions. I tried to start again but got the same problem.
I then stared in safe mode. I'm now meant to be in safe mode but i'm not 100% sure as everything seems the same except everythign is very slow.
Midbackup my computer crashed so i'm wondering if there are any problems there (especially as it was the first backup I made on my new external HD). I'm now trying to backup in safemode but i'm not sure if that's the best thing to do (as not everything might not copy over and I could potentially ruin the first backup to my new external HD). Can anyone give me any advice on what to do next, tell me where I can test whether i'm in safe mode or not and let me know if I should be backing up in safemode.
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500GB HD
4GB RAM
2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
Lion 10.7.3
UPDATE
After entering successfully what appeared to be safe mode, I restared the computer and tried logging in normally. I got the white screen (as normal) before I reached the login screen, and after entering my password it eventually did log me in. Everything seems normal but I still want to be sure. My computer seems very slow. I only have 1.25GB/4GB free of RAM and I only have two safari tabs open. I'm backing up now but i'm still a bit concerned.
Message was edited by: Alexander Richardson

there is no installation cd, i have hit the command r function and attempted to reinstall from the recovery option stored on the computer. I am connected to the internet. It keeps saying downloading extra components and then once completed just goes b ack to main screen with my old log in informaiton as if nothing has happened. I also attempted to try to do a back up from a restore log and nothing on that as well.

Why is my macbook pro stuck on a blue screen

I was downloading a program that was put onto a disk image, then my macbook battery died (forgot it was unplugged). When i plugged it back in and booted it back up, it did the usual tone and apple logo/spinning gear. Shortly after it would go to a pale blue screen and occasionally have a spinning gear, but no matter how long i wait it stays on the same screen.
i have tried everything here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
except i't wont let me start from the install disk (it just goes to the blue screen)
i have the mac os x install disk one and two, but im also not sure what one to put in and if these are the right ones anyways.
I also have a windows xp partition that i CAN access without getting stuck on the blue screen.
So, is the hard drive corrupt even though i can access the windows partition?
Do i need to replace the hard drive?
i cant go to an apple store and get it fixed, i just dont want to drive there (but i will if i need a new hard drive)
this is my first mac and i have only basic knowledge of the operating system.
i think it was running on 10.6 (snow leopard), but i only have the install disks that came with my mac.

To fix your issue is too complicated and lengthy to go into all of it here as it sounds like a hardware issue, it will require the services of person very familiar and experienced with Mac's to first recover your data and then restore OS X back to a functional state which may or may not require new hardware/software installed.
If your under warranty or AppleCare, take it in for service.
You can also hire the services of a local Mac computer support technician experienced in these matters.
Have them look at your Wifi, RAM amount, extra storage and computer backup proceedures in the process.
Good Luck.

MacBook Pro stuck on start up screen - HELP!

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