MacBook won't boot from disc

On Sunday my ten-month-old MacBook froze up and made some nasty clicking noises. I forced a restart, but now it just boots to a white screen and, after a good five minutes or more, eventually displays the blinking, question-mark folder.
I'm quite certain the drive is toast, but what I find more interesting (and in some ways more irritating) is that I can't for the life of me get it to boot from a DVD. I've tried my Leopard disc and the install disc that came with my computer. I hold C while booting, the drive spins for a bit, and eventually it just spits the disc back out. I've also tried holding D with the original install disc to boot the Apple Hardware Test and get the same result. I've tried holding Option to get a list of boot volumes and just get a white screen with a mouse cursor. I've tried resetting the power management unit and zapping the PRAM, as suggested in the "What to do if your Mac won't boot" list, and have noticed no change.
Thoughts? There must be something else I can do.

You may have a bigger problem than just the Hard Drive. Call Apple support or go by an Apple store if your near one and talk to them. You've done everything you can do. It will be up to them now. Be thankful it's still under warranty.

Similar Messages

Macbook won't boot from Hard Drive of Disc Drive!

So I bought a Macbook (Mid-2010) from a friend recently and I can't seem to get it to boot from the hard drive or optical drive. At first I tried booting from the HD it already had and when I didn't have any luck, I went out and bought a new one. It still won't boot. I'll turn it on, it'll chime and will try to load, and then I'll get the "You need to restart your." message. I've tried booting from disc (Leopard & Snow Leopard) and will still get the same message. I have also tried all possible startup key combinations and haven't had any luck. I don't have the original DVD it came with. So was wondering if any of you guys out there have experienced this. I would like to hear your tips before I go to an Apple Store and see if they can get it fixed for me.

"You need to restart your." message
That is referred to as a "kernel panic"...
Try here > Tutorial: Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics | MacFixIt - CNETReviews
I don't have the original DVD it came with
You will need those discs. Replacement disc(s) from Apple: You can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available.
You can check the startup disk using the Disk Utility application located in /Applications/Utilities if you can boot in Safe Mode, but you cannot make repairs without the install disc.

My macbook won't boot from install disc.

I'm actually trying to help my brother's fiance with her Macbook. She is a teacher and received a computer through school channels but of course the district IT personnel set a root password. With the password on the computer it's pretty much useless for the majority of operations.
I actually have experience with resetting the password using the install disc boot method but that is not working. When trying to boot directly from the disc the computer boots normally, ignoring the boot from disc command. Trying to use the startup disc utility in system preferences prompts me for a password yet again, so no luck there.
I tried to boot using option and it asks for a password.
I tried booting in single user mode and trying any of the various commands that people have suggested in other discussions, however the single user command was ignored as well and the system booted normally.
Someone suggested trying to boot her macbook using my macbook pro as a startup disc linked via firewire, unfortunately I am in Tucson and she is in LA.
I'm assuming some custom handicap has been placed on the computer but is there anyway to bypass it? Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm not entirely sure that the disc we have was the disc that the OS was installed with, but I can assure you that the disc we tried was the disc that came in the box with the computer when she received it. Most likely it is the correct disc.
I asked my brother to try and boot off his Macbook Pro disc just as an experiment, he hasn't gotten back to me about it yet though.

MacBook won't boot from new hard drive.

I'm trying to upgrade my hard drive, but my macbook will not boot to the new hard drive. I have erased and cloned the hard drive about three times now, using both Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper. It won't boot while it is in the macbook and it won't boot from an external hard drive case. All I get to is the screen with the mac logo and the spinning wheel. I have made sure the drive is GUID formatted, but it still doesn't work. When I put the new drive in an external case and plug it into the USB port of my macbook I can see and access everything on the drive. Can somebody please tell what I am doing wrong?
By the way the new hard drive is a 500gb western digital Scorpio blue drive.

I got a new hard drive recently 500gb seagate. I followed the directions on this page http://www.ehow.com/how2063795format-hard-drive-mac-os.html , Mine was a little more complicated since i had 2 partitions windows and mac on mine. Initially the process took a day and it started getting to the same thing as yours where it would get to the mac logo and not find the hard drive. I reformatted several times before i got to the point where i could boot up.Eventually I just figured out all the info was there the drive was formatted i could boot into windows 7 but not mac. So i put old hard drive back in the computer booted up with that. Attached new hard drive via usb in external case i was trying to put in the mac. I was able not to boot up but it would show the drives that have been formatted into the new drive and i simply copied my existing Disk by dragging it onto the new hard drive. Than turn off your mac keep your hard drive plugged in. Press and hold the option key in start up and you should see the 2 seperate hard drives and be able to boot into the new one. Was a long process for me took several complete deletes of the new hard drive and reformatting before it would work. once you get to the mac logo and spinning wheel its just saying mac cant find your boot up disk though. Sorry its confusing a bit any questions email me.

Macbook won't boot from install discs

I've got a Macbook C2D 2ghz superdrive from early 2007. It came with OS 10.4.8 discs (grey). Recently, the hard drive died (click, click, click). So I had to replace it with another HD, a Hitachi 160gb. I installed the hard drive, inserted the install disc 1, and powered up the system. Holding down the option key I get the grey screen and nothing happens for a long time, then the drive kicks out the install disc.
Being a PC guy primarily, I pulled out a copy of Windows XP and was able to quickly boot off that disc, partition the hard drive (>32gb fat32) and install Windows XP. So I know the hard drive works and I know the superdrive works. Process of elimination causes me to suspect the MacBook install discs (which aren't scratched or damaged).
So why can't I get the macbook to boot off the 10.4.8 install discs that came with it? Why won't the original install discs allow me to boot off of them? Is there a simple little trick that I am missing?
Remember, I had a dead hard drive so I have no backup hard drive with OS X on it. This is not a hard drive swap or a hard drive upgrade, just a pure replacement of a dead drive. I do have several external drives available to me, but none have OS X installed on them.
As for background, I am primarily a WinTel guy. I've been building computers from scratch for the last 20+ years. I also worked as a PC Tech back in the day so I've probably assembled or repaired in excess of a 1000 computers, so I'm very hardware knowledgable. However, I have a PC brain, not a MAC brain. Maybe it is just my PC logic that erroneously assumes that these install discs are bootable in the Mac world. Hopefully that isn't the case.

I figured it out, crappy discs or crappy hardware is the problem. On a hunch, I tried to see if I could clone the Apple install dvd's on one of my PC's. Since I didn't know the format of the install discs, I was unsure that would work. I cloned the install discs using Nero Burning Rom and then tried booting off the cheap Ritek dvdr's.
Guess what? The cheap Riteks work with the Apple superdrive, but Apple's own pressed cd's will not! Either Apple has crappy install media (unlikely given my PC read them fine), or the Superdrive is garbage quality hardware. I'm forgiving for hardware failures, heck I seem to eat hard drives because of my audio editing. However, I've rarely ever used the rom drive on this laptop since I do all my work with external hard drives.
I guess I wouldn't be so mad if it weren't for the Apple smugness in their superiority. It's a nice, small, lightweight laptop that got me through my last year of college (older student) with an absolutely horrid keyboard. I just expected more from the hardware given the 40% premium I paid over a comparable WinTel laptop.

MacBook Won't Boot From Install Disc

I was getting the "No Airport Card INstalled" error notice, so I replaced the airport card. Very easy operation really. With a new card in, I still get the same error notice. Mind you the Bluetooth works, and it's on the same card.
If I unplug the battery, and reconnect it, the airport will usually then come up, but disappear as soon as the machine wakes from sleep.
I was thinking software corruption, but now I find that I cannot boot from the Apple install disc. Using the "C" key or the "Option" key.
I have also now found that I can't reset the PRAM using the Option-Command-P-R key combionation either.
It's NOT the keyboard, as it works in every other way.
So still thinking software corruption somewhere, but unable to boot from the install disc to do a wipe and reload of the OS.
Need ideas before I bite the bullet and take to the shop.

Try smc reset.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

IBook G3 flashing question mark/won't boot from disc

I recently bought a used iBook, and I knew that the hard drive was bad. No big deal, just replace the HD and reinstall OS X, right? Not quite. I'm still getting the flashing question mark, and the CD won't boot. I reset the PRAM, etc. Still nothing. Held down alt/option at start up. It recognizes that the OS X disc is there, but still won't boot it. It just shows me a smiling computer with a spinning rainbow CD looking thing in the upper left corner. At this point I'm thinking it might be a failed optical drive, or the ribbon might not be seated properly (Entirely possible, since the retard that owned this before obviously took it apart at least once. Half of the screws are missing). Am I correct in this assumption, or is there something else I should be looking for?
Edit: I have 256MB of RAM, a combo drive, and am using a 10.1.3 disc.
Message was edited by: InVenereVeritas

Well, that iMac has a G3 processor and I see it's running OS X, so if you can get the iBook working, that is about what you can expect from it.
There was a later G4 processor (in iBooks and iMacs), and the end of the PowerPC iMacs had a G5 processor in them, but that processor ran too hot for a portable — a main consideration in Apple's decision to switch to Intel processors.
Surfing the web may be a trifle difficult with it, depending somewhat on the speed of your internet connection.
The MacBooks are a phenomenal improvement over the iBooks (even the iBook G4). There's no way around it — the Intel processors are just so much faster. I wince a bit when I hear someone say they're basing a future purchase decision on the performance of such an old model as this. It's simply not an accurate representation of what modern Macs are like.
Comparing Mac OS X 10.2.4 to Mac OS X 10.6.7 is a bit like comparing Windows 98 to Windows 7.

New MacBook won't boot from external disk

I have a new MacBook that I am trying to boot from an external disk that had the system from my first gen MacBook Pro. When I restart holding the Option key, and select my external disk, the system restarts again and won't let me boot from that disk. Is there something different with the OS (10.5.6) that is installed on a newer MacBook that won't allow it to boot from the same OS from an older MacBook Pro?
Thanks

Ian Patterson wrote:
golferx,
Will any other Intel Mac boot from the drive? If not, it's possibly because the drive uses an Apple Partition Map (bootable for PowerPC Macs) instead of a GUID Partition Table (bootable for Intel Macs).
To check: open to Disk Utility, select the hard drive on the left, select the Partition tab and look at the text at the bottom right corner of the window under Partition Map Scheme. If it says anything other than GUID Partition Table, you will need to erase and repartition it as such before it will be bootable.
Just a thought. Hope this helps. Good luck!
-i-
I can boot an prev gen MacBook and also my iMac (current gen). I took it to the Genius Bar and he could not get it to boot a new MacBook either and didn't have a solution.

Macbook won't boot from cd

I'm trying to format and reinstall osx on my macbook but I can't get it to boot from my restore cd. I've tried holding down c during startup but it doesn't work.
Also, none of the boot key combinations work. I've tried command + s for single mode and it just boots straight to my desktop.
Does anyone know what's causing this?

Phanweb wrote:
I don't have the password, so that method won't work.
Is it your machine?
Do you have any idea why non of the boot key commands seem to work on my macbook?
If you bought the computer used, the previous owner may have set the firmware password, which would do exactly what you describe - prevent most boot keys from working.

Macbook won't boot from install CD

I have a Macbook A1181 and the hard drive crashed. Replaced it with a new HD that is installed correctly but my machine will not boot from the OSX 10.2 install CD that came with it. I've gone through all the possible button combination to try to force this thing to boot but nothing works. How do I get this thing to boot from a disc so I can run disc utilities and format the new bare HD?

Resetting NVRAM(PRAM) could solve the problem.
OS X Mavericks: Reset your computer’s PRAM

Macbook won't boot from HD

Hi!
Stock MacBook. Froze while using and required hard reboot w/ power button.
Started back up, and stops with gray apple and spinning circle of lines. Stays at this stage and doesn't progress forward or go into sleep mode.
Shut it down, booted from System CD, holding C key, ran disk utility: NO PROBLEMS. NO ERRORS TO CORRECT. Repaired permissions. NO PROBLEMS.
Started back up, and again stops with gray apple and spinning circle of lines. Stays at this stage and doesn't progress forward or go into sleep mode.
Scary part: faint rhythmic clicking sound while it hangs.
Whaddya think?
THX

It means required system files are damaged or corrupted. DU only checks the directory and does not fix damaged files. Your only recourse is reinstall:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
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.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) 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.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Intel iMac won't boot from disc or in safe mode - cannot repair disk

I have an early Intel iMac 20" (2GHz core duo) that generally works fine. I recently ran Onyx and it reported a startup disk error, suggesting I insert the install disk, hold 'c', and use disk utility to repair the disk.
NOTE: I have performed this operation successfully in the past and know how to do it.
On this occasion, the iMac simply booted up to the normal desktop each time after multiple attempts at booting from both the original OSX 10.4.4 install disc and the OSX 10.5.1 install disc (current os is 10.5.8).
I then attempted to start holding 'shift' to start in safe mode but again, repeated attempts all landed me on my normal desktop.
I then attempted to hold 'option' to be given the choice of startup disc but again was ignored and went straight to my normal desktop after multiple attempts.
Note that my iMac appears to be running fine otherwise. I was just trying to perform some routine maintenance and have run across this problem.
Any ideas? This mac will be 5 years old soon and I would like to keep it running for a while longer.

Hello Devoidarex
You'll want to use the Leopard Install DVD to Repair your Startup Volume and may want to try a USB keyboard if your using a wireless.
Another option is to insert the DVD and go to: System Preferences > Startup Disk > select the Install DVD > then Restart.
Dennis

IMac G5 hangs on startup, won't boot from disc

Hello,
My brother's computer has been acting up and I've been unable to fix it for him...so I was hoping I might be able to get some advice here.
Problem: hangs on startup. It goes to the gray screen with the Apple logo and the spinning progress wheel like it normally would, but never gets past that. You can hear the hard drive working and eventually the fan comes on.
What I've done:
1) attempted to boot from OSX disc, same result
2) attempted to boot from Apple hardware test disc. this brings up an open firmware terminal style prompt but does not boot from the disc. using the prompts i reset pram and did the "reset all" command which restarted the computer but it continued to hang
3) opened it up and pulled the only ram chip out and put it in the other slot. Unfortunately we don't have another chip to test out, but if you guys think it is a likely culprit I'll go buy him one to see if that fixes it.
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!
-Alan

Do you hear the drive spinning up? Have you tried a safe bootAfter the startup tone, hold down the <shift> key until you (hopefully) reach the desktop, it will be longer than normal, because Disk Utility's "repair" is invisibly run; it also will bypass any login items. If the system gets to the desktop OK this time but stalls when the shift key is NOT held down, the problem may be some login item that will need to be removed, using the Accounts panel of System Preferences and its Login Items section.
You could try to repair the machine using Target Disk Mode to access it.

MacBook won't boot from hard drive or CD

My MacBook will not turn on. When the power button is pressed the chime sounds as normal and the grey screen appears but it will not go any further. It also refuses to boot from a CD when c is held down. The CD spins up but it does not load. The computer was water damaged in December and this killed the hard drive but I replaced it and it worked fine again for about a month. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for the advice, doesn't seem to have worked though.

Macbook won't boot from install disks

I have tried to boot my sisters macbook the other day from her install disks so I could use disk utility to repair her disks (I think there is a problem with the block count) so I inserted the CD and held 'C' on startup and I got to the grey screen for about 10 seconds but then the computer went black, chimed again and gave me the same screen and kept repeating until I let go of 'C' where it booted from the hard drive. The problem is not the CD as I tried to boot from another leopard install disk. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks

Reboot holding down the shift key until you see the spinning cog. When the desktop finally appears (it will take a good while) launch DU and Repair Disk. Then empty the Trash. Then reboot. Then try again to boot from the (correct) OS installer DVD (not a CD).

MacBook won't boot from disc

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for