My macbook wont get past the gray startup page !!

my macbook air wont get past the gray startup page!!
i read about it and i think its because of the HD low space !
so what should i do ?
i tryed to repaire it and it didnt work !!

With an external drive, after it has been setup, partitioned, etc., go to System Preferences and Time Machine, or if TM is showing on your dock, just click on it, and turn time machine on...you can then give it the name of the partition on the external drive where you want to backup.  TM will do that in the background and you don't have to think about it.
I have the Mercury Elite Pro drive from OWC, 2 TB, that I partitioned into a backup partition and working partition...so TM backs up regularly and I can use the other partition for either another bootable Mac OS X space or just point applications to that space for file storage.
You can clone the operating system using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper which are both free downloads.  They make a bootable copy of the operating system for you.

Similar Messages

  • Mac mini wont get past the gray apple screen

    recently i bought a mac mini with intel i5 processor and os lion installed, it was perfectly running until today it wont start or rather get past the initial apple sreen with the spinning gear. yesterday i connected an external usb drive 1tb to use as backup disk and store my songs for itunes. today i cant use it , ihave tried safe mode booting , pressing command, option , p and r keys during startup, removing the power cord then reattaching it. anybody have a solution.

    i have tried removing the external drive but still problem persists

  • My mac won''t go past the gray startup screen

    I was using my ibook g4 (1.33GHz) yesterday to rip a dvd, safari was also running. the computer froze and black writing appeared on the screen at the left hand side. It said something about 'kernel', but as i don't speak computer language i just held the power button to turn off the computer, hoping it would be fine once i restarted.
    I waited about a minute then i restarted but it wont go past the gray startup screen with the gray apple logo and the spinning progress wheel. I have tried to restart in safe mode and have also reset the PMU(power management unit) but still the same. I can't figure out what to do, and i really need to access files stored on my HD urgently. please if anybody can help me i''d really apprecite it,
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    iBook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Hi,
    This article may help. What happened was a kernel panic. They can be caused by either hardware or software. Try the syeps outlined in the article and post back the results.
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  • My macbook pro wont get past the grey screen at startup. Help!!

    After doing a run of the mill software update on my macbook pro (running snow leopard) it froze during the "moving items into place" stage. I forced a shut down and now it wont get past the grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel. I have tried booting from the original DVD but it still freezes. When I boot it in verbose mode it seems to stop at "jnl: unknown-dev: update_fs_block: error reading fs block # 3597880! (ret 5)", the Apple AHCD Disk Queue manager :: set power state is timing out and there is a disk I/O error. I have tried to reset the power manager (not sure if it worked or not) and I have also tried clearing the PRAM (again, not sure of that worked). When I try to look at the hard drive using target mode on my imac the hard drive doesn't come up but the DVD does. I'm concerned that my hard drive is fried. Any suggestions?

    It would help to state in your post which remedies you tried that didn't work.
    Start here >  OS X Lion: If you see a gray screen at startup
    If nothing there helped, try Starting up in Safe Mode
    Safe Mode deletes some system caches that may help.
    A Safe Mode boot takes longer than a normal boot so be patient. Once you are in Safe Mode, click Restart from the Apple menu.
    If a Safe Mode boot didn't work, since your Mac has OS X v10.7 installed, restart your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys so you can access OS X Recovery built in utilities. The startup disk may need repairing.
    Tip:  Hold down the Eject key while starting up your Mac to eject a disc.

  • 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.

  • Hi i am having a big trouble. MY mac wont start past the gray screen. I tried starting on safe boot, single user user mode , recovery mode. Everything it gets stuck on the gray screen i even tried reinstalling it , same thing what should i do?

    MY mac wont start past the gray screen. I tried starting on safe boot, single user user mode , recovery mode. Everything it gets stuck on the gray screen i even tried reinstalling it , same thing what should i do? it lets me reinstall sometimes Sometimes....  it is weird.

    orshikhfromsc,
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    Your boot drive is damaged in some way. If you have an original installation disc, you can boot from that and run Disk Utility. From DU you can select your internal hard drive ("Macintosh HD" is the name Apple puts on it - you may have renamed yours) and select "Verify Disk". If errors come up, try "Repair Disk". If it repairs, then you should be able to restart and boot from it. If it doesn't show up or won't repair, your drive is probably hosed.
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  • My MacBook won't go past the gray startup screen.

    I shut down my MacBook pro during a software update because the update appeared to have frozen. When I tried to reboot my computer afterwards, it would go to the gray startup screen with the spinning gear and not progress any further. I have tried multiple times to restart it, each time getting the same result, I have also tried starting it up holding down shift, another time holding down control option p r, and also holding shift. Each time gave me the same result of freezing at the gray screen. Any idea on what I can do to resolve this problem?

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    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4191
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    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2213

  • MacBook Pro won't stop rebooting. Options to get past the gray screen?

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    Thank you for the response. I have tried starting in safe mode and it is not taking. The cycle continues to reboot after about a minute or two. Once when I tried starting in force OS X mode holding down "X" when starting I did get the scrolling text but then the prompt asked to exit or enter a command. Not knowing what command to enter, I typed exit. This did not resolve the problem obviously. I am supposed to get a call from an Apple person later this morning. I am hoping he/she can help.
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