My G5 won't boot up. The Gray screen comes on and it thinks about it until the fan revs up like it is about to explode. A friend said to start it up with the OS disk and then go to utilities. Didin't work. Any suggestions? Isn't there a key stroke to help
Oh, so this is where I ask my question. Sorry, first time here. As I was saying in my long intro, the gray screen come up and the thing is spinning at the bottom, but nothing happens. Then the fan starts reving up like it is about to explode and I have to manually shut it off. A friend told me to start it up with the OS disk and then go to utilities. I couldn't find the thing, so I went out and bought another. Needless to say, it didn't work. Is there a key stroke to help jump start the machine? How can I get into this thing? I would prefer not to take it in because there are a lot of things on there I don't want just anyone to have access to.Thanks, in advance, for your help!
The last time you had to hold down cmd opt pr more than twice was a decade ago....
G5? PowerPC? 10.5? or earlier....
https://discussions.apple.com/community/desktop_computers/power_mac?view=discuss ions
Apple has a number of resources like "Power or Startup Quick Assist"
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1149
Your drive does need to be repaired, and best things to buy are another backup recovery drive, with a small OS X partition; a copy of Disk Warrior is expensive @ $90 but excellent and best.
Never bother with or use the drive or reinstall while there are errors. Don't take a "clean' bill from Apple Disk Utility to mean there are no errors. Only that it didn't find what it looked for.
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/topic4557.html#d12aug2010
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html
A quick search "keyboard shortcuts" takes you here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343
how to resolve and fix startup issues with fsck and disk utility:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
How to use DU to backup and restore
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1553
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html
http://www.bombich.com/ccc_features.html
Make sure to have multiple backup sets and of your system so if there is a serious problem, you can just erase and restore to be back runninig.
Sounds like your G5 though needs PMU reset, not PRAM, and the best way for those is to clear nvram instead. might even want to check for dust; tell what System Profile says (later) as to "PowerMacX,Y" or "MacProX,1"
http://www.apple.com/support/powermac or /macpro
http://www.apple.com/support/sitemap/
The Utility menu is on the menu bar of an "OS X Install DVD" and at the point where you get to but stop at "install....' for OS X. you probably do need to install OS X on another drive to work from.
Oh, a real severe issue and damage to the drive directory or filesystem CAN in cases prevent booting from DVD (the system still tries to find and see what boot volumes are present) and can help to pull or disconnect the drive. Putting a drive in a FW case to turn on after startup is very useful.
Similar Messages
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I have IMac 10.7.5 Lion I use I forgot the password and I did a few fixes from web sites, which did not work and now I can not get the computer to reboot the gray screen comes on with the apple and if a shift+c, I get a load bar and it goes half way and stops, I can get into the black screen area with the hard drive info
I did the following: mount -uw / rm/var/db/.AppleSetupDone shutdown/uses/us reboot Ok I know I should not have, but now I need help to reboot and hopefully not lose everything on the desk top, Linda MarkleYou did the wrong things. In the future it's a good idea to remember not to do something when you don't know what you are doing and what happens when you do it.
Forgot Your Account Password
For Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
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.
When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
Or see:
Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password
OS X Mountain Lion- Reset a login password,
OS X Mavericks- Solve password problems,
OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password. -
MacBook Pro won't boot up past gray screen?
Okay, so I was running chrome and iTunes and spotify. Spotify was playing and Avast! Detected an infection and moved it to the chest. I quit chrome and opened up a Steam game called Garry's Mod, but it wouldn't open no matter how many times I tried it. So I tried to open chrome again and it bounced but didn't open. Tried to open system preferences and it opened but didn't show a window and wasn't responding. So I tried to restart but it wouldn't restart, so I force shut it down. Then it wouldn't go past the gray screen.
So I restarted the PRAM. Didn't work. Tried booting into safe mode. Didn't work. When into single user and checked the directories I think. Didn't work. Called apple and repaired permissions and that didn't work. Then I downloaded OS Mavericks and reinstalled it. Didn't work. So I'm redownloading to see if it might work if i do it again. Otherwise, he said I'd have to completely restore and lose my data, which would suck. I don't have a backup unfortunately.
What I'm wondering is if there's anything you think I could do that just might fix this?
Or, is there anyway to save my data if it won't boot up and I don't have a backup? I have lots of writing and music I really would not like to lose.Your disk may be sick or dying. As you surmised the top priority at this point is to make a copy of your data.
First, check the health of the disk. Boot in Recovery Mode (Boot, Command-R). Run Disk Utility. Click on the upper left disk icon. Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”? If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced. Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD” and Verify Disk. If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk. If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address once the system is backed up. Do not attempt software repairs until you have secured the data. Post back with the results of this test.
If the disk will not show up at all in Disk Utility to run these simple testes then it is probably already dead. A trip to an Apple store to confirm that would be in order.
If you have an external disk drive you can use as a backup drive then do so. If not I’m going to council you to purchase a drive you can use to replace your internal drive if need be. The silver lining is this new drive will be much faster than the old one. Google “Seagate 1 TB SSHD”. You should find a drive for about $100. Google “USB 3.0 enclosure”. That should cost $10 to $20. When they arrive plug the drive into the enclosure.
Assuming it is still breathing you can recover the data without booting from the sick disk.
Reformat the external disk Boot in Recovery Mode. Start Disk Utility. Plug in the new disk. Select it’s disk Icon (the second one down, left justified). Select the Partition tab.
Partition Layout > Single Partition
Name: Emergency Recovery 1 (or whatever name you wish to use)
Format: Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Options… > GUID Partition Table > OK
Apply
Select the Restore tab.
Drag the old system volume (Macintosh HD) to Source.
Drag the new disk volume (Emergency Recovery 1) to Destination.
Click on Restore.
If that will not complete post back for another emergency data recovery method.
If the backup succeeds use the First Aid tab in Disk Utility to select the old volume (Macintosh HD) and Repair Disk. If it repairs with a green OK message, will it boot normally?
Post back for further instructions. How to proceed will depend on what has transpired to that point. -
POWER MAC G5 WON'T BOOT UP AFTER GRAY SCREEN!!!!!!!
My wife was on my G5 one day and then came and told me it was messed up. When i turned my G5 on, the fans came on and it appeared that it was booting up. The computer got to the gray screen, had the little working icon under the apple logo came on, then it appeared to black out right around the the icon. The screen went black and then the screed said no connection.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.Hi foleypopo, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
See if it will boot up to a screen by holding the Option/alt key down at bootup.
Any results? -
IBook won't boot, stops at gray screen--HELP
I couldn't find this exact topic at first glance and I am hoping someone can help me. My ibook is about 5 years old and has only really crashed on my once 2 years ago but I was able to reinstall the OS and go on my way. This time, however, nothing works. I tried to boot up yesterday and the gray screen appeared and that was it along with a strange buzzing sound. I tried Disk Warrior, wouldn't even boot off that. Also tried booting off system disk 1 and didn't get past the language screen, just hung up with that buzz again.
Does this sound like a logic board issue? Can it be rescued?
Thanks in advance for any help!I'm not sure if the computer can be checked out at home in such a way
in its present state, to see if there is a logic board failure behind it, now,
or not. There could be a hard disk drive failure, or ATA controller failure;
and a short list of other possibilities, best checked over by a specialist.
Certain keyboard commands and things could be tried (and I usually
assume they'd been tried before asking here, but that's often not so)
just to see if one or more of them could get a rise out of the dead Mac.
Be sure, if you can get the installer disc to boot the Mac, that you
try and use the Disk Utility to repair disc; maybe more than once;
and do not try to just reinstall an Archive and Install. The HDD may
have corruption issues and it may need low-level zero-data and re-
formatting before a new system could go on there, if it worked at all.
{Even trying to reset PRAM/NVRAM and then seeing if you can get
the bootable OSX installer disc to start up the Mac could be OK.
Maybe that PMU reset, as a last resort? It probably won't hurt...}
A system on an external bootable enclosed hard disk drive could be
used by a tech or a prepared home-tech owner, and a clone of the
machine's system then attempted to be used to boot the ailing Mac.
If the optical drive and other components relying on the logic board
are dysfunctional due to a defect on that main board, most external
devices may also have a hard time trying to use these methods of
outside efforts to troubleshoot be nominally successful.
There may be a way a tech can use an second computer to get
data off the drive in your iBook, should it come to that, by using
the FireWire Target Disk mode and see if your iBook can start
and act like an external hard disk drive. A copy of the drive's
content or parts of it may be made by the second healthy Mac.
A clone (perhaps not bootable if data on it is damaged and not
recoverable) could be made if the second healthy computer has
a clone utility and also an external drive it can copy/clone the
iBook's drive content over to. This may be asking too much;
but the home user who has stuff on hand could do it shortly.
Anyway, there are some ideas online, if you can search google
and choose appropriate words; I looked but you may need to
read through several different source links to see if anything
sounds like it may work. re: iBook won't start past grey screen
Some users have tried resetting the PMU, others tried NVRAM
and PRAM; a few tried SafeBoot to see if the system was OK
enough to load in a reduced startup mode; maybe where the
system's own Disk Utility could be ran to at least fix permissions.
And of these, if it is truly a logic board or a failed hard disk drive,
they won't really do much. Probably no harm; and that is part
of what troubleshooting is all about, working with zeros and ones!
Good luck & happy computing!
edited to add a chapter. -
MBP won't boot up past gray screen
Stays at the gray on gray apple logo screen with the rotating dial. Tried resetting PRAM, etc. Saw a similar post but it had no response. Hopefully I'll do better.
thanksBoot from your system CD, run Disk First Aid from your Disk Utility and repair your permissions. If that does not work, try an Archive and Install.
Mac OS X: About the Archive and Install feature >>
-Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group - Join us @ MacOSG.com
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iTunes:MacOSG Podcast | YouTube.MacOSG.com
An Apple User Group
Have an iPhone or iPod touch? Enter Mac611.com in Safari on it for 'mobile Mac support.' -
I can't get past the gray screen.
I can't log in to my MacBook. When I turn it on, the gray screen comes up and the cursor moves, but I can't click through.
What's going on? Please 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 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.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. 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.
d. 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 the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d 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 11. 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
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
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 11
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 12
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 13
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. -
I have MacBook Air late 2011 with encryption enabled the mac froze and I pressed the power button to shut it down but then the gray screen appeared no wheels nothing just gray. I tried all steps but nothing helped. Worse than that only the pram key combination works I cant get the cmd-r or just alt or any combination to work??? Any suggestions would help. Thanks!
P.s. I am on mountain lion with ssd encryption enabled. The mac froze when the internet stopped the one from the cable (I use ethernet usb one) when I turned wifi on it froze. I have disconnected everything when trying the steps except power cable.Boot into Internet Recovery (command-option-R at the startup chime) and try to repair the boot volume in Disk Utility. You will have to unlock the volume before you can do anything with it.
-
My iMac won't boot up fully. It stays stuck in the gray screen with the pinwheel spinning, then after about 5 minutes just shuts itself off.
Try SMC Reset (unplug it from the back of the computer for 10 seconds then plug it back. in)
Try PRAM Reset Cmd + OPtion + P + R on start up.
Try safe boot - hold down shift on start up.
Try booting to install dvd (C on start up) or recovery hd (CMD + R) and using disk utility to run a verify and repair. If you still can't boot after that reinstall the operating system. If you can't find the disc or it wont boot to the disc.
Try single mode which is cmd+S on start up. It will open with a terminal looking window in the terminal. type in /sbin/fsck -TL. If it returns *system has been modified* continue to type that command in until it comes back with macintosh hd seems to be ok. If after 5 tries it still gives you system has been modified. You may have to replace the hard drive. -
Disk utility tells me to start my computer with my osx disk, then repair the hard drive , help???
disk utility tells me to start my computer with my osx disk, then repair the hard drive , help???
Hi prkrgrp,
I'm sorry, I'm a bit unclear on the exact nature of your question. If you are having issues starting up from your original Install Disk and running Disk Utility to repair your hard drive, you may find the information and steps outlined in the following articles helpful:
Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck - Apple Support
Regards,
- Brenden -
My father forgot his password on his macboo pro. I followed the instructions on how to reset it. Now when I turn it on it goes to the gray screen and there's a loading bar but it doesn''t finish, the mac turns off. What do I do!!!
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 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. -
Macbook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. I tried to start in safe mode, but get this same screen. The only thing different is that I added the zedge update app to do a sync for adding ringtones to my apple cell phone. How can I get a good boot. I am fairly new to apple computer.
Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405 and then try a normal boot.
Run the Startup Manager to select Startup disk: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
If those did not work your disk may be sick or dying. The top priority at this point is to make a backup copy of your data.
Check the health of the disk. Boot in Recovery Mode (Boot, Command-R). Run Disk Utility. Click on the upper left disk icon. Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”? If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced. Even if it does not show “Verified” you can still attempt a backup.
Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD” and Verify Disk. If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk. If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address once the system is backed up. Do not attempt software repairs until you have secured the data.
If the disk will not show up at all in Disk Utility as your ran the tests above then it may be dead or it may have a bad internal SATA cable. A trip to an Apple store for confirmation would be in order.
If you have an external disk drive you can use as a backup drive then do so. If not Google “Hitachi USB 3.0 external hard drive 1TB” to purchase one or go to a brick-and-mortar store (including an Apple store) to pickup one. Any 1 TB external drive will do.
Assuming it is still breathing you can try to recover the data without booting from the sick disk.
Reformat the external disk. (This will erase all data on the external disk.)
Boot in Recovery Mode. Start Disk Utility. Plug in the new disk. Select it’s disk Icon (the second one down, left justified). Select the Partition tab.
Partition Layout > Single Partition
Name: Emergency Recovery 1 (or whatever name you wish to use)
Format: Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Options… > GUID Partition Table > OK
Apply
Select the Restore tab.
Drag the old system volume (Macintosh HD) to Source.
Drag the new disk volume (Emergency Recovery 1) to Destination.
Click on Restore.
It may take a long time for the backup.
If that will not complete post back for other emergency data recovery methods, including those from a brody.
If the backup succeeds, use the First Aid tab in Disk Utility to select the old volume (Macintosh HD) and Repair Disk. If it does not finish with a green OK message try to repair it once or twice more. If it repairs with a green OK message, will it boot normally? If not, boot from the Recovery Partition and reinstall OS X.
If it is still not healthy, post back for further instructions. -
My MacBook pro won't start. It is frozen on the gray screen with the apple. Please help?
My MacBook pro won't start. It's stuck on the gray screen with the apple logo.
Reinstall OS X:
Reinstall Snow Leopard without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard 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 Utilities menu. 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.
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. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
Reinstalling Lion Without Erasing the 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 the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer. -
My MacBook Air can't get past the gray screen with the apple logo. What's the fix?
My MacBook Air can't get past the gray screen with the Apple logo, so I can't login. Does anyone know the fix for this?
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 Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
How to back up and restore your files
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 by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
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
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.
Before reconnecting an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode.* The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
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.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Post for further instructions.
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 damaged and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, 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 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see above for instructions.) 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 produces. Look for the line "Permissions repaired successfully" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Boot into Recovery again. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to 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.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, 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 backup.
Step 8
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested. -
Just the gray screen with logo and spinning wheel
Hello
my computer acted up funny while typing every 10sec or so i got the spinning wheel. i tried to restart but everything just stopped and just got the spinning wheel so i shut down the computer with the power button and now I am just in the grey screen. I used the installation disc and used disc utility I was able to use disk repair and it did something but i can not do anything on the permission they are grayed out. After the disk repair no change the computer just sits in the gray screen and nothing happens . any ideaYou need to reinstall OS X. Do this:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard 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 Utilities menu. 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.
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.
If the drive was OK continue with the reinstallation. It's automatic and none of your files will be erased.
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