Start up disc problems and my imac will not boot from the cd.

Hi All,
I have a start up disc that needs repaired, according to ONYX so then reading the apple support guide it seems I boot from my OSX CD that came with my iMac and use First Aid. However when I insert my OSX CD my imac reads it fine, as it does with any other cd, yet when I re-boot, holding down C, it won't boot. It restarts, but fails then to read the CD and just re-boots again, and again, and again. 
How can I fix this?
Thanks all, I appreciate it.
From abour this MAC:
OSX 10.6.8
2.93 Ghz Intel Core 2
8gb 1333 DDR3
Start up disc Mac HD

thanks, but disc is spotless.
When I put the disc in while machine is on it is read perfectly, appears immediatly and can be opened with no issues. It is only on re-boot ti then appears not to engage with the system.
I was advised to re-boot holding the "c" button from the MAC forum which I have done. I have also restarted using the restart button on the OSX disc loading screen.
mark

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    - Tried to put the disc back in straight after it ejects with all the steps, still starts up normally.
    - Changed the start up disc in System Preferences to the SL DVD, restart, it ejects.
    By now I am readying the noose...
    - Dug out the original Leopard installation CDs.
    - Repeated all the forced boot restarts (C key, Option key, Ctrl, Alt, Option keys), same story.
    - Repeated changing the start up disc in System Prefs, same story again.
    - Call Apple Support, they told me to try everything I have tried and that the DVD drive is dodgy, well it works with everyhting else! Burning and reading! I really don't want to have to go to an Apple Store- it's miles away (a costly journey) and I just do not have the time for all of this.
    RAWR! Does anyone know what to do? Please? S.O.S.?

    Possible scenarios:
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    2: Your not using the 10.6.3 SL retail disk but one from another machine which doesn't have the drivers for that machine.
    3: Your optical drive is funky or some other hardware issues.
    4: Your trying to install 10.6 onto a PowerPC based Mac, no can do.
    5: Your not using a wired keyboard for boot key commands, have some other hardware conflicts.
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    1: Copy the SL 10.6.3 disk using Disk Utility to another DVD, the error checking may resolve the original disk's issue.
    http://www.brokenhomeboy.co.uk/pierow/blog/2011/10/make-a-bootable-backup-snow-l eopard-install-disc/
    2: Make a SL bootable USB
    http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
    3: Call Apple for a new 10.6.3 disk (and make copies for backup before Apple discontinues selling it)
    If your upgrading to 10.6 to get to 10.6.8 to upgrade to 10.7, be warned of this:
    1: Your 10.5 software will not work in 10.7, no more Rosetta or PPC based code.
    2: Your hardware will not qualify if it's a 32 bit Intel Core Duo, also you may experience slowdowns in performance over 10.6 (10.6 is the fastest OS X version for Intel Macs) in older Intel hardware (I suggest Early 2011 Mac's and later only for Lion)
    3: Mountain Lion 10.8 is reportingly coming out this summer and will not run on a lot of older Intel based Mac's because of heftier graphics requirements.
    4: 10.6 has the widest range of current avaialble software and drivers for third party hardware.
    My advice, stick with 10.6.8 and stay there, buy a new Mountain Lion machine after this summer. Skip Lion completely.

  • Upgraded Imac to OSX Mavericks and now imac will not boot

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    Try these in order testing your system after each to see if it's back to normal:
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        b. Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
    2. Restart the computer in Safe Mode, then restart again, normally. If this doesn't help, then:
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    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 the 10.9.2 update: OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 Update (Combo).
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  • Power Mac G4 400 MHz (AGP graphics) will not boot from hard drive

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    Thanks in advance.
    Wesley G.

    Hi! If Tom's solution doesn't work I would reboot from the install disc and then partition the drive as 1 partition instead of erasing it. Sounds like the driver on the disk is too old and installing a new partition map should write a new driver to the drive that is compatible with Tiger. Other than that it is possible that the drive has a spin delay jumper enabled and the drive isn't spinning up fast enough and the computer isn't looking long enough for the drive. Tom

  • IMac will not boot, hard drive file problem? Can't install OS in 2nd part.

    The iMac will not boot. The Apple displays on the screen, the cursor spins for awhile, and then it loops into a reboot effort.
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    Hi, Grant.
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  • Imac will not boot past Apple Logo

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    Kind of late but your solution helped me remember what once worked for me, a few years back.
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  • Flat Screen imac iMac won't boot up, will not boot from DVD

    My 24" imac flat screen will not boot. I only get a blank gray/white screen. Reset the PRAM and tried to boot from the DVD. I held the C key down when I powered on but the system will not boot from the DVD. If I wait long enough, the DVD will eventually be ejected. I have had HD issues and Disk Warrior indicated that the drive was damaged. Will a dead hard drive cause the system to not boot from the DVD? Is there any way to get the system to boot from my DVD?

    Hello PMcDer,
    Welcome to Apple Discussions!
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  • Wiped macbook pro will not boot from install DVD

    I recently purchased an older MacBook Pro that came with the OS system wiped but it did have the original Install DVDs.  The computer will not boot from the DVD.  I have booted holding down the C key and nothing happens.  I have booted holding down the Option key and it shows the Install DVD and I select this and nothing happens.
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    It could be a problem with the optical drive, but also may be due to the DVD's being for a different model.
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