Spinning wheel and very slow? Appeared from nowhere. Happens across all programs.
Could this be caused by a failing hard drive?
2008 13'" Aluminium MacBook
Running 10.6.8 (shipped with 10.5)
2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo
2 GB RAM
250 GB HDD
Yikes, maybe it could. Can you re-start?
Similar Messages
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Grey screen and spinning wheel - and very slow iBook?
I have been looking around, and am afraid my sister's beloved (and heavily used ibook may have a common problem. Just now, she was trying to access our myspace page, but it was loading terribly slowly, so she tried to force quit - and it wouldn't quit. So she forced it to quit by holding down apple/option escape and then shut it down. On turning on the machine again, it began booting normally, but very slowly - the grey wheel was spinning a minute or more later, and she could not use force quit to stop the machine from booting.
I advised her to hold down the power button for five seconds to force the machine to shut down, and told her that tomorrow I would come over and run maintenance on it and also post her problem here. From the reading I've been doing, it sounds scarily like the logic board thing, but it's also true she has very little space left on her hard drive, so it could be that - or maybe something else entirely? I intend to start from her system disc, do the hardware test, repair and verify the permissions, and, if necessary, reinstall the system. Is there anything else we should do?
It's an ibook g4 1.2mhz, with at least 640 megs of ram but only a 30 gb hard drive. TIA for your help! Oh - she's running panther, and has had the machine for 3 years with no serious problems, except that hers had one of the defective batteries. Apple sent her a replacement battery two years ago.Hi Mary.
I ideally you need to keep at least 15% of the HD capacity for the system to run smoothly. On a 30GB drive it's easy to use more than you should. Having less free space would make a big difference to the performance. Sounds like a good time to get rid of/back up unneccesary files that don't need to be on the HD. Also, the HD may have become quite fragmented which would also play a part in slowing things down. Once you have things backed up, could be a good time to reinstall a fresh system. You should notice an improvement. -
Spinning wheels. Very slow. Now wont boot.
On 10.5.8 I had a problem where I could not boot. Apple logo and loading wheel kept rotating. So I upgraded to 10.6 thinking it was high time I did so. 10.6 ran well for a week or so and then I had problems where the coloured wheel would keep appearing slowing down usage enormously. I decided to reinstall 10.6 but it didn't seem to help. Now I am back to square one. It won't boot. Wont proceed past Apple logo and loading wheel. Please help if u can.
Examine this comprehensive document:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353
Ciao. -
Hi
For past year or so my mac book has been getting gradually worse. Spinning wheel, and overheating, last night I had trouble just getting it to start in Safe Mode (been using the on/off button a lot lately!)
Problem may be related to media - iMovie followed by iPhoto are the most likely programs to bring everything to a stop but not always.
I'm not an expert although I did figure out how to re install the operating system from the partition with help from this forum a couple of months ago but it didn't fix the problem.
The iOS is Mountain Lion (via Lion)
I managed to do a back- up last night and now wondering if I should re- install Snow Leopard from the original discs that came with the laptop.
Got a lot of media on there (replaced the 250gb drive with a Samsung 1tb a while back which is less than half full.
Never had to use any of my back-ups before so:
If I re install the original operating system will I be able to be selective in what I put back on later?
and -
Will there be any issues putting a Mountain Lion back-up into a Snow Leopard iOS?
A lot of whats there isn't needed but don't want to lose it completely.
Advice appreciated thanksBack up all data immediately as your boot drive may be failing.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU|I/O' | tail | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the window will be empty. If you get output like this:
kernel[0] <Debug>: disk0s2: I/O error
the boot drive is failing, or there's some other hardware fault in the storage subsystem.
If you get output like this:
kernel[0] <Debug>: ** GPU Debug Info Start **
kernel[0] <Debug>: ** GPU Debug Info End **
there's a fault in the graphics processor or logic board. The two kinds of output are not mutually exclusive, but if you get both, a logic-board fault is likely. -
Hi, from the last two days my iphone( iphone 4 with ios 5) have very slow to open the apps and very slow when i check the notification window , it taking too much time to open when i tap to down . help me to resolve the issue.
The Basic Troubleshooting Steps are:
Restart... Reset... Restore...
iPhone Reset
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1430
Try this First... You will Not Lose Any Data...
Turn the Phone Off...
Press and Hold the Sleep/Wake Button and the Home Button at the Same Time...
Wait for the Apple logo to Appear and then Disappear...
Usually takes about 15 - 20 Seconds... ( But can take Longer...)
Release the Buttons...
Turn the Phone On...
If that does not help... See Here:
Backing up, Updating and Restoring
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414 -
IBook G4 appears to start then sticks at spinning wheel and apple screen
Hello there,
I have an old G4 laptop. Recently installed Airport Extreme card, started it up, no worries! Then was prompted to download updated software from Apple. Did so. But then when I tried to restart it all I get is the Apple chime, then the screen with the spinning wheel and apple logo. The startup does not continue from there. It just keeps on spinnin'. I have tried reboot, restart commands, battery out, battery in. The cord and battery appear fine, but just can't back into my Mac.
I'd appreciate any tips please.
Thanks,
KurtHave you tried to SafeBoot on startup, and then see if using Disk Utility's
'repair disk permissions' on the selected Macintosh HD lists fixes? {The
safeboot startup takes some time, often that can take many minutes of
holding the Shift- key down on startup before it goes into login screen...}
Then see if the computer would restart normally.
Or, if nothing happens after that, have you tried starting the computer
up with the OS X Installer disc1 (the boot/install disc) and C -key held
down until you see it is attempting to load the Installer. Then, choose
from the menubar from the Installer header (perhaps not first window
you see on bootup from install disc) and look for the drop-down menu
with Disk Utility in it. Run it from there, to Repair Disk and also to run
Repair Disk Permissions. Note any error messages, and also see if
the SMART status is indicated for the hard drive as Pass/Fail.
You can choose a Startup Disk from the Installer's drop-down menu,
for when you are done with Disk Utility, the computer may attempt
to start from the installed system you are trying to fix.
There also is an Apple Hardware Test included on the original install
disc which accompanied the computer when new; it will work as a
boot volume but requires a different key held on startup to access it.
Not sure if that key is the Opt key, or another. I seldom use the AHT.
{If there appears to be issues after attempting the above, you may
consider removing the AirPort Extreme Card, and try SafeBoot again.}
In any event...
Good luck & happy computing! -
Hi all,
My imac (osx 10.6.8), apple mail(4.5) has begun to act very odd. It quits out and on occasion I open an email to face "plugin is missing" or I have a spinning wheel and the email won't open. New to do list fails to add to the list. Can anyone help?Hi all,
My imac (osx 10.6.8), apple mail(4.5) has begun to act very odd. It quits out and on occasion I open an email to face "plugin is missing" or I have a spinning wheel and the email won't open. New to do list fails to add to the list. Can anyone help? -
when i turn on my computer it freezes in the white screen and the spinning wheel and it won't move from there ... I have turned it off and on several times and took out the battery and it keeps on doing the same thing again what can i do ??? please i need help with this and how can i fix it
Here is some pertinent information and how-to's from Apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Post back if these troubleshooting steps do not work. -
I keep getting the spinning wheel, and macbook pro seems to be slowing down. How do i fix this without buying software?
Go to system profiler and report back the amount of RAM that you have.
Make sure that you have at least 20% of your hard drive free.
Make sure you don't have a lot of items on your desktop as that can slow things down.
Quit applications that aren't responding or you aren't using and won't be using for a while.
~/Library/Caches Quit all applications and delete this folder. Do a regular delete then do a secure erase on all the items that won't delete.
If it only happens with a certain application (Safari for example)...
1. Quit the application (Safari)
2. Open ~/Library/Preferences and find the file for safari (com.apple.Safari.plist).
3. Put the file in the trash. Do NOT empty the trash yet. Open the application and make sure everything's ok. Now you can delete the file. In Mail if you trash the file, you will get rid or your setup.
Make sure that your dashboard doesn't have too many widgets and use Activity Monitor to see what it's using.
There are ways to disable if you want to.
Make sure that all of your software is up to date.
Repair permissions (it can't hurt)
Don't have a lot of login items.
Your internet browser shouldn't have a lot of extensions.
I hope this helps
Chris -
Ok, so running Lion on a MacBook, (2010 i think) and the OS got corrupted(stuck on spinning wheel and grey screen on boot)
Tried to repair the disk via disk utility using an install CD, no go, couldn't repair, so, did a clean install.
New install went fine, computer worked for about 3 days and then stuck on the spinning wheel again.
suspecting physical damage to the harddrive, I installed the OS to an external, and booted from there. Worked for a couple days and then stuck on the spinning wheel.
I have repeated the process 5 times now, each time it works for a little and then craps out again.
What's going on?
as a note, when I say it gets stuck on the spinning wheel, I have left it for 12 hours trying to boot to no avail.The Apple Hardware Test doesn't always detect all errors.
Next time you get the gray screen/spinning wheel, try booting into the Safe Mode to see if it will boot.
Shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.
Safe Mode
Safe Mode - About
Startup Gray Screen
Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)
Startup Issues - Resolve (3) -
My macbook air turns on but not completely, it gets stuck on the grays screen. It shows an apple an a spinning wheel and that is as far as it gets. sometimes I can get to an screen that shows macintosh hd and i clicked on it and the computer turned off.
Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 10. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider. -
Kernel panics, spinning wheel and restart dialogs on startup
That's it! Time for a little help from you guys and gurus before I chuck my iMac out the window.
Configuration info:
iMac G5
PowerMac8,1
PowerPC G5 (3.0)
CPU's 1
1.8 GHz
L2-cache 512 K
Memory: 2 GB
600 MHz
Boot ROM-version: 5.2.2f4
System:
System: Mac OS X 10.4.5 (8H14)
Kernel-version: Darwin 8.5.0
Firewire:
LaCie 1394 DVD-R/RW+CD drive LUN 0
LaCie d2 Extreme LUN 0 HD 200GB
USB:
Canon i560 printer
Wacom Intuos 3
Background:
Coputer worked fine in Mac OSX 10.4.3
Problems:
After updating to 10.4.5... and reinstalling the system 5-6 times from scratch I have been getting kernel panics, spinning wheels and restart dialogs on startup intermittent.
The latest panic:
Panic (cpu 0 caller 0x002E0368) Unable to find driver for this platform PowerMac 8,1.
Kernel Version 8.5.0
There have been all sorts of kernel panics but I don't get a panic log since system seems to panic in such an early stage.
This has been done, more than once:
- Disconnected everything
- Reformatted HD and reinstalled from original CD
- Downloaded combo updates from Apple website and installed them after repairing disc and permissions first.
- Starts fine
- Repaired permissions again, after restart.
- installed one app at a time (latest updates on every app), allways restarting to see if everything still is fine, which it is.
- Reconnecting external drive, burner, printer etc. allways checking if everything is fine by doing a reboot. It is.
Computer seems happy, and so am I...
Next morning, a kernel panic, or a reboot dialog or spinning wheel at startup. I reboot, cross my fingers, and it starts up first, second or third try. No panic log other than the screen on startup.
- I reinstall combo update, restart and do a command-alt-P-R on the #&%?! and everything is fine... untill next day.
- I run Apple Diagnostic and there is a problem with one of the memory cards. I try it again and again looping. Now no problems found?! So I rum Memtest and still no problems found.
- I do this over and over againg to the point of physical illness.
- I reboot from my external drive with 10.4.3 without any problems whatsoever.
- Go back to 10.4.5 and the problems start again.
- I remove Apple caches, Extension caches, ATS and all that. Boots fine... untill next day?!
The most irritating thing is that once the computer boots up there are no apparent problems whatsoever using it.
I have read every post on kernel panics here, at apple website and at The X Lab. Tried - in my opinion - everything without getting to the bottom of it.
What did I forget?
What havent I tried?
I want my trusted Mac back!
Very thankful for any help whatsoever.
P.s. Since the computer works fine in 10.4.3 I don't see the point of taking it to service. It has to bee software related, no?
iMac G5 17/1.8/2GB/80/SD/56k Mac OS X (10.4.5) LaCie d2 Extreme 200GB Ext. HD. / Canon i560 print / LaCie 1394 DVD-R/RW+CD drivThank You for Your quick responce!
I have 2 1GB DIMMs installed from the shop when I bought my iMac. I read http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86814 about iMac Memory Specs and if I understand it correctly I could remove one of the DIMMs to test if the problem goes away. Although the computer will run better with two DIMMs it will work with one slot empty as well.
Did I understand that correctly?
iMac G5 17/1.8/2GB/80/SD/56k Mac OS X (10.4.5) LaCie d2 Extreme 200GB Ext. HD. / Canon i560 print / LaCie 1394 DVD-R/RW+CD driv -
How do I make a picture appear from nowhere?
Hi,
a couple of days ago, I started working on my new web site,
where the banner and the menu should be in flash. Now there's a
little problem: I am a real noob in Flash! And I need your help! So
that's what I want to do: (please look picture
http://vlada.freehostia.com/images/v1_0_0_1.jpg)
1. I would like the logo-picture, and the two Slogans appear
from nowhere (I know, it sounds stupid, but that's what I was told
to do) and
2. add a hover character to my menu (you know, like an
animated line, which underlines the word, when you hover the mouse)
Could anyone please tell me how to do it? What methods should
I use? I would be very grateful for your help :)
Regards,
Alex
Link to the
template pictureAll right, I've figured that one out...
I'm really sorry for being annoying, but I've got one more
noob-question: I've created a text animation for my menu, so when I
add an invisible button, the animation stops working. When I write
the script :
on (rollOver) {
gotoAndPlay(button1);
it starts replaying the whole movie but not the menu ...Can
someone tell me what have I done wrong? -
Every time i start my MacBook Air i get the spinning wheel and have to soft boot (shift, control, option, power) it three or four time s before it starts. It has only been over the last week or so I also found Safari will not load up and tyou have too open then shut from the drop down then restart it to get a page, any help pleas?
Do this:
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the
COMMAND and R keys until the Utilities menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and
after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears.
Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks: Reboot from the Recovery HD. Select Reinstall
Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks from the Utilities menu, and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is
three times faster than wireless. -
Computer won't turn on further than spinning wheel and apple sign
I have just deleted a whole bunch of junk off my computer, after that I restarted it and it would not turn on further than the spinning wheel and apple sign. I have tried putting the leopard installation cd in and rebooting it, but it didn't work.
Can someone please help me!Clearly some of the "junk" was not.
We need a list of files you deleted and perhaps we can help you restore the ones that were not junk.
Can you do a Safe boot? That would be a start, and if you did not empty the trash, I suggest restoring all the files in it.
When removing files, never flush the trash and always delete one at a time. It prevents a catastrophe from occurring.
And please never never make triplicate or duplicate posts. It's very rude and nobody knows to which one to reply.
Message was edited by: nerowolfe
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