Stuck at Grey Screen Tried everything I could think of, still nothing.

I think I know what caused the problem, but at the moment I haven't been able to fix it. This first started after I installed quicktime. Naturally I restarted after it installed and I have been stuck at this grey screen ever since. I've tried running fsck, I've tried using the Leopard disk and I've gone in and used the verify disk and it says "The Volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK". It's the disk permissions thats giving me trouble. It wont let me verify disk permissions, it gets stuck and just keeps going. So, in turn it won't let me repair disk permissions because it first has to verify them and that is where it gets stuck. I should add that I went in and tried to remove QuickTime Player.app from the applications directory and it didn't let me, I'm not sure if I was typing it in wrong but it just won't work. Can anyone help me?

Thanks. You actually have been a lot of help to me. Although nothing is working yet. I have come up with an idea that might work. If it doesn't I'm just going to have to reinstall Leopard on top of all my files. The most important files such my music, videos, and family photos. I might be able to retrieve from my iPod. I have the school documents from this semester on a usb drive. And although I would really like to keep my work from past semesters it isn't really necessary. The applications I can track down and reinstall no problem. Thanks so much for your help. I'll let you know how everything works out.

Similar Messages

IMac really stuck at grey screen - tried everything

Hi,
everytime I try to boot my iMac it gets stuck at the first grey screen. No logo, no loader, nothing but a grey screen.
I have tried everything here > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 > with no results. The grey screen remains there, with no changes.
The only thing that seems to work, but only for a seconds, is holding the option (alt) key at startup. After a few seconds, the pointer of the mouse appears. And then, a few seconds later, it gets stuck too. That's the farthest I've managed to get.
I can insert and get install DVDs back, but they don't seem to load.
I've tried also DiskWarrior, with the same results.
Any ideas?

Hey jflam sorry to hear that. I know how frustrating that can be. One thing that the article doesn't mention that I'd try is repairing the disk from single user mode.
Boot to single user mode by holding down command-S at startup.
-If it works right it should take you to a black screen w/ white letters.
-Then just follow the steps in from this website. http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/mac_support/mac_help/pages/0009-fsck_su_disk _repair.html
-Make sure if it tells you the disk has been modified that you repeat the command.
-If it says it's ok or if you can't boot to single user mode then it sounds like a hardware problem. You'd have to take the computer into an Apple Retail Store or Authorized Apple Service Provider to get your options on how to fix it.
Best of luck!

Won't boot, Caps Lock light blinking, black screen, tried everything I could.

Hello!This is a problem that even made me scratch my head. It started two days ago: blinking light, black screen etc. (It was double-blinking, which mean't BIOS corruption). I looked around the HP forums for help and tried what I could find (keyboard combination, making a recovery disc out of a memory stick, which failed), but nothing worked. This sorta thing has happened before, but somehow it managed to revive itself, so naturally I ignored it, because I didn't expect what was to happen next, which is right now. Incase I can't get any help from here, I'm gonna buy an new motherboard, but what I am really expecting for is that the fix will not hurt my wallet and not buying a new motherboard. Hoping to get a response as soon as possible and not this to be overlooked. Perhaps this post will help other people in the future (Who knows?). Anyway, thank you for your attention.

Hi , Thank you all for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome. It is a great site for information and questions. I have looked into your issue about your HP Pavilion dv6-7000sy Notebook and startup issues. Here is a link to computer will not start. I would start at the top and work my way down. Mine was fixed with reseating the HDD. Others have had it fixed with just reseating the Memory. Here is a video that shows you how to remove and reseat the HDD and memory. Please note remove any and all USB devices. Disconnect all non-essential devices, as these could cause some issues. You could reset the BIOS with this document selecting the reloading the BIOS default settings. Which has helped others as it restores the default settings. If you should get the system started again, I would run the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics, It will tell you if something is failing. I hope something here helps any one of you fix the Notebook. Thanks.

Stuck on grey screen trying to install 10.5

Hi,
A friend of mine has been given an eMac 1ghz running 10.4. She connects to the internet by a wireless 3G dongle but the installation software requires a more recent version of java than is installed on the eMac and needs to download an update but is not able to use the internet so she's in a catch 22 situation.
I decided the best option would be to install 10.5 as the eMac appears to have the correct spec (just!) but have so far been unable to. I have tried to install from both a full retail dvd and a copy on a FireWire drive. On both occasions the disc mounts on the desktop but once the emac is restarted to begin installation the discs spin and I get to the grey apple screen with the spinning timer but the it just gets stuck. It is exactly the same for both the dvd and the FireWire drive.
There is nothing plugged in except the keyboard and mouse. I wondered if it could be a firmware problem but again I cannot check that as it can't get on-line. I have replaced the pram battery and reset it. I wondered if it could be a hard drive problem and will take my old 10.3 discs round next time to see whether I can boot from that disc and check the hard drive.
Does anyone have any ideas? I can always download stuff at my house and take it to hers on a disc as long as I know what to download.
Any help is gratefully received.

Is the Leopard 10.5 DVD a retail full-install version, or one that shipped
with a different Macintosh computer? It has to be a retail version to work.
Some eMac models with lesser than ideal graphic processors are not
best suited to run Leopard; but some users have made it go anyway.
The usual progression of Java updates, continue from whatever version
the OS X has in it currently and builds with additional downloads. So, if
you can get the Standalone downloads in the correct order as needed
from Apple Support Downloads (right now I don't have a precise list)
for the OS X version you are contemplating the need, it could work.
You should stay at Tiger 10.4 (.11) if the computer had been working
OK, and make sure the hardware is in good condition and has as
much RAM installed as the computer supports; then be certain the
Leopard install DVD is proper and did not come from a different Mac.
Leopard requires 512MB of RAM to 'bare-bones' work; and plenty of
free space available for the system and apps to use, since this will
rely on Virtual Memory (space on hard drive used automatically by
the OS X as virtual RAM along with all the chip RAM you can supply)
in order for an OS X system to work fairly well. At least 1GB RAM, too.
{There probably are other aspects of the question and ways of interpreting
them; and I am being interrupted here at the precise times I need to think
about the question I'm writing to... but I can't get the annoyance to stop.}
So hopefully you can check and test the computer before upgrading the OS
and have the correct Leopard 10.5 disc if you go that way; and enough RAM
plus a large enough hard disk drive with alot of empty space available.
Which model eMac is the one in question? 700/800/1.0/1.25/1.42?
PS: *A list of progressive Java updates* in Mac OS X 10.4 (.11) looks like this:
The list in my 10.4.11 system in use now, looks like this:
J2SE50Release4.pkg
J2SE50Release3.pkg
JavaForMacOSX10.4Release9.pkg
JavaForMacOSX10.4Release8.pkg
JavaForMacOSX10.4Release7.pkg
JavaForMacOSX10.4Release6.pkg
JavaForMacOSX10.4Release5.pkg
Java131and142Release2.pkg
Java.pkg
(And the numbers may reflect the date of installation
since their order is not totally numerical. Among the
updates, there may be some related to the Security
Updates. Be sure to install the Last security update
and it should include many of the older secure items.)
• Apple Support Downloads - Mac OS Components:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#macoscomponents
Apple Support can also be searched.
+{ edited to add this last pile of words }+
Good luck & happy computing!

Help I made a boob. I was having trouble with my Adobe authorisation in my Override app, it suddenly wouldn't accept my password so I couldn't download books. I tried everything I could think of but no use. Finally I had a brainwave I would change my e

Help please,
i've made a catalogue of mistakes. I've had an Overdrive app for ages to access library books which was great but this is what happened-
1. Suddenly a message kept coming up each time I logged in saying Adobe acct ........... is saved in your overdrive acct do you want to deauthorise or authorise. I kept clicking on authorise but thought it might be better to deauthorise and authorise it properly in settings. I tried this but my Adobe ID didn't work- nothing came up to say it was wrong but I kept getting thrown back to the authorisation screen and could not get any further or download books. I did check my password was okay by signing into my Adobe account and it was the only one I had which I had used when I upgraded to I.o.s.7 and it was fine.
I tried logging in and out, resetting my overdrive acct and eventually deleted the overdrive app and then reinstating it but nothing worked.
2. I decided if I got a new Adobe acct using my google email address then authorising the Adobe reader through this might work. However. It all seemed to go well I created the account then put all the details into my overdrive acct. thought this was going well but I got a message as I tried to download a book 'fulfil code 2004' , saying another ID could not be used. I'm now stuck it won't allow me to try my original ID.
Can anyone help help me out of this mess and can I delete an Adobe ID once created please?

Here is a link which describes the process for changing an Adobe ID:
Adobe ID, sign-in, and account help

Mac book air stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel

I had a lot of tabs open and several applications as well. things really slowed up when I added El media player to the mix. finally computer froze completely and now can't get it to restart (stuck on grey screen) tried SMR plus PRAM procedures without success.

Hmm... try doing this:
1) Force your Mac to shut down by pressing and holding the power button for about 5 sec.
2) Start in Safe Mode. Press the power button to turn it on, and before you hear the Startup "Dummmmm" chime, hold down the Shift key. For a few sec, you won't see the Apple logo. Keep pressing the Shift key until you see it. If you press it after the Apple logo appears, start from Step 1 again.
3) This time, your Mac should take longer to boot. (Like a minute or 2 longer as it is going thru the necessary files to boot from, and not just everything like in Normal Startup mode; which caused it to hang)
4) Does your Mac boot sucessfully to the Login Screen or Desktop? The login Screen should show SAFE MODE in red at the top. The Desktop should have Sound disabled and seems a lot slower. If you see either of these, backup ALL your files (if you have not already done so) on to an External HDD. Create a new User Account in System Preferences>Accounts with about the same info as your current account (The name will have to be different though, if your previous account was John, this time, add your last name as in John Appleseed.) Make sure it is an Admin account. Then, login into the new account and delete your previous account. Copy all your files over to your new account and restart your Mac correctly by going to Apple Menu>Restart.
5) This time, don't press anything and let it boot normally. Does your Mac boot correctly? I hope that helps you a little. Get back to me if it does not work!

IPod struck on white screen, tried everything

Hi,
I have a 5th gereration iPod struck on the white screen. I've seen many posts with people having the same issue.
I never see the Apple logo, it doesn't seem to play any song, I can get it to be recognized by iTunes.
I've tried everything I could think of :
- followed the step of http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24040?viewlocale=en_US
- Reset (menu + center) dozen of times.
- Reset (menu + center) dozen of times + disk mode (center+play)
- Restore under OS X, restore under Windows (the firmware is 1.3)
- unmounted to check if any wires were disconnected, was fine
- Installed Rockbox
None of those allowed me to play music (or get acces to the iPod)
Any ideas ?

It is probably a faulty screen, you may need to replace the screen.

TS2570 My Mac is stuck on grey screen what's wrong with it and am I going to lose everything

My Mac is stuck on grey screen what's wrong with it and am I going to lose everything

Hopefully you have a backup, but...
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"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.

I have snow leopard installed as an OS. When trying to reboot a MacBook Pro I am getting stuck on grey screen with apple logo and rotating symbol. What can I do?

I have snow leopard installed as an OS. When trying to reboot a MacBook Pro I am getting stuck on grey screen with apple logo and rotating symbol. What can I do?

Maybe this might help.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

Macbook does not boot. stuck at grey screen. have tried single user mode, but text stops at AppleIntelCPUPPowerManagement: initialization complete, without anymore prompts. no

macbook does not boot. stuck at grey screen. have tried single user mode, but text stops at AppleIntelCPUPPowerManagement: initialization complete, without anymore prompts. no hash key appears that will allow me to type in: fsck -fy
have my trials for IB in one week and my history notes are all on my hard drive, that has not been backed up. help please =(

macbook does not boot. stuck at grey screen. have tried single user mode, but text stops at AppleIntelCPUPPowerManagement: initialization complete, without anymore prompts. no hash key appears that will allow me to type in: fsck -fy
have my trials for IB in one week and my history notes are all on my hard drive, that has not been backed up. help please =(

OSX Lion, stuck on grey screen at startup w/ spinning gear.

i believe i have tried everything i could find, so any info is good.
about a week ago my 2009 macbook pro 15 inch stopped starting up, always going to a grey screen with the apple logo and spinning gear.
what i have done so far.
reset nvram
repair disk and disk permissions.
try startup with various combinations of periferials
i am obviously able to start into lion recovery, but my time machine backups are on the other side of the world.
when i do a safe boot if stops with two entrys of nstat_lookup_entry failed: 2
any help is much appreciated

You can do two things
1: Install Lion over itself via the Recovery, won't touch your files or most programs.
Any program has a kernel extension file in System/Library/Extensions folder, that will get kicked out. Thus those few programs won't work and require a reinstall of their software
2: Install Lion on a blank powered external Disk Utility > Erase with Zero + GUID OS X Extended Journaled formatted hard drive, hold the option key and boot from it, same named user, and then access your internal drive to recovery files, disconnect then do #1
 Cheat sheet to help diagnose and fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

My macbook pro is stuck on grey screen with apple symbol in center with the progress circle under it continusly spinning. After I had turned it on. Prior to turning it on I had to force close and shut down a few hours prior. Please Help?

My macbook pro is stuck on grey screen with apple symbol in center with the progress circle under it continusly spinning. After I had turned it on. Prior to turning it on I had to force close and shut down a few hours prior. Please Help I have tried everything I know to do

Unfortunately this means that there is a problem in the boot sector of your hard drive. It might be indicative of a fundamental corruption in the coding that allows your computer to boot your operating system from your hard drive. I had this problem twice and it resulted in me having to get a new hard drive and restore my data.
In other words, your computer can't talk to your operating system so you can't access your data.
Here is my advice: DON'T CALL APPLE TECH SUPPORT though they are kind and usually helpful it will take you an hour just to explain the situation and they will only tell you to do what I'm gonna say here.
First: Shut down your computer completely
Two: boot up while holding down the following keys: command, option, p, and r. The computer will reboot 3 times. This solution will likely fail so if you're frustrated skip to the next step.
Three: Boot up while holding down the option key. Select recovery drive. Select your default language. Select disk utility, click on Macintosh HD, and select "verify and repair volume." Likely the verification will produce some line like "unused node not erased." Or something like that. If anything using the words "node structure" comes up, you need a new hard drive.
If after verification and repairs you still can't boot I sincerely hope you have apple care because you will need a new hard drive. Set up an appointment to come in to the apple store, they will tell you to go and get data recovery, just ask them to give you the old hard drive. Unless you have an up to date backup in which case you can just restore from that. If you're lucky the only issue is with the boot sector which means that if you ask them to give you the old hard drive, you can buy an enclosure and you have effectively been given a free external hard drive. It still works to store data just not to load an operating system.
If you have a back up drive bring it to the apple store and they'll do the whole thing right there, it should take around an hour and a half but may take longer.
Hope this helps, it's annoying but it's your safest bet.
All the best.

Macbook pro model A1278 wont boot osx stuck at grey screen

I have had my mbp for about 3 years now and has worked great. Just today i got home from work and when i opened the macbook which was already running I was in OSX but it was frozen with colored wheel spinning. I had never experiened this before but I didnt think too much of it and held down the power button to reset it. Now i am stuck at the grey screen with the Apple Logo and spinning wheel and cant get back into OSX at all. So i started googling (on another computer obviously) and tried:
1. boot in safe mode. Didnt work, still stuck at grey screen
2. boot in safe mode with "commd-shift-v" to see info. stuck in "dos" looking screen. see pic at bottom.
3. tried resetting VRAM w/ "commd-opt-p-r". did not work, still stuck at grey screen.
4. got original OSX install DVD. Was able to boot to disc and make it to disk utilities. went to repair and got error "unable to unmount disk"
5. ran "repair permissions" and completed that. ran "verify disk" and got green "disk ok" message. then re-ran repair and got same "unable to unmount disk"
so know i am worried. my main concern is the 80 GB of music I have on this computer (and dont currently have backed-up {que back-up lectures}) and my pictures. Does it sound possible to recover music and pics based on this little bit of info? Im willing to take it to the Apple store and pay the price if it sounds like I can recover it. I am pretty computer savy but am reluctanct to just start trying anything that could lose my music/pics. I cant try just deleteing and restoring OSX to factory settings and losing all that music/pics.
so...what is best approach to access and back up these files myself? I do have another macbook with a firewire connection but am not familiar with that process. I will get a external HD immediatly (now ofcourse)...can I backup my files from disc utility?
Thanks for any help.

Sorry about specs...i entered in drop box menu but realize doesnt show on thread:
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 13" (SD/FW)
2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo (P8700)
Intro Date:
June 8, 2009
Disc Date:
April 13, 2010
Order No:
MB991LL/A
Model No:
A1278 (EMC 2326*)
Subfamily:
Mid-2009 13"
Model ID:
MacBookPro5,5
Std RAM:
4 GB
Std VRAM:
256 MB
Std Storage:
250 GB (5400 RPM)
Std Optical:
8X DL "SuperDrive"
I was running the last vesion of snow leopard (10.6.8 i think).
I picked up a firewire today and am going to attempt to make "broken" macbook target and pull files onto other macbook. Will give an update tomorrow after attempt. Thank you for fast response.

G5 start up problem: stuck at grey screen with fans running full strength

hi, i'm new to discussions, so i hope this question and my technical knowledge and descriptions will be OK: problem: G5 20" stuck at grey screen with fans running full strength..
so far i've tried but did not work:
- power off by pressing the button for 5 secs,
- checked all cables connections etc, take out the power cable try again, etc.
- removed all USB connections, re-did
- tried to use it as 'target drive' connected to my macbook by firewire
- tried to start up and keeping C key pressed
- tried to start up with 'shift' key pressed
- tried to start up with command, options, P and R keys pressed,
- i had an additional RAM, i've taken it out and tried again, no luck
- i've put in Mac OS X install disc1, no luck, and now disc is inside my iMac, can't take it out
any recommendations? thank you!

Scroto,
You may not actually have a bad processor. On the Dual G5's it's not uncommon after a few years for dust and corrosion to build up between the processors and their sockets. You can fairly easily remove the processors and clean the connections yourself if you're at all handy. Basically, snap off the heatsink covers, loosen a few screws and the processor and heatsink come out as a unit.
Clean the contacts on the processors (carefully). And clean the sockets. Be sure to put the same processor in the same place or you'll have issues.
I used 90% isopropol alcohol to clean mine last year. Let it air dry and blew both the socket and the cpu off after with canned air. That done, I reinstalled the processors, buckled everything up and no more "bad" processor... The machine worked perfectly from then on and I assume it still does today. Don't know, someone stole it last month:(...

Need Help For iMac G5 Stuck On Grey Screen Or Apple Logo No Spinning Gear!

Hello everyone i'm new here and i'm new for using iMac for some reason i was trying to clean or to fresh installation the iMac that my brother gave it to me that he bought it into the flea market without the original disk on it! when i erase the Macintosh HD and some of the partition o iMac then reboot it now the iMac stuck on grey screen or apple logo no spinning wheel shown. and i also try to search and try all the tips of all mac user's like all the command key's and follow the instruction of them but still nothing happen..
Holding CMD & R just to go disk utilities nothing shown up only apple logo and the noisy fan.
Holding alt and it go to blue screen and show my mouse Pointer Refresh Logo, Hard drive Icon, Arrow Sign.
i can click Arrow Sign and it go Apple Logo and within 2-3 seconds and it change to Power Sign Logo,
i can click Refresh Logo but nothing happen .
i can't click the Hard Drive icon.
CMD, Option, P & R to Reset i also try and it's the same nothing change.
CMD, Option, ESC no action shown.
Is there anyway to fix this issue or problem please and thank you for help.
Hoping to get result for all of you guys P.S
iMac G5
v10.5.8
Leopard

You need to have the install DVD that was issued with the iMac
You can call Apple at 1-800-275-2273

Stuck at Grey Screen Tried everything I could think of, still nothing.

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