My Mac Pro ONLY Boots up in safe mode

My Mac Pro hangs in boot mode forever (screen after the Gray Logo Screen).  I'm unable to use the recovery partion, or boot from USB installation.  I did all the usual troubleshooting e.g. reset SMC, NVRAM, etc.  I tested the boot drive externally on an iMac and boots just fine.  I checked the permissions running Disc Utility and get a lot of the "display" plists have the wrong permission settings.  Does this mean my graphics card is bad?  The Mac Pro is the stock 2006 model, 2.66 Ghz QuadCore Xeon with 2GBs or RAM.

Thanks for your help Grant Bennet-Alder. I've tried this as well. When I boot up holding the Option key, the screen shows both the Recovey_HD and the Boot Volume graphically.  Whether I choose by clicking on the Recovery_HD or the main Boot Volume the same thing happens - the screen after the Gray Apple Logo Screen.  I tried booting by this same method with my old installation discs that came with the Mac Pro to see if I can just install a new System folder and it triggers the Kernel Panic screen (See Below - Grayed out screen with Black Pop Up saying "You Need to Restart Your Computer..." Seems I can't even restore my Mac.

Similar Messages

  • I have purchased the Acrobat pro subscription for 1 year and have followed the steps to install it. But when i go to start it, It crashes and it does this every time! I have restarted my mac pro and also restarted in safe mode but it just doesn't work! PL

    I have purchased the Acrobat pro subscription for 1 year and have followed the steps to install it. But when i go to start it, It crashes and it does this every time! I have restarted my mac pro and also restarted in safe mode but it just doesn't work! PLEASE HELP!!

    Hi jim1287,po
    Check for the latest updates. Installing latest updates should resolve this problem.
    Also, try to ran disk repair using safe mode in Mac, for instructions please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204
    Try enabling root user profile on mac and try to check. OS X Mavericks: Enable and disable the root user
    Regards,
    Ajlan Huda.

  • Tecra 8100 only boot up in safe mode

    I seem to have lost the display drivers to my Tecra 8100.
    Since I attempted to use an extra screen which worked fine until I came to boot up the following day when it would only boot up in Safe Mode.
    What have I done wrong and how can I rectify it?
    Driver detective doesn't work, just comes up as having performed an illegal action.

    Lars,
    I'm afraid that it seems that Toshiba no longer provide the drivers for the Tecra 8100 as it's such an old computer, around 12 years old. I have been on the Toshiba website and tried again on the site you suggested but to no avail. Sorry about that but am still hunting.
    Regards
    bfg267

  • Mac Book Pro 2.13 17" can only boot up in Safe Mode

    I have a 4+ year old Mac Book Pro 2.13 Intel Core 2 Duo 17" and it's primarily been used for heavy graphics usage it's entire life. (Adobe CS Suite etc). A few weeks ago I was watching a video, Hulu, and the entire screen froze.  Since it was none responsive I force powered off.  waited a few and restarted.  I got to the Grey screen, Apple logo, and after 30 sec the screen went to all grey and no further.  Tried it several times, powering off, removing battery, resetting PRAM, all to the same result. 
    Things that DO work:
    Can boot in Target Disk mode and mount the disk on another computer.  Ran Disk utility and all check out.
    Can boot in Safe mode but screen shows some video artifacts.  Light red squares all over the screen. 
    Can option boot to choose a disk although see the same result as above description.
    Things That DONT work:
    Booting from CD fails at same location as OS boot
    Booting using Hardware Check Disk
    I haven't visited an apple store yet for this issue since I'm hoping to repair myself once I narrow down the problem. 
    I'm guessing it's the power supply but not sure.  It does get hot so guessing something is wonky. 
    Any thoughts?
    Thanks

    Been reading a little and the Mac Book Pro may not have a power supply in the traditional sense so it may not be replaceable. Hmm

  • Macbook Pro 15" will only boot up in Safe Mode - Please help!

    My Macbook Pro will not boot up normally. It goes past the screen with the apple and the wheel and then just stays white. Also on the screen there are little rectangular blocks going across diagonally. In Safe Mode, it boots up but with little square blocks going across the screen. Can anyone help please?

    Firstly, see this article: Mac OS X- What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? and this one: Gray screen appears during startup.
    Secondly, try the following:
    Delete caches to resolve some startup problems: 
    Boot into single-user mode.  After startup is completed you will be in command line mode and should see a prompt with a cursor positioned after it.  At the prompt enter the following then press RETURN after each commandline:
    /sbin/fsck -fy
    If you receive a message that says "***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****" then re-run the command until you receive a message that says "** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK."  If you re-run the command more than seven times and do not get the OK message, then the drive cannot be repaired this way.
    If you were successful then enter:
    /sbin/mount -uw /
    rm -rf /System/Library/Caches/*
    rm -rf /Library/Caches/*
    reboot
    I suggest you print out the above to be sure you do not make any errors when entering the commands.  When in single-user mode you have 'root' access, so it's important that you not make any mistakes.
    Lastly, reinstall Snow Leopard if the above doesn't help.  This will not erase the drive.

  • Mac Pro only booting with option key down

    I have an 8-core mac pro that is great except for some odd booting issues. I have 3 internal drives, one with OSX 10.4.9 on it, the other with just files and the last with windows XP. I also, at times, have USB drives (or an iPod) plugged into the mac. When I restart, even if I have selected a boot volume in the startup settings, the machine will just go black. Sometimes it will play the startup chime multiple times, other times only once or not at all. The only way to get it to boot up into osx or windows is to hold down options. Even then, it only seems to work if I unplug all external drives from the machine. Any ideas whats going on or how I might fix this?
    Thanks!

    If you remove all of your USB/FireWire devices will your start up issue go away. What about resetting PRAM…
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

  • Why does my macbook pro only start up in safe mode?

    Last night i updated my macbook pro, and when it restarted it stopped at the logo with the spinning wheel, and it kept spinning for 20+ minutes. I shut it down by holding the button, and it will not start up again, every time the wheel just keeps spinning. I tried holding down shift, and starting it in safe mode, and that seemed to work. But that is the only way it will boot up, and I am limited to what I can do. How can I start my macbook pro up with out safe mode. I do not have my installation disk with me, and I do not have any of my stuff backed up, but I plan on purchasing a external hard drive within the next week to back up everything, incase I have to wipe my hard drive. But I will only do that at last resort...

    MacBook Pro 3,1  15' 2,2 Core 2 Duo Late 2007.
    I used the same buss speed (667 mhz) and the same type DDR2. Same number of pins.
    I also checked what happened with 0 ram in slots, and then it started blinking constantly.
    So it must see the RAM but the RAM seems useless for some reason...

  • Mac Pro won't start in safe mode

    In order to solve another problem in Garage Band, I tried to start my Mac Pro up in "Safe Mode," But the status bar wouldn't get past about 40%, and the computer froze up.  Tried it twice, same result each time.  I don't really see a problem here, unless it indicates something bad.  Anyone have an opinion?

    Boot from your installation disc. Select Utilities > Disk Utility from the menu bar. Select the boot volume and run "Repair Disk" (not "Repair Permissions.") I'm assuming you have backups; if not; back up first.

  • PowerPC G5 iMac only booting up in Safe-mode - Help!

    In July of 2005, I purchased my PowerPC G5 20" iMac, 2.0GHz, +260 GB harddrive and 2 GB of DDR SDRAM. It has been running so great that I even upgraded to Leopard OS 10.5.6 in June of 2011.
    However in Nov. 2011, the computer would freeze upon start-up, and I would have to hold the power button to shut it down. After waiting a minute I would start it up and the OS came up ok. But each week I had to shut it down and restart a few times before it booted up ok. I ran the OS Disk Utility to repair permissions and it did not seem to make a difference. I also ran MacTuneUp 3.6.0 (purchased it in 2010), and there was also no difference.
    Now I can ONLY boot into Safe-mode - Help!!!

    Discovered something new!
    I left my iPhone connected to the iMac, and when starting up the computer the iPhone started charging. When the screen froze (light blue shade, not black screen), the iPhone stopped charging. (no charge?).
    BTW....my mouse always moves when in frozen state.
    I also tried starting up (c-key) using OS 10.5.6 CD and computer also froze in light-blue screen. The computer tried to access the CD but then gave up. After leaving the computer for awhile the screen power saving mode was on (screen was black). When I moved the mouse the screen changed from black to light-blue screen. Boot CD did not work. No keyboard commands work. Only holding the power button will shut down the computer.
    Help!!

  • MacBook Pro only boots in safe mode with pink vertical stripes across screen.

    So on Friday night I was using Chrome on my MacBook Pro, when all of a sudden little squares of light flashed randomly across the whole screen and everything but the mouse froze. I thought that was weird, so after a few minutes I forced my computer to shutdown. I waited a little and then turned it back on, and opened Chrome again. The same thing happened again, so I forced shut down, backed up Time Machine and ran a virus scan. Nothing came up, so I put it to sleep and and went to bed.  Then Saturday morning I went to open my laptop and it was off, which was weird, so I went to turn it on. After the apple logo and spinning gear went away, it booted to a light blue screen and stayed there. Again I waited and nothing happened, so I held the power button down until it turned off. I tried again but the same thing happened, so I booted in Safe Mode.
    This time there were inch long vertical bars of horizontal lines, kind of confusing but here are two pictures I took of the screen that hopefully help. http://imgur.com/oj2WbZL and http://imgur.com/O1hwJ1B . When it finally loaded I had another issue, I had 6 pink vertical bars across the screen and a box of pink horizontal stripes around my pointer, http://imgur.com/BJBzu74 . I performed an extended Apple Hardware Test and after 17 minutes it found no issues, and as it performed the test the lines got whiter and made the screen harder to see http://imgur.com/XahBD3s .
    I got my laptop June 2011, so it's not that old. I just want to know what this problem could be. I don't know if it's the connection from the screen to the computer, the hard drive, the logic board or something else. I'm really worried that it's something major, so any help is greatly appreciated.
    Thank you in advance!

    This is a GPU problem. It's normal that you see that the problem is random, but the fact that your Mac is only starting up in safe mode indicates that your Mac can only start up if the VGA driver is used. Moreover, if you open Console, you should start seeing "GPU Debug Info Start", which indicates a GPU failure.
    As you have a backup, take the MacBook to an Apple Store or reseller. In the case of the MacBook Pro, the GPU is soldered onto the logic board, so the whole logic board has to be replaced, being a very expensive repair.
    If a post solved your question or helped you, mark it as solved or helpful before posting a reply. Doing this, you will avoid that your own post is marked as solved or helpful. You won’t receive any point if you mark your own post as solved or helpful. Also, you won’t be rewarding the user who solved your question and you will help other users find the answer if you mark the correct reply

  • Mac pro cannot boot after upgrade to 10.8.3

    My Mac Pro cannot boot after upgrade to 10.8.3. Anything firmware I can reset or how should I do.
    I am using a early 2008 Mac Pro

    Can you boot into safe mode? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
    If not, how about Recovery? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
    If you can, run Disk Utlity and repair the disk. You can try rebooting normally, but I would just reinstall after quitting Disk Utility.

  • Now I can start my Mac Pro only in "secure mode." I'm still appears on all monitors a series of bands such as seen in the attached file. Someone can give me a diagnosis? Thank you.

    Now I can start my Mac Pro only in "secure mode."
    I'm still appears on all monitors a series of bands such as seen in the attached file.
    Someone can give me a diagnosis?
    Thank you.

    The attached file is not showing.
    In Safe/Secure Mode many Drivers are not loaded. When your computer works in Safe Mode, but not regular mode, two types of problems are implicated:
    1) Third-party kernel extensions. a conflict with some part of Mac OS X means that when those extensions load, your Mac can not run.
    2) Failed graphics card. Since the Driver for the display is not loaded, the display in Safe Mode uses a very simple built-in Driver. In regular mode, once the driver is loaded, all parts of the graphics card must be working, or you could get bands of color on the display (which is just what you reported).
    Which Model Mac Pro Tower or MacBook Pro is this?

  • Mac Pro 2006 boots into OS fine but graphics freezes on grey apple logo

    When I boot my Mac Pro it boots into Mac OS X fine. I can access it remotely and all seems fine however the monitor only displays the grey apple with the whit background. I know the graphics card isnt over heating because I have removed any dirt/dust and had additional fans blowing the card and it is running cool.
    does this mean the graphics card is dead? if so what can i replace it with as the machine is now 5 years old?
    the current graphics card is a GeForce 8800 GT.

    That last one is not a good sign. Kernel panic when starting from an installer DVD either mean you are using an installer version that cannot boot your model or there's a hardware problem.
    I'm thinking your original thought may be valid. It would be provable if you had another GPU to try, but if you don't then I suppose you should replace the one you have. Of those available the ATI 5770 is an excellent replacement choice for both performance and cost unless you want to look for a different replacement card on eBay.

  • Mac pro wont boot or chime

    Mac pro wont boot or chime

    you don't know how to provide more details or what you have tried or are you just lost?
    What OS is on it? and this is a 4-drive 65 lb workstation and not a MacBook Pro notebook.
    Safe Boot
    Lion or ML Recovery Mode
    Reset SMC
    Kernel Panic
    Resolving Kernal Panics
    http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10344626-263.html
    http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/Troubleshooting-Os-X-Kernel-Panics.htm
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3742
    Mac OS X Help 
    Isolating Issues in Mac OS
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
    https://www.apple.com/support/osx/
    https://www.apple.com/support/quickassist/
    http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/help/
    http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/
    Get Help with your Product
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304725
    TimeMachine 101
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    Mac OS X & Mountain Lion Community
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion?view=discussio ns
    Recovery Mode
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718 
    ExpressLane
    https://expresslane.apple.com/
    Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310 
    Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
    https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1367
    And just in case....
    MacBook Pro
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions 
    http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro

  • My Mac Pro only has a 250GB hard drive. can I use my 1TB hard drive from my windows computer, they're bith SATA

    my Mac Pro only has a 250GB hard drive. can I use my 1TB hard drive from my windows computer, they're bith SATA

    You want system, data, backup etc. Make good use of the four internal drive bays.
    You will have to use Disk Utility to ERASE or click on drive and use PARTITION to make it Mac writeable.

Maybe you are looking for