My Imac won't boot up. It is stuck on apple logo with spinning gear.

My Imac won't boot up. It is stuck on apple logo with spinning gear. It will not boot in safe mode, my install disc will not read and fsck wont fix it.. I can hear the hard drive spinning. So i know my drive is not bad.. Right before this happened i was low on space so i deleted a bunch of movies but for some reason i had to change my drive permissions to do so..

Is your data backed up? If not, see these means of data recovery: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1689 If it is backed up, then purchase Alsoft Disk Warrior. Boot it using the Option key of a wired Apple keyboard.

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Macbook pro won't startup. Stuck on apple logo with spinning wheel.

When I start up my 15 inch Macbook pro, it gets to the apple logo screen with the spinning gear underneath and it just stays there and does not startup. I have let it sit that way for up to an hour and it juts stays on that screen. 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 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 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, boot 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
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.
If you've booted from 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. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
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.
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, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot 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 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 Step 1.) 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 may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" 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
A dead logic-board battery in a Mac Pro can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions.
Step 9
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.

IMac wont boot up - stuck on Apple logo with Spinning wheel.

(Title is the Problem) any fixes?
Ive tried repairing disc using the installed disk/utility and it says that the Macintosh HD cannot be repaired & i really dont want to lose all my files.
However..
I have my iMac Dual booted with W7, Now is it possible to do the following....
Go to:
Windows icon (bottom left) > Computer > Copy Macintosh HD > External HDD > Paste?
(so in effect its a backup)
Will i then be able to reinstall OSX and then load my files from it, or restore from it? (from the Ex. HDD)
Many Thanks in advance.
(1st post by the by)
Tom
EDIT:
Just thought:
If i reinstall the OSX - Will my files already upload onto the new OS install? As i have a feeling that Windows does that when upgrading - whether its the same for Reinstalling is a different matter i s'pose.
Message was edited by: Tom.Rhodes

Boot with your install disc, launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu after selecting your language, and repair the disk. You can't repair the boot volume. Now some other tips. Reinstalling Snow Leopard only replaces all the OS components and basic Apple apps, such as TextEdit, Mail, and Safari, but leaves everything else in place. There's no chance of losing data unless it's already corrupted and lost anyway. There's no need to muck around with the windoze stuff, which, IIRC, won't work anyway.

My imac won't boot up. I get a white screen with the apple logo and the spinning spiral--any ideas?

my imac won't boot up. I get a white screen with the apple logo and the spinning spiral--any ideas?
I have started having trouble since i had to upgrade OS the latest in July 12.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 Follow this article and when it gets to the part where you go into disk utility using your install disc, you'll actually boot up holding down Command and R

MacBook Pro won't boot after trying to install 10.7.3 update. Start up stalls at Apple logo and spinning gear.

MacBook Pro won't boot after trying to install 10.7.3 update. Start up stalls at Apple logo and spinning gear. Computer won't even start in safe mode.

My daughter's MacBook Pro was doing exactly the same thing. I don't know if it had anything to do with the latest update. She called me about a week ago saying that her MacBook began running slower by the day . She then called me Friday and told me that it wouldn't get past the gray screen and the gear just kept on spinning. I did everything I could over the phone including Safe mode which it wouldn't go into and thought maybe it was the hard drive. She took it to the Apple store. Originally, they also thought it was the hard drive. It ended up being a corrupted operating system (Lion). Apple genius simply re-installed Lion and she's back up and running. Good thing she backed up right before it crapped out. She'll be restoring everything tonight. Don't know if re-installing Lion will help your situation, but it did the trick for my daughter.

IMac is stuck on apple logo and spinning wheel stop spinning

Hello everyone, I have iMac 9,1, somehow i lost my OS X partition and i left with just a Windows. So now i tried to clean install new OS X Yorshmite, i boot a new installation and a apple logo is spinning and after 2 minutes it stuck and usb driver stop reading, 5 minutes after iMac just shut down and that's it. I can't access recovery mode.
I tried with replacing old with new Hard Drive, removing RAMs, diferent versions of OS X and still nothing. A can't boot in SAFE MODE or Recovery Mode.
Windows 7 working fine and i can boot it without problems.
Please help?

Startup - Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Startup - Gray Screen
Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

IMac is stuck on apple logo and spinning wheel

My wife did a software update and them it asked for a restart, she click restart but the computer got stuck in apple logo and spinning wheel. Won't go past that now. Just keeps spinning! Help for I know not what to do!!!! Please any idea?

An invalid node is an error DU cannot repair. If you don't mind spending $100 for Disk Warrior, then I suggest you buy it because it can fix the error. Otherwise, do as the warning says. Backup your files. You will then have to erase the drive and reinstall. The procedure is:
Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

I Mac won't start -- we get apple logo with spinning wheel, question mark that disappears and then a blank blue screen

My daughter's old I Mac won't start. It is not backed up. We want to get some things off of it if we can.
When we turn it on, we get the Apple logo with spinning wheel for awhile, then a question mark briefly and then a sky blue blank screen. Is there any hope of getting this to work? This computer is out of warranty. Does it seem that if we reinstall the Operating System we might find old data?

First try restarting with the original install disc an run Disk Utility to repair the drive. If you have to re install the OS make sure you select archive and install or else everything will be lost.

What could be wrong with my iMac? When switched on the screen displays the apple logo with a busy bar at the bottom of the screen. This displays the progress of the computer trying to do something. To fill the bar takes about 30 mins and then switches off

What could be wrong with my iMac? When switched on the screen displays the apple logo with a busy bar at the bottom of the screen. This displays the progress of the computer trying to do something. To fill the bar takes about 30 mins and then switches off

Which OS X is installed?

Mac won't boot: stuck on apple logo and spinning wheel

My MacBook pro 13 inch(mid 2010) won't boot. It just gets stuck on the apple logo with the spinning wheel under it. I have done the following but they have not solved the issue:
Zap pram
Attempt to boot in safe mode
Try to access windows partition( resulted in flashing folder with question mark)
I am dying to try to insert the Mac os x install disc and use disk utility, but it is not going into the drive. This all started when I had to turn off my Mac because it had completely froze. Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially if there is a way to insert the install disk.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Try this:
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.
If you have a problem with the above, then try:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
3. Wait for the boot manager screen to appear, then insert the installer disc into the optical drive.
4. Wait until the disc is recognized and appears in the boot manager screen.
5. After the disc appears select it then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
If you are running Snow Leopard, then reinstall it. Your HDD will not be erased, and all your data will be preserved.
If you are running Leopard then do this:
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.

Need Help For iMac G5 Stuck On Grey Screen Or Apple Logo No Spinning Gear!

Hello everyone i'm new here and i'm new for using iMac for some reason i was trying to clean or to fresh installation the iMac that my brother gave it to me that he bought it into the flea market without the original disk on it! when i erase the Macintosh HD and some of the partition o iMac then reboot it now the iMac stuck on grey screen or apple logo no spinning wheel shown. and i also try to search and try all the tips of all mac user's like all the command key's and follow the instruction of them but still nothing happen..
Holding CMD & R just to go disk utilities nothing shown up only apple logo and the noisy fan.
Holding alt and it go to blue screen and show my mouse Pointer Refresh Logo, Hard drive Icon, Arrow Sign.
i can click Arrow Sign and it go Apple Logo and within 2-3 seconds and it change to Power Sign Logo,
i can click Refresh Logo but nothing happen .
i can't click the Hard Drive icon.
CMD, Option, P & R to Reset i also try and it's the same nothing change.
CMD, Option, ESC no action shown.
Is there anyway to fix this issue or problem please and thank you for help.
Hoping to get result for all of you guys P.S
iMac G5
v10.5.8
Leopard

You need to have the install DVD that was issued with the iMac
You can call Apple at 1-800-275-2273

Macbook pro will not boot, gets stuck on great apple logo with spinning wheel.

I have a Macbook Pro A1287 13" Core2Duo Intel running Mavericks. This morning it would not boot and got stuck at the grey apple logo with the spinning wheel. I have tried:
1. Resetting PRAM
2. Resetting SMC
3. Starting in Safe Mode
4. Boting to recovery partition and verifiying and repairing both disc and permissions
Unfortunately none of these have worked.
I thought after reading other discussions that it may be the sign/start of hard drive failure and that the hard drive may be corrupt.
The strange thing is that I swapped the hard drive with another macbook pro that I use in work and it boots to the HD no problem, all my files and desktop are as expected.
So, I thought this must be a hardware issue, maybe something to do with the hard drive cable, the battery or worse the main board, but when I put my work macbook hard drive in my macbook it also boots. Other than swapping the machines, I'm not really sure what to do.
One thing to note is that I have noticed over the past few months that the clock will have re-set when booting up and that occasionally the machine will turn off with no warning and reboot.
I would have thought if it was a hard drive problem, the drive would not boot in any machine, and if it were a hardware problem then the machine would not boot with different drive in it.
Any ideas, would be appreciated.

Thanks Linc for the swift answer. From what I have read on this discussion board and from other sources the model of Macbook I have does not have a logic-board battery, but may have a soldered on capacitor.
Also, would this not cause the other drive I tried in the laptop to fail to boot also, as I said in my original post, the machine works ok with a boot drive from my work macbook pro. Just trying to eliminate all possible causes before taking it in somewhere to be looked at by a technician.

IMac won't boot - Failed to load extension com.apple.driver.applemacriscAGP

Hello, so I have an iMac G4 17" (running 10.4) and it was unfortunately not connected to a very good surge protector. The power surged and a fuse blew and now when I try starting it up it chimes and then just sits at the gray screen with the apple logo. Here's what I've tried:
Booting into verbose and single-user modes, this is what happens:
Failed to load extension com.apple.driver.applemacriscPCI
Couldn't alloc class AGP
Still waiting for root device
Still waiting for root device
Still waiting for root device etc.
Booting into Open firmware mode:
I'm able to do everything just fine, including resetting the nvram
Resetting PRAM:
Works fine, chimes when appropriate
Starting from Tiger install DVD:
Works just fine, I'm able to access all the utilities and was able to copy files off to a flash drive with the terminal. I used Disk Utility to repair the drive and repair the permissions, both of which ran successfully. I did a clean install of Tiger and then repaired the drive and permissions. I selected the new install on the hard drive as the default start-up disk. Still it sits at the gray screen and I still get those same errors in Verbose and Single-User modes.
I found the source code (a cpp file) for the com.apple.driver.applemacriscPCI, but don't really know how to compile it and what headers are necessary etc, and even if I did I don't know where I would put it since the problem can't be on the hard drive after I did a clean install. I have not yet tried completely reformatting the drive before an install but doesn't the installer do that anyway?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Message was edited by: Yost Smith

There may be some circuit damage in the computer; due to the surge of power.
Sometimes, a computer and its owner get lucky and when a surge disables a
Macintosh, a reset of the Power Management Unit (PMU) can help restore the
normal functions. Often, when this works, the computer may not go past the
grey screen at all, until the PMU is reset.
Instead of a simple surge protector, my computers are powered through a
backup power supply; an uninterruptable power unit with battery backup.
These also have automatic voltage regulation. Forget common protectors!
On the iMac G4 series, the PMU reset button is under the metal plate on the
bottom and is hard to see. There may be instructions with images available
online, perhaps in Apple Support's knowledge-base. This would also be in
the official service manual in pdf electronic documentation, for a tech repair.
How to reset PMU in iMac G4:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1712
You may have to see if the Apple Hardware Test can show error codes and
other hints of hardware damages; and perhaps a tech visit is not far off...
Good luck & happy computing!
edited.

My Imac won't go past the grey screen and apple logo! How do I fix the start up in my Imac?

I really need help with this one!
My Imac is stuck on the grey screen with the apple Logo, and it wont go past that.
It does listen to certain keyboard commands to start it up (ive tried fixing it by reading other's posts.) But it will only listen to some commands,
It doesn't start on Shift (safe mode) but it does start on command+shift+(other button) which is safemode viewed so you can see whats going on.
As the letters on the screen type on, it says it's loading something but stays stuck there.
I've heard about a way where you can use terminal from another computer and boot it that way, or using firewire cables.
Please help! and take in mind I'm not really tech-savy with computers, so guides would be helpful!
If there is any way to save the files in the computer that would be great. If it can't be done, it's fine, I just want it working again .
Thanks,
Gian Varela

I really need help with this one!
My Imac is stuck on the grey screen with the apple Logo, and it wont go past that.
It does listen to certain keyboard commands to start it up (ive tried fixing it by reading other's posts.) But it will only listen to some commands,
It doesn't start on Shift (safe mode) but it does start on command+shift+(other button) which is safemode viewed so you can see whats going on.
As the letters on the screen type on, it says it's loading something but stays stuck there.
I've heard about a way where you can use terminal from another computer and boot it that way, or using firewire cables.
Please help! and take in mind I'm not really tech-savy with computers, so guides would be helpful!
If there is any way to save the files in the computer that would be great. If it can't be done, it's fine, I just want it working again .
Thanks,
Gian Varela

Boot camp restart gets stuck on apple logo/prohibited logo/? folder help

Hello,
I'm currently running OS X (lion) and I'm trying to install windows 7 via boot camp assistant. After creating a Win7 install disk via a bootable USB flash drive and creating my partition via the assistant. The computer restarts and goes into the load screen instead of the windows install process. It then flips between the Apple logo, Prohibited logo, and ? file not found folder. Could some one help me out and let me know whats going on. Thanks in advance! (I would try to install it via CD/DVD but the drive doesn't work.)

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
First of all, you can't install Windows from an USB drive on a Mac with the SuperDrive. To start on OS X, press Option key while the Mac is starting and select Macintosh HD. Finally, open Boot Camp Assistant to delete the Boot Camp volume and take the Mac to an Apple Store to get the SuperDrive repaired

My Imac won't boot up. It is stuck on apple logo with spinning gear.

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