Stuck at grey screen with termite like sound for a minute

Hi all,
I am traveling and my macbook suddenly froze. It just gets stuck at blank grey screen for a long time. After a restart, I hear a few weird termite-like/knocking/clicking noises from hard disk area for a minute and then goes normal and then after some twenty minutes I see a question mark. I took out the hard disk and the sound is gone so I know it is definitely hard disk issue. My question is: what type of hard disk failure is it? Since it returns to sound normal after a minute, should I assume it is not mechanical failure and hard disk would be recoverable using softwares (like diskwarrior, data rescue etc.) ? I really don't have money and time to go to data recovery experts .
I consider myself an advanced user but I don't have any install discs either. I have some very important data and lot of hard work on my computer.
I would appreciate any inputs.
Thanks

The following support article is somewhat outdated. Where it refers to booting from an installation disc, you should boot into Recovery (if running 10.7 or later) by holding down the key combination command-R at the chime. If your startup volume is encrypted with FileVault, you’ll have to unlock it in Disk Utility before you can do anything with it.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

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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.

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

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Start up screen is stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning gear. What should I do?

See this thread with dominic23’s suggestions: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5783326?tstart=0

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My MacBook is stuck on grey screen with rotating circle

See this Apple note on dealing with that. If you have OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, this is the equivalent note, howver, it's not as detailed.

Intel-based iMac stuck in grey screen with spinning wheel. SMC::smcReadKeyAction ERROR THOP kSMBadArgumentError(0x89)

Hi guys,
since yesterday my Intel-Based iMac doesn't boot normally, its stuck in grey screen with a spinning wheel.
Its an Intel-based iMac 21.5'' purchased in 2011, and i recently (2 months ago) upgraded it to Mavericks.
-2 weeks ago, i installed smcFanControl app
-Tried start up in Safe Mode by holding Shift but its not working. i think i hear fans are working more than they were before the problem occurs.
-entered Single User Mode and i get an error
SMC ::smcReadKeyAction ERROR THOP kSMCBadArgumentError(0x89) fKeyHashTable=0x0xffffff8029fa1000
-followed some instructions found online, but can execute the correct commands in SingleUserMode
tried to remove FanControl as explained here: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/110667/errorr-kernel-smcsmcreadkeyactio n-in-console
any ideas what may caused this and how can i fix this?
Thanks in advance

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, boot 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
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 10
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 11
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 12
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.

Downloaded OSX Mountain Lion on MacBook now stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel HELP?!?!

Downloaded OSX Mountain Lion on MacBook now stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel. What can I do, will I loose everything on my laptop?

ashg23 wrote:
Thank you, I have restarted but it is still stuck at the grey page with the spinning wheel? Any idea?
Have you started up holding down Command + R and attempted to install again?
Pete

Imac 2008 stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel no discs I lost them

HI, I have a imac 2008 24" someone help please.stuck on grey screen with spinning wheel after 5 minutes mac just restarts again.I have no restore dvds as I borrowed them out and never got them back thanks

If you are in the US call Apple Customer Support 1-800-767-2775, provide the Serial Number and specifications of the Mac, and for a reasonable fee, they will supply a replacement set of system discs (if available).
The discs will be for the original version of the OS that was pre-installed when the Mac was manufactured.
If you are in another country:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57
Useful article here on the causes of the Spinning Beach Ball and how to troubleshoot it:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177479/Troubleshoot_the_spinning_beach_b all?taxonomyId=89&pageNumber=1
and also this:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html

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:(...

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!

Gets stuck on grey screen with logo after restore.

I restored my 2008 macbook and reinstalled OS X lion onto it. It downloaded items for lion and automatically restarted. When it restarted it got stuck on a grey screen with the apple logo and a spinning circle. I turned the computer off and attempted to restart again, same outcome. I restarted it again and pressed command option p r (saw it from other posts on here) and it brought me back to the screen where I can reinstall OS X lion, go to utilities, etc. So I clicked reimstall lion and it did its thing and automatically restarted. Then like last time it got stuck on the grey screen with the logo and spinning circle.ugh! What am I doing wrong? Please help.

Restarted it again with the p r command option brought me to the installing screen again and then said "there was an error installing please try agian" please any help is aporeciated, I have my files on an external hard drive but I need to be able to access my computer so I can continue applying to jobs/access my resume on the external hard drive and it is my only way to talk to my deployed husband besides email on my phone.
I also clicked repair disk in utilities and it says "the volume Mac os x base system appears to be OK" It will not bring me to the thing where I have the option to reinstall lion. I restarted and its yet again stuck on the grey screen with apple logo and spinning circle.

Stuck on grey screen with apple logo what do i do

Firefox would not close so I restarted computer and now its stuck on the grey screen with the apple logo. What do I do?

The grey screen probably is not a result of Firefox not being shut down. It seems like your firmware is out of date. See this article:
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Stuck on grey screen with apple logo when starting up?

Hi,
My Macbook (2009 aluminium unibody (Leopard 10.5.8)) won't boot. When I try to start it up it gives the chime and then gets stuck at the grey screen with the Apple logo and some spinning gear below. I have tried booting with the install DVD and repairing through Disk Utility but this doesn't work. Disk Utility can see the hard drive but none of the partitions on it! This makes me think the hard drive has died.
However, I can still boot to Windows through BootCamp. From Windows 7 I can still see and access files from the Mac partition. So maybe the hard drive is ok and something else needs fixing... SATA cable???
Other info:
The night before this happened my computer froze when trying to shut down from Windows and I had to force shut down.
The current internal hard drive is only about 4 months old (a bit short for it to be dying already - its a Western Digital 750gb 7200rpm). I replaced the old one as it had stopped working (at least i thought it was the hard drive ). The hard drive I replaced had lasted about 2 years (Seagate 500gb 7200rpm). Maybe the 7200rpm gets too hot?
Any help much appreciated as I really don't want to be reinstalling again.
Thanks

Boot from the OS dvd and start the install process, but stop immediately after the language selection. (You are not reinstalling.) At this point you will see a Utilities menu. Open Disk Utility, select your start up disk, and click on Repair Disk. When that is done, quit DU and restart.
See if that procedure will let you boot as usual.

MBP (2010) stuck in grey screen with Apple logo no matter what I do.

Hi everybody,
I know this issue has been posted many times in the past, and I have searched everywhere, but I am quickly running out of option but to repartition/reformat and do a clean install. I have important files on my computer (I know! Back up! Back up! Back up!) and need your help to preferably regain full access to my system or somehow find access to my files so I could transfer them to an external hdd.
From two days ago my as I was browing the net through Google Chrome my computer all of a sudden started to show the sippinig beach ball and became completely unresponsive. I could not force shut down any program or restart the system. So, I held down the power button and forced the system to shut down. When I rebooted the MB it all began going haywire. The boot process gets stuck in a grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning wheel (not the beach ball) for a long time. After that I get the mouse pointer, and if I move that it turns to the spinning beach ball and nothing happens except that the screen flashes between silver and grey colors.
So here are the steps I have taken as to "attempt" to fix the issue (I have followed these instructions: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353) :
1. Went into startup manager and ran the disk utility to verify disk volume and permissions. Everything seems to be OK.
2. Conducted a PRAM reset. No change.
3. Conducted a SMC reset. No change.
4. I did a fsck -fy run (in command mode) on startup. No change.
5. Ran the system in verbose mode and got the following error: "BootCacheControl : Unable to open /var/db/BootCache.playlist"
6. And lastly, I created 10.8 OSX image on a USB stick and reinstalled ML one more time only to get stuck at the same place yet again.
Additionally, I can see my computer from my wife's MBP also running ML for a while. The folder that I have set the permission to be available, I can access! I have moved some files, but naturally the files that I want are in folders that have restricted network access. That just tells me the hard itself should be fine (perhaps).
I am running out of ideas fast to save the system. If anyone can help me, I'd be immensely grateful. Thanks.
Amir

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 boot failure is to secure your 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 your last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
How to back up and restore your files
b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
c. 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
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot 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.
Before reconnecting an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode.* The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.
Safe mode is much slower to boot 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 your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
*Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode. Post for further instructions.
When you boot 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, your boot volume is damaged and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot 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 reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see above for instructions.) Select your 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 produces. Look for the line "Permissions repaired successfully" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Boot into Recovery again. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a backup.
Step 8
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

Stuck on grey screen with apple logo after failed iTunes update

I tried to install an update for iTunes 9.2 on my MacBook. During installation a box appeared telling me the update had failed. I clicked the 'Restart' button. Now it won't go past the grey screen with the apple logo and the rotating wheel; it just loads indefinitely. I have a very important document saved on the Mac which I've added to without backing it up. I'm worried that I will lose (or have already lost) a great deal of writing. Is there a way to get my computer running again without damaging my files? Because this computer was a gift, I don't have the software installation CDs that came with it (or Disk Utility). I'm also not very familiar with computers in general, so if you explain your solutions in a really basic way, I'd appreciate it. Any kind of advice would be extremely welcomed...

This one?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
* Last Modified: June 25, 2009
* Article: TS1417
* Old Article: 106214
[Email this article]
[Print this page]
Symptoms
If your computer won't start up normally, you may need to use a disk repair utility to fix the issue. Mac OS X includes two utilities for this—Disk Utility and fsck (a command-line utility). You can also use these even when your computer starts just fine but you want to check the disk for possible file system issues. For Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, check out "About live verification in Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later," below.
Important: If you're using Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you should use Disk Utility instead of fsck, whenever possible.
In some situations, file system errors may prevent your computer from starting up. This can occur after an improper shutdown, forced restart, or power interruption. If your computer shows any of the following symptoms on startup, use a disk repair utility:
* Your computer partially starts but then displays a command line in a text-only environment. You may see the message, "file system dirty, run fsck." Below it, you'll see what's called a command-line prompt, indicated by a number sign (#), that allows you to type a command. If you see this, you'll need to run fsck from the command line (see "Use fsck if necessary," below).
* Your computer starts but either it won't reach the login screen, or it may reach the login screen but not load the Desktop after you log in. However, you can start up in single-user mode.
If your computer exhibits either of the above issues, here are some things to try to get your computer back to starting up properly again. If you can't find the system discs that came with your computer, see "Use fsck," below.
Products Affected
Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.2, Mac OS X 10.1
Resolution
Try a Safe Boot
If you're using Mac OS X 10.2 or later, you can start up your computer in Safe Mode, which includes an automatic disk check and repair. If you're using Mac OS X 10.1.5 or earlier, skip to the next section. A Safe Boot, which starts up your computer into Safe Mode, may allow you to start up your computer successfully using a reduced version of the system software. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Start up in Safe Mode.
2. After the system has fully started up, restart your computer again normally.
If the computer successfully restarts, you do not need to do any more troubleshooting. If the issue persists, try Disk Utility.
Try Disk Utility
1. Start from your Mac OS X Install disc: Insert the installation 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. (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. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.
Tip: Always start up your computer from an Install or Restore disc when using Disk Utility to verify or repair your startup volume. Otherwise, you might see some disk error messages.
Use fsck if necessary
fsck is a command-line utility that may be able to verify and repair a disk. If you can successfully start up in Safe Mode or use Disk Utility while started up from a disc, you don't need to use fsck. Here are some situations in which fsck may be necessary.
* Your Mac OS X disc isn't available.
* Your optical drive isn't available.
* You can't start with a Safe Boot by holding the Shift key during start up.
Tip: If you use a Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) formatted volume, such as with Mac OS X 10.3 or later, you probably won't need to use fsck. If you do use it for any reason, please be aware that benign error messages can appear.
If you're not sure how your volume is formatted and you can't start up from your Mac OS X volume to find out, type the following command in a command-line interface and then press Return: diskutil info /
If you see "File System: Journaled HFS+" returned, you have a Journaled volume.
To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse pointer 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.
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
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 (nameofvolume) 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.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.
Additional Information
About live verification in Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later
In Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, you can verify your Mac OS X volume while started from it. This is known as live verification, and can be used in three different ways.
Option 1: Verify your disk using Disk Utility while started from the startup disk. To find out how to do this, see this article. Please note that live verification does not involve any disk repair, so if verification finds something that should be repaired, start up from your Mac OS X Install disc and use Disk Utility as described above in "Try Disk Utility."
Option 2 (advanced): Use the command line and the command-line utility, diskutil.
1. Start up your computer and log in as an administrator.
2. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
3. At the prompt, type the following command and then press Return:
diskutil verify /
Note: Don't use this method to check non-startup volumes.
You should see messages such as the following during the disk check:
Could not unmount disk for verification, attempting live verify
Started verify/repair on volume disk0s3 Macintosh HD
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
Mounting Disk
Verify/repair finished on volume disk0s3 Macintosh HD
Option 3 (advanced): Use the command line and the fsck_hfs -l command.
1. Start up your computer and log in as an administrator.
2. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
3. At the prompt, type the following command and then press Return to determine your filesytem ID:
df -hl
4. Look for some lines of text that look like this:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s3 37G 20G 17G 55% /
/dev/disk0s5 37G 37G 641M 98% /Volumes/Storage
5. Make a note of the first "disk" name that appears after /dev/, such as "disk0s3." This is your filesystem ID for your startup volume.
6. At the prompt, type the following command and then press Return:
df -hl
7. Then type the following command, where "disk0s3" is your filesystem ID you noted in step 4, then press Return:
sudo fsck_hfs -l /dev/disk0s3
8. When prompted, enter your admin password, then press Return to begin the verification.
9. You should see messages like these during the disk check:
** /dev/rdisk0s3 (NO WRITE)
** Root file system
** Checking HFS Plus volume.
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking Catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking Catalog hierarchy.
** Checking Extended Attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
Advanced information
If you're interested in UNIX-style command-line syntax, here's a look at how a couple of flags used above can influence fsck:
* The -y flag: Tells fsck that you want to answer "yes" to all questions about fixing, repairing, or salvaging information. This is the optimal approach, as answering "no" to any question causes fsck to stop. You cannot determine that all necessary repairs have been made until fsck completes and gives its final report.
* The -f flag: Forces fsck to check "clean" filesystems when preening.
See also
* Handling "overlapped extent allocation" errors reported by Disk Utility or fsck
* Disk Utility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing a volume

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