PowerBook Won't start-up: Eternally Spinning Clock at Apple Icon

Hi. I have a G4 PowerBook (details below). During a business trip last week it started acting funny so I used DiskUtility (running from the start-up internal system hard drive on the PowerBook) to attempt to repair permissions. This repair attempt froze about ¾ of the way through (despite an overnight trial) so I had to do a hard reboot. At that point I could not get the computer to work. Specifically, when I attempt to start, I get to the gray screen with the Apple logo on it and the spinning clock. This spinning symbolic clock will run all night without getting to the log-in screen.
What I’ve tried:
1. Applejack. The Command-S key combo still gets me into single user mode and I can type “applejack auto restart” and everything will run, but at the end of it all I am again left with the Apple icon and the eternally spinning clock logo.
2. DiskWarrior v3.03: I start with the DiskWarrior CD in and repair my hard drive directory just fine.
3. Tiger DVD installer: DiskUtility runs fine from here and I’ve repaired the internal hard drive and permissions several times. This also tells me that S.M.A.R.T. status is verified.
I’m completely out of ideas. Any suggestions as to how to get my PowerBook back up and running would be most appreciated. If I can’t get it up and running, is there any way I can grab the data from the last week of work off of it using target mode or some other trick (unfortunately, FileValut is enabled on the PowerBook)?
Thank you very much!!!
1.25 GHz G4 15” PowerBook with 1GB factory RAM running OS 10.4.6

Go to this post at the MacFixIt forums:
here
Many kind people gave good advice; however, as detailed in that post, I had to eventually just reinstall software. You might try some of the other suggestions posted by folks there before reinstalling the system. Hope this helps.
G5 1.6GHz
[ Edited by Apple Discussions Moderator; href URL ]

Similar Messages

My powerbook won't start up

my powerbook won't start up propperly. instead i can heer 5 beeps and the power indicator flashes. screen stays black. nothing! i tried to connect to an other mac with firewire but my powerbook doesn't respond. i also tried to use the startup disc but again...nothing. what next?
does anyone have an answer to this disaster?
powerbook g4 15' Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
Sorry to hear about your startup problems. 5 beeps is bad...per this Apple note, it says the processor is unavailable: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58442

I have a PB G4 that won't start. It shows the gray apple screen, shows the blue screen, and then the screen goes black, and "sleep" light pulses.

I have a PB G4 that won't start. It shows the gray apple screen, shows the blue screen, and then goes black. The sleep light pulses. From there, I can't turn it off normally. I have tried restarting the PMU. And I have tried unplugging the ac adaptor and removing the battery. From there I have plugged only the ac adaptor in, and it will begin to start but do the same thing once it shows the blue screen.
I tried only using the battery (without plugging in the ac adaptor) and the same thing happens. I tried starting the computer while holding down CTRL, Option, P, and R, waiting to hear the start up chimes 3 times, and then holding Shift as it starts up. But I still get the black screen once I see the blue one, and the computer's sleep light pulses.
I need something very important from this computer. And was able to start it last night. I did not shut down the computer, and was going to take it to a friends to use his printer today. The computer was in sleep mode in the morning.
Thanks for any help!
Gina

What your describing could be a logic board or memory issue.
You did or did not hear 3 startup chimes? If you hear 3 chimes when you start it, that would indicate a memory problem. Try reseating the memory to see if that makes a difference. If you have 2 RAM cards, try one then the other in each slot. If you have 1 RAM card, move it to the other slot. Powerbooks can develop one bad slot.
You may need to pull the hard drive out of the Powerbook, put it into an external case, then read it from another mac.

Magsafe has no light, MBP starts but just spins on the Apple Logo, more...

This is a friends 17" 2.16 model
Magsafe has no light but works, MBP starts but just spins on the Apple Logo, the battery has no charge. I have a 2.4ghz model so checked the charger... it works AND lights up on mine. The battery (a replacement battery, 8 months old) does not take a charge in my mbp (had it installed for 30"). I connected via firewire in Target mode - it didn't mount so I tried to "repair" the connected HD via Disk Utility.... after about 5" a simple message came up saying that it was unable to repair the drive.
Ran Tech Tool Pro and only managed to run scan blocks on it which at least mounted the drive so I could retrieve files etc but no other diagnostic would work.
Did a SMC on it - no change.
When I tried starting it and held down any combination of alt, control, shift keys etc it would just immediately go into shutdown.
Anybody have an idea what might be wrong and how much it might cost to repair?

Does your friend's 2.16 MBP have the original hard drive? If so, the hard drive could be failing. It would be 3 years old, and the useful life of a hard drive is 3-5 years.
Have you tried your known good battery in your friend's MBP? If the battery won't charge with a known good adaptor and a known good battery after a SMC, then there could be a problem with the Left I/O Board.
I have heard of a dying hard drive affecting the optical drive as well. If TTP was not able to do any diagnostic test, I am wondering if the problem might be with the optical drive.
The worst possibility would be a bad logic board.
Have you tried a PRAM reset?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379?viewlocale=en_US
These are just some guesses. With a known good battery and adaptor cable, you may be able to determine if the Left I/O Board is OK. However, you may end up needing to go to Apple or an AASP for a real diagnosis. If you are anywhere near an Apple Store, you can make an appointment at the genius bar and get an evaluation for free. If it's just a hard drive or the left I/O Board, the repair should not be too much. If the logic board, it could be quite expensive.
Good luck!

My macbook pro won't start up. Instead of the apple logo appearing in the start up only a grey folder with a ? At the center appears

My macbook pro won't start up. Instead of the apple logo appearing in the start up only a grey folder with a ? At the center appears

Boubert,
the question mark in the folder typically represents the inability to recognize a valid filesystem on the volume being booted from. You can try this, although it might not make a difference: boot your MacBook Pro into Recovery mode by holding down a Command key and the R key as it starts up. Once the OS X Utilities menu appears, select Disk Utility. On the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window, select your internal disk’s boot partition (typically called “Macintosh HD”). On the right-hand side, select the First Aid tab if it’s not already selected, then press the Verify Disk button if it’s not greyed out; if it is greyed out, or if it reports that errors were found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu to restart in normal mode. Is it able to boot normally now?

My iphone doesnt want to start.all it shows is the apple icon.nothing more.i have tried holding the home button together with the lock button.what can i do .thanks

my iphone 4 doesnt want to start . all it shows is the apple icon.i have tried holding the home button together with the lock button. nothing seems to work . please help.

Plug the iPhone in with the Wall Charger. Then while plugged in do the Reset again, hold both Home and Power buttons until the iPhone Restarts. This usually begins to happen in less than 20 seconds time.
If you this does not work you can try to Restore the Firmware on your iPhone. If you decide to do this, connect your iPhone to your computer with iTunes open. Hold both the Home and Power buttons until the iPhone is detected by iTunes in Recovery Mode, this takes about 20 seconds time. Restore your iPhone.
If this does not work, you can try to Restore the Firmware on your iPhone in DFU Mode. Connect your iPhone to your computer with iTunes open. Hold both Home and Power buttons for exactly 10 seconds, release the Power Button and keep holding the Home Button until iTunes recognizes the iPhone in Recovery Mode, about 20 seconds more time. Restore the iPhone.
If this does not work and you have Warranty or AppleCare Coverage take your iPhone to Apple for resolution of the problem.

TS1367 I have a A1046 Powerbook G4. It won't start past the spinning wheel. I don't have the disks. Any suggestions?

I have a Powerbook G4, A1046 model. It won't boot past the spinning wheel. I have tried booting in open firmware, after I type mac-boot, it goes back to the spinning wheel. I need help

Tough without the Install disc, but some things to try...
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

My imac won't start up past the grey screen, apple and spinning clock

Hi there. First time posting - usually either apple support website or previous threads solve the problem. Alas, not this time.
I have an intel imac - can't tell you much about the details as I can't get any info out of it. I installed snow leopard about a year ago - no issue since then other than occassionally the screen goes black but nothing major.
Yesterday, I backed up to my usual passport backup and then today, it froze. I couldn't turn it off or restart at all so resorted to the power button. Since then, I can turn it on, it goes to the grey screen (no blue screen) and I get the apple logo and the spinning clock/wheel. For hours and hours....
So, I tried one of the apple support pages and worked through - peripherals, safe boot, NVRAM, PRAM, tried to reboot with mac osx disc (the original not snow leopard) - nothing. Absolutely nothing changes - same old grey screen, apple logo and spinning clock/wheel.
HELP - do I try and reboot with the snow leopard disc? I don't know what to do next - I am no techie so half the threads don't even sound like English to me.
Thanks in advance, hope you geniuses out there can help me out.
abcvic

Thanks for the reply.
I had tried to reboot with the original disc but it never worked. The imac just spits out the disc and eventually, I am back at the grey screen, apple logo and wheel spinning. I tried it one more time following your reply. Same outcome.
My instal disc 1 had the instruction re hardware test which I have also tried with no success. I can't remember if it came with a disc 2 though I seem to have a couple - I also have a macbook and that seems to be still alive even if it is slow.
I tried to reboot with Snow Leopard disc - power on, chime then hold down C key. Same old - grey screen, apple logo and wheel spinning. Disc spat out eventually.
Any other suggestions welcomed or I am off to Apple tomorrow.

Powerbook won't start up past grey screen

PB G4 17inch
10.4
Did a software update and now powerbook won't restart.
Stops at grey screen with Apple on it (no spinning icon underneath)
Here's what I've tried :
Inserted Tiger upgrade DVD
Started up holding down option
Both DVD and Hard Drive show up - I selected DVD and finished starting up
I ran Disk Utility / Repair Disk
At first it found a problem with a Cache count (didn't get the exact message)
It continued and fixed the problem
I repaired permissions
Tried restarting - stopped at same point
I ran the installer and reinstalled the OS
Still wouldn't start and stopped at same point
I have repeated the Disk Utility process several times - it obviously sees the hard drive, but won't start up from it...
Any ideas ?

I would not trash anything. Instead I would backup everything you can see to another hard disk. Once you have done that, let us know, and we can proceed with better troubleshooting methods. Some methods may be risky with data, but if successful then you won't have to recover anything.
It is important to always remember to backup your data:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
Disclaimer: Reference to links I make to my Macmaps.com website are a for your information only type reference. I do not get any profit from this page, and it is open to the public.

G4 powerbook won't start up

I have a G4 powerbook model a1104 and it won't start up. It will turn on but only go to the big white apple and it has a lined circle spinning at the bottom and just keeps spinning. Any suggestions?

Hi-
Welcome to Discussions!
You might try a safe boot.
To start up into Safe Mode (to "Safe Boot"), do this:
-Be sure the computer is shut down.
-Press the power button.
-Immediately after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key.
Tip: The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone but not before.
-Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple and progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
If successful, you will have forced a check and repair of your hard drive. Try a normal boot after the safe boot and login (restart from safe boot). If no further problems, you are done. If you still have problems, further troubleshooting will be necessary.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
By the way, this is the forum for Power Mac's- though the above still applies, next time, you might try the Powerbook forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=120
Will be looking for your results. Good Luck!
G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

Powerbook won't start - Disk Utility error "Invalid Key Length" - help plz!

Hello
I am having problem with my Titanium powerbook. Since it was refurbished I have only been using it for internet browsing and email and I don't know why it suddenly started freezing. After a couple of freezes it stopped starting up. I don't know why, as I wasn't doing anything unusual. I have run a few checks and don't know how to proceed. Please help.
This is what I have done so far:
1. Tried to start up in Safemode. Made the startup sound but then went dead.
2. I tried Single User Mode and did fsck -fy and the results were:
** /dev/rdisk0s10
** Root file system
** Checking HFS Plus volume
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking catalogue file
Invalid key length
(4, 135)
** volume check failed
localhost:/ root# Firewire (OHCI) Apple ID 18 built-in: no valid self IDs for more than 2 minutes after bus reset.
3. No problems were detected by the Hardware Test disk.
But the powerbook still won't start up properly. I can't get past the blue screen with the 'thinking' (rotating) circle icon (pinwheel?).
4. When I try to access the computer using a firewire cable the hard disk doesn't appear on the host computer.
5. I tried Disk repair Utility from startup using a disk but got the same result as with fsck -fy.
Any ideas?

Hi, Can't. Your hard drive's directory is damaged in a way that exceeds the limited repair capabilities of Disk Utility or fsck. DiskWarrior can fix "invalid key length" errors, as this short FAQ explains. If you have DiskWarrior, use it to make the repair. If you don't, you can either buy DW, or reformat the hard drive with Disk Utility and start over. Note that reformatting the drive will erase everything on it, so if there's any important, un-backed-up data on it that you can't afford to lose, buying DW will be the better option for you.
Message was edited by: eww

PowerBook Won't Start with Extra Gig Of Ram

Hello World,
Well...so much for do it yourself. God knows I've done it before but here's the story. I just bought a used Powerbook G4 with OX 10.5.8 running at 1.5 Ghz with one Gig DDRSDRAM. I bought another gig stick of ram...put both of them in to night and the Powerbook will not start. So in the interest of trouble shooting...I installed each gig of ram individually. They each said...individually...that they were 1gig DDR SDRAM stick. The computer started with each stick of ram so I know they both work. I was under the impression that the G4 Powerbook could take 2 gig of ram max in configuration of 2---1 gig sticks.
OK....There it is. Any ideas or help would be much appreciated. Thank you Dave R

AFAIK you are correct that the 2GB configuration should work. There is a history of one DIMM slot going bad, but then the computer should still start, just not show the bad slot in the total RAM. You might still try running with one stick in one slot, then the other slot as a check.
Some users anecdotally seem to find the machines fussy about RAM, although usually manifested in erratic operation, not failure to start.
What exactly happens when you try to start with 2GB? Nothing at all? No start sound? No optical or HD drive noise? No screen light/response? No sleep light blinks?

Mac mini won't start up. Grey screen with apple just freezes.

Mac mini won't start up. just get a grey screen with the apple and it freezes. Please help.

Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
If 10.7.0 or later...
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partitirion & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.

My ipod won't start. It only show the apple sign for a second than restart

Hi i have a ipod classic 80 gb
I try to sync it to my itunes but i just won't start, also i don't thing my ipod is charging anymore.
It only show the apple sign for a sec. than restart again and again,

Hi PBAYARD,
I see that you are experiencing an issue with your iPod classic. Here is an article for you that will hep you through some troubleshooting steps regarding this issue:
iPod: No power or frozen - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/TS1404
Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.
-Braden

Powerbook Won't Start Up

I've had my PowerBook for approximately 3 years now. Yesterday, while working on it, it froze up completely. Mouse would not move, no spinning wheel, nothing. I reset via the power button. As it launches, I get the gray screen and the apple, but all it does is sit there as if processing an attempted startup. It will not advance past this screen.
I have zapped PRAM. No help.
I ran Disk Utilities. I get the following message: "Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit."
Also: "1 volume could not be repaired because of an error."
Does this sound like a hard disk crash?
Amazingly, I tried starting up this AM and it started up successfully. I ran a Software Update session to see if this might help. But when it attempted to restart after installing software, that locked up. I ended up having to power down again.
Now when I power up, same problem I originally had. I cannot advance past the "thinking apple" gray screen at launch. Any thoughts?

Assume you ran disk utility from your OS X CD, since you can't test the drive you're booted from.
When disk utility can't repair something and reports a failure on exit, there are a few options. First, using a program like Disk Warrior or TechTool Pro may fix the problem, and in many cases does fix the problem. If, however, one of those programs can't fix the problem, you can try wiping the disk clean and writing zero's on the disk, then reload from backup. Or, just replace the hard drive.

PowerBook Won't start-up: Eternally Spinning Clock at Apple Icon

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for