Macbook Pro won't go past gray apple screen

When I turn my macbook on, it makes the chime and the gray apple screen appears. Then a progress bar appears and after it is finished loading, there is just a spinning loading circle thingy under the apple. My laptop never goes past this screen, it was like this all day. What do I do. This my work computer and I have not used it in a few weeks and before that it was FINE....PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Thank you so much for your reply. I am in the processing of doing the safe boot (I chose to see it) and there are a lot of codes on the screen and it was checking all different things. All of that checking seems to have stopped and all the words and codes on the screen are staying the same. How do I know if the process is done and how long does it take? I am not sure what to do right now.

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro won't get past gray start screen - RunTime corruption error

Hi, I am a novice when it comes to fixing things, so I will make a Genius Bar appointment, but I thought I would consult this community first in case anyone has experienced this same issue:
I was using my 13 in. MacBook Pro this morning after not using it for a couple weeks. (It was running fine last time.) It started up fine, and the few applications I was using worked OK. Then I got an error saying I needed to update my Java in order to access my work VPN. I didn't think twice about downloading the Java upgrade. Once the Java download was complete, I thought I might need to restart to get the VPN to recognize the update. And that was the last time I was able to see my desktop. I restarted, and the could not get past the gray screen. I did this twice. Then I did a safe boot (showing the status of the progression), and that when I saw this message over and over and over:
hfs: RunTime corruption detected on MacIntosh HD, fsck will be forced on next mount.
hfs: BlockMarkFreeInternal () trying to free unallocated blocks (10865570,8) on volume MacIntosh HD
(I snapped a pic with my phone - that's how I transcribed it.)
This ran for about 20 minutes before I suspected it wasn't actually doing anything, and I forced it to shut down by pressing the power button.
I just tried to start it again (fingers crossed, hoping for a miracle), but no such luck. Does anyone have any ideas? Is all lost? Thank you in advance for any recommendations!
Jennifer

I should add that I don't know if the Java download is responsible - could just be a coincidence that it was the last thing I did/downloaded before restarting.

MacBook Pro won't get past the apple screen on startup

The laptop won't startup. I get to the Apple logo and a spinning gear. I've tried starting it 3 times with the same result.

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.”
b. 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.
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
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 either of the techniques in Steps 1b and 1c 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 pro won't go past the apple logo (Lion)

I've installed Java Runtime, and after that tried to use "software update" but the application quit.
Tried to restart, but it stays stuck on the apple logo (with the wheel turning) for ages. Restarted in recovery mode, ran disk utility, repaired permissions and verified disk. no problems found. Restarted again, still the same thing - won't go past the apple logo.
If reinstall is the only way to go, is there a way to access this hard drive to back up files (it is a recent computer, still hadn't made any backups...)
Thank you all, help would be much appreciated!

Shut down and startup holding command-r keys into Recovery Disk from there choose Disk Utility and Repair Disk.
polymolly wrote:
I've installed Java Runtime, and after that tried to use "software update" but the application quit.
Tried to restart, but it stays stuck on the apple logo (with the wheel turning) for ages. Restarted in recovery mode, ran disk utility, repaired permissions and verified disk. no problems found. Restarted again, still the same thing - won't go past the apple logo.
If reinstall is the only way to go, is there a way to access this hard drive to back up files (it is a recent computer, still hadn't made any backups...)
Thank you all, help would be much appreciated!
Ooops you've been there, done that. You can use Target Disk Mode if you have another Mac.
EDIT: Was the Java Runtime from Software Update?

G4 TiBook won't go past gray apple screen with spinning black wheel

Hi,
I am trying to get this machine to boot, and things are very strange.
The latest development, which I'll start with, is that I just finished an install of Tiger on the machine. It gets to the gray Apple screen with the spinning cursor. However, the startup/welcome music to Tiger played in the background, and it started walking me through keyboard commands via Voiceover.
1) It will boot off of a Tiger or Panther startup DVD/CD, and will install without incident.
2) It will actually boot from the hard drive with a fresh install of OS 9.2.
3) Another machine can boot the hard drive while the TiBook is in firewire target mode.
4) I have tried a brand new hard drive, and have tried to boot other machines while they were in Firewire target mode - same behavior.
5) I have tried resetting PMU, PRAM and NVRAM multiple times. Every time I boot into OF, the very top message is "NVRAM Corrupted" and it performs an init-vram command, to which it says "OK".
6) Before all of this happened, the machine underwent an upgrade from Panther to Tiger. Everything was working fine (albeit slowly, since the hard drive was almost totally full) until PRAM and NVRAM were reset. After that, the only thing the machine has been able to do (with OS X on the drive) is boot to this gray splash screen.
7) The hard drive has been wiped completely with a fresh install of Tiger and even Panther several times. Same behavior.
8) Have tried taking out the memory, changing the memory - all resulting in the same startup screen.
I've tried booting up using Verbose mode as well as Safe mode. Doesn't make any difference. The only thing I have not tried is taking out the CMOS battery (which I don't yet know where it's at on this machine).
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks
Erik

Hi Erik,
Every time I boot into OF, the very top message is "NVRAM Corrupted"
Just one thought fwiw: I'm wondering if you have a bad cache. I can't remember if you can access your Apple Menu>About This Mac>More Info while booted to your install disc, but if so, see if your L2 and L3 cache are listed. If that doesn't work, again I don't remember if this will work, but while booted to FWTDM open Applications>Utilities>System Profiler on your Ti HD and see if caches are listed. Which Ti (CPU) do you have btw?
If it does turn out to be a cache issue, not good news, as cache is incorporated into the logic board, and the "repair" is actually replacing the LB.

Macbook Pro won't load past white loading screen when turned on after kernel panics

Hello,
I have a Macbook Pro and recently its been having repeated kernel panics. In the past few days its been turning off every few minutes or so. yesterday it had one and now when I try to turn it on it doesn't load. I get the white loading screen with the apple logo and a loading bar underneath. But after the bar fills about 5% of the way (if that) the bar just disappears and the spinning loading icon just keeps going without anything happening (however long I leave it).
Please can someone give me some suggestions to fix this. Just a few things to note:
a) I'm not great with computers so any fixes please explain in the most simple terms
b) I have VERY important work files on there that are NOT backed up (big mistake I know), so please only suggest fixes that will not remove these Microsoft Word files. Guaranteeing the safety of my work is paramount with any suggestions.
c) I may not have any of the disks which came with the Macbook Pro originally (though I may somewhere)
d) I've read some other forum posts and it seems that I need to know the details of my operating system. I don't know these and have no way of accessing them on the computer (for obvious reasons). Its a late 2011 Macbook Pro if that is of any help.
A massive thank you to anyone who can suggest a fix to these, I shall be eternally grateful.

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
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. The easiest way to deal with the problem is to boot from an external drive, or else to use either of the techniques in Steps 1b and 1c 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 boot 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 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.
Step 7
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.
Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 6.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
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 9
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 10
Repeat Step 9, 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 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 boot failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 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 Pro won't load past a grey screen on startup!

I apologise for what will most likely be an essay ahead.
I have a Macbook Pro (2.16ghz) that is just over three years old. It is running on Leopard with all the up to date patches / updates. Over the past week or so, it has been 'playing up' in the sense that the spinning loading icon would appear at random intervals and stay there for a good 20 to 30 seconds or so, not allowing me to do anything. If I would be listening to music, the music would pause and then come back on.
It would normally appear when something was trying to load. For example, the final straw was when I was using Adobe Bridge and it was taking an extremely long time to load up the photos I had imported and in the end I gave up. Speed has never been an issue before and my MBP has 2GB of RAM.
So I backed up what I needed and proceeded to do an 'Erase and Install(Leopard) format. Once formatted, the MBP booted up and I completed the registration, took my User picture blah blah etc. Once done, the MBP booted into OS X - this is where the problems occurred. The spinning loading icon appeared and after about 30 seconds or so, the Finder window / toolbar at the top disappeared, as did the Macintosh HD icon on the desktop. All I was left with was my wallpaper and Dock with icons in. However, if I clicked on any of the programs, nothing would happen.
Naturally, I tried restarting it and the same thing happened again. I figured that because my MBP was connected to a second Dual monitor, that this might have been the issue so I decided to boot from the OS X Leopard CD and do another 'Erase and Install'. I once again got past the registration screen, but this time, instead of booting into OS X my MBP stuck itself on a grey screen. It would not go any further.
I then decided that the spinning loading icon issue may be a RAM problem. When I first got my MBP, I upgraded the RAM so I knew how to take it out and replace it. So I tried taking out the RAM stick (1GB) I put in orignally and booting it with the original 1GB stick. The same problem occurred. I tried the other way round, putting in my 1GB RAM stick and taking the original out - nothing worked. I tried every possible combination, even swapping the sticks around.
Eventually my brother tells me he has some spare RAM which I also try and once again, this does not solve the issue. So I figure it cannot be a RAM problem.
So next I try booting from the OS X Disc on startup and run Disk Utility. I verify and repair the Mac HD which comes up fine. No errors, no issues, nothing.
I finally scour the internet for info on what could be the cause of the problem and the biggest suggestion seems to be formatting. So I once again try formatting my MBP for a third time - however this time, I get the original problem. It boots up into OS X but then the Finder toolbar and Mac HD icon disappear, leaving me with Dock and Wallpaper.
The final thing I try is resetting the MBPs PRAM on startup. This does not solve the issue.
So here I am. If you could be bothered to read all of that, well done haha I'm not sure if I could have.
If anyone has ANY suggestions or advice, please post!
I do not have Apple Care so if I was to take it to the local Genius bar, would they look at it for free and diagnose it? Or would that cost me? I have never had to take my MBP in before.
Thankyou again

I just skimmed over this because the post is like a small novel! lol Try a Apple Hardware Test. I think it's probably a bad logic board.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
Don't take it to a Genius Bar until you've done this, saves time and you might have a little more info to give them. Also that way you won't feel pressured into anything. It's out of warranty, so sometimes I've noticed they can be a little pushy especially on a very high dollar replacement such as a new logic board on an out of warranty item. Also the "enhanced diagnostic" is around $100, so you might have to at least fork over a hard earned Benjamin and not get anything fixed. And whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT tell them you upgraded the RAM yourself. If they are feeling in a good mood and decide to knock off any money or waive any sort of fees, this will kill it instantly. RAM is considered "user serviceable," but they normally try to plead "the part you installed is not Apple Authorized" or the "installation caused the issue and was not an ACHT." Put back in the original stick and leave it alone. Hope this helps you out!

MacBook Pro Won't Boot Beyond Grey Apple Screen - Mystery Partition Found

My MacBook Pro, which suffers from appalling overheating (94 degrees C in each core last week) won't boot beyond the grey apple splash screen. I booted from a Developer's disk and ran Repair Disk/Disk Permissions. Both verified AND said the repairs failed. The drive (as opposed to the volumes) said it had no valid files and thus couldn't be repaired even though it verified. I target-disked it to one of my G4s and took off a bunch of apps and lightened its load, waited a while and tried again--it's been grey screen gear turning for 20 minutes now. I have Remote Desktop but it won't respond to that. Of course, Windows XP boots up perfectly normally on its Boot Camp-created partition, dumbly unaware of the general chaos on the other side.
While I had the Disk Utility from the boot disk on, I noticed my partition scheme had changed somehow. The big partition with the system was now in position #2, set between #3 (Windows--formerly #2 of 2) and a new one of only 200MB called #1 which is formatted OS X Journaled. I didn't make that partition and it couldn't be erased. I think the cpmputer is looking in the #1 spot for a system and can't find it because some renegade partition with no brain has pushed its way to the front. How do I annihilate that thing and get on with it? How did it get there?
Has anyone tried that alter the Apple Blower/Fan hack said to turn the fans on permanently?
For the record, I'm in L.A. and the ground has been rocking and rolling for the past 3 minutes on and off.
MacBook Pro 2.0/2GB/100GB Mac OS X (10.4.8) TiBookG4 1.0/512K/60; PowerMacG4 Quicksilver 933/1G/160; PowerMacG4 450/512K/30

I called Apple's Tech Support and they had me do perform sevral procedures I had done already, none of which worked. They suggested that the mystery partition (which has since ceased to reappear in the Disk Utility's view of the partition scheme) was an anomaly caused by the still-Beta Boot Camp--nothing was said about Windows XP booting, but I think you're right because whenever installing Windows, it always reserves a small "free space" on the PC's drive for its own purposes. Anyway, I'mre-installing now but very unhappy to hear I have suspected all along--the overheating is killing the computer. I know this from experience because Ihad a Powerbook G4 with a at-that-time-not-yet-recalled battery that overheated to such an extent that it fried the logic board and the harddrive. After a year of arguing with Apple, they replaced the computer with this MacBookPro--and overheating laptop that also had its battery recalled, has already been sent back to Texas for over heating (they replaced the superdrive which of course had no effect on the heat issue) and now has hard drive problems. I have two old PowerMac G4s sitting here plugging along--maybe I'm over laptops. Thanks
MacBook Pro 2.0/2GB/100GB Mac OS X (10.4.8) TiBookG4 1.0/512K/60; PowerMacG4 Quicksilver 933/1G/160; PowerMacG4 450/1GB/100

MacBook Pro won't get past grey startup screen

I have a late 2011 15 inch MacBook Pro running Mavericks. Around a month ago, maybe more, it began to sometimes completely freeze or just turn off while Inwas using it. Sometimes it would start up again, sometimes it wouldn't and would beep three times. Eventually it wouldn't start up at all and would just beep. I started it up in recovery (holding command +R) and ran a disk repair, it said the disk couldn't be repaired. I had it backed up on Time Machine so I replaced the HD and restored from Time Machine. It was fine for a couple days after that, then the old symptoms returned. I took the RAM out and replaced them with some RAM of the same size (2 chips, 2GB each) taken out of a Windows laptop that I had. Again, it was fine for a few days then started turning off and beeping. Then it would turn on but not boot up, i.e. get stuck on the grey screen with the spinning circle. I tried booting in recovery, booting into safe mode, holding option and choosing a disk; in all cases it would just stay stuck on grey screen with the spinning thing. I tried PRAM and SMC reset, no result. At one point, it got through boot up in safe mode but took like an hour to do so. I restarted from safe mode and it took another hour and booted up normally. Then it turned off again and wouldn't turn back on. I opened it up, reseated the RAM and cleaned he fans, which were filled with dust and build up. It turned on and ran normally for a couple days in which I wasn't doing much on it, just watching stuff on VLC or reading, so not really using it and clicking and stuff. Next day, I open it (from sleep, it hasn't been shut down at all since I got it to run again), and try to open Firefox and actually work; it keeps freezing and being incredibly slow, to the point where it was totally frozen and I couldn't force quit or anything. So I held the power key to shut it down; since then it's back to not getting past the grey screen, even when I leave it for over an hour. No idea what to do, anyone have an idea? Thanks in advance.

You have to use Mac specific RAM chips.
You have to buy new RAM modules, I guess.
If you have extended AppleCare, contact Apple.
Best.

Macbook pro won't go past start up screen

i started up my macbook pro today and it opened but couldn't scroll with the trackpad. force quitted (start button) it and then tried to start up again. this time i didn't get past the start up screen (with the apple logo and spinning timer). i then tried to reset pram (cmd+option+p+r), safe mode and a number of other possibilities to no avail. next step was using the instal disc and running disc permissions + repair. again to no avail. i even tried the terminal and tried fixing the disc repair report that it was a invalid sibling link. here's a link to the procedures; http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20070204093925888. i got the message from terminal that the disc is corrupted and i've now run out of tricks/options to get my macbook pro up and running. has anyone here in the community know any other avenues i could travel down. all help of course would be much appreciated. the computer affected is my new 13 inch 2.3 ghz i5 macbook pro.
cheers, Jan

instal disc and running disc permissions + repair.
You need to boot from the install disc and run Disk Utility to verify and if necessary, repair the startup disk.
Insert your install disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
(In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first from the installer menu)
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your startup disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. Where you see Capacity and Available. Make sure there is always 15% free space.

My Macbook Pro will not load past grey Apple screen...

Last night my Macbook Pro froze so I closed it and went to bed. Today when I opened it, it was still frozen, so I held down the power button and rebooted it. It got as far as the grey Apple screen with the spinning wheel and will not load any further than that. I've rebooted a couple times since and it continues to do the same thing, stays on the grey screen forever.
I searched this problem on the Apple Support Communitites and none of suggestions (holding Shift after the startup tone, holding Command+R) have worked so far. Is there any way to fix this problem without losing my data or having to pay to talk to Apple Support? PLEASE HELP! :(

Zzoozu wrote:
None of that made sense to me or helped me. Anyone else? Maybe someone who has answers dor someone not a computer genius?
Then we can't help you as we need you to be able to help yourself and the instructions are complicated and long to paste here over and over again for the same proceedure.
Hire the services of a local Mac computer repair before you delete your data by accident.
You can jump down and do #8, that might clear the issue right away, but some programs are not going to work and require updating or reinstalling again.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac

MacBook Pro: Tiger wont boot past grey apple screen w/ spinning gear, HELP!

Hey everybody,
I have a 1.83 Ghz MBP with 512 mb of RAM (lame I know). The other day someone was using my computer to burn a CD on iTunes when all of my programs began failing. On instinct I rebooted my computer to solve the problem. Alas, now I cant boot past the grey apple screen, and the gear is spinning away. Saddest part of the story is that I had time set aside to back up my computer the day after this happened . Anyway what is the best thing to do from here? I haven't made any moves to fix it yet really, so what is the best thing that I can do to try and get my files back?
Thank you,
Sam A.

Hi, I posted to you in yoour other thread.
I very much doubt Disk Utility or fsck will fix an +Invalid Node Structure+ error. That's a pretty serious error and DU is just not robust enough of a utility to repair it.
If Disk Utility can't fix it, you'll need a more robust utility for the repair. I would recommend DiskWarrior. It is the best at directory repairs. It rebuilds then actually replaces your old directory. I feel every Mac owner should have a copy. Make sure you get the disk so you can boot up on it to run repairs. You can also install it on another drive and run it from there to repair this one. DW works faster that way.
I use DW once a month to try and catch errors in my system from getting too far out of hand.
If you have a good backup, hopefully a clone of your system before you had issues, an Erase and Install will also rid you of this issue. But, beware! You will lose everything on the drive with this procedure. Let us know if you need help with that!
Cheers! DALE
p.s. If the +Invalid Node Structure+ is real bad, there's a risk even the mighty DiskWarrior will not be able to help. Normally it will come thru; it's only in the severe cases it won't be able to do it. If you don't have a backup, and need the data bad, it's worth the try!

Indigo/Panther won't boot past gray apple screen.

Right before this started, the finder was stalled with a pinwheel in an almost-loaded configuration--menu bar not fully there, nothing on desktop yet. I finally shut it down with the power button, and since then, every attempt I make to boot up stops at the gray apple, except:
1. I can boot to the Restore CD if I wait through a lonnnnng gray apple phase--probably 5 minutes--after which all the CD's options load and seem normal. I tried restoring, which went without a hitch until restart, at which is simply stalled as before.
2. I can boot to Open Firmware.
I reset the PMU, and I tried resetting the PRAM, and might have done so I guess, but the chimes sounded abnormally close together, sort of like a broken record, and then of course when I let up on the keys, I got the gray apple.
Any clues? I'd certainly appreciate any thoughts you might have. Thank you.

The threadstarter has problems with his Indigo iBook.(366MHZ, firewire)
The AHT is available for Clamshells with firewire.
The next thing would be using Panthers Disk utility prior to installation.
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=169576&seqNum=10
Try to verify and repair your volume. With disk utility you can erase the HD and overwrite it with 0, (erase option) if there are too many bad sectors this process will fail.
You can pull out the RAM stick underneath the keyboard and swap it with the one from your tangerine and see if it works better.
Message was edited by: bund

My macbook pro won't load past the opening screen

i was using my macbook pro last night and it just froze, i turned it off and then tried to restart it. while restarting, i noticed that the screen had not changed for a couple of minutes. it was the screen when you first turn your computer on, before you log onto a user. i waited for about an hour and the screen wouldnt change. i've tried restarting it. nothing is working. any ideas?

Well, it would depend if your HDD has died. If you don't have a backup that would be unfortunate.
First, go grab your original install disk, stick it in, and restart & hold the C key.
That will bring up the install screen.
Select your Language.
Then go up the top to Utilities > Disk Utility > Repair Disk + Repair Permissions
Please take note of any errors it repairs / does not repair.

Macbook Pro won't get past admin login screen

2.53 ghz 13" MBP osx 10.6.4
It starts up and gets to the login screen where it usually has the box to put in the password. But now it just shows the account name and little icons below in that window for sleep, restart, shut down. But it's not responsive to any clicks. I can move the cursor, but nothing else. All I can do is hard shut down but then it does the same thing whenever I restart.
Any ideas? Thank you.

I figured it out. A track pad option was deselected in System Preferences that messed it all up. I got past the login screen with key commands then used my 17 MBP to share screen and changed the track pad settings on the 13 MBP. Phew, that was weird.
It was nice having this exchange with myself in a public forum though...

Macbook Pro won't go past gray apple screen

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