OSX asking to choose startup volume

Hi.
I don't know why but now my computer is asking to choose startup volume even if I don't press any key on startup. I just turn it on and sometimes (like 3 times a week) it shows that screen to select hard drive or time machine to boot from.
I was thinking it may be a stuck key on the keyboard, but not.
Do you have any idea?
Thanks,
Luiz

The startup drive may be failing, or there may be some other internal hardware fault.
Back up all data on the drive immediately if you don't already have a current backup. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional—ask if you need guidance.
Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.
If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
Apple also recommends that you deauthorize a device in the iTunes Store before having it serviced.
*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

Similar Messages

Mac does not show startup volumes

Hello, I've got a problem with my MBP!
It's the latest model (Core i7) and I'm using it with an Intel X25-M G2 SSD (160GB).
On a third partition of the SSD, I installed Windows 7.
(a little gaming, a few win-only applications)
Booting Windows (or from CD/DVD) should be possible by holding down ALT.
This worked fine for years on my old devices - But this does not work with my new MBP! Holding ALT during startup ends with a grey screen showing nothing! Without ALT, my MBP boots OSX. In the System Preferences I can choose to reboot to Windows (or from a CD/DVD). This works without problems, Windows boots...
But why can't I select my bootdevice by starting with ALT down? Any Ideas?
And please don't tell me to install reFit! I'll never do so!
I'm asking because I'm a little afraid of what to do in the case of reinstalling OSX to a broken/empty Drive where I can't select my bootdevice from within the running OS...

I definitely do not need to modify my Mac that way.
Selecting the startup-volume is possible without refit, or at least should be and works on many many Macs I know/own.
As long as a feature is provided by any "preinstalled Tool" I wont use 3rd party. If a feature is missing I write my own program - but I'm not going to write my own bootloader...
So why does my 2010 MBP have problems with showing startup volumes when booting with the "ALT"-Key?

Choosing start volume with [alt] doesn't work anymore

Hi there,
On my MBP (15" early 2011). Normally I can choose from what volume I want to boot by pressing the [alt] key right after switching on my MBP. I have OSX Snow Leo and Win7 (64bit) installed.
However since I installed the latest software updates several days ago, including a firmware update for the thunderbolt connection, the choosing of the start volume by pressing [alt] on startup doesn't work anymore: I can move the mouse, but the two volumes don't appear on the screen. All I can do is to switch off. I can however boot under both, OSX and Win7 by choosing the "restart under Win7/OSX" option in the other system respectively.
I now found out, that it works perfectly fine again when I have my 27" Apple Cinema display (mini display, not thunderbolt) connected to my MBP. When it's not connected I am having the issue.
My guess is that the thunderbolt firmware update causes this.
Anyone got an idea? It's quite a pain in the *** that I always have to start one system at first to get in the other one at the moment.
Thx

Hi Fortuny,
thx for your answer! I just have reseted this NVRAM as described in the support page, and think I have done it right. It worked as said there, I just didn't have to set any time or resolution things afterwards, as it is written there that it might have to be.
Sadly it didn't seem to help. Anyway, I do have news:
When the two volumes didn't appear again on the startup screen, I sat back and thought about what the issue could be. After approximately one minute starin on the screen, suddenly the two volumes appeared! So in fact it DOES work, just it takes about a minute now when I don't have the cinema display attached.
Does this additional info say anything to the experts out there? It's still not solved, as it is rather inconvenient to wait a minute untill I can choose the startup volume.
Thx for any sugestions!

User Directories on a Non Startup Volume?

Is there a way to create or move the user directories to a non-startup volume?
What I am trying to do is to either partition my internal drive (or perhaps actually use a secondary drive) such that I have a smaller startup volume that holds ONLY my OS and applications, and then use a secondary partition or drive that holds ALL my data. There are several reasons why I would like to do this, which I won't get into at this point.
Is there a way to force the creation of the user directories onto another volume? Or is it possible to move the directories to another volume after creation and have the system look for them in the new location? I would think this should be possible because in a way OSX Server uses this scheme (over a network).

Shahin wrote:
Have you personally done this? Can you attest to its success?
No, but I have no reason to think that it wouldn't work. I just don't like partitions.
Also any comments regarding the reply above yours warning as to possible problems with this? This can obviously be disastrous if it doe snot work. Of course I will back up before proceeding with this, but I am more concerned about ongoing and strange problems that may occur over time.
Well, there is that
What you ask is certainly a non-standard configuration for MacOS X. However, it is also 100% valid. Apple wouldn't give you that option if they didn't intend to support it. I have no doubt you will run into odd problems where some 3rd party software (or the odd Apple installer) assumes your home directory is at /Users/whatever. It would definitely be a good idea to keep your old home directory around for a month or two.
Another option would be to just mount that other drive at /Users, after copying your home folder there, of course. You would have no problems with software because your home directory is still the default, just mounted differently. In the event of a hardware failure on either the startup or other volume, you could have some issues getting things right again. Apple does not provide any easy-to-use method for this. You have to hack around in your /etc/fstab file or maybe auto_master or auto_home. There is a little bit of black magic behind the automounter however.

I installed bootcamp but became a pain to use so I unistalled it. Now every time I turn my Macbook pro on it keeps asking me what startup disk to use. I tried using the system preferences to correct this but it hasn't worked. Can someone help

I installed bootcamp but became a pain to use so I unistalled it. Now every time I turn my Macbook pro on it keeps asking me what startup disk to use. I tried using the system preferences to correct this but it hasn't worked. I even restored my mac back to factory settings but it still asks me what startup disk to use. I have looked everywhere for a solution but one anywhere

Delete the System Preference .plist file (preference file) and when rebooting and #2 Reset the PRAM
Deleting the System Preference or other .plist file
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Then head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select the OS X volume to boot from.

Can I move MobileSync to a hard disk other than startup volume?

I have been told many times by others 'in the know' that you have to keep certain files on the start-up volume. However, I have 2 internal HDs on my iMac, and the SSD (start up volume) is quite small - only 250GB. The other drive is 1 TB and I have about 15 TB of externals available via Lightning connection. The problem is that the internal SSD is continually filling up, and since I have several mobile devices I am synching with iTunes, they are gobbling up tons of disk space on the startup volume. Is it possible to move MOBILE SYNC to a different drive? There is nothing in 'preferences' for mobile sync that can specify the volume where these files should be stored. They are taking up almost 85GB of disk space. My temptation right now is to clone the 1TB internal over to an external drive, then clone the SSD internal over to the 1TB internal, and make that 1TB internal drive the new startup volume, but it would require reformatting and reinstalling operating system software, since there isn't any on that drive.
I am sort of 'stuck' because when I setup a replacement iPhone on Monday from a backup of the previous phone (that had a defective antenna), about 100 recordings in the RECORDER APP were not restored to the new iPhone, and I need to dig through some iPhone backups to try to find one that might have them on it. I hate to lose some of those very valuable recordings from a one-week intensive graduate seminar. Any suggestions for pruning the startup volume?
Disk Inventory X is showing only 7.2GB of open space and 225.8GB full on the SSD startup volume. Here are the big space 'hogs:'
Users - 168.5 GB (library 151.3GB; movies 15GB, which is odd, since all of the movies are stored externally.) In 'application support, MobileSync is taking up 82.5GB and Mail is taking up 47.9GB. (some of this mail goes way back, and needs to be archived, but I am not sure if that possibility exists in current OS)
Applications - 16.5 GB
Library - 11.5GB
iMac - intel (3 yrs old)
OSX 10.9.5
iPadAir
'the new iPad'
iPhone 5S
various other mac devices...

Well iTunes itself takes up virtually no space. I believe what you are suggesting is a move of your music files. Now these files can be moved to another drive and iTunes will act just like normal. The catch is that your music files pretty much have to be in one place. If you already have all your music stored in the My Music/iTunes/iTunes Music folder than you should be good. If you do not its a little trickier. In your preferences menu of iTunes under the advanced tab there are the options to "Keep iTunes music folder organized" and to "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library". You will want both of these checked. Then under the advanced tab (The one not in the preferences menu) There is an option to consolidate library. This will copy all the music in your library not in the iTunes folder to the iTunes folder. Thus you will want to delete duplicated when the process is over. (If your drive is too slim on space for this opperation... then I don't know what to tell you.) With all your music in the iTunes folder just drag and drop said folder onto the new drive. Then under the advanced tab in preferences the first option is to change the location of your iTunes music library. Simply change it to where you have stored your library on the new drive and you will be set to go.

Did 10.6.5 alter the permissions of the top level of the startup volume?

Since applying the 10.6.5 update it seems that non-admin users have read/write access to the top level directory of the startup volume. That means that non-admin users can create items there.
I am wondeing if this is a normal change for 10.6.5 or if something is weird with my system.
We updated from 10.6.4 via Software Update. This machine has only ever had Snow Leopard installed on it.
(Note that top level sub-folders such as Library and System do not appear to be affected by this)

Are you referring to the ownership and privileges for the drive? If so then if they aren't set at the default it's because of something a user has done because the installer makes no such changes. You can return them to the default as follows;
1. Select the drive and Press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window.
2. In the Ownership and Sharing section at the bottom is a checkbox labeled, "Ignore permissions on this volume." If the box is checked then click on the lock icon and authenticate. Uncheck the box.
3. Open the Terminal application in the Utilities folder and enter the following command then press RETURN:
sudo chown root:admin "/Volumes/Macintosh HD"
You will be asked to enter your admin password which will not be echoed.
If you now click onto the still open Get Info window you should now see the proper info:
Owner=system with r/w privileges
Group=admin with r/w privileges
Everyone is read-only
Click on the lock icon to prevent any changes. Close the window then quit the Terminal.

Powerbook G3 Startup Volume problems

I am using a G3 Pismo Powerbook I bought off eBay. It's a 500 Mhz G3 and it's been upgraded to 1 gig of Ram and a 100 gig hard drive. It came with OS 9 and Tiger installed on it, but I wanted to do my own clean install and I ended up using XPostFacto to install Tiger on it. It runs okay, but the problem is it only boots if I press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup, which bypasses the primary startup volume. If I press and hold C to try and boot from a OS 9 CD nothing happends and if I hold Option it hangs on a screen with a refresh button my volume icon and a next button.
Any Ideas?

sean,
It sounds like the Pismo's DVD-ROM drive is at fault here. If the Tiger DVD has "Update" any place on the label, it will not install a fresh Tiger OS. The "Update" Tiger DVDs are used to update a previous version of OSX to Tiger, i.e Panther/10.3.x to Tiger/10.4 (not sure if it will update Panther/10.2). The bottom line...you must have the previous version on the HD in order to run the Update DVD.
The Pismo with a PowerPC CPU can boot 9.x from the USB port but NOT OSX; this only became available the new Intel Macs. See if you can get 9.x to boot from the USB external DVD-ROM. Power on the USB drive with the 9.x CD in place, then restart while pressing the 'option' key. If the USB drive is available as a boot drive along with the internal HD, give it a try. However, don't erase the HD or install 9.x until you have a solution for OSX.
Do you have another Mac with a PowerPC CPU (G3, G4 or G5) that is compatible with Tiger and also running Tiger? If so, there is a way to install Tiger from this computer...please post back with details.

2007 Intel Imac, installed a new Hdd. Started up with the install disc but it doesn't find my Hdd when asking for a destination volume to install the Mac OS. The Hdd is recognized in system profiler. Any ideas?

2007 Intel Imac, installed a new Hdd. Started up with the install disc but it doesn't find my Hdd when asking for a destination volume to install the Mac OS. The Hdd is recognized in system profiler. Any ideas?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
The hard drive is not formatted, and it must be formatted in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" in order to install OS X.
Close the OS X installer, and go to Utilities menu (on the menu bar) > Disk Utility. Then, format your hard drive in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as Format > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html Finally, close Disk Utility and install OS X

Choose startup disk

I know there's a bunch of procedures for starting up in different modes, I just can't find them on the Apple Support pages. (I know, I'm supposed to know them) Right now I want to start up on the mode where you choose the startup disk. There's others too, like starting in safe mode. I'd like to see a list of them. Like choosing startup disk, do I hold down the 's' (for startup) or the 'd' key (for disk), or maybe the 's' key is for safe mode. Thanx, sorry to ask such a nooby question.

Hi Ken Spiker;
If your Mac is shut down and you are starting it then holding down the option key will reveal the system disks.
If you are running open System Preference > Startup disk will reveal the system disks also.
Allan

Startup Volume disappeared completely

Hi all. hoping some of you can offer some advice.
My Powerbook G4 has lost it's startup volume. Completely.
I have run every test, tried everything in the book to get it back and nothing. Resetting the PRAM and tthe NVRAM, booting off the install CD, pulling out the battery and putting it back in, running fsck, starting in safe mode, trying to boot with x held down - - - absolutely everything. when I start up the machine normally, I am getting a bleeping croaking sound from the hard drive (yes, I think it has gone - died, even though it is only 14 months old) and the after the grey screen sits for about 5 minutes, I get the old school system 9 finder face/flashing folder icon. If I put the OSX CD in, it will go to the install OSX window (after alot of creaking, abnormal whirring and bleeping) but there is no startup volume to install on, and no startuip volume to repair in disk utility.
As mentioned, I think the Hard drive has failed and died forever, I will be happy to replace it, but just wanted others thoughts in case I have missed something. there is nothing on the HD I need to keep and a fresh one would probably do some good! In 10 years with macs I have never coome across this before!
I currently have a 100GB HD Machine is 1.67ghz + 2 GB Ram if anyone has any suggestions as to the type of hard drive brand I should buy please let me know. I will be doing the install myself.
One other thing. The machine worked fine until a week ago. The previous owner (i only just got it from a friend) dragged the applications folder plus some other folders off the machine and then it wouldn't start up - in case that gives any hiints as to why this happened.)
cheers
amanda

Amanda: If you are able to start the PB up in any way at all without a bootable CD or DVD inserted or a bootable external drive connected, then your hard drive isn't completely dead yet, and your OS isn't entirely hosed.
Starting up from a CD or DVD always produces lots of noises that the hard drive doesn't — those are normal for an optical drive. If you hear lots of unfamiliar noises when starting up from the internal hard drive (in Safe Mode, for example), or if you aren't able to start up from the hard drive at all, then the HD is either on the brink of total failure or already dead.
There are so many drives on the market today, and they are so similar and, in most cases, so inexpensive compared to two or three years ago, that it's very hard to recommend one in particular. Your original-equipment drive was 5400 RPM, and you'll want to replace it with a 5400 or 7200 RPM unit. Drives are currently available in sizes up to 160GB, and your last-generation Aluminum Powerbook can use any of the available sizes. Best current bang-for-the-buck deals are in the 80-120GB range; you still pay a considerable premium for a 160. The larger the drive's cache and the higher its rotational speed, the quicker it will be. A 7200 RPM drive will be slightly noisier and use slightly more energy than a 5400, but the differences are remarkably small.
Assuming you're in the USA, good places to survey the marketplace for new 2.5" ATA-6 (ATA 100) laptop hard drives are ZipZoomFly, NewEgg, and OWC.
People have widely disparate preferences between the offerings of different manufacturers. I've had good luck with IBM/Hitachi and Fujitsu drives, and bad luck with Western Digital. Your mileage may vary, as they say. Good luck!

Startup volume damaged?

I ran a utility called Onyx and it told me that my startup volume was damaged and needed to be repaired. I ran another utility app and it said the same thing! It advised starting from a OSx disk and using a utility. I am running 10.4, latest update. Would anyone know how to do this, I am a mac newbie! Thanks for any help.

John,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
You will need to use the OS X installation disk for this procedure, which is described in Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck.
The Repair Disk function link by Dr. Smoke will also elaborate on the procedure.
;~)

Macbook Pro is terribly slow, crashes, no startup volume, and so on.

Hi all,
Yesterday my Macbook Pro (2010) was really - really slow (happens more often, but yesterday was terrible). So slow that I couldn't open/close any applications. I shutdown my Macbook using the on/off button to restart. Rebooting (SLOW) opened the utilities screen, not OSX Mountain Lion (with all latest updates installed). Utilities couldn't find a startup volume. I tried disk repair, estimated time left was 8 hours, but it stopped after 2 hours "Cannot repair disk, format & recover from a backup". So I formatted my disk and recovered from a Time Machine backup (too bad my last backup was 3 months ago).
Now my Mac is still terribly slow and quite unstable. Yes, I have access to my files now, but a regular task that normally takes 5 minutes (like burning a DVD) now takes about 5 hours. Any idea what is wrong? I already made an appointment with a Genius, but I'm not sure whether he can fix this...
Hope you can give some suggestions / tips to fix this, thanks!

Sounds as if your hard drive has failed once and may be failing again. Go to your genius appointment and if they recommend replacing the drive, get an estimate but remember that you can DIY for less.
Clinton

How do I download/find a Yosemite image to install on a portable startup volume?

I am trying to build a startup volume on an external, portable drive. One of the requirements is to find an install OSX image on my hard drive. Since I upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite over the internet from the Apple Store update option, I don't know where to look for such an image or if there even is one.
System particulars:
     MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
     Processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core I7
     Memory 8GB 1333 MHz DDR3
     Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB
OS X Yosemite Version 10.10.2

It auto-Deletes itself. Go to App Store, Purchases, and download another copy.

Disk full on Startup volume-disk utility to copy files to a larger volume?

I have my startup volume 20 gig, i have a 40 gig volume on another drive.
OK so i first tried Carbon copy cloner, when i was ready to click the "lock" it asked for my admin password what do i get Authorization Failed error 6008 i think.
OK then i tried SuperDuper, won't even launch!
Then i just went to Disk Utility dragged the source volume to the source,
dragged the destinarion volume to Destination, clicked restore what i get after it asks for my password "RESTORE FAILURE" Couldn't execute helper tool????
This should not be this troublesome
I need answers ASAP as i was working on a project that needed to be done yesterday
sknoxx

Here is the event log for CCC
Carbon Copy Cloner, v. 2.3
Log started Thursday, February 8, 2007 1:50:06 AM
Startup Disk: System
Available target disks:
/Volumes/System 9.2, /Volumes/40gig, /Volumes/Panther, /Volumes/Video, /Volumes/Audio, /Volumes/System Apps, /Volumes/DVD - ready, /Volumes/Downloads, /Volumes/Unsorted, /Volumes/20 GB, /Volumes/Video - DVD
Contents of source disk: System
Unix command: ls -AF /
.DS_Store*, .Spotlight-V100/, .TemporaryItems/, .Trashes/, .VolumeIcon.icns, ._ T _ E _ M _ P _ T _ T _ M _ M, .comsymantec_symfsprivate/, .hidden, .hotfiles.btree, .vol/, Azureus_Stats.xml, Desktop DB, Desktop DF, Desktop Folder/, Extensions/, Library/, Myst 5 v.1.0 NoDVD Crack, NAVMac800QSFile, Network/, Scripting Additions/, System/, TheVolumeSettingsFolder/, Trash/, Users/, Volumes/, automount/, bin/, cores/, dev/, easyy, etc@, lost+found/, mach@, mach.sym, mach_kernel, nolfcmds.txt, private/, sbin/, tmp@, usr/, var@
Items to be copied:
.DS_Store*, .Spotlight-V100/, .TemporaryItems/, .VolumeIcon.icns, ._ T _ E _ M _ P _ T _ T _ M _ M, .comsymantec_symfsprivate/, .hidden, .hotfiles.btree, Azureus_Stats.xml, Desktop DB, Desktop DF, Desktop Folder/, Extensions/, Library/, Myst 5 v.1.0 NoDVD Crack, NAVMac800QSFile, Scripting Additions/, System/, Users/, bin/, easyy, lost+found/, mach_kernel, nolfcmds.txt, private/, sbin/, usr/
Authentication error:
Security API failed with error -60008.
Number: 1
Authentication error:
Security API failed with error -60008.
Number: 1
Authentication error:
Security API failed with error -60008.
Number: 1
Authentication error:
Security API failed with error -60008.
Number: 1
Authentication error:
Security API failed with error -60008.
Number: 1
Quicksilver 2002 G4 desktop duel 1gig Mac OS X (10.4.7) yes
Quicksilver 2002 G4 desktop duel 1gig Mac OS X (10.4.7) yes

OSX asking to choose startup volume

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for