Stuck at grey boot screen!

So yesterday i turned my laptop on to find out it wasnt booting up past the grey screen. Later on i did some trouble shooting and finally got it past to the main desktop screen. Now, recently i had just uninstalled and deleted my Windows 7 Pro partition i had put onto my laptop a while back but when doing so, when i tried getting my hard drive back to full storage amount by deleting the partition,it gave me some error. I believe i figured out the error and was able to use my laptop from then. Once my computer was letting me get to the desktop screen, once i would click on an app it would often give me the pin wheel and stop me from clicking on anything else for a good minute.
Today,i had backed everything up and thought that i would just reformat and re install OSX to remedy the whole issue. This was not acheived. I had been able to get to the desktop screen a few times but still got the pin wheel situation going on. A couple tries later im stuck here at my grey boot screen. No Apple sign showing up, just stuck. Im usually a very computer savey person but this is kind of just making me wonder. I ordered a new hard drive (which i was going to upgrade anyways) but wanted to know if this even could possibly be the issue. I upgraded from my stock hard drive about 6 months after i had gotten my laptop (mid 2009 model). The last 3 years ive been traveling very often, flying frequently and using it often for playing my DJ gigs. Im wondering if alltitude and hot clubs could take a tole on a hard drive when its running hot? I have scheduled appoint for the genius bar tomorrow at 2pm but i thought id give the Apple community a try to see if we could troubleshoot it ourselfs. Any input would be great! Thanks!

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. 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 installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

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Installation stuck at grey boot screen on Macbook Pro 4,1 (Early 2008)

Hey guys,
I would appreciate any help you guys can give me since I would really like to upgrade my laptop to Mountain Lion.
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RAM: 4 GB RAM
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Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Current OS: Snow Leopard 10.6.8
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Dowloaded Mountain Lion at least 3 times from the App store to make sure the download wasn't corrupted.
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Even waited for 7 hours but no changes in the boot screen.
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I bought one of the new 21.5 " intel imacs last year and upon powering it up today it just gets stuck on the grey screen with an apple logo. It has a bar which it loads up underneath in about 2 minutes but after that the little loading wheel animation spins for as long as i leave it.
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If your hard disk has crashed (and I think it has) once you get it replaced simply restore from Time Machine or the other backup scheme you have been using. If you haven't been backing up you can request your old HD back and will have to pay a data recovery service to try and salvage any files.
This may be a painful lesson on why you should be backing up, now that Time Machine is as simple as connecting an external HD to your computer there really isn't any excuse to not backup.
You can run Apple Hardware Test following the instructions here. If you get errors post back what they are and we will try to let you know what they mean. You should also plan on taking your machine into an AASP to be serviced:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
You can also try a SMC reset however I don't know if it will help:
_SMC RESET_
• Shut down the computer.
• Unplug the computer's power cord.
• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Release the power button.
• Attach the computers power cable.
• Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Roger

MacBook 2008 or 2009(?) stuck on grey boot screen with Apple logo and rotating gear under it.

See now, the real problem is that I can't even try Disk Utility because I don't have the original disks seeing as I bought this MacBook off of Amazon. I tried Safe Mode, Single User Mode, & resetting the PRAM. Basically everything I can do without the original disks. How do I do this?! Please help for I'm desperate.

Sounds like you've already read this Apple note. No bootable external backup hard drive? You might call Apple support to see if they still have the original OS X disks for your system, or you can buy OS X 10.6 from the online Apple for $20, which would be an upgrade, assuming you have at least 1GB of memory. Otherwise, take it into an Apple store for assistance.

2012 MB Pro 13" came with Lion - nearly new, second owner. Stopped responding yesterday in the middle of work. Forced quit, booted up single user, ran fsck -fy, mount -us /, reboot. Stuck on grey apple screen with spinning wheel forever now. Please help

2012 MB Pro 13" came with Lion - nearly new, second owner. Stopped responding yesterday in the middle of work. Forced quit; reboot stuck on grey apple screen. Booted as single user; ran fsck -fy; mount -us /; reboot. Still stuck on grey apple screen with spinning wheel.
Any advice please?
Thanks

Run through this list of fixes, your solution is there
Step by Step to fix your Mac

New iMac is stuck on grey apple screen after restart from Migration Assistant

New iMac is stuck on grey apple screen after startup. It is a 3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5 running OS 10.9.4. The problem occurred after a migration from my older 2009 iMac which is running Snow Leopard 10.6.6. When the restart occurred from Migration Assistant, the new computer will not boot up to the login screen. Disk utility did not solve problem. Followed instructions for a soft reinstall of Mavericks but that also did not solve problem. Any suggestions?

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 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 11. 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.

Installed new screen on macbook pro 15" and now it boots fine but doesn't show the grey boot screen???

I recently installed a used but in good condition glossy display on my 15" macbook pro as mine the backlight was starting to have issues and there were some surface scratches on the screen. Anyway the screen works perfect except I don't get the grey boot screen when i start the machine up. You can tell the screen is on as you can see the backlight come on. But the screen doesn't actually show anything until it starts to go into OS X. not sure what the problem could be. I relize this is not a big issue but I am stumped on why it is doing this. Also maybe I am just crazy b/c I have dealt with the other screen for such a long time now but it doesn't seem like I am getting exactly the right colors and brighness on the new screen. I have calibrated it and all and like i said it might just be me. More concerned with the whole no boot screen issue. Anyone experience this before, and if so any solutions for me. Thanks.

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No booting after 10.6.7 update : progress bar on grey boot screen

Hello,
I have a big problem with my 2006 Mac Pro.
I have installed the 10.6.7 update and after the installation the computer shut down.
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Ok it's good !
I've find the solution : starting when holding the shift key !
Have a good day !

After Update to 10.5.8, stuck on Grey Apple screen with turning gear...

After Update to 10.5.8, stuck on Grey Apple screen with turning gear... and it just stays there...
Apparently I can't safe mode it
Started it in verbose mode and it say disk02 i/o error
Then I restarted it in single user mode, did a sbin/fsck -fy and it says that:
*files have been modified*
*REBOOT NOW*
I reboot and still the same problem.
When I put in the install disk it says *cannot install in this drive* (was thinking about archive and reinstall, but I suppose not ) then when I repair and verify, it says All seems OK
Yikes. Yikes!
Please help.
Message was edited for additional clarity by: BrzrKrk

Well, I brought to the Apple Store's genius bar. Can't say enough about the experience... they archived and reinstalled... tried everything else and like sometimes happens, transfer of data can become corrupt in a spot that just makes things go haywire. So the Archive and Reinstall worked like a charm.
Moreover, they replaced my Macbook's top board casing (don't know what else to call it..) (where you rest your hands to type) it was cracked and stuff... not under warranty, but they will replace it free due to design ... I am impressed and pleased... *and me? I am a cynical critic* still, they made the experience as painless and certainly pleasant as possible.
For all who are having problems, I urge you to not damage the wall any further with continuous headbanging: make an appointment and definitely visit the Genius Bar. Your head will thank you

My macbook pro will not start up. stuck on grey loading screen and spinning dial. HELP

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Power it down by holding the power button down. Then try to power it up again. Post back. It would help if we knew what OS you are running, the model MBP...

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Apple tv 2 is stuck on apple boot screen

My apple tv 2 is stuck on apple boot screen. What do I need to do?

Try pulling ALL the cables for a moment and trying again, if the problem remains try restoring it by connecting it to iTunes with a micro USB cable.

Resetting all settings on iPhone makes it stuck at the boot screen endlessly

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This problem happened on iOS 8 and iOS 8.1.2
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Hi Try a Reboot press and hold power button and menu button hold both down until you see Apple Logo. This may take up to 50 Seconds. Cheers Brian

T420S Stuck at Thinkpad boot screen - Cont. loop

I was trying to fresh install Win 8.1. It has Win8 previously and was working fine.
After I plugged in the Win 8.1 boot usb, it stuck at thinkpad boot screen and cont. rebooting.
Only thing changed in BIOS is moving USB boot up higher and disabled Computrace. Earlier it was enabled.
I can still get to BIOS by F1.
Looked all the USB port. None of USB ports are damaged or pins shorting each other. I also tested the HD by putting in my other working T500. HD is fine. Restored BIOS to default as well but no luck.
Any idea?
Tried all the method including CMOS reset, but no help.
Thanks for the help!

No, it does stuck in the same loop. Continuously booting and showing Thinkpad boot screen again and again.
I took the HDD out and no USB connected. same behaviour with or without HDD.
In BIOS startup is set to both - Legacy and UFEI.
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Stuck on grey apple screen at boot up

Mac Mini Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz, no hardware changes since purhcased, a year and 4 months ago. OS 10.5.6. Today it decided to croak. When I tried to restart, it got stuck on the grey apple screen. I did the following:
• Reset PRAM
• Reset SMU (I even tried the PMU reset, which results in the fan spinning at max speed)
• Tried booting up from DVD
• Tried booting up from external firewire drive
• Set it in target mode and verified via firewire that the internal drive is working fine (I checked it with Disk Utility with no errors found and even booted up from it). In this mode even the DVD in the Mini's drive showed up on the other computer's desktop.
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• Replaced the RAM
Is it the motherboard? In which case, this will be an excellent door stopper... Thanks for any help.

I'm concerned, with you creating and using all the discs. Only the right one is supposed to be used, refer to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237
Boot ROM Version: MM11.0055.B08
SMC Version (system): 1.3f4
Based on your computer description, the Correct RESTORE CD appears to be V1.3 or 1.7. the applicability is at the bottom of the page.
http://support.apple.com/downloads/FirmwareRestoration_CD_17
Follow instructions
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2213
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Which means this firmware update doesn't solve the problem.
So back to basics:
After completing the Firmware update, did you try that trick with the remote to chose your startup device? Does it let you boot from CD? or HD?
Selecting start-up CD = grey screen
Selecting hard disc = greay screen
You reseated the RAM, Did you perform the hardware test? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2341
Verify the RAM is available.
I know that my disk utilities CD said my HD was good, but when I ran it with my new Snow Leopard utility it said there was a problem that required reformatting. If you were considering upgrading, I would do it now.
My solution was the remote trick, but that doesn't appear to be working for you.
Dave

Stuck at grey boot screen!

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