Stuck on grey boot-up screen with Apple logo & spinning icon for 12 hours

I awoke to find my computer displaying the 'Restart your computer' screen, which I did by holding down the power button. Upon restarting, I got the grey loading screen with the apple icon and the spinning wheel. It stayed that way for hours without proceding. Have tried removing the battery, removing the charger and restarting. Have tried doing a forced disk-boot by holding down 'c' and restarting with the OS X disc 1 in the drive, but all I got was a beep and then the same screen again.
I'm starting to get a little nervous here as nothing is working, and there don't seem to be any others with the same problem I'm having!

Have you changed your Ram or done anything else
lately - here's a reference to your 'beep'...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58442
I'd suggest trying an SMC reset...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
followed by a Pram reset...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Hopefully some of these resets will correct the
problem. Have you 'jarred' you book and maybe
loosened the ram??
I unfortunately have tried all of those and haven't had any luck.
Pardone my ignorance, but if I have dislodged the RAM, how would I know? And, potentially more significantly, how do I fix it?
Thanks for the help thus far, though.

Similar Messages

MBP OS X Mavericks stuck on grey screen with Apple logo & spinning wheel

My Macbook Pro has been dead for slightly more than 6 months now (I don't use it as regularly as my school laptop). A few days before its death earlier this year, I upgraded the OS from Mountain Lion to OS X Mavericks (not sure exactly which version). A few days after that, connected to terrible internet, the Dropbox app tried to sync a load of files and then all of sudden, my Macbook Pro shut down. Now every time I turn it on, all I see is the infamous grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning wheel. I tried fixing it multiple times, following instructions on other discussions, but to no avail. I'm also hesitant on taking it to the Apple store because I have some important files (read: holiday photos) on it which haven't been backed up yet and I don't want to lose them. Hope somebody can provide me with easy-to-follow instructions on how to revive it! Thank you.

If you have not tried this, try this.
Go step by step and test.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14062
Startup in Safe Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204?viewlocale=en_US
Repair Disk.
Steps 1 through 7
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reset PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph14222
Reinstall OS X Mavericks
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13871

IMac g5 is stuck at white startup screen with apple logo & spinning circle

Hello,
i had a digital copy of os x leopard and i was trying to reinstall it, so i would double click on install mac os x, and it would tell me to restart, i would do this but nothing happened so i had to mount the disk again and double click install mac os x, and it told me to restart again. so i looked up how to install leopard from a dmg file, and it said to restore the dmg to the drive, so i went into disk utility and i put the source as the dmg, and the destination i dragged the imac hdd icon. it finished and i was gonna select the leopard file as my startup disk in system preferences, but that wouldnt run. i then noticed some of the letters were missing on the name of the icons in the dock, so i just restarted the computer, but it got stuck on the white screen. i tried lots of stuff like turning on while holding shift, but it didnt do anything, and i tried with cmd+s and that gave me some black command prompt where i typed/sbin/fsck -fy and that did some stuff and it said my drive was okay, but it still wont start up. What do i do?!?!

im trying tiger right now, first i wanna reinstall tiger, than leopard next, you know, one problem at a time. i dunno maybe, heres the readme:
Read Before You Install
Mac OS X
Read this document before you install Mac OS X. It includes information about
supported computers, system requirements, and installing Mac OS X.
For more information about Mac OS X, visit this website:
• www.apple.com/macosx/
For the latest information about using Mac OS X, connect to the Internet and open Mac
Help. To open Mac Help, click the Help menu in the Finder and choose Mac Help.
For information about the support available for this product, see the AppleCare
Software Services and Support Guide included with Mac OS X.
System requirements
You must have a Macintosh computer with:
• a PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor
• a DVD drive
• built-in FireWire
• at least 256 MB of RAM
• a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported
by your computer
• at least 3 GB of disk space available, or 4 GB if you install the developer tools
If you see a message in the Installer that you do not have enough disk space to install
Mac OS X, you can deselect items to save space. To deselect items, click Custom Install
in the Easy Install panel.
Updating your computer’s firmware
You may need to update your computer’s firmware. It’s best to update the firmware
before installing Mac OS X. If you haven’t started the Mac OS X Installer, check the
Apple Software Updates website to see if there are any firmware updates for your
computer:
• www.apple.com/support/downloads/
If you don’t do this, you may see a message that you need to update your computer’s
firmware when you start the Installer. To update the firmware, you will need to quit the
Installer and restart your computer using your current startup disk, then check the
Software Updates website.
If you have problems with your computer after installing this version of Mac OS X, you
might need to update the firmware even though you did not see a message when you
installed the software. Check the Software Updates website for recent firmware updates
for your computer.
Starting installation
To start installing Mac OS X, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and double-click the
Install Mac OS X icon:
You can also start installing Mac OS X by inserting the Install DVD and restarting your
computer while holding down the C key, or by selecting the Install DVD as your startup
disk using Startup Disk preferences.
Quitting the Installer
If you need to quit the Installer before you click Install in the Easy Install or Custom
Install pane, choose Quit Installer from the Installer application menu, then click
Startup Disk to select a startup disk for your computer.
If you have already clicked Install, wait until installation finishes.
Advice about hardware compatibility
Installing on a Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White)
If you have a Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) that came with an Apple SCSI hard
disk, do not choose UNIX File System (UFS) as the format for the destination disk.
Installing on a computer with a third-party SCSI card
If you have a third-party SCSI card installed in your computer and you cannot start up
Mac OS X, attach a disk drive or terminator to one of the card’s ports. If you continue
to have problems, try removing the card. Contact the manufacturer of the card for
more information about using the card with Mac OS X.
Installing on a computer with a third-party video card
If you have a third-party video card installed in your computer, you may need to
remove it before you install Mac OS X. Contact the manufacturer of the card for more
information about using the card with Mac OS X.
Advice about installing Mac OS X
Erasing and formatting your disk
When you install Mac OS X, you can erase the destination disk you select. In the “Select
a Destination” pane of the Installer, click the Options button. Select Erase and Install
then choose a format. In most cases, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Important Do not choose UNIX File System (UFS) unless you need to work with this
format. If you choose UFS, Mac OS 9 and all Mac OS 9 applications must be installed on
a Mac OS Extended format disk to use them with the Classic environment.
To install Mac OS X on the same disk or disk partition as Mac OS 9, the disk must be in
Mac OS Extended format. If it isn’t, quit the Installer and back up your files, then
reformat the disk.
You can also partition your hard disk into several volumes before you install Mac OS X.
In the Installer, choose Utilities > Open Disk Utility and click Partition. Partitioning the
disk erases the entire disk, so be sure to back up your files first.
Installing optional software
Easy Install installs all the software you need to use Mac OS X, but does not install
some additional software. If you want to install this optional software or you don’t
want to install all the software installed using Easy Install, click Custom Install and
select the items you want to install. If you want to install this optional software later,
insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and double-click Optional Installs.
Locating the Installer log
When you install Mac OS X, the Installer saves a log of the installation. To see the log,
open Console (in /Applications/Utilities), click Logs, then click the triangle next to /
var/log and select install.log.
Reinstalling Mac OS X
To reinstall Mac OS X, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and double-click the Install
Mac OS X icon, then follow the onscreen instructions. When you see the “Select a
Destination” pane, click Options to select how to install Mac OS X:
• Select “Archive and Install” to save your existing system files, user accounts and
their home folders, and existing network settings. The Installer saves files in a
folder named Previous System so that you can copy them to an appropriate location
later. You cannot start up your computer using the Previous System folder.
• Select “Erase and Install” to erase the destination volume and install a new copy of
Mac OS X. If you select this option, you will lose all your files and the software you
have installed on the destination volume, so you may want to back it up first. If you
select this option, you can choose the format for the volume. In most cases, choose
Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the pop-up menu.
Setting up and connecting to the Internet
If you have an existing Internet service provider (ISP) and you’re installing Mac OS X for
the first time, you need to enter your Internet connection information when installation
finishes. Be sure to have the information available. If you have problems connecting to
the Internet, contact your ISP to make sure you have the correct information.
Advice about using Mac OS X
If you have problems starting up
If you cannot start up your computer, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and restart your
computer while holding down the C key. Choose, Choose > Open Disk Utility, then
click First Aid to repair your disk.
If you have problems starting up your computer and you have devices connected to
your computer such as FireWire drives, USB printers, or external displays, try
disconnecting them before starting up again.
Upgrading your applications and other software
For best results with Mac OS X, look for versions of your applications that are built for
Mac OS X. Check the Mac OS X website for information about available applications:
• www.apple.com/macosx/
If you cannot find Mac OS X versions, upgrade to the latest Mac OS 9 version to use
with the Mac OS X Classic environment. Check with the manufacturers for the latest
updates.
Using POP email accounts and On My Mac mailboxes in Tiger and Panther
If you have a shared home folder and you access a POP email account using Mail in
both Mac OS X Panther and Mac OS X Tiger, you will not see messages that you retrieve
in one version when you switch to the other.
As an alternative, you can deselect the option to remove copies from the server after
retrieving your messages. To change this option, open the Accounts pane of Mail
preferences and click Advanced.
You will not see messages saved in a mailbox on your computer when you switch from
one version to another. To avoid this problem, use separate home folders for each
version of Mac OS X.
Your IMAP account will synchronize automatically when you switch between Mail in
Tiger and Panther.
© 2005 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, FireWire, Macintosh, Mac OS, and
Power Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Corporation, used under license therefrom.
it says that a imac g5 can work

My itouch 3g is stuck in a boot loop. The apple logo shows up for about 3 seconds and then turns off. I can't get it to go into dfu or recovery mode. Please Help!

I don't know what to do.

This device is not eligible for the requested build (Also sometimes displayed as an "error 3194")
Update to the latest version of iTunes.
Third-party security software or router security settings can also cause this issue. To resolve this, followTroubleshooting security software issues.
Downgrading to a previous version of iOS is not supported. If you have installed software to performunauthorized modifications to your iOS device, that software may have redirected connections to the update server (gs.apple.com) within the Hosts file. Uninstall the unauthorized modification software from the computer.
Edit out the "gs.apple.com" redirect from your hosts file, and then restart the computer for the host file changes to take affect. For steps to edit the Hosts file and allow iTunes to communicate with the update server, see iTunes: Troubleshooting iTunes Store on your computer, iPhone, iPad, or iPod—follow steps under the heading Blocked by configuration (Mac OS X / Windows) > Rebuild network information > The hosts file may also be blocking the iTunes Store. If you do not uninstall the unauthorized modification software prior to editing the hosts file, that software may automatically modify the hosts file again on restart.
Avoid using an older or modified .ipsw file. Try moving the current .ipsw file (see Advanced Steps > Rename, move, or delete the iOS software file (.ipsw) below for file locations), or try restoring in a new user to ensure that iTunes downloads a new .ipsw.
iPhone Error 3194 - How to Fix iTunes Error 3194?
Fix Error 3194 from iTunes during iPhone restore

White Screen w/ Apple logo + spinning clock frozen after SL reboot

Hi there,
I bought a Mac Box Set and tried to install Snow Leopard to my Mac Mini (Intel chip with 2G RAM running Tiger) today by inserting the DVD into the original internal DVD RAM drive that came with the Mac Mini. The window shown up and I followed the instruction to double-clicked the Snow Leopard icon. Then I was prompted to click 'restart' and according to the instruction, the machine suppose to reboot and start the installation. Machine started reboot and everything seems ok until the process got stuck on the default white screen with Apple logo and a frozen 'spinning clock' after 3 to 5 min... then, waited for an hour and still showing the same screen.
I tried manually power-off and redo the same process at least 5 times and the results are the same.
Any suggestion is truly welcome and appreciated.

I have actually tried to install SL on a brand-new (internal and unformatted) HDD but same 'frozen' screen shown up. According to the procedure, it supposed to show a screen to let me choose if I want to do partition on my new HDD and then format accordingly. Unfortunately, this screen never shows up...
Any other thought/idea would be appreciated.

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

Computer doesn't boot, stuck in white screen with Apple logo

I got a friend that has a MacBook 2.0GHz, Black. The computer had some sort of problem so he took out the HD and placed it into another computer (MacBook 2.2GHz, Black). For some reason whenever the computer boots, it gets stuck in the white screen with the gray Apple logo, and shows up a bar, as if it's loading some sort of firmware update. It never advances, and it doesn't go thru.
If he takes the same HD and puts it into an enclosure, first it would take a while to mount in another computer, and afterwards it would give some errors, but now it doesn't even load.
Before he had the issue with his original computer everything was working fine, and there was no update going on when the computer got broken. The problem that that computer has isn't related to the HD.

If you have physically removed the drive and connected it to another computer and it "took a while to mount" then it sounds like the drive itself is failing. Hopefully he maintains backups.
Boot the MacBook in "verbose" mode (press and hold down option+v while powering up)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492
In this mode you will see all the boot messages scroll by instead of the typical white screen with Apple logo. You will likely be able to see messages indicating what the computer is trying to do -- for example messages indicating that having failures or retrying to read the hard drive.
The access arms on hard drives have to be precisely located above the "tracks" on the disk in order to read data. As the drive ages & wears, the accuracy of the arms can become sloppy, causing the read/write head to no longer be precisely located over a track. This results in failure to read correctly. Most drives have a useful life of about 5 years -- after which the failure rate will go up substantially. Fortunately, replacement hard drives are cheap.

17 MacBook Pro is not booting up. Won't get passed grey screen with Apple wheel spinning below.

17 MacBook Pro is not booting up. Won't get passed grey screen with Apple wheel spinning below.

You may be having a hardware problem that you cannot resolve on your own. Nevertheless...
...hold down the command and R keys whilst booting to try to get to your Recovery partition. If you can, use Disk Utility to try to Verify your boot drive (usually named "Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). If the verification fails, try to repair your hard drive. If everything appears to be OK, restart.
If you can't get into your Recovery partition, your problem is likely hardware related. If so, keep your appointment and see what the Apple techs have to say.
Clinton

Start up screen stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning gear

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

Grey Screen with Apple Logo - HELP

First of all: I know there is another topic for this, but this is a different problem (i think?)
I was installing snow leopard... it came up with that green tick with restart below it. It shut down and when it booted up it went to the grey screen with apple logo and it hung there for 6 hours until I turned it off. The disc is still stuck in there (tried holding in the mouse button) and it won't come out. I also held in the C button which made the disc drive make a lot of noise.
Any help would be appreciated.

Here there is a lot of topic about that subject.
By any change, have you completed all upgrade that your mac asked you before installing 10.6?
If yes, you're in this situation: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2990 , you can try to install it again. Some people said that it took them 3 times to make it works.

Computer won't start, grey screen with Apple logo only. Ideas?

Last night my wife's G5 froze. It is a G5 2.0 running OS X 10.4.11. I shut it down (had to use the power button) and tried to restart. No luck, just made it to the grey screen with Apple logo and spinning wheel. After a few seconds the Apple logo disappeared and a black box took its place, then the wheel stopped spinning. It was late, decided top wait until morning before trying again.
This morning I tried to start up again. This time got a warning(?) in upper left that a Firmtek item had already started. I'm sorry I didn't write this all down at the time, so I don't remember the entire message. Since there is a Firmtek card installed in one of the PCI slots I thought that might be the problem, and I pulled the card, as well as another Adaptec card that was also installed. Tried to start again, got to grey screen with Apple but this time no spinning wheel.
Opened media slot manually and inserted Diskwarrior. Tried to start with Diskwarrior but again only reached grey screen. Let run for ~5 minutes, until fans started to run and were begining to get noisy.
Next I reset the PRAM. No luck, still stuck on grey screen. Tried Diskwarrior again, this time got another message in upper left. Here is most of it -
System Failure : cpu=1; code=60000009 (Invalid pmap)
Lateset crash info for cpu1;
Exception state (sv=0x609bb280)
PC=0x000a4ad0; MSR=0x02003000 followed by more similar strings, then
backtrace terminated - unaligned frame address; 0xfc088891
So what's the diagnosis? I've had various issues with my G5s in the past, but have never had one refuse to boot with Diskwarrior before.
Thanks in advance for any help!

Whew, could be many things, from RAM, (or RAM slots/solder issue), to CPU #1 being bad, (CPU#1 is actually the second one.
Does it boot into any of these modes?
Target mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
We might get clues with verbose mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492

My macbook pro 2011 shows grey screen with apple logo and want start

i was just using my macbook pro and it freezed for a while not responding and i turned it off by pressing the power button. afterwards, i turn it on and it shows a grey screen with apple logo but want start pls somebody help me because am having "my life" on the machine

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 this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
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.
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.
If you've booted from 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 step 1.) 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 may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" 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
A dead logic-board battery in a Mac Pro can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions.
Step 9
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.

White screen with Apple logo/ not booting

I recently tried to install the software for the "Flip" video camcorder and upon restarting my computer after installation, my computer is stuck on the white screen with Apple Logo, 'thinking" wheel spinning, and fans going full blast. I tried forcing a stop with turning computer off by holding power button in the back until system powered off. When I started the computer back up, it did the same thing.
What is the likely problem and how do I fix this. I bought the computer used and do not have the OS X software that comes with the computer originally.

You really need those discs. You can either buy a BLACK retail version of Leopard and use that or you can call Apple at 800-767-2775 and for a nominal fee they will send you the proper discs for your model. You will need the serial number, which you can find on the bottom of the foot of your computer. Do not buy any grey discs, they are machine specific and will not work on yours. In the meantime, try starting by resetting the PRAM and the SMU
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
4. Release the power button.
5. Attach the computers power cable.
6. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
You need to make sure also, that the software that comes with your Flip is compatible with the OS version you are running.
Let us know how you make out,

4s bricked after trying new update, stuck with black screen with apple logo how can i fix this

Update bricked my 4s
phone , stuck with black screen with apple logo ..
how can I fix this

Greetings r1042,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
I understand that your iPhone is not booting up past the Apple logo. In this situation, I would recommend working through the troubleshooting steps located in the attached article.
If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch doesn't respond or doesn't turn on - Apple Support
If your device gets stuck during startup
When starting up, you might see the Apple logo or a red or blue screen for a long time, or your device might restart again. Try these steps:
Make sure that you have iTunes 12 or later on your computer.
Put your device in recovery mode.
When you get the option to restore or update, select Update. This will reinstall iOS without erasing your data.
Have a great day,
Joe

Macbook Pro (2011) froze while working, forced shut down, now won't turn on. Grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel for hours. Help?

Macbook Pro (2011) froze while working, forced shut down, now won't turn on. Grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel for hours. Help?
Unfortunately do not know the operating system since I never updated anything and I can't get in to it.
Thanks for your assistance.

If you want to preserve the data on the boot drive, and it's not already backed up, 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, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
1. Boot from the Recovery partition or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
2. 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. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
3. 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.

Stuck on grey boot-up screen with Apple logo & spinning icon for 12 hours

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