Stuck in Startup when press Option

Hi,
I have bought my new macbook air mid 2012 recently. I want to fresh install a Mountain Lion in my MBA.
I have followed Lion DiskMaker's instruction to create a bootable USB drive using my Sony USB 3.0 8GB thumb drive.
But when I restart my MBA and press Option key to go into Installation, there is no response and stucked in the white screen for very long time.
Please help me in this matter. Did I do anything wrong? Or the Lion DiskMaker does not support USB 3.0 thumb drive?
Best regards,
Desmond

Any forumer can help on this?
Suggestions also will do.
Thanks.

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Winxp is gone when pressing option key at startup, "no bootable device"

Hi everyone,
I'm new to mac and recently bought a MBP.
I did bootcamp and installed windows xp and SP3 at the same time in a small partition, I remember it was 8gb.
I had no problem booting in to xp or mac after the installation, I can even press option and see both OS.
But now I cannot boot to windows, at startup while pressing the option key, I only see mac os and not windows. I also tried rebooting from the startup disk utility, but it has a black screen saying "no bootable disk found." It wants me to insert a bootable disk, so I inserted the window xp disk and has to force restart the laptop. Then it started a process like trying to load the files to reinstall win xp, of course I didn't let it.
Now when I went back to disk utilities I see that the winxp partition is 9.2gb, it was 8gb when I made it.
Recently I split my mac partition into 2, I tried to do the time machine back up, but then it takes too long so I canceled it and deleted the partition. I wonder if this affects my window xp partition.
Now I cannot see winxp when pressing option key at startup, but can see it in startup disk utility, and disk utility. When I boot from startup disk utility, it shows "no bootable device, insert cd, and press anykey..." I tried verifying and repairing the parition in disk utility, didn't work.
So this is all I did before I cannot boot into xp.
1. made new partition for winxp (formated partition as FAT)in bootcamp and installed winxp + sp3. everything was fine.
2. create another partition, and call it "data" <-want to create this for data only, while the other half is for software installation only.
3. create another partition for time machine, but when running time machine it says the partition is too small, so I delete it and make the partition bigger.then I run time machine, but since it takes way too long, I canceled it, and deleted the partition.
4. in winxp, had installed kapersky anti-virus 9.0
Now, I have 3 partitions: 1 for software installation, 1 for data, and 1 for winxp.
So why can't I boot to windows? Did things overwrite? Please help me, I'm so frustrated. Thank you.
Message was edited by: nobutan
Message was edited by: nobutan

Thanks fortuny,
I had read the link you suggested. And since my partition for windows is FAT32, as noted in the website, I can edit the boot.ini directly in my mac. In my mac, it already shows that the partition # is 3,
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN/fastdect
but my window os is not booting.
Like the link noted, "it crashes with the "I'm sorry, we couldn't start up Windows. Do you want to start in Safe Mode?" screen. You'll also see a flicker of the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH, which flashes an UNMOUNTABLEBOOTVOLUME error so quickly you won't have a chance to read it. This was the hint that the BOOT.INI entries were incorrect..."
According to the boot.ini in the site, my boot.ini file was already set up correctly, so why can't windows startup?
Also something I don't understand from this:
"NOTES: If you didn't follow the instructions and chose to PARTITION the existing volume instead of RESIZING then ADDING a partition, this appears to mess up BootCamp's boot loader and you may have to start again. Step 3, however, may offer you a way out."
When I did the 3rd partition, I did it in Disk Utility in mac, not from the mac os cd, and I split the mac partition into 2, I didn't do the "resizing," then using the unused space to make new partition... I wonder if this is causing the normal booting...
So do I start again by deleting my data partition or start from reinstalling windows? If the problem can be fixed without installing windows, of course, it would be great.
Message was edited by: nobutan

Cant enter mac os when pressing option at start after hiding mac partition in newly installed win7

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Well, you hid it, didn't you. When you hide something, how would you see it?
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Recently, my MacBook Pro (running 10.6.3) crashed and when I tried to restart, it got stuck on the grey startup screen with the Apple logo with the spinning gear beneath it. I tried several times to start my Mac up, but each time it got stuck on that screen. I left it for an hour and came back with the same screen still up.
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Sly Park Mark wrote:
After installing the new hard drive in my macbook, I once again booted up from the install disc and told it to restore my hard drive using my last time machine backup (which was created one day before the initial crash). Once again, the computer got stuck on the grey startup screen mentioned above.
Two possible causes:
You used a Leopard install disk, instead of a +Snow Leopard+ one. All you needed to do was install Snow Leopard over it; but since you've now done other things, your best bet is to just do it over, using a Snow Leopard disc.
Whatever was going wrong with your internal HD damaged some things on your system, and that damage was backed-up, so is restored along with everything else. In that case, do it over, but select an earlier backup.

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Replugging my keyboard into my front USB2 slot was half the solution. I had my keyboard plugged into a KVM switch which goes into the back. The other half was that I needed to unplug my backup firewire hard drive from the front port to a chained drive with the source hooked into the back of the Mac Pro. Not sure if it was the cable or the firewire slot that gummed up the hardware startup hard drive selection diaglog.
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I was surfing online when suddenly my mac just freeze. So i had forced shut down it and turned it on again but then the folder with questionmark icon shows up. And i pressed (option key) to go to the utility but i cant find my startup disk anywhere!

I was surfing online when suddenly my mac just freeze. So i had forced shut down it and turned it on again but then the folder with questionmark icon shows up. And i pressed (option key) to go to the utility but i cant find my startup disk anywhere!

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Make an appointment at the genius bar and have it looked at.

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I partitioned my MacBook Pro and installed Windows 8 in it.....now I can't find my partition when I pressed option key when booting up.....so how can I do to find the partition to boot...I can see it in the disk manager in Mac....any ideas? thanks..!..

Hi LamboMong,
just try this:
http://refit.sourceforge.net
install, reboot twice and choose the Windows-Partition on next startup.
(The apple-bootloader doesn't display all bootable harddisks.
With rEFIt you can boot from all partitions/harddisks on your computer.)
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I Have a MacBook pro with Yosemite installed and Windows 8.1 via Bootcamp. Couple of hours back I had used Windows and then now when I tried booting to Mac it's stuck on startup. Basically I see the loading bar go approximately 40% and then the display dims with a loading circle showing up below the bar. This circle keeps rotating for sometime and finally just stops. Leaving it idle for 15 mins causes the display to dim to go off until I tap space bar. I tried resetting PRAM and also checked disk and repaired the disk using disk utility but still no luck. Attaching screenshot of the screen

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
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 a desktop Mac hangs at a plain gray screen with a movable cursor, the keyboard may not be recognized. Press and hold the button on the side of an Apple wireless keyboard to make it discoverable. If need be, replace or recharge the batteries. If you're using a USB keyboard connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port.
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 in OS X 10.9 or earlier, 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.

Stuck in Startup when press Option

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