New iMac won't start up

I had some kind of conflict with a USB key today (the iMac would not eject it) and finally I had to power down manually. Now, when restarting the iMac, I get to the blue screen and the rotating dial, which freezes after a few moments and won't proceed any further. This is a four-month-old iMac using the most up-to-date version of Snow Leopard. I have a Time Machine disk, so everything is backed up to within an hour of the problem. Resetting the SMC and zapping the PRAM haven't worked. Next?

Hi, when my HD went kaput" I had the same symptoms..
Call Apple Help..or visit your local AppleGenius/Apple Approved Service Agent..L

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My brand new iMac won't start up now and I've only had it 3 weeks...

my brand new iMac has worked for 3 weeks, then all of the sudden won't start. It shows the apple icon and the spinning wheel but never gets past that screen. We already formatted our old iMac to sell it so I really need to recover this. Any ideas on how to get it to get past this screen? I already tried safe mode but it went to this apple logo and spinning wheel icon after the bar

2nd. This is a warranty issue.
You realize this is a forum of other comsumers right?
Grant

Brand new imac won't start HELP!!

Just got an iMac, fresh out of the box I hit the power button, everything looks normal, OS X does its normal checks, then the desktop comes up with multicolour stripes - the desktop is cluttered with all kinds of files - a darwin console opens up then an application called Phoenix starts does a few things that were too quick and then just says PAUSED in an orange box at the top and nothing else.
I have a bluetooth mouse and keyboard so I can't actually control the thing in any way either.
It also looks like OS X 10.5 has not been pre-installed.
Please can someone help me with a suggestions as to what I can do.
(I am an experienced Mac User having used them since the original SE - I've never experienced something like this before)
Thanks

it sounds like the iBook went to sleep during the transfer or at least it's hard drive spun down.
what you need to know is hope that simply booting from your install DVD will let you repair the iMac's hard drive. You could also try booting holding down the Command S keys on startup and when you get to the Single User Mode command line prompt follow the directions there for running fsck to repair your hard drive.
Do you have a FW hard drive? Can you copy files from iBook to FW and then from there to iMac?
And, it is always nice to have a FW emergency/backup hard drive. The iMac needs a different partition scheme to be bootable from FW than the iBook does, but you can create the proper partition type etc from a Tiger Installer and put OS X on FireWire, then see if you can backup and repair your iMac's hard drive.
MicroMat's TechTool Pro 4.5.1 is now shipping and is compatible, Universal Binary and bootable. Always good to have some 3rd party utility handy.
If you are just starting out, you probably don't have much if anything installed yet, so you may want to just erase your iMac drive and restore to what it was. That would be the easiest if Disk Utility won't repair it.
Instead of powering off the iBook, I would have tried to force quit whatever was running, like Migration Assistant.

IMac won't start - should I reinstall OS?

Recently my iMac won't start up - it goes to screen with folder + question mark. I've run Disk Utility, repaired hard drive, but there were no reported repairs to make.
Occassionally it will start up, and everything seems normal until suddenly the beach ball appears and everything freezes. 99% of tries it won't start up (i get the ? folder). Is it worth erasing the disk and reinstalling everything to see if a fresh start will help, or is it likely that the hardware is damaged?
Don't want to bother erasing it if there's no point... any advice greatly appreciated.
Also - anyone who's had their iMac repaired - what are the costs like?

I've just suddenly had the same problem - for no apparent reason as far as I can tell. The night before last I switched off my iMac as normal, and yesterday morning switched it back on. At first it would start, but crashed as soon as I tried to start any applications. Then it wouldn't start at all, and just got as far as the gray screen with the apple on it. After trying resetting the PRAM, switching on and holding the on button for 10 seconds, it was no different...
So, I tried doing a archive-reinstall from the original leopard DVD I bought from apple. This did a successful disk verification, but then said it couldn't install mac os due to a problem with the basesystem package. After that it wouldn't let me try another archive-install and only gave the options to install as new, or erase and install. The latter I don't want to do, and the former just gives the same basesystem error... All I get now is a flashing folder with a question mark and not even the gray screen...
I have tried using the diskutility to verify/ repair the hard drive and it says all is well...
I have heard this may all be due to dodgy RAM chips, but I have never messed with them or altered them. It just seems odd they should suddenly fail when they were working fine before.....
Any ideas would be much appreciated. A lot of data at risk
Dan.

IMac won't start without install disc

Hi, I'm new to all of this. I tried resetting my admin password using install disc on my iMac as I'd forgotten it. Now iMac won't start without disc. If disc is ejected on restart apple logo flashes between no entry sign and folder with "?" on it. Will start up with install disc in, but then wants me to choose language and install OS. Tried repairing and verifying HD and all seems ok. Tried holding option key and selecting HD on startup, but same outcome - choose language and install OS. How do I get back to normal desk top? Do I have to install OS again? Will I lose data? Please, please help! Thanks.

It should only take a minute or so at most to boot from the DVD.
If your sure you have the correct Install Disk for that iMac, I'd start over. Then if it still doesn't work then perhaps a trip to your Local Apple Service Provider with the Disk or Disk and iMac is in order.
http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
Alternately using the correct Disk as per the following article, see if you can run the Apple Hardware Test? > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

G5 iMac won't start! Help needed.

Got a new intel iMac. Gave my husband my old G5 iMac (not intel). It was working perfectly. For some reason unknown to me, he decided he was going to reinstall everything from scratch so he grabbed the first disk he saw and put it in the computer. It was the startup disk for an intel computer & NOT for the iMac G5.
Did he fry the computer? It won't start up. Keypad & mouse won't respond.
The screen can't find the driver (no surprise) and says "panic: we are hanging here...." I can't get the disk out of the drive. Service contract is up. Is there a way I can connect my laptop to it and get it to respond & spit out that intel disk? Perhaps if I open the cover up, I can into the CD drive and get the disk out. All ideas appreciated.

Quote
J.C posted "Re: G5 iMac won't start! Help needed." on Feb 4, 2008 4:53:20 PM.
Hi Mel Kev
Have you tried holding down the left mouse button when you turn the computer on. Holding down the left mouse button should force eject the disk.
Hope this helps
J.C
UNQUOTE
And it WORKED! (I really wasn't in the mood to do surgery on the computer this evening). Thanks all!!! You are awesome!
Now, if I can just find the original installation disks.... They are in this drawer somewhere....

IMac Won't Start Up/Boot

My iMac won't start up. I've tried holding all kinds of key combinations while I turn it on, but it doesn't even get that far. It gets stuck on a folder with the Apple picture alternating with a question mark. It doesn't do anything else for a while, and then the fan turns on (???).

This is indicative of a corrupted system or drive. The first thing to try is:
Repairing the Hard Drive
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.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) 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.
If this doesn't solve the problem then you will have to reinstall OS X. If the drive tests out OK per the above then you can reinstall without erasing the hard drive:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
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.
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IMac won't start - no chime=no hope

iMac won't start
Power light on front comes on,
NO chime
Some very quiet sounds for a few seconds and nothing else
I'm assuming the worst....dead hard drive?
What- if any- are the options for repair - any idea of a general $$ amount
thanks

Hey Sheryl et al,
In the 1st gen and ALS G5 iMacs the first thing to check out is the capacitors on the logic board. If those look good and I mean absolutely pristine, then open up the power supply and check the ones in there.
Note: The diagnostic LEDs I consider to be a general indicator and not infallible.
The iSights are much more difficult to work on since opening them is much more problematic. The ones with the ATI X600 GPU chip have a high failure record due to that chip.
Also the iSight's power supply is another failure point.
As Richard notes a new power supply will run just over $100.
However a logic board swap will run $350 - $400 depending on model at DT&T services in CA.
Also Apple could/should theoretically do what's referred to as a "depot repair" on these machines for a flat $350. It would depend (as always) on the Apple Tech/service person you're dealing with.
A final note, I repair and donate these to deserving not for profits.
Harry Porterfield did a piece on me a few years ago.
http://www.vimeo.com/150591
Here's the URL to the TV station site:
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5097319
Richard
Message was edited by: spudnuty

HT1767 iMac won't start up.

My iMac won't start. When you turn it on the apple logo comes on but it keeps trying but never turns on. I tried unplugging it and plugging it into a new power source didn't work. I tried starting it up in safe mode didn't work. Any ideas out there?

There are some good Apple Support articles about startup issues, but which one to read depends on your operating system and model.
For example, if you are running 10.1-10.4, this one is good: Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
Here's one for 10.4-10.6: Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup (I know the apple logo is showing up for you, but good things to try anyway).
If you decide to run fsck as mentioned in the first article, be sure you read this article first: Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode
Regardless, are you in fact running a late 2009 iMac? If so, it's an Intel mac, and you're in the wrong room. You'll want to move your post to the Intel iMac community which has more active users. Remember to post your OS.

Early 2008 iMac won't start up. Goes to apple logo and freezes

Early 2008 iMac won't start up. Goes to the apple logo but it has a couple of yellowish stripes on it. Then the whole screen gets the stripes and it freezes. Does the same thing using another start up drive or a recovery drive. Running Maverics. Help!

I work at an Authorized Apple Reseller and we are having the same problem with one of our showfloor models.
Model: iMac 21.5" (Brand New Core i3, etc)
Problem Description: When you press the power button, you hear the Apple chime and the screen turns on. Instead of booting normally, the screen shows the Apple logo, a spinning 'loading' circle (I call it a ferris wheel), and a loading bar below that. Typically the loading bar is for an EFI Firmware update, but I don't remember updating the iMac recently. Anyways, the loading bar moves once, starts over, and then the iMac shuts down.
Possibly Related Issue: Several days leading up to this issue, the computer was very noisy. It sounded like the hard drive was working overtime on indexing or something, but it ran fine and spotlight wasn't even indexing at all. I walked by it yesterday and noticed it wasn't on. I pushed the power button, and the problem it has now started.
I will keep searching the forum for a solution, but I have a feeling this is a hardware issue that will need to be serviced by Apple.
Sidenote: If anyone has any experience contacting apple as an Apple Reseller about repairing a computer before the warranty starts, any advice would be greatly appreciated

My iMac won't start. I have to press T and mount it to an old G4.

My iMac won't start. I have to press T and mount it to an old G4 then eject then boot but slow and lots of beech balls. First aid says it has a 'Invalid key length' in 1 volume and can't be repaired. Will an upgrade to Mountain lion from Snow Leopard help or Disk Warrior as my files won't install.

Thanks PATRICKMELE for your response, however I'm not sure if my Time Machine backup is trustworthy. I had a problem with that about 2 weeks ago and I took to an Apple Genius who ended up wiping my Time Machine backups. The new backup took 9 days and now looking at Time Machine Preferences it shows 1.59 GB of 3TB available; Oldest backup: None; Latest backup: None?
I'm taking your advice and calling Apple Support as soon as possible. Thanks for your help

24" iMac won't start when iPod is connected

My 24" iMac won't start up/restart if my iPod is already connected to it. If I restart with the iPod connected, I just get a gray screen (with no apple logo) forever. Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, any solution? I have Windows installed with boot camp, don't know if that's the problem, but I tried reseting the p-ram, but to no avail...
Intel iMac 24", 7600 GT, 500GB, 2GB. Titanium Powerbook 667 MHz G4, loaded. Mac OS X (10.4.7) 30 GB iPod Video

My suggestion would be disconnect the iPod. That's just me though.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93953
I'm guessing Boot Camp is the culprit. Whatever emulated BIOS it's using doesn't like the iPod as a startup disk.

Imac won't start white screen apple icon spinning gear

imac won't start. when turn on, I just get a white screen with apple icon and a spinning gear below the apple icon. what should I do to get it started and fix the problem? Thanks.

See if any of the suggestions in this link help:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

IMac won't start with Thunderbolt Display connected after firmware update

After updating my thunderbolt display firmware to version 1.2 this morning via the App Store, my mid-2014 iMac won't start up with the external display connected. I can get the iMac to start up only by disconnecting the display's thunderbolt connector. After the iMac comes up, I can reconnect the display and everything appears to function normally. I've tried several restarts and the iMac won't start up with the display connected. Anyone else experience this?

Hello rameta,
It may help to reset your Mac's SMC and PRAM.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Reset your computer’s PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Cheers,
Allen

After installing update, iMac won't start up

After installing the last updates my iMac won't start up, starts what look like install then just shuts down.

Would you care to tell us what exact model and version of iMac and what version of OS X you are using? We need a hint to help you.
Hope this helps .

New iMac won't start up

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