My iMac will not restart, just spins on the gray screen
I am having trouble with one of my iMacs. It started by not being able to access Safari. Then we tried to restart it and now it is frozen and just spins on the gray screen. Have unplugged it, restarted and force quit, all with no luck. Anyone have any suggestions?
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
It would help us to know which computer model you have, which OS & version you're using, how much RAM, etc. You can have this info displayed on the bottom of every post by completing your system profile and filling in the information asked for.
This will help in providing you with the proper and/or correct solutions.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1758 How to identify iMac models
Similar Messages
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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. -
I purchased a free app from App Store for my iPhone 5s, iOS version 7.1.2. It will not download; just gives me the little cloud with arrow pointing down. What do I need to do to get the app to load?
Hello mjhardy,
After reading your post, it sounds like you are experiencing an error while downloading apps. You may want to consider restarting the device first, and then resetting if that does not work. This article provides detailed instructions for Restarting, and Reseting:
Turn your iOS device off and on (restart) and reset
How to restart
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on the top of your device until the red slider appears. Then drag the slider to turn your device completely off.
After the device turns off, press and hold the Sleep/Wake button again until you see the Apple logo.
How to reset
You should reset your device as a last resort and only if you can't restart it.
To reset, press and hold both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
Thank you for contributing to Apple Support Communities,
BobbyD -
My Macbook aliminium unibody from late 2008 will not boot. I reach the grey screen with the apple icon and the spinning grey gear. I used disk utility to boot it but it said integrity test failed. I don't know what to do can anyone please help?
Sounds like you may have a harddrive issue. You are probably going to need to get that changed out and then install the OS X again to get it going.
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Dear all, please hel!!
I sync my iphone ios 4 to another iphone ios5, sync was completed but after a few secs, the iphone with the IOS 5 firmware will auto restart and freezes at the home screen which I can't unlock. It will then freeze for a few secs before repeating the restart phase again and again and again.
To solve this issue, I have to hold the "home" + "off" button to restart the phone. Afterwhich, it will restart the phone. However, although my stuff are still on the phone, all my sms are gone.
Can someone please assist urgently.
My data was transferred from another iphone 3GS which is running an IOS 4.0.1 to another 3GS running ios 5.0.1
Is there a serious compatibility issue with both firmware?
Please help.
Thanks!Can't I just set up Exchange as one of my calendars in ical?
Only if you're running Snow Leopard and your employer will allow access (different than iPhone/mobile device access, so most likely not), but not needed - keep reading.
Is it really true that I have to choose between syncing Exchange with work server OR syncing iCal with personal Macbook?
No. It was true, but with the v3.0 software that changed - you can now sync your Exchange contacts and calendar over the air, and your Address Book and iCal via iTunes over the docking cable.
What is the best work around for this?
None needed. When you set up the exchange account, and choose to turn on syncing of contacts and calendars, you will be prompted to remove all other data, or keep it on the iPhone. Choose the keep option. Note that in that case, your personal data will not be uploaded to the Exchange server - the iPhone keeps them separate (although you can choose to view them in a merged fashion).
I have this set up on my phone (Exchange calendar along side personal and other calendars from iCal). Same for contacts. Works great. -
Dreamweaver CS5 will not open. It shows the splash screen and terminates with non admin login
Dreamweaver CS5 will not open. It shows the splash screen and terminates with non admin login but works fine with admin login.
OS - WinXP Sp3
Things I tried.
1) Gave full rights on dreamweaver folder in program files.
2) Disabled welcome screen
3) Updated to Dreamweaver CS5 11.0.4
4) Reinstalled
5) Formated PC
But issue persists, please help.Have you tried deleting or renaming the Dreamweaver configuration file?
See http://forums.adobe.com/thread/494811
This can solve many problems and create one in that any snippets that are installed are lost, but you can get them back. Instead of deleting the config file, just name it config.old. When your system is working, just copy the snippets from the .old file to the new one. -
I downloaded upgrades available. The installation of those took a long time after re- initiatin the system and had to off. After this I could not get it to turn on again. Just stays in the gray screen with apple in the middle. What's wrong?
Sorry to hear of your problem, but any hardware in a computer can fail - that includes the hard drive, the logic board, etc, etc. Fortunately, it usually doesn't happen that soon; however, I've read of hard drives failing within 6 months.
So, since you did not purchase the extended Applecare Protection Plan (3 years coverage), you will need to make a decision to repair or sell it as is. I would always purchase 3 year coverage for an all in one or a laptop because repairs are expensive and at least I'd be covered for 3 years.
We can't speculate on whether there should be a recall or not; these forums are for user to user assistance with technical problems. In your case, there is nothing we can help with since you've already gotten a diagnosis. -
my macbook pro will not boot. It gets the grey screen with the apple until the bar is half way across and then shuts down. The only screen I can get to is in safe mode and I don't know what to do with that
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup - Apple Support
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My MacBook Pro stated that it needed to be updated. I clicked yes to restart the computer and update but when it restarted it stays on the gray screen with the apple logo and then pops up, stating "unable to find driver for this platform." What do I do?
Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.
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 networks that require any kind of authentication other than a WPA or WPA2 Personal password.
When the Mac OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to reinstall the Mac OS. You don't need to erase the boot volume, and you won't need your backup unless something goes wrong. If your Mac didn’t ship with Lion, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade, so make a note of those before you begin.
Don't install the Thunderbolt update -- it's defective. -
Brand new iMac will not boot, just make's funny "bonk" sound.
I have a brand new iMac (Intel, 20-inch flat panel). Just out of the box. Ran through set-up wizard. Used firewire to transfer files from an old CRT iMac. All was good for about an hour.
Tried to empty the trash. Finder says Trash was emptied, but, if I open the Trash, the 50-odd files I just deleted are still visible! If I try to select one, its icon immediately disappears. Hmmm....
I decide it's time to restart.
Upon restart, computer will not boot.
I push the power button. I hear the startup chime as usual. Screen lights up gray. But no apple logo on the screen. There is a long pause. Screen remains gray. Computer then starts making a soft "bonk" sound every 4-5 seconds. (Kind of hard to describe the sound, just imagine clipping the very first fraction of a second of the normal Mac startup chime, and repeating it every couple seconds.) This continues indefinitely.
If someone has experienced this, or has advice, please let me know your thoughts. Feeling rather bummed. Thanks in advance!!!
iMac Intel 20-inch 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)Boot from the Install Disk 1
I cannot boot at all (see my post above). The
machine just sits there with a blank gray screen.
I appreciate the article link, though. I've already
read it and it will make a great reference for the
future, provided I can get back to a place where this
iMac actually runs.
Since you're new to Macs, I'm sure you don't realize that while your iMac is sitting there with only a gray screen, you can insert/push in "Install Disc 1" - and it will be accepted. Then press and hold down the power button until iMac shuts down. After waiting a few seconds until everything has settled, press power button and immediately upon hearing the usual Mac startup tone/chime/chord hold down the "c" key until you see the spinning progress indicator below the Apple logo. It will boot to the DVD, you will be able to use (from the Utilties pull-down menu) Disk Utility to "repair" the hard drive directory, then you will be able to quit the installation process, choose Startup Disk from that same Utilities pull-down, and restart your iMac:) -
Mac mini shut down on its own. Could not restart, chime, grey screen and spinning wheel. Unplugged everything but monitor, still only chime, grey screen and spinning wheel. Started in safe boot, shut Down, will not restart.
This happened a couple of months ago, unplugged everything and it restarted, now that won't work.Hi BDAqua,
I just did the repair as you suggested. T ran the disc repair, and twice it cam back, the volume macintosh seems ti be okay, I also ran the verify and permissions repair, both came back okay.
I was actually hoping that they would find something, so they could repair. I shut the computer down, and restated with out holding a key, and I started up great. I'm baffled. I have moved 20 GB to an external hard drive, as I only had 10% open space.
I have Tech Tool 6, would you recommend to run a repair check on that, or just leave well enough alone.
I agree with you on the new Mac's, I have problems with no disc for back up, until they realize their mistake I will stay with Snow a Leopard. This is the first problem I have experienced, so I can't complain. Their last programs are not as perfected as under Steve, prior to his handling over the reins, hope this is not going to be the future we can expect from Apple.
I will wait to here back as to your suggestion regarding the Tech Tool check
Thanks for all your help.
Gratefully,
Cheri -
IMac will not boot, just runs apple screen with turning circle
Trying to turn iMac on, but only get the gray screen with Apple icon and turning wheel. Any advise on how to get iMac to boot?
That isn't a good sign, it's rying to repair the drive & cannot useually with that.
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 at top of the screen. (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, or are running 10.7+, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
If 10.7.0 or later...
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partitiion & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Permissions. -
IMac will not boot up - stuck on grey logo screen after restoring
I recently attempted to restore my iMac using the time machine back up. I followed the instructions to the letter, found the back up I wanted to restore from and selected. All seemed to go well. I was presented with a screen that said something like "restore successful click restart to continue". I did this and when the machine restarted it just freezes on the opening screen with the grey apple logo and spinning wheel. I searched for advice and have since tried restoring from another back up - same problem. I have run the disk repair and all is fine. The iMac is just under a year old so hopefully still covered by manufacturer warranty. Any suggestions how I can fix before lugging the machine 35 miles to the local Apple store?
Roger,
Thanks for your advice. I have a wireless keyboard and no access to a wired one until tomorrow. Tried your instructions but nothing happened. I know the keyboard works as I can open up the mac os install disk by pressing 'c' on start up.
I was restoring from backup as I had made a mess of my music and photo folders since trying to sync up an iPad using another account. Thought it was easier to restore my mac to a week earlier when everything worked fine - so far this has backfired!! -
I open the browser and close it every thing is fine. I open the browser and then attempt to open a second browser window, it will not open. Now because I've attempted to open a second browser window firefox will not restart after closing the open window. Until I've shut it down in the taskmgr. This just started the other day and I have removed the only update I made that was "flash" and I removed the 64 bit version of firefox.
Win 7 with iTunes installed - I was also having problems with that.
"netsh winsock reset" at the command prompt resolved all issues and Firefox launched normally.
Check to see if Winsock is corrupted. May prevent FF from communicating with the web and consequently fails to launch properly - for my situation was not a firewall or antivirus block!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936211#LetMeFixItMyselfAlways
Click Start, and in Start Search, type cmd.
Right-click the cmd entry that appears in the search results, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:
netsh winsock reset
Then, you should see the following message:
Successfully reset the Winsock Catalog. You must restart the computer in order to complete the reset.
Restart the computer.
Note If you receive an “Access Denied” error message instead of the message that is mentioned in step 3, the command prompt was not correctly elevated. In this case, close the Command Prompt window, and repeat steps 1 through 3. Make sure that you correctly implement step 2. -
I made a duplicate of a DVD on my iMac but it will not play on it. The original DVD plays on my iMac. The duplicate will play on my DVD player with my TV. The original DVD is not a copyrighted commercial DVD.
That doesn't create a DVD. It makes a copy of the files on the DVD. All you did was put data files on the disk. A disk must be formatted correctly for a DVD player to recognize it as a DVD.
Use Disk Utility to make an image of the DVD, then burn the image to Disk.
File menu, New>Disk Image from <DVD name>
Set the image format to DVD/CD Master.
Once the image is finished, select it in the Disk Utility Sidebar and click the Burn button.
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