MacBook won't start up it shows the apple logo and just keeps the "wheel" spinning
MacBook won't start up it shows the apple logo and just keeps the "wheel" spinning
Usually means that critical system files are corrupted. Start by:
Boot into Safe Mode if possible. If it boots into safe mode, then restart the computer to see if it will boot normally. Otherwise, reinstall OS X. Unfortunately, you've not provided any information in your profile about what version of OS X you have installed.
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i switch on my mac book pro and all i get is the apple logo and below a loading wheel , but its stuck there for like an hour !!! help??
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. -
Hello, My Iphone is full with photos as it has my Photo library on it, I guess from Syncing it with my computer... How do I remove the photo Library and just keep the photos I take on my phone on my phone? Hope that is clear....
Same way they got on your phone, through the iTunes sync process. With your phone connected, iTunes running, under the "Photos" tab, deselect the albums/folders/photos you do not want on your phone. Hit the "Apply/Sync" button & they will be removed from your phone.
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Macbook won't boot past grey screen with Apple logo and spinning wheel.
For some reason, after about 1 year and 10 months of owning my Macbook, it decided this morning not to load past the grey screen with the Apple logo and spinning cog/wheel.
I used it for a couple of hours beforehand, and it was working fine. Software Update prompted me of about about 4 or 5 updates; I can't remember exactly what was downloaded, but I think there was a Security Update and iTunes among them. I restarted, left it to install with no errors, but when I logged in, Safari and iTunes were running incredibly slowly. I also noticed that the volume keys weren't responding, as well as the power key to bring up the "Sleep, Restart, Shutdown, etc" dialog box. I forced shutdown, hoping a restart would solve my problem, and that's when my troubles started. I originally just left it, but after about an hour the wretched thing was still spinning.
So far, I have done a number of troubleshooting tips on a variety of websites. I have tried taking the battery out and holding down power for 5 seconds, resetting the PRAM with option, cmd, p & r, and holding down power until the sleep light flashes rapidly and the computer lets out a large "BOOOP".
I have booted off my Leopard install disk with both option and c, repaired the hard drive a number of times, with there being no errors whatsoever. I have tried repairing permissions, but everything seems to freeze up, except the mouse.
For some reason my computer will not boot into safe mode, either, and holding cmd & s at startup doesn't get me to the stage where I can enter commands with the keyboard.
Unfortunately, because of my puny 60GB hard drive, I only have 1GB of free space left and cannot reinstall Leopard without wiping my hard drive.
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could assist me with this unfortunate dilemma. It's such a shame that my computer has been fantastic for so long and now decides to play up. (Maybe it's just Apple trying to get me to buy a new 2.4Ghz aluminium Macbook sooner than I was planning...)
Thanks very much.Hi ds,
Sorry to hear you're having such trouble!
Unfortunately, the best thing you can do at this point is reinstall Leopard (and then attempt to install the combo updater, too). If you don't have a backup of your machine, you could boot it into Target Disk Mode (by holding down T at startup) and then attach it via FireWire to another computer to salvage your files.
I recently had to repair a machine with this exact same problem, and after messing around with that for several hours, I'd have to say that I think that an Erase and Install is the way to go. If you then migrate over your user data and start having troubles, you at least know where the problem lies. I suspect, though, that having a clean machine with all of the new updates applied will be the end of the issue.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There are a few other things you could try first; you could, for example, manually download the relevant combo updater from Apple's website and attempt to install it to your damaged machine while it's in Target Disk Mode. If you have a copy of Disk Warrior, that too is certainly worth a shot (and in some cases may be the saving grace). In my experience, though, a failure of this magnitude isn't easy to resolve.
Hope that helps.
—Hazy -
Early 2008 iMac won't start up. Goes to apple logo and freezes
Early 2008 iMac won't start up. Goes to the apple logo but it has a couple of yellowish stripes on it. Then the whole screen gets the stripes and it freezes. Does the same thing using another start up drive or a recovery drive. Running Maverics. Help!
I work at an Authorized Apple Reseller and we are having the same problem with one of our showfloor models.
Model: iMac 21.5" (Brand New Core i3, etc)
Problem Description: When you press the power button, you hear the Apple chime and the screen turns on. Instead of booting normally, the screen shows the Apple logo, a spinning 'loading' circle (I call it a ferris wheel), and a loading bar below that. Typically the loading bar is for an EFI Firmware update, but I don't remember updating the iMac recently. Anyways, the loading bar moves once, starts over, and then the iMac shuts down.
Possibly Related Issue: Several days leading up to this issue, the computer was very noisy. It sounded like the hard drive was working overtime on indexing or something, but it ran fine and spotlight wasn't even indexing at all. I walked by it yesterday and noticed it wasn't on. I pushed the power button, and the problem it has now started.
I will keep searching the forum for a solution, but I have a feeling this is a hardware issue that will need to be serviced by Apple.
Sidenote: If anyone has any experience contacting apple as an Apple Reseller about repairing a computer before the warranty starts, any advice would be greatly appreciated -
My ipod has over 7,000 pictures and there are 5,00 i could easily delete but it wont let me do anything! it just has a loading symbol that converts into an apple logo and then back again. Ive tried pressing down the home and sleep/wake button down at the same time for 10 seconds. The apple logo does appear, but it goes back to the loading symbol or a white screen. Its been like this for 24 hours and is unresponsive. Please help.
- Connect the iPod to the computer and see if iTunes sees it. If it sees it try to get the photos off the iPod.
- Next let the battery fully drain. It will likely take days. After charging for at least an hour try again
- Last, make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store. -
Does anyone have a suggestion as to the fix?
iMac G5: Fails to startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2173?viewlocale=en_US -
MacBook won't boot - stuck showing the Apple logo and the spinning circle.
Hi.
My MacBook suddenly froze when I was using it today. Displaying the spinning beach ball.
It never came out of it, fan running at max speed, so I tried to force restart it (Control-Command-Power), but that didn't work, so I forced the MacBook off (holding the power button pressed.)
When trying to start the MacBook again it couldn't boot. It kept displaying the grey screen, with the Apple logo and the spinning circle below the Apple logo.
I left the MacBook like this for 10-15 minutes, but nothing happened.
Went on to try the following.:
*- Removed the AC-adapter and battery for 5 minutes.*
*- Command-Option-P-R (Resetting PRAM and NVRAM).*
*- Resetting System Management Controller (SMC).*
*- Command-S (singleuser boot)*
And checking the HDD with sbin/fsck -fy
= "The volume ** appears to be OK."
*- Command-V*
Stops on the following line, and fan ramps up to full speed.:
DNSServiceRegister("ssh.tcp."): -65537)
Force reboot didn't work. Had to force it off.
But, nothing helped.
It simply won't boot.
I also tried to boot Ubuntu 7.10, but it hangs after a short while displaying "Kernel panic".
Force reboot didn't work. Had to force it off.
Also tried the option to boot from the first HDD (in the boot menu on the Ubuntu 7.10 disc), but that didn't work either. Only got a black screen, with a blinking cursor top left, and fan ramping up to max.
Again, force reboot didn't work. Had to force it off.
The only thing that has worked so far is exiting the Ubuntu 7.10 CD boot menu, and pressing enter on the prompt that appears.
But, after rebooting, the MacBook still refuses to boot into Mac OS X.
I left the MacBook alone, hoping it would work its way out of the spinning circle, but after 2 h 38 min nothing had happened.
Does anyone know how to fix this?
:. nattugglanThis happened to me last night.
I was updating my iPod and I got a message saying that it needed to do an update. I installed the update and went on ahead putting new songs on my iPod. When it was finished i ejected as I usually do and closed down.
When I went to check me e-mails this morning the Macbook would not boot. It sticks on the grey screen with the Apple and the spinny disc underneath, then it restarts and sticks on the same screen. The last software to be onstalled was Norton 11 on Monday but I have used the Macbook since. I cannot think why it will not boot.
I am loathed to do a reinstall as I have some things on the Macbook that I had not yet backed up.
Any advice? -
How do I fix a initializing problem with my macbook pro? I only get to the blank screen with the apple logo and the "processing something" sign... it just doesn't start the system....
Please help
MarceloIf there is no loading bar, it's usually a problem with a third party kext file in OS X itself.
You can press the power button down to force a hardware shutdown, then reboot holding the shift key down on a wired or built in keyboard, this will disable them and you go around and update your third party software.
Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Also take this time to backup your users files off the machine if possible.
Most commonly used backup methods
Sometime that won't work and you need to do more
..Step by Step to fix your Mac -
My MacBook Pro will not start. When I started it goes to a gray screen with the Apple logo and has the spinning dial. When I started in safe mode it will not start. In safe mode it as an error message that says MacBook Launch_msg(): Socket is not connected
If running 10.7 or later hold down Command-R at Startup.
This should invoke recovery Mode.
Choose Disk Utility.
Select your Hard drive. Inspect the SMART Status in the lower right of the window for "Verified".
Select the Mac OS X Volume (originally Macintosh HD) click (Repair Disk)
If errors, run again until it comes clean or gets stuck.
Report any error messages. -
My macbook pro mid 2012 will not start up. I was running bitdefender and when I went to see if it was done, I had the apple logo and the loading (winding circle) on the screen. I can not get out of this. I used my back up external drive and it did nothing. It did light up.
samnleosgpa,
you may have faulty RAM. Are you able to boot into your MacBook Pro’s Apple Hardware Test (“AHT”)? If so, try running it to see if it can detect a problem. If you’re not able to run its AHT, and you’ve upgraded your MacBook Pro’s RAM before, try reïnstalling its original RAM and see if you can get past the “-6002F” error code. If you aren’t able to run its AHT, and you haven’t upgraded its RAM or you no longer have its original RAM, then I’d recommend that you make an appointment at your nearest Apple store to have them diagnose the problem. -
I turned my iPhone off and when I started it up is has "frozen" showing the Apple logo and several lines of text. Any thoughts?
Never mind... i figured it out!
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I plugged in my ipod to recharge it and for some reason, it just stopped and only the apple logo is showing. I may have unplugged it before it was done, not even sure at this point but now only the apple logo and I can't even shut it off. Any ideas of what I can try now? Thanks much.
Have you tried a reset ? Press and hold both the sleep and home buttons for 10 to 15 seconds and see if it then reboots - you won't lose any content, it's the equivalent of a computer reboot. If that doesn't work then you might better help in the iPod forum (this is the iPad forum)
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My macbook won't boot pass the apple logo and the spinning wheel
Some programs on my Macbook starting crashing so I tried restarting it. Now it doesn't load past the grey screen with the apple logo and the spinning wheel.
I've tried installing the Install disc, holding 'c' but nothing happens.
I've tested the hardware holding 'd' in the start up, in which the test can back clean, so I'm assuming it's a problem with the software.
I've followed almost all the troubleshooting solutions on the apple website including restarting the PRAM and SMC, with no success.
However I foolishly followed a solution that was meant for an earlier version of Mac OS X, which invloved starting up in single-user and entering some commands, this appears to have done nothing but i'm concerned it may have done some extra damage.
I have bootcamp installed and I can boot up windows with no problem and even access some of the files on the Macintosh HD.
My backup harddrive broke recently so I haven't got a back up of any of my files either.
My question is, is there any way of fixing this problem or even just saving all my files and data so I can format the hard drive and start again, other than finding someone with a mac and try using the firewire method?
thank you for your time and help.There's a possible solution but you must have the proper installer DVD for the computer. Assuming you do:
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, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
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. -
My Iphone doesnt start normally it turns on, shows the apple logo and then turns off again but only while its charging. Before it turned on completely and i saw the charging tag that it was chraging normall but then it turned off again? I have tried totall reset nothing works! Im lost please help!
Try this to help
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808
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