MBA won't boot up, passes H/W test

My daughter's MBA stopped booting up recently.  I purchased this unit in late August 2011.  When she started it & walked away to wait for it to start up, she'd come back & find a black screen with the cursor icon.  She brought it to me, and upon start up, the screen shows the Apple icon, white background, and the spiraling busy icon.  It would sit this way for an hour.  Tried rebooting with the Shift key held down, same result. 
I ran the extended Apple hardware diagnostics, and everything passed.  I tried calling AppleCare, and they had no ideas beyond a corruption of the solid state hard drive (SSD), and to take it into a local Apple store.
Base on the above information & assuming the Genius at the Apple store would probably do the same, I wiped the SSD and reloaded Lion and her applications (Office 2011).  We'll watch it for any anomalous behavior.  It's working fine since the wipe & reload.
Is there anything else that the Genius bar personnel could do?  Do they have any more extensive diagnostics than the Apple hardware test for MBA?
Thanks.

Could be one of the "software updates" installd incompletely.  Could be that during one of the several million tiny modifications to the directory structure made during each day that something twitched.
If you keep regular backups then matters like this are easier to fix.
CarbonCopyClone makes a complete copy of the startup disk (including the "I am bootable" flag).  If the internal drive refuses to boot, you can use the "option" key at power-up to boot to the external clone.  Then use that external "running" clone to attempt "permission repair" or "disk repair".
I use CarbonCopyClone and have twice recloned back to my internal drive.  Once to know how to do it.  Once because I did not want the "latest and greatest" Java update, but could not remove it and needed to go "back in time" using the clone.

Similar Messages

  • Macbook won't boot up pass apple logo, lion reinstall and preserving all settings, programs, and most importantly data

    Hello Guys,
    Currently I am having a problem booting up passed the apple logo, have done alot of troubleshooting and looks like there is corrupted missing file or corrupted files on my macbook that won't allow me to boot up. Looking to do a reinstall of the OSx but preserving the original state of my macbook, basically just upgrading or re-installing the software. I am a professional photographer and videographer and have some very important media and projects on there that I cannot lose, none of the data can be deleted on the drive. And I did not back it up! When I do a re-install does it just re-install the OSx on top? and keeps all the original state of my macbook? I know there is an option for fresh install to and deleting everything, just confirming though that when I re-install the osx I can keep everything the same on my macbook and not lose anything? Also my macbook came pre installed with the software so I do not have the disk cd. Please any input would be appreciated. Also is this the right fix for this problem? any other suggestions? I am sure some people have had the same issue. Thanks

    When I do a re-install does it just re-install the OSx on top? and keeps all the original state of my macbook?
    Reinstalling will only replace OS components and basic Apple apps, such as TextEdit and Safari. All of your data, settings, and 3rd-party apps are left in place.

  • PC not detecting drives, won't boot up passed HP Splash

    Hey, so randomly two days ago I left my PC on and awoke to it frozen on the HP start up splash. Going into the bios I realize my hard drive is not detected, later on my CD drive stopped being detected. I ordered a new hard drive and I'm still getting the same problem.
    I've done everything the support site says. I've switched back and forth between my new and old hard drive. I've tried switching the SATA ports its connected to on the mobo, I've tried disconnecting each piece of hardware one by one, but it still won't detect the drives. Still won't boot up Windows.
    The only thing I can do is run a linux off a USB Stick, but if I try to install of course, there's no hard drive detected. This can't be a mobo problem, can it?
    Please help, this is what I'm running.
    HP Pavilion p6310y
    Athlon ll X4 2.8GHz,
    6GB DDR3,
    1TB SATA,
    DVDRW,
    Win 7 Home Prem 64-bit.
    the new HD is a 2tb WD SATA, so I don't see why that would be a problem either.

    The Pegatron M2N78-LA (DDR2 & DDR3 versions) motherboards are dying.  Specifically the chipset on the motherboard dies which results in not detecting any drives.  HP Customer Support does not have it on a recall list and could not offer any real solutions.  Many have resulted in changing the motherboard to other MicroATX boards compatible with the HP (but you'll need to also puchase a new copy of Windows7).  Others have replaced it with the same motherboard from ebay (make sure you use the correct memory version)... however it is likely that the same motherboard would fail again.
    See this thread.  I had to replace one myself with another MicroATX board.
    http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/m8530f-desktop-PC-with-a-m2n78-la-mother-board-doesn-t...
    If your model does not use the M2N78-LA (Stamped Right on the Motherboard) this would not apply.

  • MBA won't boot after software update freeze

    Hi
    I have a MBA which was running offices Autoupdate, which for some reason froze, which locked up Finder, so I rebooted it and it now just goes to the apple logo on the grey screen but no further. What the heck has just happened?!

    Germmac,
    To remove the disc from your SuperDrive, connect it to the MBA and start up the MBA with the click button pressed down. If that doesn't work, start up the computer holding down the alt button. Once you see the boot screen (allows you to pick hdd to boot from), press the eject key.
    For your other problem, start up the computer with the SuperDrive plugged in and with the alt key held down. Once you see the boot screen, insert the OS X install DVD that came with your computer. Select it and press enter. Once loaded, perform an Archive and Install so that you don't lose any of your data. More info on Archive and Install is available here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1545
    Hope this helps

  • Non-existent bluetooth keyboard reason MBA won't boot

    My January 2012 Macbook Air has been rendered a brick. For a few days the cursor would be stuck in place them would become unstuck and usable but slowly worsened to brick status. On the way it gave a message at reboot saying that my BLuetooth Keyboard could not be found and to make it "discoverable".
                   Bluetooth Keyboard Setup              
                  There isn't a keyboard connected
    I was not using a wireless keyboard but that does not mean that someone else was not trying to hack into my computer at the hotel I was staying in.
    I tried the SMC reset others have suggested in other posts but it did nothing.
    I connected a USB keyboard which seemed to get a beep from the Macbook, but since it had no mouse attached I was unable to  move the cursor at login post boot.
    Any suggestions? I am in Singapore where there is no Apple Store but there are probably authorized repair shops. Hopefully someone has an answer here.
    THanks!

    A USB keyboard and USB mouse did allow me to get the Macbook Air to function so I could see that I have OS X 10.7.5 Lion installed. After doing the SMC reset a couple of times the trackpad worked very briefly only to get stuck again. So I think I must have a faulty keyboard.
    I read somewhere about PRAM or NVRAM reset but this may not apply to Macbook Air, perhaps only to Macbook Pro?

  • G5 won't boot after blue screen

    My PowerMac G5 won't boot: it passes the grey screen with the apple logo then gets stuck in the blue screen. this is happening since I tried to connect a second display: that time the computer froze.
    I have tried safe booting and then it works fine. I've reinstalled 10.4 but it doesn't make a difference.
    Does this sound familiar to anybody? Could it be a video card/motherboard/HD problem?
    All tips are very welcome.
    PowerMac G5/10.4/ATI Radeon 9600

    Here's more on what macbig said.
    Try using Disk Utility to do a Disk Repair, as shown in this link, while booted up on your install disk.
    You could have some directory corruption. Let us know what errors Disk Utility reports and if DU was able to repair them.
    Then Repair Permissions.
    Here's Apples Blue Screen faq.
    DALE

  • Mac Pro Won't Boot, Hard Drives Are Fine, Passes Hardware Test

    I have a Mac Pro 1,1 that will not boot anymore.  The hard drives are just fine.  I put them into another Mac Pro 1,1 and they started up fine and that computer is running great.  I have replaced the RAM, put in new Hard Drives, I only have a keyboard, mouse, and display plugged in to it, and it still won't boot.  What happens is this:
    Boots up, shows the gray screen.  Shows Apple Logo.  Goes to Black with mouse cursor, stays at the black screen.  I can move the mouse cursor as normal.  Sometimes it turns into a color wheel, but most of the time it's a normal pointer.
    I have run the hardware test several times, both quick and extended.  Everything always passes the tests.  I can boot into target disk mode and use the disks fine via firewire.  When I try to boot from a Lion USB disk, or a Snow Leopard DVD, it always does the same as above and stops at the black screen.  Basically, once it gets to the point where it loads an OS X system, it stops at the black screen as if something isn't working right.  Any thoughts?

    once it gets to the point where it loads an OS X system, it stops at the black screen as if something isn't working right.
    That is the point at which the graphics card starts the Mac OS X loaded graphics Driver, and it may indicate that your graphics card is broken.
    Try Safe Mode (hold down Shift at Startup). It takes five minutes to check the Boot drive, then display a login screen. You need your username and password to proceed, even if you normally auto-login.
    Safe Mode uses only "simple" graphics. It does not load the graphics driver.
    If you need a replacement card, I recommend you skip over all the refurbished and repaired old graphics cards and install nothing older than the Apple-Firmware 5770, about US$250. It works in every model Mac Pro, and drivers are in 10.6.5 and later.

  • Macbook  flickering screen & freeze, then won't boot pass the apple logo

    Hi Guys,
    My macbook is driving me insane now. Just recently, my macbook has occasionally flickering screen and freezes after that. Yesterday, when I was watching youtube on fullscreen, it first has flickering screen, then freezes. So I hard booted it pressing the power button. Then, when I try to restart it, it won't boot pass the apple logo no matter what.
    Here's my macbook spec
    2007 Summer Macbook Pro 15"
    Snow Leopard 10.6 OS X
    I cracked my screen once, and got a replacement, don't know if that matters.
    I've tried the following:
    Safe mood reboot, the progress bar goes about half, then disappears and stalls again.
    Booted in verbose mode but it gives a warning message:
    'com.apple.driver. internalmodemsupport declares no kernel dependencies; using com.apple.kernal.6.0'.
    Booted in Single user mood, and typed fsck for disk repair. After checking said the volume Macintosh HD appears to be ok. But still won't boot pass the apple logo after restart.
    Boot with installation disk pressing C at startup. Success after a few try:
    Opened Disk Utility and did disk repair (no problem found).
    Reinstalled Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.
    This time it booted with Finder and everything for a short while, then the screen flicker and freezes again (before I can backup anything!). Then, I can't reboot pass the apple logo again.
    When I try to reinstall Leopard OS X 10.5 with installation disk, the macbook seems to try to read the disk, but won't boot. I've got a CD stuck in the optical drive now.
    I've tried everything I can find online short of opening it up and send it into the oven for baking! I pray it's not a hardware problem, coz I'm no good at that. (QAQ~~~) Please help me!
    Thank you very, very, very much!!!
    ps. this is my first post. please let me know if I have missed anything.

    starangelam wrote:
    When I try to reinstall Leopard OS X 10.5 with installation disk, the macbook seems to try to read the disk, but won't boot. I've got a CD stuck in the optical drive now.
    Reboot the machine holding the trackpad or left wired mouse button down, that shoudl force eject the 10.5 disk.
    Reinstalled Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.
    This time it booted with Finder and everything for a short while, then the screen flicker and freezes again (before I can backup anything!). Then, I can't reboot pass the apple logo again.
    Ok, so your attempting data recovery efforts.
    First get the 10.5 disk out of the machine, like above.
    You can also boot into Single User mode, (command s at reboot) and enter
    /usr/bin/drutil eject
    then type
    restart
    Next hold c boot and use the 10.6 disk and create a data recovery drive here on a blank external drive, make sure you clean and polish the bottom of the 10.6 disk, if it's bad you will need to get a new one.
    Create a data recovery, undelete boot drive
    If your problems continue on this drive even with a clean or new 10.6 disk, it's likely a hardware issue with your Mac, not a issue with the drive.
    I suspect a failing sector on your internal boot drive, you installed OS X right over the same spot perhaps, as you were obviously able to boot from the 10.6 disk to install it so it seems the hardware of the Mac appears to be working.
    You might have other issues relateing to software perhaps, something your installing or running.
    Step by Step to fix your Mac
    Once you have gotten your files off the internal drive, you may want to look into doing a Zero Erase with Disk Utility before resintalling 10.6 again fresh install method.
    Reducing bad sectors effect on hard drives
    How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
    Look into making a bootable clone, it's easier to restore with and more options than Timemachine
    Most commonly used backup methods explained

  • Fresh Lion on MBA 4,2. Won't boot from Lion USB Stick

    Hi all quick question,
    I got a new MBA 4,2 just the other day. Long story short, I was doing a triple boot with linux and mac and messed it up, reverted and did a fresh Lion install. I'm tooling around with some other stuff and noticed that I can't boot to a USB stick that has the Lion installer on it, it won't boot to a DVD either. It'll boot to other installers but not Lion.
    The interesting thing is that I use this exact same USB stick on my girlfriends computer and it'll boot to that installer just fine.
    So I'm kinda freaking out thinking I messed something up on this computer that I can't fix. My latest Lion install is from a Lion Internet Restore.
    When I try and boot to the USB stick I get a circle / slash icon and can't go any further.
    Any ideas?

    See this thread.
    I don't think reposting a topic is permitted here.
    I'm guessing that the Internet Recovery didn't work after all?
    Or did it work, but you have no backup?
    The best solution is to do a bootable Carbon Copy Clone of your fresh install. It's the only surefire means of a safe and easy restore on a Mid 2011 MBA. Just my opinion.

  • HP Laptop Won't boot from Recovery CD. (bios is set correctly) Jumpers? Faulty Optical Drive?

    Won't boot from HP Recovery CD. Bios is set for ATAPI CD/dvd as priority. Boot menu only shows HD.
    More detailed:
    Purchased HP recovery CD's from Hp. Put the CD in, went into the bios, set it up so the CD/dvd rom would be priorty in boot device. Saved and exited. Computer reboots, I press f9 to select from boot menu, Only the hard drive is shown. The ATAPI CD/dvd rom drive is not...I reboot and let it go past the first screen.
    BOOTMGR is missing.
    Press Ctrl alt delete to restart.
    ^^ That is where I am at. The CD-rom drive is functional, it spins, it works. The bios has it recognized.
    (This computer DOES NOT have an OS, so I am trying to put a fresh install in it. The CD is bootable, it came from HP saturday. I tested it on my Desktop and it boots like a charm.
    Help me please HP ;].

    Hi! In your situation, I recommend ordering the recovery media from Toshiba. I'm thinking that your OS has been corrupted by a Virus and you no longer have the hidden recovery partition. I have replied on the other message also. If you have further questions, I will try to answer them as best I can. You can get the Toshiba recovery media here. Scroll down to the bottom to find recovery media.
    Dokie!!
    I Love my Satellite L775D-S7222 Laptop. Some days you're the windshield, Some days you're the bug. The Computer world is crazy. If you have answers to computer problems, pass them forward.

  • Arch won't boot, FS not detected, Kernel Panic.

    Ok so here is the situation. I have arch linux installed on sda1, which is a sata drive, samsung. Seems lately I been having problems getting arch to boot because it doesn't know what type filesystem my root device has. It goes on and tells me that I can use the kernel parameter rootfstype= to solve the issue, but yet when I try this, it does nothing. I stop getting the error, about unknown FS type, but arch still won't boot. Init fails...
    I have tried everything on these forums to fix the problem and not one thing in general has solved the issue. What seems to be most consistent about this problem, is it takes me at least 20 - 30 times of rebooting before it will finally go through and boot. But, even then this is not foolproof. Last night I tried at least 30+ times of rebooting, powering off and still it would not boot.
    So after reading the forums some more I found an article somewhat related to my problem and it was suggested that I add my root FS type as a module and then remove the filesystem hook in mkinitcpio.conf. I tried this approach and at the same time downgraded to 2.6.24.2-1 kernel26 so mkinitcpio would generate the new image. Then I rebooted and arch loaded just fine. So then I rebooted and again, unknown fs type on root device error.
    So I retraced my steps and tried the same process again, only this time when I rebooted I got same problem. So as it seems, nothing I did to mkinitcpio.conf did anything to alleviate my problem.
    As of right now, I managed to get the fallback image to work(but fallback does not load all the time, just this last time I tried it it worked), but I am scared to death to turn off my machine because I know it's not gonna reboot without a lot of hassle.
    So can anyone help me diagnose this problem? What can I do to get the kernel to boot and mount the root device with ext3 and pass init on boot up? I am completely lost when it comes to this...
    here is my mkinitcpio.conf
    # vim:set ft=sh
    # MODULES
    # The following modules are loaded before any boot hooks are
    # run. Advanced users may wish to specify all system modules
    # in this array. For instance:
    # MODULES="piix ide_disk reiserfs"
    MODULES="ext3 pata_amd ata_generic sata_nv"
    # BINARIES
    # This setting includes, into the CPIO image, and additional
    # binaries a given user may wish. This is run first, so may
    # be used to override the actual binaries used in a given hook.
    # (Existing files are NOT overwritten is already added)
    # BINARIES are dependancy parsed, so you may safely ignore libraries
    BINARIES=""
    # FILES
    # This setting is similar to BINARIES above, however, files are added
    # as-is and are not parsed in anyway. This is useful for config files.
    # Some users may wish to include modprobe.conf for custom module options,
    # like so:
    # FILES="/etc/modprobe.conf"
    FILES=""
    # HOOKS
    # This is the most important setting in this file. The HOOKS control the
    # modules and scripts added to the image, and what happens at boot time.
    # Order is important, and it is recommended that you do not change the
    # order in which HOOKS are added. Run 'mkinitcpio -H <hook name>' for
    # help on a given hook.
    # 'base' is _required_ unless you know precisely what you are doing.
    # 'udev' is _required_ in order to automatically load modules
    # 'modload' may be used in place of 'udev', but is not recommended
    # 'filesystems' is _required_ unless you specify your fs modules in MODULES
    # Examples:
    # This setup specifies all modules in the MODULES setting above.
    # No raid, lvm2, or encrypted root is needed.
    # HOOKS="base"
    # This setup will autodetect all modules for your system and should
    # work as a sane default
    # HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata filesystems"
    # This is identical to the above, except the old ide subsystem is
    # used for IDE devices instead of the new pata subsystem.
    # HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide scsi sata filesystems"
    # This setup will generate a 'full' image which supports most systems.
    # No autodetection is done.
    # HOOKS="base udev pata scsi sata usb filesystems"
    # This setup assembles an pata raid array with an encrypted root FS.
    # Note: See 'mkinitcpio -H raid' for more information on raid devices.
    # HOOKS="base udev pata raid encrypt filesystems"
    # This setup loads an lvm2 volume group on a usb device.
    # HOOKS="base udev usb lvm2 filesystems"
    HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata sata"
    here is my fallback.conf
    # vim:set ft=sh
    # MODULES
    # The following modules are loaded before any boot hooks are
    # run. Advanced users may wish to specify all system modules
    # in this array. For instance:
    # MODULES="piix ide_disk reiserfs"
    # BusLogic is added to support VMWARE arch booting in fallback image
    MODULES="BusLogic"
    # BINARIES
    # This setting includes, into the CPIO image, and additional
    # binaries a given user may wish. This is run first, so may
    # be used to override the actual binaries used in a given hook.
    # (Existing files are NOT overwritten is already added)
    # BINARIES are dependancy parsed, so you may safely ignore libraries
    #BINARIES=""
    # FILES
    # This setting is similar to BINARIES above, however, files are added
    # as-is and are not parsed in anyway. This is useful for config files.
    # Some users may wish to include modprobe.conf for custom module options,
    # like so:
    # FILES="/etc/modprobe.conf"
    FILES=""
    # HOOKS
    # This is the most important setting in this file. The HOOKS control the
    # modules and scripts added to the image, and what happens at boot time.
    # Order is important, and it is recommended that you do not change the
    # order in which HOOKS are added. Run 'mkinitcpio -H <hook name>' for
    # help on a given hook.
    # 'base' is _required_ unless you know precisely what you are doing.
    # 'udev' is _required_ in order to automatically load modules
    # 'modload' may be used in place of 'udev', but is not recommended
    # 'filesystems' is _required_ unless you specify your fs modules in MODULES
    # Examples:
    # This setup specifies all modules in the MODULES setting above.
    # No raid, lvm, or encrypted root is needed.
    # HOOKS="base"
    # This setup will autodetect all modules for your system and should
    # work as a sane default
    # HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide scsi sata filesystems"
    # This setup will generate a 'full' image which supports most systems.
    # No autodetection is done.
    # HOOKS="base udev ide scsi sata usb filesystems"
    # This setup assembles an ide raid array with an encrypted root FS.
    # Note: See 'mkinitcpio -H raid' for more information on raid devices.
    # HOOKS="base udev ide filesystems raid encrypt"
    # This setup loads an LVM volume group on a usb device.
    # HOOKS="base udev usb filesystems lvm"
    HOOKS="base udev ide pata scsi sata usbinput raid filesystems"
    modules I need
    sudo mkinitcpio -M
    Password:
    Modules autodetected:
    ata_generic
    libata
    pata_acpi
    pata_amd
    sata_nv
    cdrom
    ide-core
    amd74xx
    generic
    forcedeth
    sd_mod
    sr_mod
    usbcore
    ehci-hcd
    ohci-hcd
    jbd
    ext3
    Last edited by jacko (2008-04-15 19:53:35)

    I had a similar issue (I think, can you post the exact error the kernel panics with to check?) and it seemed grub or the kernel had difficulties with finding my root device which was specified as a device node in /dev. The solution for me was to change the root parameter in my kernel line in grub's menu.lst to root=/dev/disk/by-label/<label>, I'm sure UUID and such will work fine too. After doing that I haven't encountered a single such kernel panic. More info about persistent device naming can be found here.

  • G5 won't boot from Install Disc or Hard Drive

    After 2.5 years of perfect service my G5 2.0 suddenly won't boot from the HD or Install Disc that came with it. My G5 only shows the grey screen with the apple logo, the spinning gears and the circle with the line through it.
    I haven't added any hardware since day one. I've done pram,nvram and smu resets. I've selected a start up disk by holding the option key, removed and re-seated the ram one by one.
    The Apple Hardware test CD shows everything passing. I ran Disc Utility from Target Mode from my MacBook Pro and it showed the G5 hard drive is in working order.
    I think I have a hardware issue.
    Is it worth it to get this model repaired if its something major?

    I was having a similar problem, except I only saw the grey apple logo, no spinning. Finally got it figured out, ended up being one of my processors (dual 1.8) was bad, took the bad one out and it works fine now. Now Im working on getting processor replaced.

  • Won't boot normally or in recovery and single user mode, safe mode hangs up halfway

    iMac locked up with visual glitches while playing the Mac beta client of League of Legends. Had to force a shutdown by holding the power button. Now it won't boot; after the Apple logo and spinning wheel I just get a white screen. I tried launching in recovery mode, that didn't work. Then I tried safe mode; the bar filled a little over half and then nothing but white screen. I was able to boot single user mode once; ran fsck -fy and rebooted, still white screen. Now I can't get back to single user mode. I booted with command option P R to reset the NVRAM and got the second chime, but still nothing.
    Luckily all my important files are in the cloud, but I'm really hoping my computer isn't completely dead. I haven't had any issues in the past. I've even been playing LoL for over a month with no issues, until now when I tried to play the newer game types, Dominion and ARAM; both caused visual glitches forcing shutdowns. I was able to restart my computer with no problem after the first two visual glitches, but after the last one I am stuck at the white screen as I described above.
    Thanks in advance for your help!

    I'd bet the drive is damaged. You could try reformatting if possible. Again, you are booting from the Recovery-10.8.2 disk if you can. If you can't, then you will need to use the installer disc that came with the computer.
    Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
    Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
    Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    Erase the hard drive:
      1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
      2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
          left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
      3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
            the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
          the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
      4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
    Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
                because it is three times faster than wireless.

  • IMac won't boot, won't start in safe mode

    I'm at my wits end. My 17" iMac G4 won't boot. I just get the Apple logo, with the spinning progress wheel. I get the same thing when I try to boot in safe mode -- it just sits there with the progress wheel spinning. (I waited an hour, just to make sure.)
    Here's what I've tried:
    First, I read various articles on the Apple Web site which, among other things, talk about bad fonts, etc. All of the tips rely on safe mode, so I didn't get too far.
    I was able to see the iMac HD from my PowerBook by launching it as a target drive, via "t", using a firewire cable. I used Disk Utility to do a repair on the iMac HD. It did find problems (I don't remember what they were), but when I ran it again it said there were no problems with the HD. I can move files from it to my machine, and browsing it looks normal. I looked for non-standard StartupItems, as recommended, but didn't see anything that isn't on the PowerBook.
    I also tried putting my install disk in the iMac as it booted. The DVD went in, but had no effect on startup. (Same symptoms.)
    Is there any way I can re-install from my PowerBook -- i.e., can I somehow run setup from the PowerBook on the firewire-connected iMac?
    I'm not sure of the exact version of the OS it's got, since I can't boot it to see. (Should I look somewhere on the HD for that information?)
    Any ideas or suggestions?
    Thanks!
    iMac   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    I am just going to jump on the band wagon (first post). Before I try all the good advise given for "no start"... Does this info point me in a different direction? thanks
    IMac (2003) OS 10.4.X troubleshooting. Bill Howarth 14Feb07
    · iMac has been running slow. Has not been shutdown/restarted in months.
    · Shutdown Computer, Power off, Power on. Get Apple logo and rotating timer. Hangs.
    · Power off, power on with mouse down to insert TechTool Pro 4 CD.
    · Turn journaling off, perform Directory Maintenance. Locks up at 1971269 of 1971270.
    · Start from TechTool CD. Run test on File/Finder info. Locks up at mh1661.html ~ 70% of files tested.
    · Start from TechTool CD. Run test on File/Finder info with “repair on” checked. Task completed.
    · Run Directory Maintenance. Locks up at 1971269 of 1971270.
    · Cannot do e-drive restart in TechTool (greyed out).
    · Optimize volume. Task completed.
    · Run Directory Maintenance. Locks up at 1971264 of 1971264.
    · Try regular startup. Power off, power on (no CD). Get Apple logo and rotating timer. Hangs.
    · Shift startup. Get Apple logo and rotating timer. Hangs.
    · Startup from Apple Test CD (v2). Passes extended hardware test.
    · Startup. Get Apple logo and rotating timer. Hangs.
    Arrrrggghhhhh.
    iMac   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

  • IMac won't boot from Firewire?

    Hey gang-
    I wanted to post this to save anyone else pulling out their hair if they have a Mac that won't boot from a Western Digital (WD) external Firewire drive.  I recently purchased a Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB FireWire 800 External Hard Drive.
    I bought this drive intending to partition it into two 1TB partitions- one for a bootable backup and one for a Time Machine backup. I do my bootable backups with the application SuperDuper, which is outstanding for this purpose. I have used it to create bootable backups on 3 different Maxtor external Firewire drives, and they have all flawlessly booted all my Macs. I expected no different from this new Western Digital (WD) 2TB drive.
    Unfortunately, the WD would not boot 2 out of my 3 Macs when connected via Firewire. It would NOT boot an Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) or an Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). It does boot our Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition). Strangely, the WD booted all 3 Macs when connected via USB, though needless to say very slowly in all cases. If you need additional technical information, read on.
    Technical Info: The following tests were done with the WD connected via Firewire. The WD is correctly formatted for booting Intel Macs with GPT GUID formatting. Note that the WD appears as a bootable drive in System Preferences->Startup Disk on all 3 of my Macs. But when attempting to boot via Firewire, I get only a grey screen on the Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) and the Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). The Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition) boots normally. When booting with the Option Key held down, Startup Manager does NOT see the WD as a bootable drive on the Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) and the Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). It does appear as a bootable drive on the Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition).
    When connected via USB, the WD boots all three of my Macs, but very slowly compared to the internal drive.
    It's probably worth noting that the Late-2007 MacBook and the Mid-2007 iMac all share the then-new Santa Rosa architecture.    So I'm guessing that they may share the same Firewire chipset.   And for whatever reason, that chipset does not play nice with the WD chipset.
    So, bottom line is that if you need a Firewire bootable backup, be sure to test the drive right away so that you don't think you have a bootable backup when in fact you don't.
    On the good side, the drive is amazingly quiet. At this point, I need to decide whether to keep the drive, knowing that I have only USB as a bootable option on 2 out my 3 Macs, or return it. But in any case, wanted to pass this on to anyone else having problems booting from an external Firewire drive.

    baltwo wrote:
    FWIW, many WD HDs won't boot Macs and booting Macs isn't supported. Details at their site. That's the main reason I never recommend their crappy HDs.
    Actually I'm very familiar with that list- spent a lot of time looking at this past week! 
    Ironically, the majority of that page is a list of drives which they claim WILL boot Macs.  In fact, the list is entitled "List of Mac-bootable WD external drives..."
    And yep, mine is on there...on the list that reads "The following external hard drives should be bootable on Intel-based Mac computers systems through FireWire (1394a/b)" is "MyBook Studio" as well as my drive model number.
    But that's all beside the point.   Like you, I couldn't recommend their drives at this point.   At least make sure if you buy one that the vendor has a good return policy.
    Dave

Maybe you are looking for