Reset PRAM, now boot resolution is wrong?

I was having a weird graphics issue and one step I took in troubleshooting, as told to do by Apple over the phone, was reset the PRAM. Now every time I boot the Mac Pro, the white and grey apple screen is stretched and looks to be around 800x600 while my monitor resolution is 1920x1200. Once it reaches the login screen, everything looks fine again, it's just the main boot screen with the apple log and little spinner icon. I know it was resetting the PRAM that caused this but how I can get my resolution back to normal? The resolution looked fine before resetting PRAM. Thanks.

AdiosVista wrote:
I was having a weird graphics issue and one step I took in troubleshooting, as told to do by Apple over the phone, was reset the PRAM. Now every time I boot the Mac Pro, the white and grey apple screen is stretched and looks to be around 800x600 while my monitor resolution is 1920x1200. Once it reaches the login screen, everything looks fine again, it's just the main boot screen with the apple log and little spinner icon. I know it was resetting the PRAM that caused this but how I can get my resolution back to normal? The resolution looked fine before resetting PRAM. Thanks.
Just a wild shot but reset PRAM again and then reset nv-ram.

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Reset PRAM, now monitor shows just a circle with a slash through it

Big problem. My iBook clamshell has a battery that just started sometimes charging and sometimes uncharging while computer was plugged into power adapter. Then the computer just "blacked out" a few times while plugged into power adapter.
I bought a new power adapter, but still had the problem with the uncharging battery. One time the percentage amount of a charge would go down when it was being used while plugged into power adapter, the next time I used it the percentage amount might go back up to 100%. Money's really tight (I'm working part time & paying for emergency medical expenses) so instead of buying a new battery I dug out some instructions that helped my other clamshell that started "blacking out" a couple of years ago. At that time I was given a link to an article on resetting PRAM, and I'd printed out and kept the article.
While the iBook was starting up I held down the keys: Command, Option, P and R. You're supposed to hold down the keys until you heard the start up sound a 2nd time. Well, I messed up and held them down until I heard the start up sound 3 times. Maybe that was a fatal error - something screwed things up.
The monitor went from black to pale blue, but instead of getting the Apple icon as start up began I got a circle with a slash line through it. Nothing else happened. I had that circle mark for about 15 minutes - the computer never went into sleep mood and finally I improperly turned it off by using the power button.
I turned the computer on again, hoping the problem had gone away. I got the pale blue screen showing the circle with a slash mark. I waited awhile, thinking something might start happening after a delay. And once again I improperly turned the computer off using the power key. I won't turn it on again unless I'm given a possible solution.
I bought this 2nd iBook because it had an Airport card, and I take it to the library to use free WiFi. I've been entering an important manuscript that I don't want to use.
Is this fixable? This has me big-time frightened.

Hi Karen,
If your computer is back from the dead, then possibly your kernel panic issue has been resolved. Maybe there were software or directory issues that are now fixed.
It wouldn't hurt to go ahead and open Disk Utility and repair permissions. Disk Utility should be in the Utilities folder in your applications folder.
Repairing permissions is something you should do after every software download because permissions are changed for the download process. You repair permissions on the First Aid tab, and you want to repair them several times until there is nothing left to repair. While in Disk utility, you can also verify your hard drive and check the SMART status and make sure it doesn't have any problems. I would recommend you leave Disk Utility in the Dock so it will be handy next time you need it.
As long as your hard drive is in good shape, it won't have hurt anything to have skipped the step of verifying the drive. However, it is prudent to check on the hard drive before downloading software, because if the hard drive is failing or something, your priority will be to save the data off of it. A failing drive is unpredictable, and puts you at risk of losing everything. If you elect to keep Disk Utility in your Dock, you can check your drive anytime you like.
You can also do a Safe Boot as a maintenance item every so often:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564?viewlocale=en_US
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455?viewlocale=en_US
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1884?viewlocale=en_US
It sounds like maybe you reinstalled the OS by doing an Archive and Install, which would have installed a fresh copy of the OS while preserving all your settings and data.
Not sure why you can't connect to the internet. First check to be sure your airport card is plugged in and recognized. If it is, you should be able to go to System Preferences>Network and use the assistant to help you to reconnect. It may be you'd have to set up a new location or something like that.
One thing you should do is to put in place a backup strategy. If an external hard drive is beyond your means right now, at least try to find a USB flash drive. Office depot has 4 GB drives on sale for around $10 every so often, and you can find even better deals on line. You can store a lot of documents in 4 GB flash drive, and you would not have the worry of potentially losing everything if your computer dies. I am really glad you got your document back after all the hundreds of hours it took to create it, but there was a real danger that you could have lost it and all your other data.
Once you get your flash drive, use Disk Utility to format it (they usually come pre-formatted for Windows). You want to do this on the Partition tab--select Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) for the format and "Apple Partition Map" for the partition map scheme. You can also give your flash drive a name. Once you have it set up, you can mount it on your desktop and copy your documents etc. by dragging and dropping.
Good luck, and happy computing!

My macbook pro (13 in, mid-2010) failed to boot with single beep. Reset PRAM, now it's working normally. Should I still be worried/take it in?

Okay so my mbp has had a couple minor freakouts lately, particularly while streaming video (the screen would turn one solid color and the only solution was to reboot) then today I opened my laptop and was in the process of entering my password when the screen shut off. The computer attempted to reboot, failed, told me there was a problem and it was trying again, and a bunch of weird text appeared over the gray boot screen. I turned it off, and when I tried to turn it back on again, it wouldn't boot and instead emitted a low beep once every 5 seconds accompanied by a flashing light on the front. I read that it was a RAM problem so I did the hold down P R command control (or something) and restarted it and now it's working normally.
But should I be worried? Should I still take it in? Is there some sort of memory diagnostic I should run?
Any help would be appreciated.

Which model MacBook Pro do you have (e.g., "15-inch Late 2011")?
Oops! Should have read the header! There are no known issues affecting that particular model and I would only take it in for testing if it begins to exhibit similar problems again. You may have 'fixed' it with a NVRAM reset. But just be on the look-out for further glitches and, if they occur, then take the machine into your local Apple Store or AASP.
Clinton
Message was edited by: clintonfrombirmingham

Have reset PRAM, now account passwords don't work

After my Macbook froze and I forced it shutting down it came up pwith the neverending twriling symbol but not loading up.
I looked up online and found the advice to reset the PRAM.
Then it came back to our normal starting page with the 2 accounts to login to, but both passwords are not working anymore.
What can I do?
Will this fault now reoccur or is this a fluke? I don't feel like resetting the PRAM every now and then...
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Reset your admin password.
Boot to your Lion Recovery Partition, by holding down the Option key while starting and then selecting the Recovery HD as the boot choice.
Once booted, at the top of the screen is a menu ..., select Utilities / Terminal from the menu bar.
In the Terminal window, type “resetpassword” (without the quotes) and press return. A “Reset Password” window will open. Select your boot volume (your SSD drive) if it is not already selected. Select your username from the menu labeled “Select the user account” if it is not already selected. Follow the prompts to reset the password. Restart the computer from the apple menu.

MBP one long beep. Have to reset PRAM each boot.

Ok, so I had partitioned my drive for Ubuntu (just 5 GB), installed it, and installed rEFIt (boot menu for mutliple boots). At some time around when I installed Ubuntu and updated (I don't recall exactly when), I started to get the long single tone after I had just been in an OS, but not after I had force restarted. Screen doesn't show anything, I can hear the fan, and it doesn't make that sound like some hardware is starting up (rather loud noise, I assume it's the optical drive). Now, it takes me a few tries each time after I had been in an OS, but I can get it running if I reset to PRAM. I also reset the SMC. I removed rEFIt from the startup items and the "efi" folder. I even removed the Ubuntu partition and it still happens. When I installed Ubuntu, I installed the GRUB on the same partition as Ubuntu itself, and didn't touch the other partitions. After I had initially partitioned my HDD via DiskUtility via the Insall DVD, and restarted my computer, it was normal. I believe it might have been normal too after I restarted after initally installing Ubuntu (though I don't think it actually turned all the hardware off, but rather restarted the OS itself). No data loss (asides from my later removal of the Ubuntu partition). I also tried reseating the RAM, didn't do anything though.
(Also, I had previously successfully installed Ubuntu on a partition before, but my drive failed and Apple replaced it for me.)
Solutions?
Know the source of the issue?
Thanks.
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:          MacBookPro5,4
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          3 MB
Memory:          4 GB
Bus Speed:          1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          MBP53.00AC.B03
SMC Version (system):          1.49f2
Serial Number (system):          W8***XJ
Hardware UUID:          F60690AB-416D-5F8C-81E9-4E0CE0A201AC
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:          Enabled
Power On Self-Test:
Last Run:          6/9/11 10:37 AM
Result:          Passed
(Any other system info needed?)
EDIT: I had also repaired the permissions multiple times via the Install DVD and the disk too (though the disk appeared to have to issues).
EDIT 2: Just found this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPoU8838KDo

Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2

Working in adobe illustrator - computer crashed - will not soft boot or reset PRAM - should i reinstall from CD snow leopard 10.6.3? I have an extra hard drive in my MAC with time machine on it set to do auto back ups. How do i recover ?

working in adobe illustrator - computer crashed - will not soft boot or reset PRAM - should i reinstall from CD snow leopard 10.6.3? I have an extra hard drive in my MAC with time machine on it set to do auto back ups. How do i recover ?

Well first you have to figure out what is wrong with the machine and solve that problem first.
Your post is very vague on what occured, and there are many types of "crashes" it really depends upon what see on the screen and what the hardware does, we can't see it to tell you, so you have to tell us.
I suggest you run through these user tips and provide more information about your hardware.
Disconnect the TimeMachine drive for now
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Help us to help you on these forums
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
If this is going way over your head, there are local PC/Mac techs that will assist you for a fee, Apple only does hardware repairs and is advised to use them if you discover it is, especially if under warranty/AppleCare.
Hard drive and RAM upgrades can be handled yourself or by a outside tech in many older models of Mac, but don't expect Apple to cover the new parts.
Install/upgrade RAM or storage drive in Mac's

Can't boot after resetting PRAM??

Before attempting to install Leopard, I upgraded my non-leopard compatible 1.2 GHz processor to a 1.8 GHz leopard compatible one. I also doubled my RAM from 512 to 1024 MB. I then installed leopard but upon restart it continually shut down. Holding down the "c" button at startup, I was able to boot from the leopard disc. I could then even start the computer from my old Panther startup volume. I used 'Disk Utility', ran 'disk repair' and reinstalled Leopard. The same problem persisted.
In another forum someone suggested resetting the PRAM as a next step. This I did but now I'm really freaking out because my computer is totally nonresponsive. My computer starts, I no longer hear that wonderful symphonic major chord, the Apple logo appears (with no circular loading bar), and there it remains frozen. I can no longer boot from the Leopard disc or any other disc (TechTool Pro, DiskWarrior). What should I try now?

japjunk wrote:
Before attempting to install Leopard, I upgraded my non-leopard compatible 1.2 GHz processor to a 1.8 GHz leopard compatible one. I also doubled my RAM from 512 to 1024 MB. I then installed leopard but upon restart it continually shut down. Holding down the "c" button at startup, I was able to boot from the leopard disc. I could then even start the computer from my old Panther startup volume. I used 'Disk Utility', ran 'disk repair' and reinstalled Leopard. The same problem persisted.
In another forum someone suggested resetting the PRAM as a next step. This I did but now I'm really freaking out because my computer is totally nonresponsive. My computer starts, I no longer hear that wonderful symphonic major chord, the Apple logo appears (with no circular loading bar), and there it remains frozen. I can no longer boot from the Leopard disc or any other disc (TechTool Pro, DiskWarrior). What should I try now?
There are several things you can do.
If you can’t start up after resetting PRAM
If you have a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) scheme set up, your computer may not start up if you reset parameter random-access memory (PRAM) when you restart.
If this happens, hold down the Option key while you restart your computer, and select your startup disk when you see the prompt.
f a message says “type ‘mac-boot’ and press return”
If the message “type ‘mac-boot’ and press return” appears when you try to start up your computer, some of your computer’s internal settings need to be reset.
NOTE: It may be helpful to print these instructions before you begin.
Or, try these suggestions:
■ Shut down your computer. Turn the computer back on and immediately hold down Command-Option-P-R, continuing to press until you hear the startup sound for the second time. This resets the computer’s parameter random-access memory (PRAM).
IMPORTANT: Resetting PRAM may change some system settings and preferences. Use System Preferences to restore your settings.
And finally
Restart with the X key
Hold down the X key and choose Apple menu > Restart. This may force the computer to start up using your Mac OS X system.
If the computer starts up, release the X key. Choose Apple menu> System Preferences, and then click Startup Disk. Make sure that the disk containing Mac OS X is selected.
Restart with the Option key
If you are unable to start up using the X key, choose Apple menu > Restart and immediately hold down the Option key.
When icons start to appear in the center of the screen, release the Option key. Select the disk that contains Mac OS X, and then click the forward arrow to continue starting up.
■ If resetting PRAM doesn’t solve the problem, reset non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). When the “To continue booting ...” message appears, type “reset-nvram” and press Return. Then type “reset-all” and press Return.

Booting Problems! Have to keep resetting PRAM

Hey everyone,
I just got an iMac education model. It was running sweet for a day, then ran all the updates etc and let it sleep for ages cos I had to go out.
When I tried to wake the computer it didn't work and subsequently I couldn't reboot it. I discovered through these forums that I had to reset the PRAM so did that and problem solved. Worked great, shutdown, went to bed.
Next evening I pushed the on button and same thing! Blank screen even though the computer was on, so I reset the PRAM again and it works fine now. So I ran update again, got one more security update, repaired permissions, did a boot from the OS X cd to repair the drive (didn't need repairing).
Question is - why would this keep happening? I'm hoping it won't happen again, could it just be faulty RAM? Does anyone have an intimate knowledge of PRAM?
Thanks alot!
Gareth
iMac (intel core duo) education Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Hi Gareth, I am hoping someone will respond soon to your post.
I am experiencing very similar problems with my brand new iMac G5 iSight education model Intel Core Duo 20 ''. During digital audio sessions and i.e. running iTunes visualizer for 10 minutes, computer shuts down, will not restart until I unplug it for 10-15 seconds. I have reset PRAM, run permissions repair, hardware diagnostics (no problems), but hesitate to open the back cover and reset SMU (apparently our model has switch, can't be reset by rebooting if I understand correctly (see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300908). I am concerned it is a power supply issue, but using the terminal app, it doesn't let me see the "kernel buffer", so I can't see if it is returning a "-110 error". There is an interesting discussion about consistent power supply 9http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2771605&#2771605) where an iMac owner couldn't repeat the problem at the Apple service center because they apparently had better power. So I am going to try putting a power conditioner (rather than just a surge protector) in place. If it is a software problem, this seems unlikely, since I have only been running the computer for a week and have a limited number of applications installed, but I will do an "archive and install" from the installer disk if this doesn't work. I hope I don't have to take it in for service. Any other ideas out there, anyone?
Thanks, Cody

External Display resolution problem after resetting PRAM

Gello, I've got Fujitsu-Siemens P19-2 monitor hooked up to my MbookPro and after resetting PRAM the correct display resolution disappeared from the "Displays" menu in System PReferences.
So did the refresh rate option...
What do I do?
I really need to change the refresh rate and the resolution, but the refresh rate button is grey and unclickable, and the resolution simply isn't there (I need 1280x1024).
REsetting PRAM and SMC didn't help.

After a couple of resets everything went back to normal

TS2570 Hi, MacBook Pro & Snow Leopard- startup probs. I have tried repairing with the disk utility, resetting PRAM, booting in safe mode, and finally trying to get to archive&install the o/s, but it cannot find the destination volume. IsAn erase the only

(10.6.8 Intel core duo 2009)
Hi,
I have a grey screen and grey rotating wheel startup probs. I have tried repairing with the disk utility, resetting PRAM, booting in safe mode (which gave a subset of the errors that 'disk repair' did- namely- 'invalid sibling link,invalid record count, invalid node structure, invalid key length) and finally trying to get to archive&install the o/s, but it cannot find the destination volume. Is an erase the only option? PS I have backed up most files individually, but my daughter did not back up any from her user account. Any help would be appreciated. J

Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Why is my computer slow?
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Macbook Pros display blinks to blue, icons change size, resolution changes and cant reset. Anyone else have this and have a definitive idea of the cause? End up running diagnostics and resetting PRAM and SMC to resolve but why? Thanks.

We have had several (7-10 recently) macbook Pros start this issue. The screen will jump from regular to blue, the background image will go away and it will be replaced with a blue screen, the icons change size and the screen resolution changes. Someimtes the users name field on the login screen will fly in from off screen... run diagnostics (AppleJack, Disk Util) and reset PRAM and SMC and sometimes this helps but wanted to know if there was a definite reason for this or a better resolution to the problem?
Thanks all
Macbook Pros are all newer (some only a month old) Unibody models running Snow Leopard and Lion

AppleJack has been discontinued, so you should uninstall that.
I'm suspecting something in software across all machine or a security breach as the primary cause of your problems.
Wipe and install everything fresh, firmware update the router, change passwords, new software form original sources, etc.
This might assist.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
WiFi security issues, at home and WiFi hotspots
Harden your Mac against malware attacks
How do I securely delete data from the machine?

MacBook will not start. I have restarted with original CD. I have used Utilities and "no problem" with hard drive. I have reset PRAM. I have tried safe boot. Nothing is work. Gray screen with Apple logo and rotating wheel. Thanks for any suggestions!

MacBook will not start. I have restarted with original CD. I have used Utilities and "no problem" with hard drive. I have reset PRAM. I have tried safe boot. Nothing is work. Gray screen with Apple logo and rotating wheel. Thanks for any suggestions!

Snow Leopard is a Mac OS X version. You say that it's the version you have in your Mac (10.6.8). Do a back up of your files, format the hard drive (using Disk Utility) and reinstall again

My MBP A1226 display went black n no video output. I tried to reset pram n a hard reset still nothing. It boots up drive and volume beeps... It's running but no video. I'm out of warranty, is there something I can do without spending a fortune. Thnx rich

My MBP A1226 display went black n no video output. I tried to reset pram n a hard reset still nothing. It boots up drive and volume beeps like its running... It's running but no video. I'm out of warranty, is there something I can do without spending a fortune. Thnx rich

Hi, I have the same computer, same model and same problem with the same diagnosis, with no response from Apple for being out of warranty of 4 years, this is a shame!

Reset PRAM/SRAM, now won't open

Aloha all, had a bad ram issue and got that fixed easily, but had to reset PRAM on a G5 (early 2005), After rebooting FC won't open at all. Followed other advice on these boards like trashing prefs etc, using FCR, but nada. Still won't open. Any other advise or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Running FCP 5, with 10.4, 2g ram Mahalo in advance for any/all tips suggestions. JB

Hi Micheal,
Open Keychain Access in Utilities, use Keychain First Aid under the Window Menu item, does that help any?
Might see if this Home Folder PW forgotten helps...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1909.html

Set monitor settings to res too low for flat panel - reset w/o boot?

Hello
I wanted to play an old OS 9 game on my Powermac G4 (Sawtooth, 400 Mhz, OS 9.2.2 and 10.4.11), and for the sake of readability, wanted to set the monitor to the game's native 640x480. The monitor control panel (when booted under OS 9) allowed for this, but unfortunately, my Samsung Syncmaster 740 (1280x1024, connected via DVI) LCD display apparently refuses to display any video smaller than 1024x768. I later found this out testing with my old iMac DVSE connected via VGA. Thus, there's no video. I also do not have another monitor to run the G4 on, besides a 1080p HDTV - which is unsupported by the G4's card.
Without any video when booted up, is there any way to reset the video settings? Under target disk mode perhaps? A parameter ram reset (commandOption+PR at startup) didn't help. I can boot up into Tiger with a suitable resolution - just not OS 9.
Message was edited by: Daniel W: Just clarified that I was booted into OS 9 when I caused this bug...

Hello
I tested both methods suggested. When I booted OS 9 with extensions off (which really should have occured to me earlier - boy, I haven't used OS 9 in a while), it did revert to a default 800x600 resolution - which displayed. Odd, I don't get it, it didn't display at that res before. Unfortunately, the monitors control panel would not open with extensions off. I rebooted, only to find that OS 9 reverted to the 640x480 resolution.
The solution is exactly what Don Archibald suggested - I removed this file from the system folder (while booted into OS X), and OS 9 rebooted to 1024x768 - which worked just fine.
Oddly, when I attempted to reboot into OS X, I ran into trouble. I hope somebody has a clue what happened.
It seems that when the G4 starts up, it does so in a very low resolution - at least, lower than the monitor supports. This means I cannot see anything until one of the OS' boots up. Unfortunately, after removing that pref file and ensuring OS 9 now boots properly, I rebooted to OS X. After about 5 minutes, OS X did not boot. So, I pressed the reset button, and held down "X". Still, OS X did not boot - after 10 mins. So, I repeated, holding down "option". This time, I did not even hear a boot chime. I don't get that at all. Nothing happened after another reboot, or in Target Disk mode, and it would not boot up to the point that it would recognize the USB keyboard - I could not boot to a CD.
While I do have backups for nearly all the data, I wanted to make sure I got the rest off the G4 drive. So, I actually pulled the hard drive out of the G4, put it in a USB enclosure, and connected it to my MacBook Pro. Somehow, the directory must have become very confused - it would not display any volumes! On a hunch, I decided to swap it with the drive in the iMac - I needed to swap the iMac's battery and install more RAM anyway. Before I did this, I used SuperDuper to clone the iMac's drive to an old Clickweel iPod. I switched the drive, thinking I'd need to startup the iMac from the Tiger install disc - but it recognized Tiger (from the G4) right away, and booted normally. I was able to boot the G4 into Panther (from the iMac drive), and then install Tiger once more. I figured that considering some bugs I was having in Tiger, I might as well just do a fresh install.
Fortunately, Migration Assistant was able to move everything over from the iMac to the G4, and I could format and restore the iMac's drive from the iPod. So, it took a while and some drive swapping, but everything's back to normal on both machines. Still, I can't see anything until the OS boots, as before, but both OS 9 and X work properly.
I don't get the huge bug, but it's all good now. I may need to reset PRAM again so that it will display properly during boot, but everything seems to work. Thanks for the help!
-Dan

Reset PRAM, now boot resolution is wrong?

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