My imac starts up with a white screen, gray apple and spinning gear and is frozen on that screen. What can I do?

my imac starts up with a white screen, gray apple and spinning gear and is frozen on that screen. What can I do?

Start your iMac with the original DVD that camera with the system. Then open disk utility and repair your hard drive, also repair your permissions.

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I have an iMac that won't boot up. Chimes, Gray screen w/ apple icon, spinning gear and progress bar at bottom, about 20 sec then shuts off.

I have an iMac that won't boot up. Chimes, Gray screen w/ apple icon, spinning gear and progress bar at bottom, about 20 sec then shuts off.
Please Help

The internal drive is malfunctioning. What backups do you have?

Macbook Won't Chime Or Boot Past Grey Screen W/ Apple Logo & Spinning Gear

So i took my Macbook into the apple store to get looked it, cuz i sensed it was a little too hot and maybe overheating........... I DJ so my Macbook is bascially used for that and that only, so after he ran a diagnostics he seen i needed a new fan, but they didn't have that fan in stock, so i went home.... Laptop still working fine until i went to boot it up and it didn't chime and was stuck on the grey screen with the apple logo and spinning gear. Does this indicate i need a new logic board or a new hard drive

Hi ds,
Sorry to hear you're having such trouble!
Unfortunately, the best thing you can do at this point is reinstall Leopard (and then attempt to install the combo updater, too). If you don't have a backup of your machine, you could boot it into Target Disk Mode (by holding down T at startup) and then attach it via FireWire to another computer to salvage your files.
I recently had to repair a machine with this exact same problem, and after messing around with that for several hours, I'd have to say that I think that an Erase and Install is the way to go. If you then migrate over your user data and start having troubles, you at least know where the problem lies. I suspect, though, that having a clean machine with all of the new updates applied will be the end of the issue.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There are a few other things you could try first; you could, for example, manually download the relevant combo updater from Apple's website and attempt to install it to your damaged machine while it's in Target Disk Mode. If you have a copy of Disk Warrior, that too is certainly worth a shot (and in some cases may be the saving grace). In my experience, though, a failure of this magnitude isn't easy to resolve.
Hope that helps.
—Hazy

My mac shows a grey screen and spinning gear and nothing else. please help! i want my mac to work again :/

My mac needed new updates and after clickign update it soon told me there was an error and it froze. I then let it sit fo about 15 minutes adn nothign changed so I restarted it and ever since then all my computer will show is the grey screen and a spinning gear :/ can anyone help me with this problem?

I had the same issue, and I had recently backed-up my files (mostly because the mac was acting wonky before this even happened), so I did an erase and install. Then I ran through all the software upgrades and installed all of them. When I did a required restart (for the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update) it went BACK to grey screen with spinning ball. Talk about frustrating!
I think there is something weird going on with the iTunes update and the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update. But one can't be used without the other. So I'm not sure how to update everything safely and get an up to date system, without having all the problems I had before. So now I'm using Mac OS X 10.4.7 so I can have a stable system to do my work, but I can't run iTunes 7.0. I'm too scared to update OS b/c I can't waste another day re-installing everything (for like the third time).
I'm a pretty new Mac user (year and half) so this may sound really dumb, but any suggestions would be very welcomed. I may start a new thread instead of hijacking this one...

My macbook pro (early 2011) freezes at gray screen and spinning gear and does not start up

I tried starting in safe mode but that process freezes as well. The final text says socket is not connected.

See this article. You might have damaged software, and you'll have to reinstall from the recovery mode, depending on which version of OSX you have.

My iMac will not boot past the logo and spinning gear

My iMac will not boot past the logo and spinning gear (After a Rogue Amoeba update). I can't access the recovery disk I made on a flash drive. (Am I doing it correctly? - Hold down option while switching on? It just stays on the logo). What (if anything) can I do please?

If you installed Lion onto your machine, it should have created a Recovery HD (hidden from view, but visible in Disk Utility with its Debug menu enabled, under Show all Partitions).
That article states:
Note: In order to create an external Lion Recovery using the Lion Recovery Assistant, the Mac must have an existing Recovery HD.
Would I see the recovery menu (by holding down option on power up)
Yes.
if there was no recovery disc connected do you think?
Shouldn't matter, since your int HD is always connected.

Macbook starts up with chime then white screen with grey apple logo and spinning gear appears and continues to spin

Help, Turned on MacBook Pro this morning and just get a white screen with grey apple logo and spinning gear. Cannot access desktop.

Computer starts up in Safe boot by holding down the shift button. But when I go to restart the same thing happens. What should I do?

My iMac starts up with vertical stripes on the screen

My iMac starts up with vertical stripes on the screen, does anyone know what it could be?

My issue is Blue Strips on start up and its frozen at Grey screen forever > I only successfully log-in on SafeBoot mode only actually while I'm typing this
been looking for solutions until came through your posted , ITS HELP! :-) Thanks to you!
so turn out mine was the LCD or Cable like you said,
What should i do from now ? already been tried many solutions :
Clean installed , PRAM , AHT ,
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)
Please, Any suggestion ?

Imac has white screen and spinning wheel and will not boot up---after lion install

imac has white screen and spinning wheel and will not boot up---after lion install

Please read Gray screen appears during startup.

Start up screen stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning gear

Start up screen is stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning gear. What should I do?

See this thread with dominic23’s suggestions: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5783326?tstart=0

TS3931 I cannot get my Macbook air to move off the start up screen with the Apple logo and spinning gear. HELP!!!!

I cannot get my MacBook Air to move from the gray start up screen with the Apple logo and spinning gear. Please help

I cannot get my MacBook Air to move from the gray start up screen with the Apple logo and spinning gear. Please help

Brand new MacBookPro 13" , Stuck at White Screen with gray apple and spinning gear.

Brand new MacBookPro 13" , Stuck at White Screen with gray apple and spinning gear.
This MBP apparently didn't come with a DVD and safe mode ( holding shift at boot up ) isn't working.
Any ideas would be most appreciated.

Call AppleCare. You should not be having problems with a brand-new machine.

My iMacG5 will only boot to white screen, gray apple and spinning gear. Help?

My iMacG5 will only boot to white screen, gray apple and spinning gear. Help?
Also not totally sure if it's an Intel based computer, but that's what I recall. Any way to check, since I can't get to About This Mac window?
It's running on OSX Leopard 10.5.4
First symptom = running slowly - then it kind of froze with color wheel spinning - thought a forced shut down would help - help power button til off, then white screen, gray apple and spinning gear.
Have tried...
1. Turn off the computer by choosing Shut Down from the Apple menu, or by holding the power button until the computer turns off.
2. Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord.
3. Wait 10 seconds.
4. Plug in the power cord while simultaneously pressing and holding the power button on the back of the computer.
5. Let go of the power button.
6. Press the power button once more to start up your iMac.
Then try booting from your install disc again.
- No change
And...
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo
appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
- The fan just got louder.
Thanks for your help.

You need to do an Erase and Install or an Archive and Install depending on whether the hard drive is OK or needs to be reformatted.
Start by booting from your Leopard DVD. The rest is just following directions.
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Gray screen, apple logo and spinning gear hang at start up

after a lengthy round of "bejeweled", i let my imac fall into screen saver mode. when i tried to log back in, i tapped the mouse and the imac flashed as it does when actuated outside a dialogue without clicking the okay button, and immediately returned to screen saver. i then manually shut down and restarted to the gray screen, apple logo and spinning gear hang. i then inserted the leopard install dvd, manually shut down and restarted pressing the option key and selected the install disc. it booted as usual. i selected the language preferred, used the utility drop down menu and selected DU, then selected the hard drive and verify permissions to reveal a pop up "Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit. Permissions verification complete." i immediately selected repair disc, and breathed a sigh of relief with the notification "appears to be ok". then utilities/start up disc/macintosh hd/restart. still get the hang. i have repeated this process several times, also resetting the PRAM as well to the infinite hang. as a matter of fact, the gear has been spinning the entire time creating this post. needless to say, i am truly at a loss. SOS!!!!!!! Please!!!!! SEND LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY!!!!

i have perused some of the threads posted per this topic and decided to attempt an "archive and install." i also have a 620gig acomdata external drive with close to a carbon copy of my internal. a few short minutes into the install, the imac reveals a pop up stating it cannot install some files on the hard drive, contact the software manufacturer or restart and try to install again. the internal drive is a 160gig with only about 60gigs of room, so i tried to archive and install to the acomdata instead as it has 180 gig of free space. i get the exact same dialogue once again. restart and a third attempt only archive and install will not highlight, only first time and/or erase and install. further, start up disc shows only the install disc and network as choices. so i attempt first time install on both drives and get the same pop up message again. DU recognizes both drives although verify/repair permissions does not highlight, but not start up disc.
i'm trying not to become frantic, but my patience is threadbare. i am in desperate need of sound advice as to what i need to do.
thanks again in advance,
bradley

Help!! - I am faced with the grey screen and spinning gear!!

Hi guys
I have an intel-based imac and when i performed routine updates on it, it took long to switch off so i manually turned it off with the button. Normally this gives no problem, but this time it refuses to go past the grey screen with the apple logo and spinning gear. I have tried many of the fixes but to no avail...does anyone have any step by step instructions/suggestions...I cant get to any of my uni work. I tried disk utility and it said my hard drive is fine, yet when i restart im back to the grey screen!
Please help, I cant access any of my files and cant risk having it wiped!!!
Thanks in advance - sorry if this might be in the wrong section!

I had the same issue, and I had recently backed-up my files (mostly because the mac was acting wonky before this even happened), so I did an erase and install. Then I ran through all the software upgrades and installed all of them. When I did a required restart (for the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update) it went BACK to grey screen with spinning ball. Talk about frustrating!
I think there is something weird going on with the iTunes update and the Mac OS X 10.4.11 update. But one can't be used without the other. So I'm not sure how to update everything safely and get an up to date system, without having all the problems I had before. So now I'm using Mac OS X 10.4.7 so I can have a stable system to do my work, but I can't run iTunes 7.0. I'm too scared to update OS b/c I can't waste another day re-installing everything (for like the third time).
I'm a pretty new Mac user (year and half) so this may sound really dumb, but any suggestions would be very welcomed. I may start a new thread instead of hijacking this one...

My imac starts up with a white screen, gray apple and spinning gear and is frozen on that screen. What can I do?

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