My emac won't boot past grey loading screen with apple and spinning disk

I tried starting it up and it does the usual except when it gets to the grey screen with the loading disc and apple, it does nothing else. I dont have access to an install disc and even if I did, the tray doesn't even open. Please help!!!

Do you have the Install Discs for this Mac?
Might be time for a relatively painless Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space and no Disk corruption, and is relatively quick & painless...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Just be sure to select Preserve Users & Settings.
But with that loginwindow crash, we may need to trick it...
Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD...
http://theappleblog.com/2008/06/22/reset-os-x-password-without-an-os-x-cd/
Admin Hack...
http://www.hackmac.org/?q=node/4
Starts up like the first time you buy a new Mac, but after filling in all that info again, you should have access to the computer and the other Users & files will still be there... give the new User a different name than an existing one.

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Help: iMac won't boot past Grey logo screen with spinning lines

My fiance's iMac (intel based) running snow leopard (upgraded from Leopard a couple months ago) will not boot past the logo and spinning lines. This started after at attempting to restart after installing updates to Safari and iTunes.
When booting in verbose mode I get these lines:
Launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchDaemons
Launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
Launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /etc/mach_inid.d
AppleYukon2: Marvel Yukon Gigabit Adapter 88E8055 Singleport Copper SA
AppleYukon2: RxRingSize <= 1024, TxRingSize 256. RXMAXLE 1024, TXMAXLE 768, STMAXLE 3328
Then it just stops and does nothing.
I've unplugged everything except the apple keyboard and mouse. Ethernet is not connected.
She doesn't seem to have the original disc that came with the computer, but I do have the Snow Leopard upgrade disc.
What do I do? It won't boot in Safe Mode either, freezes at the same spot.
I'm not a particularly savvy Mac user as I recently embraced them when we moved in together.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Repairing permission is not the first answer. Should try to run fsck and reset the PRAM
Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
At the command-line prompt type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OKIf fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
When fsck reports that your volume is OK, typerebootat the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.
Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

2007 MBP won't get past grey loading screen

I had been using my MBP running Snow Leopard to play movies and music through a TV/stereo and brought it with me when I moved to do the same, but now it won't start it. I kept it asleep as I brought it on the plane, then when I got to my new apartment, it was frozen. I shut it down, then tried to turn it back on but it get stuck in the grey loading screen with the Apple logo.
I've tried starting in safe mode (it will bring up the safe mode loading bar, then that disappears and it gets stuck on the normal gray loading screen).
I've also tried resetting the SMC and NVRAM.
Then, I tried to start it up from a friend's OS X install disk (but it came with his MacBook from the same era, so idk if it only works for MB and not MBP), but that doesn't work either (selected it as the startup disk by holding Option when booting up, then selecting it. It then goes to what it does normally except it will turn itself off instead of gettting stuck.)
I don't know what else to do. I'm assuming something is seriously broken. I'm hoping it might just need a reinstall or maybe a new hard drive, which I could do if it's not too expensive. Thanks for any help or ideas of what I could try next!

I tried this from another post:
Boot holding down Apple/S and don't let go until you see scrolling text.
When that stops and you see a root#: prompt enter
fsck -fy
Let it run through all the checks and repairs.
If it fails first time, at any time, or finds and fixes a fault - run the command again and keep doing so (some fixes can take several passes) until it says "Appears to be OK" then enter
But when "Checking catalog file" it says
disk0s2: I/O error.
Invalid node structure
(4, 3620)
The volume Internal could not be verified completely.
/dev/rdisk0s2 (hfs) EXITED WITH SIGNAL 8
Tried this again, but same thing over again a few times.
I'm now guessing my HD is dead.

Reset PMU and Powerbook won't boot past the blue screen with "Mac OSX" box

Hi-
Problem: I tried to reset my PMU, and now when my computer restarts it won't go past the blue screen with the "Mac OSX" logo in the box (and progress bar, that never fills up). I then also tried to reset PRAM, but it still won't boot properly.
Backstory--
I've had my 12-inch Powerbook G4 for about 3.5 years already, so things are starting to get a bit out of whack. I replaced my battery about 3 months ago, which has been great, but recently my power-cord has been wonky (having to unplug it and replug it in to make sure it actually charges the computer, the light flickers on and off, etc). Today it actually started producing SPARKS at the place where the thin white wire meets the white plastic power brick, so I decided it was time to get a new one. Brought it home, plugged it in, and since it seemed like the battery indication icon on the menu bar was all out of sync with the powercord colored-light, I tried restarting it a few times, but still the same. Then, I decided to reset the PMU, which may have been a huge mistake. And now it won't boot past the blue screen... Any advice? I'm going to try restarting it in "safe" mode, but I'd be so grateful for any recommendations. Hope I haven't done something irreversibly stupid with the PMU reset.
Thanks,
Samantha

Hello all,
Thanks for all of your great suggestions and info-- here are a few responses.
1) The disk I just borrowed from my friend appears to be the full retail version-- it looks just like the links that Ali B sent, and is in a large box saying "Mac OSX Tiger, version 10.4"... will this be the proper disk to do an Erase and Install? The only other disks I have came with my Powerbook when it was originally purchased, when it came Panther (I think, 10.3?). Would I use both sets of these disks to do erase and install? Or only the Tiger OSX disks?
2) I get the sense that Disk Warrior or Tech Tool might be necessary, but does it make sense to TRY to do erase-install before buying them? Also, are there any downloadable (for pay) versions of this, or would I need to track down the actual physical disks in Hong Kong or wait for them to be shipped?
3) I haven't yet tried the S.M.A.R.T. test, should I do that first? What is the procedure? Are there any results or ways to know if the drive is too far gone (so that I might instead replace the internal hard-drive) instead of pay 100 USD first to do the disk repair?
4) Cornelius said: "An alternative would be to completely reformat and erase the entire HDD, then re-install and restore your data from backup. If your backup is in the form of a bootable clone of the entire HDD, you can just clone it back." I use Super-Duper to back-up and the most recent one copied the whole thing-- what would be the later procedure of "cloning it back"?
5) As I'm able to use my computer pretty normally right now, but does it still mean that it might crash/die at any moment? Is there any way to tell?
Thanks so much!

IMac won't boot past grey startup screen

It's a 2008 intel iMac running ML and bootcamp with Win7
It was working fine yesterday then I tried to start Aperture. It bounced on the dock but wouldn't open.
I tried a restart and it just gets to the grey startup screen with the Apple logo and spinner
I can start it from an external drive and I just tried to start from Bootcamp and it starts and runs fine
I have repaired and verified the disc and it says it is fine
Something is stopping it booting into ML
Any ideas?
Allan

Thanks, I already tried most of those. I followed the other suggestions ( already failed safe boot) and when it got to " take it to Apple" I just restored it from Time Machine and it all works perfectly.
It would have been nice to fugure out why it wouldnt boot, something must have been corrupted.
I dont know if its anything to do with it, but when I got the restored system booted up and downloaded all my emails, there was an email in my outbox with no recipient field filled in but a link to some iffy website in the message field.( Something like burnt gate)
I deleted it.
Maybe my first Mac virus?
Allan

Won't boot past grey logo screen

I have a refurb dual 2Ghz powermac G5. New in March 2006.
It will not boot past the grey logo screen. I have tried all of the regular stuff: reset pram, reset nvram, reset-all, pushed the PMU button, etc, unplugged; reset ram; removed and reset ALL cards/memory. And nothing.
When trying to boot in single user mode, it freezes when almost getting to a prompt.
I CAN boot to open firmware. Though booting from the OS X install cd yields the computer to freeze at the grey logo screen.
I am dual booting Gentoo Linux, and the curious thing is that if I select Gentoo at boot, the computer freezes when loading the kernel for Linux.
So it's not an OSX thing it seems like; probably hardware.
I ran the 40min extended apple hardware test from the PMG5 OS X disc which passed everything with NO errors.
I then booted the disc in target mode with my iBook, and repaired permissions: it said was all okay, nothing to fix.
I removed the battery, and placed it back in. The battery tests fine with my voltage meter-tester.
I am a PC technician, but am stumped in trying to get my powermac to boot. Let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks,
Dual 2Ghz Powermac G5
1.5GB ram
stock Radeon 9600
stock 160GB hard drive
airport card
Dual 2Ghz Powermac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) Logic 7.2 Gentoo PPC

Okay my powermac is at the local mac repair center. All hardware checked out okay; the tech is unsure of the issue. He's pulling parts and going to see what part is failing. He thinks the power supply is freaking out and sending out too much voltage, causing the computer to freeze at boot.

IMac won't boot past grey logo screen

20" iMac was acting very slow, to the point where I would get the rainbow ball if I opened the HArd Drive icon.
Revolted but couldn't get past the grey logo screen and spinning wheel. Tried a Disk Repair from the Snow Lep disc but it just froze up.
I restored from my Time Machine drive and 24 hours later it's still the same. Getting ready to bring it to the genius bar unless anyone has an idea!

HI Rob,
Check to see how much space is available on the startup disk. Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. Make sure you always have a *minimum of 10% to 15% free disk space at all times.*
If your iMac freezes before you can view that information, boot from your install disc like you did with disk repair only this time look at the bottom of the Disk Utility window. You'll see Capacity and Available.
Since you can't boot from the install disc, you could try booting in Safe Mode
If you can boot into Safe Mode, launch Disk Utility from the Applications/Utilities folder. You can verify the startup disk in Safe Mode, but you can't repair in Safe Mode but at least you'll know if there's a problem with the startup disk.
Carolyn

My MacBook Pro is stuck on grey loading screen with apple logo and spinning wheel.

PLEASE HELP - Tried to start up my MacBook Pro and I get grey screen w/ apple logo & spinning wheel. It's stuck on this screen. Safe mode didn't help but reveled this: smc read key action error, BOOS key failed, BOPS key failed. Consider rebuild of prelinked kernal com.apple.kext triggers triggered rebuild. IOBluetooth host controller USB transport Suspend Device. I ran verifications/repairs in Disk Utilities, but nothing came back wrong on the reports. I'm a bit panicked, as I use this computer for work and have no other computer to use in the meantime. I should also note that I have very little technical knowledge, so if you can lend your help please keep that in mind when responding. I'd be over the moon if anyone can help.

Startup - Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Startup - Gray Screen
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IMac G5 doesn't go past grey screen with apple and spinning gear

I have an iMac G5 (Ambient Light Sensor) running Mac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard. Last night my computer froze while using QuickTime. I had to force shutdown the computer by holding the power button for 5 seconds after everything else failed.
Now it won't start. I hear the chime, the apple logo on grey screen appears and I see the spinning gear. But it stays like that indefinitely. I can boot with the Leopard DVD with no problem. I verified/repaired the boot disk. I verified/repaired the permissions. Everything is super fine. Made sure the selected startup disk was the correct one. I can even start up in FireWire Target Mode. I've resetted the PRAM and the SMU. Starting in single user mode also works.
How can I solve this startup issue. Are there things I could try before resorting to a archive install or clean install of Leopard. My HD is 232GB and I have 197GB of data.
Thanks for the help.

I opened the back cover according to the instuctions in the manual to check the internal battery (which is fine and strong according to my little battery tester). I followed the steps in the support article "iMac G5: Troubleshooting when your computer won't turn on". According to the LED, my power supply is fine. I turned on my computer with the back cover off using the internal power button. It turned on, chimed, did the usual SuperDrive sound and did a complete boot. I took a peek at the screen by lifting a corner cause it was laying face down on a soft towel on my bed. And I saw the user prompt asking me my password, and the galaxy theme desktop picture. So I turned this off and placed the cover back on. But it still won't start using the external power button. Thanks with all your help Miriam. I'm now gonna look for a solution with the external power button issue.

Grey screen with apple and spinning progress then shuts off

how can i fix this?

Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks without erasing 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.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

My iMac won't boot past grey screen and it didn't come with a os x disk

My iMac won't boot past grey screen with apple. I've tried booting in safemode but that didn't help and my iMac didn't come with a os x disk.

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.

17 MacBook Pro is not booting up. Won't get passed grey screen with Apple wheel spinning below.

17 MacBook Pro is not booting up. Won't get passed grey screen with Apple wheel spinning below.

You may be having a hardware problem that you cannot resolve on your own. Nevertheless...
...hold down the command and R keys whilst booting to try to get to your Recovery partition. If you can, use Disk Utility to try to Verify your boot drive (usually named "Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). If the verification fails, try to repair your hard drive. If everything appears to be OK, restart.
If you can't get into your Recovery partition, your problem is likely hardware related. If so, keep your appointment and see what the Apple techs have to say.
Clinton

MBP won't reboot past the white screen with the grey apple. Why? How do I fix it?

MBP won't reboot past the white screen with the grey apple. Why? How can I fix it?

Which OS are you on.
try doing an SMC reset http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
How long do you wait until giving up??

My iMac starts, but won't get past the loading screen?

My iMac starts up, but won't even get past the white screen with the Apple logo.
It kept giving me black screens, and would not start in safety mode. After command + option + p + r, the black screens stopped coming, but it still won't get past the loading screen, if I let it load long enough the Apple logo is replaced by a "denied" symbol but that is the only thing that happens. By hitting command + d, I was told nothing is wrong. When pressing command + r and going to disk utility, it found an issue while verifying and repairing. At first it stated "invalid journal" but now it only says to reinstall everything and that the problem couldn't be solved. I cannot mount the harddrive, and Time Machine just searches for copies without getting anywhere. When I try installing OS X (Mavericks) again, the harddrive doesn't even show up. What do I do?

The HD sounds like it has crashed, take it into your local Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP), if you bought AppleCare this will be covered. If you don't have an Apple Store in your area and don't know of any AASPs then please click https://locate.apple.com/country to begin finding one.

Mac does not boot past white loading screen and disk cannot be repaired?

So when I turn on my Macbook Pro and it does not boot past a white screen with the Apple logo, loading wheel and progress bar. When the progress bar completes, the Macbook shuts down and when I open it again the cycle is repeated. I have opened it in Safe mode and it still showed the same thing. So I opened it in Recovery Mode and had Disk Utility verify and repair Macintosh HD. As it turns out, Disk Utility said Macintosh HD is beyond repair and I need to back up my files and reformat the whole Mac. Unfortunately, I have never used Time Machine since I started using the Mac and I obviously cannot use it now since startup does not even get past the white screen.
How do I reformat the Mac when it does not even go beyond the white screen during startup? My Mac did not come with any recovery or installation disks. Are my unbacked up files gone for good?
Thanks.

PochAstudille wrote:
How do I reformat the Mac when it does not even go beyond the white screen during startup? My Mac did not come with any recovery or installation disks. Are my unbacked up files gone for good?
Since you are able to get into Recovery Mode (Command+R), you can erase/format your Mac via Disk Utility.
Your files/data might be OK. One way to get your data off since you have no back up would be to have another Mac and connect the two via a Thunderbolt cable or even an ethernet cable (I think), then restart your 'bad' Mac into Target Mode by restarting and pressing the T key. Then go onto the 'good' Mac and see if you can copy the data files you want over to it.

My emac won't boot past grey loading screen with apple and spinning disk

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