Start Up Problem: Grey (Gray) Screen

Yesterday, I did a system update, which required me to restart my computer. Everything was installed and it went to the grey start up with the logo and the spinning wheel, and there it stayed. I figured it was doing something so I left and came back a few hours later and it was still doing it.
So now, when I restart it I get the chime, the grey screen with the logo and the spinning wheel, and fans or something whirling around inside. The fans stop after a little while, but the screen stays the same.
I've tried unplugging it and plugging back in, detaching everything except for keyboard and mouse, and repairing the disk. When I tried repairing the disk it said (in green) that there were no problems to repair. I also ran the Hardware Test and it said there were no problems.
Is all hope lost?
Thanks

You could always try an archive and install.
lenn

Similar Messages

My computer won't start up past the gray screen

My computer won't start up past the gray screen and then shows up with the forbidden sign where the apple logo should be. I have tried booting in safe mode and PRAM and neither works. Any suggestions on what I should do next? Or any idease of what might be wrong?

I had the same problem, I believe it is called a kernal panic. They had to replace my hard drive. I did have apple care or it would have cost $450. The guy at the genius bar did some tests to see if he could fix it, he couldn't, so I had to have the hard drive replaced.

TS1411 my desktop Mac OS X is not starting, I get the gray screen with the apple logo and a bar below and then shot off by itself.

My Imac is not starting , I get a gray screen with the logo and a bar below and about one minute the bar desapier and shot off by itself. I try evething that I can think of and not luck. I did disconect all accesories and still the same, I use the start up disc and same.. now I can not get the disc out.
Please advise what I need to do to solve the problem. Recently this computer was upgraded from 10.4 to Mountain lion and add more memory.

Thanks for your help.
Same thing happen when I hold the button, it idle for a while and then turn off by itself. Any more suggestions?
I got the disc..

After prompted to update 10.9.1, my MacBook Pro updates and went thru restart but failed...I tried to start my book and gray screen, Apple logo both on, chime sounded, then went to progress bar, less than half macbook shuts down...did few times, same!!

After prompted to update 10.9.1, my MacBook Pro updates and went thru restart but failed...I tried to start my book and gray screen, Apple logo both on, chime sounded, then went to progress bar, less than half macbook shuts down...did few times, same!!
Go to system repair, there is a prompt that cannot repair live etc....I don understand!!! Help, I need the book for work tomorrow!!

Thanks clintonfrombirmingham...
After clicking "repair disk" it says DISK UTILITY STOPPED REPAIRING MACINTOSH HD, DISK UTILITY CAN't REPAIR THIS DISK. BACK UO AS MANY OF YOUR FILES AS POSSIBLE, REFORMAT THE DISK, AND RESTORE YOUR BACKED -UP FILES....
written in red: ERROR: DISK UTILITY CAN'T REPAIR THIS DISK,,,DISK, AND RESTORE YOUR BACKED-UP FILES.
how can I back up when I cannot even start my macbook? I am stuck here and have lots of important files in the hd... Please help me? Thanks you!

When I start MacBook Pro13 shows gray Screen and flashing file Image with question mark

When I start MacBook Pro13 shows gray Screen and flashing file Image with question mark , it's brand new I just receive it from Apple Store .

Startup Manager to select Startup disk.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
Repair Disk
Steps 2 through 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836

Power Mac G5 (OS X 10.4 I believe) won't start-up, goes to gray screen with ? in a folder.... ideas??

I moved a bunch of music from my external hard drive to my Mac's hard drive, I practically filled up the hard drive on the Mac. Then my Firefox crashed so I shut the computer down. When I try to restart It stops at a gray screen with a folder in the middle. The folder alternates between having a "?" in it and the "Finder" picture.
I read this link http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440 but it doesn't help. I can't select a drive or anything because I'm just stuck at this gray screen. Is there a way to boot this up in "safe mode" or something so I can do something to it? I am worried that some of the music I moved from my external hard drive had a virus or something and it killed my computer.
I got this Mac 2nd hand so I don't have a manual or any startup disks or anything..... What do I do????

Yikes, no startup Disc!
You don't want to have less the 10-20 GBG free space on your boot drive, OSX will be slow and/or start trashing files/data due to corruption.
Reboot, Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when complete.
If that doesn't work...
Tough without the Tiger Disk problems, but try fsck...
To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse to open an application to do something, you'll need to type a text command at the prompt (#) to tell fsck what to do. The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) and single-user mode are two examples of command-line interfaces in which you can type such commands. To use fsck:
1. Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line. Hold CMD+s keys down at bootup.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
2. At the command-line prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy
(SPACE between fsck AND -fy important)
3. Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
4. When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

HT201475 Problem with gray screen after connecting external drive

I attached a LaCie external drive to back up photos and iTunes on iMac running Mountain Lion OS. I'm trying to resize partitions to back up but after attaching I'm having problems restarting and/or shutting down. I keep getting gray screen And have to shut down to start up. Now my external drive only shows one partition on desk top and I can't access in disk utility at all.

Hi!
We are having the same problem for years now (Forms10g with webutil) and had no solution but disabling the client cache. But this has to be done on the client.
In this Thread webutil&forms11g R2 64bit
a solution from oraclemysupport is mentioned, which can be done on the server:
JRE CRASHES/HANGS THE BROWSER HAVING HYPERTHREADING ENABLED [ID 601534.1]
(Solution 2)
We'l give it a try....

Repeated Start-Up tone and Gray Screen

So my 15" MacBook Pro froze, and I shut it down, and when I restarted it, it only had the gray screen, and the start-up chime was playing repeatedly. I'm not very technologically savvy, and I'm kind of freaking out. I got this computer in August of 2009, and it uses whatever OS came standard then. Can anyone help?

Ceileen...
Might be a good time to run the Apple Hardware Test just to rule out any hardware isues.
If that doesn't reveal any problems, try here > Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup < for 10.4 / 10.5 / 10.6
And if the startup chime sounds more like beeps it could be the RAM (memory) read here > Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2
and it uses whatever OS came standard then.
It really helps to tell us which Mac OS X you have installed. Sometimes the support links we provide are OS X specific. Help that applies to Snow Leopard may not apply to Lion...
If you aren't sure, click your Apple menu icon then from the drop down menu click About This Mac.
You'll see the version there.

Qosmio G30-126 - start up problem with blank screen

My laptop was running perfectly untill i suddenly found it booting with the start up sound enable but without any picture appearing on the display untill i got the windows login page at which the picture appeared with its normal perfect resolution.
The operating system is Windows 7 which was working smoothly, with all toshiba drivers installed from more than 3 monthes and the device was normally shut down the time before the problem appeared.
I tried using the recovery disc but the problem is that i cant see any thing! the computer is working but the display is black as if the laptop is completly turned off.
I tried to connect another external LG LCD but it didnt give any results but only a blank screen.
I really need help in this issue as this laptop contains all my work and i depend on it alot.

Hi Jeka-??
First, thanks for the reply. Second i think i can fully access the BIOS using F1 but the problem that the screen is totally black. You will ask how do you know that you entered BIOS? the answer is that it do the restart when i press the right combination of keys to save and exit i.e. After pressing F1, i press the end key which supposed to give me a message of save and exit and i press Y so the laptop restarts.
Third, are you sure that this is a defected GPU card? as if there are any possibilities to try before sending the computer to Toshiba service center, i'll be glad to them on my own.
By the way the graphic card works perfectly when the computer log on the windows even with games i.e. the monitor starts to display picture starting from the choosing profile page of windows. The original recovery disk is VISTA Ultimate and i'd like to restore it back instead of the installed windows 7 as a trial but unfortunately i cant see the process as i have to enter some data to continue installation and i cant remeber them to do it blind.
Do you know a method to reinstall the bios update again? as when i try to install it through windows 7 it keeps saying " [Error] BIOS Update is not supported OS. Unsupported OS or service pack is installed "

HT1338 White Mac book will not start up just shows gray screen with apple logo

White Mac book will not boot up gray screen only

There are some recovery steps for this condition outlined in the below article.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

Start up problems/grey screen/question mark

Reset the NVRAM and remove all power for 5-10min.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

What to do if you get a flashing question mark when you start your Mac.

Can't start up; stuck at gray screen- started w/ Skype

hi all. my mom's Macbook Pro can't start up. it gets stuck at the grey screen w/ the Apple logo and spinning pinwheel every time. nothing else is plugged into the laptop aside from the power cord.
here's what i tried already, but to no avail:
- Reset SMC
- Reset PRAM
- Hold shift while starting up... nothing happens. So can't start in safe mode
- Used install disk to run Disk Utility diagnostic: Ran into a bunch of Disk Permission errors and fixed those. Nothing wrong on the Disk itself.
- Held Command-S while starting up and typed "fsck -fy". Got "File system was modified" at first. Ran it again and got clean bill of health there
- Held "d" while booting, ran the hardware test and it checked out fine.
after all of the above, tried waiting for it to restart for 15 minutes and still same spinning wheel.
this all started when a Skype update couldn't install, so i got rid of the current Skype. then tried downloading the new Skype. after it supposedly downloaded fully and it was automatically processing in the download pop up window (e.g. something about "writing", "image", etc.), it got stuck and froze the computer for at least 5 minutes. at that point, i help the power button until it turned out. then this started...
please help! thanks!
PS: not sure if this has anything to do w/ the problem, but after this happened, i tried to use Disk Utilities to make an image onto an external hard drive and it gave me an "operation timed out" error.
PPS: she has the following specs -
Hitachi Hard drive; partition Map Scheme: GUID Partition Table
MacBookPro5,1
Intel Core 2 Duo
2.40 GHz
L2 CPU Cache (per processor): 3MB
I think she has OS X 10.4.5, but not 100% positive
PPS: by the way, while running on verbose mode, got the following: (just typed some suspicious lines - not all)
AppleTyMCEDriver::probe(MacBookPro5,1)
AppleTyMCEDriver::probe fails
Previous Shutdown Causes: 3
AGC: 2.8.15, HW version=1.7.3, flags:0, features:1
IGPU: family specific matching fails
GFX0: " "
GFX0: " "
IGPU: " "
Matching service count = 0
disk0s2: I/O error
localhost fseventsd[28]: event logs in /.fseventsd out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (1073 10 1744)
localhost Symantec Daemon[41]: Validation of a trusted Symantec component failed (-70602)

MacBook Pro 5,1 came with 10.5 Leopard installed, so it has at least that, if not upgraded to 10.6.
See this Apple note: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 . You've done some of the steps already.
It appears your mother is running Norton Antivirus? or other Symantec programs. If the Antivirus, recommend removing it, and if she wants an antivirus, install ClamXav from http://www.clamxav.com.

Can't boot on hard drive or CD/DVD - grey/gray screen of death

A few weeks ago my PowerPC G5 Dual Processor running Leopard OS X froze while the screen saver was running. I hard-powered-off the computer --> held down power button for ~10 seconds. When I tried to start up again, I got the "gray/grey screen of death" with the Apple logo. The screen hung there and then fans starting ramping up to full speed with no sign off boot up. I know others have posted similar issues, but I wanted to start a new thread.
Basic Specs:
PowerPC G5 Dual 2.5 Hz Processors
4 Gb memory (recently upgraded form 2 to 4) ***
Bought in early 2005 (I think)
Here's a summary of what I've tried:
DOES NOT WORK
- booting up holding down C (for drive) --> straight to kill screen
- booting up from original discs for G5 (from both C mode and Option mode)
- booting up from 10.5 Leopard disc (from both C mode and Option mode)
- booting up holding down Option-Comman-P-R --> straight to kill screen
DOES WORK
- connecting to secondary computer using target mode (holding down T) - I can see both of my hard drives
- booting up holding down Option - I can select either my main drive (secondary is not present there but there is no OS on it) or CD/DVD in slot
- booting from Apple Hardware Test (AHT) disk from Option menu
-- I ran disk checks, had errors. I ran Disk Warrior from secondary computer in target mode and repaired the drive, running the AHT test again shows no errors
- ran disk repair from secondary computer to fix errors (using disk utility and disc warrior)
OTHER THINGS I'VE DONE
- replaced backup battery on motherboard that was weak at only ~70 mV with fresher battery at ~3.6V
- held down PMU (not SMU) reset button for 30 seconds
- (main fans were cleaned a few weeks before issue)
- two weeks before issue I installed more memory (from 2 Gb to 4 Gb with two new 1 Gb cards)
- backed up data - so I can delete drives if needed
THOUGHTS
- I'm concerned that under CPU it shows 158950.77 GHz - shouldn't it be showing two CPU?
- the drives look healthy when looking at them in target mode
- issue is occurring between power up and drive selection (since CD/DVD is also not viewable)
- maybe the new memory caused local over heating to the motherboard?
- I may be able to replace the heat sink, but the spare computer I have access to has different looking hardware. It's probably a different model of the G5. My computer has one metal case cover and the extra one has a split case cover.
NEXT STEP
- I need to back up secondary drive fully first
- pull out new memory sticks
- pull out all memory except originals
- pull out secondary drive
LAST RESORT
- buy external case for drives and cry about how no one will buy my dead desktop
Because this is a long description, I will post updates in the comments and a final comment here:
(Coming Soon)

The final lines in the log were all iTunes, but I think it's a hardware issue that's preventing me from booting.
Here is the line that includes the world "fatal" and a few lines before and after (it was the day before the crash):
Oct 9 02:05:50 Rys-Big-One com.apple.SystemStarter[28]: kextunload: unload kext /System/Library/Extensions/CiscoVPN.kext succeeded
Oct 9 02:05:51 Rys-Big-One kernel[0]: CiscoVPN : unloading cisco ipsec kernel module.
Oct 9 02:05:50 Rys-Big-One com.apple.SystemStarter[28]: Stopping Adobe Version Cue ...
Oct 9 02:05:50 Rys-Big-One vpnagent[88]: Termination reason code 7: The agent has been stopped.
Oct 9 02:05:51 Rys-Big-One kernel[0]: CiscoVPN : detaching from interface: en0.
Oct 9 02:05:50 Rys-Big-One vpnagent[88]: Function: getDownloaderMessage File: MainThread.cpp Line: 964 Invoked Function: CVpnMgr::processEvents Return Code: 0 (0x00000000) Description: fatal error, stopping service
Oct 9 02:05:51 Rys-Big-One kernel[0]: CiscoVPN : interface en0, filter has been safely detached.
Oct 9 02:05:51 Rys-Big-One vpnagent[88]: Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client Agent stopped, version 2, 4, 0
Oct 9 02:05:51 Rys-Big-One com.apple.SystemStarter[28]: Using CATALINA_BASE: /Applications/Adobe Version Cue/tomcat
Here is the last lines in the log:
Oct 10 15:59:53 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: MuxSendToClient send failed for 0x1-ef497a0f0338225857a1061ea364e83ba6c46aa7@0x4b400000:64988->0x20da60-iTunes/ com.apple.iTunes:336: 32 - Broken pipe
Oct 10 15:59:53 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20da60-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:00:08 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20e4d0-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:00:09 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20da60-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:00:09 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20da60-AppleMobileDeviceHelper/com.apple.SyncServices.AppleMobileDeviceHelper using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:00:09 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20d740-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:00:20 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20e4d0-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:00:50: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Oct 10 16:01:20 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20e4d0-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:02:20 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20e4d0-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:03:20 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20e4d0-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:04:21 Rys-Big-One com.apple.usbmuxd[26]: HandleUSBMuxDictionary client 0x20e4d0-iTunes/com.apple.iTunes using library usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:10:00, running usbmuxd-211 built on May 16 2011 at 00:14:52
Oct 10 16:04:23 Rys-Big-One iTunes[146]: _NotificationSocketReadCallback (thread 0xa03d1820): Unexpected connection closure...
Oct 10 16:04:23 Rys-Big-One iTunes[146]: AMDServiceConnectionSendMessage (thread 0xa03d1820): Could not send message size: Broken pipe

Start up stuck on gray screen

I haven't been able to get into my computer for quite sometime now (though I cannot say I've been trying too hard).
Basically, when I start up my computer I get the gray startup screen with the apple logo in the center and the loading circle under it. The loading circle continues to spin (so the computer is not freezing) but it NEVER finishes. I have left my laptop on for nearly an entire day without it ever getting past this screen. I have tried resetting the PRAM and the Powe r Manager but I honestly have no idea where the problem is even stemming from so I don't know which steps I should pursue.
I don't have any valuable information stored on the laptop so if it is easier to just "reformat" the laptop and erase everything and re-install the OS, I am okay with that.
I just need to get this laptop fixed as soon as possible.

The first thing to try is to boot the computer from the install disk that came with the computer. Put the install disk in the drive, hold down the "C" key and restart the computer. When you reach the first install screen (after it asks which language to use), select Disk Utilities from the Utilities menu. Run "Repair Disk" and then "Repair Disk Permissions" on your boot volume.
Here's Apple's document on the procedure:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Start up problem-white Apple screen 'freeze'

Yesterday morning we had a power outage and the Mac went off, of course, but I do have one of those Apple surge protector 2 plug boards. After the power company fixed it the computer came back on OK, I used it in the normal way, then I shut it down as we were, on that day, having a scheduled and notified power shutdown for pole replacement.
When I went to turn it back on after the shutdown, it will not power up. I get the white screen with the Apple symbol and the little rotating wheel under it. Initially it had a progress bar thing underneath but it only got about 10% of the way from left to right then disappeared.
I kmow there is a way to 'safe start' by holding down a key but cannot remember what it is. Any help or suggestions much appreciated.
I have disconnected all external attachments.

Hello,
"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.

Start Up Problem: Grey (Gray) Screen

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for