Trouble Booting from DVD/CD/External HDD

I own a new 24" / 3.06 GHz / ATI 4850 / iMac, all seems well after upgrading to Snow Leopard. Although, there is one strange problem that I've been having right along; the system will not boot from a bootable CD/DVD or and an external FireWire Drive. The disks and the drive WILL boot using a different 17" iMac with Intel Processors. So, I know its not the formatting of the drive or an out of date bootable disk. They all boot the 17" iMac without issue, both machines are Intel and are running 10.6.
When I attempt to boot the 24" I select the drive or disk in the "startup" preference pane and or select the drive while holding down the "C" key. Either way I choose, the computer will eventually restart and boot from the onboard hard drive. Not sure which way to turn, runs too good to bring it in for diagnostic work. I was hoping someone would have a quick fix so I can boot from a source other than the installed HDD.
Thanks...

The startup disk setting is stored in PRAM, so I would try resetting it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
But there is an important consideration that may be the cause of your problem. Macs can generally boot the version of Mac OS X it came with, or LATER (up to hardware limits), but NOT earlier.
So a brand new iMac, if it came with Snow Leopard, will not be able to boot an older retail Leopard disc. It will also not be able to boot an external drive that has Leopard on it. The 17-inch Intel iMac, since it is a 2006 model, can boot Tiger, Leopard, or Snow Leopard; it came with Tiger, and Leopard and Snow Leopard were released later.
Now, if you are putting the Mac OS X installation disc that came with your new iMac into that external optical drive, I think it should have worked. If that external FireWire drive has Snow Leopard that was installed by the new iMac on it, I think it should have worked.

Similar Messages

Kernel panic when booting from DVD or external drive

Hey Folks,
I have a 13" MBP, seems to run fine for the most part.
However, I can't boot from DVDs or external hard drives. Disk Warrior, my and a tech support buddy of mine's OSX Snow Leopard DVDs, and external boot disks all cause a kernel panic when selected from the alternate boot menu when rebooting with alt.
The DVD/External spins up, the loading spinner goes for about 20-30 seconds, and then BAM - Kernel panic. I'd reinstall OSX... but I can't!
Any suggestions? I'd rather not send the computer to a tech for a week - I need it daily for work.

Kernel panic log:
Fri Nov 26 11:42:49 2010
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x2a6ac2): Kernel trap at 0x00000000, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000000, CR3: 0x00100000, CR4: 0x000006e8
EAX: 0x57cd9408, EBX: 0x57983dec, ECX: 0x06fa2b80, EDX: 0x07fb9c80
CR2: 0x00000000, EBP: 0x57983e18, ESI: 0x07fb9f00, EDI: 0x00000001
EFL: 0x00010206, EIP: 0x00000000, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x00000010
Error code: 0x00000010
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x57983ae8 : 0x21acfa (0x5ce650 0x57983b1c 0x223156 0x0)
0x57983b38 : 0x2a6ac2 (0x590a50 0x0 0xe 0x590c1a)
0x57983c18 : 0x29c968 (0x57983c30 0x7fb9f00 0x57983e18 0x0)
0x57983c28 : 0x0 (0xe 0x48 0x57980010 0x7fb0010)
0x57983e18 : 0x5389f2 (0x7fb5a00 0x7f62500 0x1 0x4fbe2a)
0x57983e78 : 0x536c27 (0x7f62500 0x7fb5a00 0x8006380 0x805e4c0)
0x57983f28 : 0x5371b8 (0x7f62500 0x8000140 0x0 0xffffffff)
0x57983f78 : 0x538e67 (0x7f62500 0x0 0x57983fac 0x1)
0x57983fc8 : 0x29c68c (0x7f85190 0x0 0x29c69b 0x74d03d4)
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Mac OS version:
10A432
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 10.0.0: Fri Jul 31 22:47:34 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1456.1.25~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBookPro7,1 (Mac-F222BEC8)
System uptime in nanoseconds: 109525048606
unloaded kexts:
(none)
loaded kexts:
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelYonahProfile 14
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPenrynProfile 17
com.apple.DontSteal_Mac_OSX 7.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 1.7.4a1
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 2.8.16
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelNehalemProfile 11
com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver 1.1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.0.5
com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor 3.0.0d4
com.apple.driver.ACPISMCPlatformPlugin 3.4.0a20
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.0.2
com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 161
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelMeromProfile 19
com.apple.kext.AppleSMCLMU 1.4.5d1
com.apple.GeForce 6.0.0
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.SparseDiskImage 281
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.ReadWriteDiskImage 281
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.UDIFDiskImage 281
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.RAMBackingStore 281
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.HTTPBackingStore 281
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.FileBackingStore 281
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCButtons 1.8.0b4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver 1.8.0b4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard 1.8.0b4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBCardReader 2.5.0
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.5.0
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.5.0
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43xx 410.91.20
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.3.4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 3.7.8
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 3.7.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBOHCI 3.7.5
com.apple.BootCache 31
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.3.0
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.3
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager 160.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.3
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.3
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 90.0.0
com.apple.security.sandbox 0
com.apple.security.quarantine 0
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 2.0.11
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 90.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAPlatformDriver 1.7.4a1 - last loaded 109517592692
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 2.2f18
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.2
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver 1.7.4a1
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 1.7.4a1
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.7.0fc16
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.3
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 1.7.4a1
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 1.7.4a1
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 3.4.0a20
com.apple.iokit.AppleProfileFamily 40
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.0.3
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.0.1d2
com.apple.NVDAResman 6.0.0
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.0
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.KernelBacked 281
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch 200.20
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 3.7.5
com.apple.driver.BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.2f18
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.2f18
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.2f18
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass 2.5.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 2.5.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 3.7.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.7.5
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 2.5.0
com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 402.1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCISerialATAPI 1.2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.5.0
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 300.20
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.1.7
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 3.7.5
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.0.0
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 3.7.8
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.3.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.6.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 6
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 281
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.3
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.6
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.3.0

New Unibody MBP won't boot from DVD or external drive, just loops

Hey
We bought a new Unibody MBP on Monday, and loaned it to our CTO for a presentation. Having got it back from him now I wanted to nuke the installation and put a fresh copy of leopard on it, so I dropped the DVD in the drive, powered down, and booted holding the "C" key.
I get the chime, screen lights up, thinks for a bit, and if you use your imagination you can almost hear the DVD spin up. Then the screen goes black, lights up, chime, thinks a bit, goes black, lights up, chime and so on
I've tried booting from an external bootable clone I created with CCC (firewire external HDD), and same symptoms.
I even tried swapping in a hard drive that I know has a working bootable copy of Leopard on it, and then all I get is the eternal cycle, without pressing any keys on startup.
I also tried holding down the Option (Alt) key on boot to get the boot device selector. This correctly identifies the various boot devices - the DVD, on-board HDD and external firewire drive (if connected), and lets you select them, tries to boot, thinks, black screen, screen lights up, chime, repeat cycle endlessly until extremely frustrated.
Is there a known cure for this or am I doomed to take the thing back to the Apple store on Monday?
Thanks
Konrad

Raj wrote:
That is not the reason it didn't work. Here is the actual clarity:
*A retail Leopard DVD should be able to boot a new Macbook Pro unibody.*
So you are saying even if the driver for the controller on which the DVD drive sits is not available in the Leopard DVD you are using because the hardware was not manufactured at the time the Leopard release on the DVD was made, the OS should magically just boot? How is that possible? Unibody MacBook Pros have entirely NEW AHCI chipset - for which there won't be any drivers on the older Leopard DVD and as such the DVD wont be detected once the OS on the DVD loads. In cases where the chipset used is same (as in previous generations of MBP) it will boot.
The key difference here is that if you used an older version, some new hardware may not be supported - however, the computer *should still boot from the DVD*, which is the subject of this discussion.
The OP said that his computer boots from the DVD that came with the computer - just not with the old retail Leopard DVD. Also - what should happen if the new hardware happens to be the controller on which the DVD drive is sitting? How will it be able to read the DVD? What about the graphics card? If the drivers on the old leopard disk do not recognize the new graphics card - how is the OS going to display on screen?
On my way home, I stopped at a Mac store and asked them to test this. They successfully booted a new Macbook Pro unibody from an older Leopard DVD. And this is why Apple is replacing my computer, because it is a hardware issue, not a software one.
Again - you fail to understand that whether or not the old DVD boots on a new machine all depends on how much hardware has changed and what hardware has changed. It may boot on some generation of machine because the basic chipset and graphics did not change or were handled generically by the drivers on the older DVD but it may totally refuse to boot on new gen machine which has totally different / incompatible hardware.
So your claim that any old Leopard DVD must continue to boot on any new machine is not really technically explainable.

Can't boot from DVD or external drive

Because of recent slow performance on my iMac G5 I ran disk utility and repaired permissions, then clicked Verify Disk. It reported minor errors in directory files and said I should repair them. I tried starting up from the MacOS X installation DVD, but I get a spinning beach ball and a symbol with a circle with a diagonal line through it (like a Do Not Enter sign). I had to unplug the computer to reboot.
Using another computer, I made a startup disk on an external hard drive and tried booting the iMac from that, but I get the same beach ball and symbol. Tried another OS X DVD with the same result.
I am able to boot from the internal hard drive only, but then I can't do a disk repair. I have already reset the PRAM, but that didn't help.
Any suggestions ??? Thanks.

Because of recent slow performance on my iMac G5 I ran disk utility and repaired permissions, then clicked Verify Disk. It reported minor errors in directory files and said I should repair them. I tried starting up from the MacOS X installation DVD, but my G5 still starts from the hard disk and I am therefore unable to repair rthe hard disk.
Can I create a new startup disk by copying my installation disk, leaving off the installation software, and then start my Mac using Option "C".
On my previous Macs I always used Norton Utilities to repair my disk and recover files - are ther any similar packages available for OS X (10.4.7)?

Trouble booting from Leopard installation DVD

I'm having some trouble booting from the Leopard installation DVD, I was wondering if anyone here could help.
I want to reset my administrator password since OS X does not seem to be accepting it, and I heard that the best way to do this would be to boot from a Mac OS X installation DVD or CD and change some settings. When I start up my computer with the Leopard DVD in the drive, I hold down the 'C' key after the chime, and continue to hold it until the spinning gear appears.
From there, the spinning gear stays on the screen, and nothing happens. I've heard that it takes a while for the screen to come up, but I let it sit for over three hours and nothing happened. I also tried holding the Option key at startup and selecting the DVD, but the same thing happened. The DVD is in good shape and has no deep scratches, and it appears right away in the OS itself. I can't access the installer from the OS since it asks for my Administrator password, which it does not seem to be accepting. I also tried another solution to the Administrator password problem that involved typing some commands in Single User mode, but that did not help either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

what exactly did you try to do in single user mode?

IMac 24" Aluminium - No way to boot from DVD

Dear all:
Thank you for having this forum fully working.
My iMac 24" Aluminium (november 2008) can't boot, completely frozen, although all HW are perfectly working.
I'll try to explain the issue best I can.
SYMPTOMS
- Grey screen of death without Apple's logo.
- No bootable devices detected (either HDD or DVD) by EFI, when you hold ALT (Option) while booting.
- No way to force boot from DVD.
CAUSE OF PROBLEMS
a) HDD has 3 partitions created by DiskUtils:
/dev/disk0s2= Mac OS(HFS+)
/dev/disk0s3= Linux DVD Installer (FAT32)
/dev/disk0s4= User Data(HFS+).
b) rEFIt installed and fully working on the system ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/ )
c) Linux DVD installer partition was filled this way:
dd if=/path/to/linux.iso of=/dev/disk0s3
As you can see, there are no HW errors at all, everything was perfectly working before dumping the Linux iso into FAT partition.
TRIALS FOLLOWED (and all its combinations).
TRIAL 1 - Erasing EFI values on memory.
Leave the iMac disconnected from power cord a whole night for memories to loose their values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JId524890zc.
TRIAL 2 - Force empty memories during boot.
CMD+ALT+P+R -> Result OK (reboot)
CMD+ALT+N+V -> No effect
CMD+ALT+O+F -> No effect
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
TRIAL 3 - Force boot from DVD.
C while boot -> Read DVD first, but can't boot.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
TRIAL 4 - From Startup Manager, try to boot from DVD.
ALT (Option) while boot -> See cursor arrow on screen, can't see DVD as boot option.
a) Try with DVD already inside the unit.
b) Try to insert DVD once I see the cursor arrow on screen.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1383424?start=0&tstart=0
TRIAL 5 - Remove RAM memories to reset EFI to factory defaults.
- Remove all RAM from unit.
- Boot from DVD (C key hold) -> Unit beeps.
- Shutdown and fill one bank with memory.
- Wait 15 minutes for EFI memories values to be deleted.
- Boot from DVD (C key hold) -> Access DVD first, but no boot.
TRIAL 6 - Boot from external Mac (Firewire + PC fully working).
This is the only trial missing before replacing the HDD of the unit... finger crossed.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=271975
IDEAS AND CONCLUSIONS
- Any more ideas?
- How is it possible that a SW problem affects the HW in a way that can't be booted from DVD? Somethings is terribly wrong on iMac EFI design... terribly poor stability.

Dear all:
Thank you for having this forum fully working.
My iMac 24" Aluminium (november 2008) can't boot, completely frozen, although all HW are perfectly working.
I'll try to explain the issue best I can.
SYMPTOMS
- After a chime... grey screen of death without Apple's logo.
- No bootable devices detected (either HDD or DVD), when you hold ALT (Option) while booting.
- No way to force boot from DVD.
CAUSE OF PROBLEMS
a) HDD has 3 partitions created by DiskUtils:
/dev/disk0s2= Mac OS(HFS+)
/dev/disk0s3= Linux DVD Installer (FAT32)
/dev/disk0s4= User Data(HFS+).
b) rEFIt installed and fully working on the system ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/ )
c) Linux DVD installer partition was filled this way:
dd if=/path/to/linux.iso of=/dev/disk0s3
As you can see, there are no HW errors at all, everything was perfectly working before dumping the Linux iso into FAT partition.
TEST BED
In the process of dealing with iMac booting problems I organized a test bed which allow to detect where the booting is failing:
STAGE 0 - Setting initial boot memory conditions.
STAGE 1 - Reset NVRAM memory to factory defaults.
STAGE 2 - Booting from external device.
STAGE 3 - Reinstall iMac firmware.
STAGE 4 - Hardware intervention.
Before running the test bed:
a) Unplug all devices except USB keyboard (no wireless keyboard, no mouse... you can plug an USB mouse once you see the graphical user interface up and running).
b) Combination of keys available on booting:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
STAGE 0 - Setting initial boot memory conditions
This bundle of tests must be executed before any test of next stages.
TEST 0.1 - Erasing booting memory values.
Leave the iMac disconnected from all wires (especially power cord) for 15 minutes for memories to loose their values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JId524890....
TEST 0.2- Resetting PRAM memory.
a) Press Power button
b) Press CMD+ALT+P+R keys while black screen, before you hear the chime.
c) Hold these keys until you hear 3 chimes (3 reboots).
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379.
STAGE 1 - Reset NVRAM memories to factory defaults.
TEST 1.1 - Validate machine with Apple's Hardware Test.
=> Detect Hardware errors with Apple's Hardware Test
a) Original Apple's Installation DVD on the machine
Installation DVD should show something like this
DISC 1
Mac OS version 10.5.4
AHT version 3A152
Disc version 1.1
2Z691-6304-A
To use Apple Hardware Test, hold down the D key as the computer starts up.
b) Holding Down D key as the computer starts up
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509.
=> Hardware OK: continue with Stages 1, 2 and 3
=> Hardware Failure: jump to Stage 4 (skip Stages 1, 2 and 3)
=> Unable to run Apple's Hardware Test: jump to Stage 3, firmware restoration
TEST 1.2 - Change RAM Configuration: amount or disposition.
a) Open RAM Slot
b) Extract RAM stick from Slot.
c) If you only have one RAM stick, reintroduce it in the unused empty slot of memory.
TEST 1.3 - Resetting PRAM memory.
Please check TEST 0.2
STAGE 2 - Booting from external device
TEST 2.1 - Boot from DVD.
a) Introduce Apple's Mac OS original DVD on the unit.
b) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
=> Force DVD as Booting Device.
c) Press power button.
d) Press C key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the C key until you see the MacOS installer window.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
=> If still no boot from DVD: StartUp Manager with DVD inside the machine.
c) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
d) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
f) From StartUp Manager, choose DVD as booting option.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/138...
=> If still no boot from DVD: StartUp Manager without DVD inside the machine.
c) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
d) Press F12 key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the F12 key until DVD is spelled from the iMac.
f) Run StartUp Manager again (see steps above) .
g) Insert Apple's Mac OS DVD on machine while StarUp Manager is running.
h) From StartUp Manager, choose DVD as booting option.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/138...
TEST 2.2 - Firewire cable and Target Mode: run installer from external Mac.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.p...
TEST 2.3 - Remote Installation.
You can run this test twice: remote installation from PC and MAC.
=> Remote Installation Server on PC/MAC:
a) Mac OS DVD on PC/MAC optical drive
b) Install Network Client (just run setup.exe from DVD and follow the steps until everything is installed).
c) Keep open a window saying... machine is ready for Remote Install.
=> Physical Direct Network Connection between Remote Installation Server and iMac
a) Unplug power cord from iMac for 15 minutes.
b) Connect to the Server Machine this way:
Option 1.- Crossover Ethernet wire direct connection,
Option 2.- Using an Ethernet switch with no additional devices plugged to the switch.
=> StartUp Manager on Client
a) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
b) Press power button.
c) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
d) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
e) From StartUp Manager, choose NetInstall as booting option.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH6450
TEST 2.4 - NetInstall.
=> Prepare NetInstall Mac OS NetBoot Server
Option 1 - Using Mac OS X Server
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4178
Option 2 - Using Linux Server
https://docs.math.osu.edu/linux/how-tos/...
=> Force Boot from the Network
a) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
b) Press Power Button.
c) Press N key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
d) Keep hold the N key until you see the Mac OS X Installation screen.
=> If no NetBoot after 15 minutes: NetBoot from StartUp Manager
a) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
b) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
c) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
d) From StartUp Manager, choose NetInstall as booting option.
TEST 2.5 - Apple's Mac OS Installer/Reparation from External USB HardDrive.
Very unlikely to work.
=> Create Bootable OS X USB device
a) Format HDD with GUID partition.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH7247
b) Fill the partition with the Mac OS X installer (only the version your iMac came with, no newer, no older).
=> Boot iMac from USB device
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1948
STAGE 3 - Reinstall/Repair iMac Firmware
TEST 3.1 - Using Firmware Reinstallation CD.
a) Download and burn Firmware Restoration CD for your iMac
iMac 8,1: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24012
b) From power off state, press the power button and continue to hold it down until the "Sleep" LED blinks rapidly three times, then slowly three times, then rapidly three more times... this could be chimes, instead of LED blinks! Keep the power button pressed down.
c) Insert the Firmware Restoration CD you have burned into the iMac's CD drive, then release the power button.
d) Monitor the "Progress Bar" beneath the Apple logo as the restoration process updates your iMac's firmware, taking care not to disconnect the power, shut down your computer or restart your computer (otherwise, you will have to start over). The iMac will restart automatically once the firmware restoration is complete.
TEST 3.2 - Using Apple's Propietary Software.
Contact Apple's Technical Support to know the price.
STAGE 4 - Hardware Intervention
TEST 4.1 - Replace the faulty Hardware on your own.
a) To detect faulty Hardware, please run Test 1.1
b) Replace the Hardware following those instructions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w6E2_Xqa...
TEST 4.2 - Contact Apple's Technical Support.

My 27" iMac Freezes, Won't boot from DVD

My iMac has started to freeze up every few minutes. Every so often, it becomes unresponsive; the mouse cursor still moves (sometimes it turns into a beach ball), but I can't click or type anything. Whenever this happens, the hard drive begins to churn as if it's reading or writing something big. This usually lasts only about thirty seconds to a minute, but it's happening with frustrating regularity.
I've been trying to troubleshoot this for a few days, now. I'll walk you through the steps I've tried so far.
I ran a check on the hard drive with Disk Utility. This came back with a message about the files/directories not matching up with their expected counts. The solution it suggested was to boot from a Snow Leopard disc and let Disk Utility run a Repair Disk while the startup drive is not mounted. It was at this point that I realized that I couldn't boot from the dvd. Whether holding 'C' or 'Option', when it tries to boot from the disc, it gets to the Apple logo and then hangs.
I kept researching and found a workaround; boot into Single User Mode and perform fsck, which fixed the Disk Utility error, but did not solve the freezes/noises, and I still can't boot from the dvd.
Any ideas?

Thank you for your prompt response.
Well, I'm not sure if I explained it clearly. Holding the Option key does indeed bring up a list of bootable devices. The problem arises when control is passed to the Snow Leopard disc. The Apple logo flashes, I can hear the optical drive being accessed, but then it locks up.
I should also clarify that it's not the disc that came with the iMac. I just moved and can't find the original disc, so I borrowed my neighbor's (which came from a Macbook he bought after mine (which I bought last year)). I am under the impression that Macs can't boot from discs that are older than the version of OS X that they shipped with. I wouldn't think that's the issue, here, as his came out later than mine, but I've still got a lot to learn about life in the Appleverse.
My data should be safe--I've got an up to date Time Machine backup on an external drive. The performance issues aside, I'm really looking to understand the underlying problem(s) here.
So, one option is that the RAM might be bad. I can test that by swapping out each DIMM and checking if the problem is resolved. One thing I don't understand, though, is why bad RAM would manifest as the hard drive being accessed. Is there a definitive way to test the logic board, as there is for testing RAM?
Also, I keep thinking of other little syptoms which may or may not be related.
Recap of Symptoms:
Magic Mouse occasionally loses its magic (right click, multitouch, etc.) and needs to be turned off and on.
Free disk space fluctuates by as much as eight gigs (without my intervention).
System stalls (accompanied by HD access sounds) multiple times per hour.
Can't boot from dvds (though, this could be a version problem).
**Fixed: Disk Utility Verify Disk error.
I do understand that this might be a hardware error, and I certainly know how much trouble that sort of thing is to find/fix. I'm definitely willing to open the case and swap out DIMMs and drives, but not until I've exhausted my software solution options. *crosses fingers*

Satellite C850 - boot from DVD issue - want to replace Win8 with Win7U

Got a new C850-1JZ yesterday and am trying to replace pre-installed Win 8 with Windows 7. I did create the recovery media (3 DVDs).
The laptop is driving me "insane" as it seems to block any attempt to boot anything else other than Win8 on the preinstalled hdd.
1.) Inserted Win 7 Ultimate DVD and tried to boot, would not boot from disk.
2.) Loaded advanced boot menu and tried to boot from ODD, would not boot from disk it. (Options are LAN, USB, HDD, and ODD (assuming this is optical disk drive)
3.) Changed regular bios settings boot priority to boot from ODD first, then HDD, would not boot from disk.
4.) Learned there is a "security boot protection" mechanism enabled by default in the bios. Turned it off. Machine starts loading from ODD and says "Windows is loading files" then hangs. This is a MS original Win7 Ultimate disk from the Microsoft store, no scratches. Makes no sense. We actually have 2 of them, so I tried the other, same result.
5.) Thought screw that, let's just put the hard drive from the other computer (T61) in here then and do clean new setup another time. Replaced hdd with other sata hdd that has Win 7 ultimate installed and system configured. When booting from hdd, it says "No OS" found and reboots. When booting from ODD, it starts with windows is loading files again and then freezes.
What kind of other extra protection/virus blocker/stupid setting am I missing here? This is puzzling me. Thanks.

*Thanks as***, that solves the problem.*
After 10 days Toshiba Support in Germany came back with the same answer.
Basically it seems the UEFI Firmware has some reference to Win 8 or the original OS and key and boat loader that is checks, and you cannot load anything else until you disable it by:
1) In the BIOS, disable "secure boot" mode
2) In the BIOS advanced settings, switch from UEFI to CMS mode.
Then you should be able to install anything as the new OS.
Also, if you want to write down your product key / serial number , since it is not printed anywhere (e.g. no sticker on the bottom of the laptop) [Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit|http://belarc.com/free_download.html] is a good tool to retrieve this from the registry and write it down.
As far as I know it's "glued" to this particular hardware, so not portable, but it might be a good idea to write it down in case you lose the system recovery disk but would want to re-install it with the original serial number.

Can I import images from DVD to my HDD through bridge (I have Win 7

Hi,
I'm using Win 7 (and also have Bridge on Mac OS X). I'd like to import images from DVD to my HDD through Adobe Bridge. But I can't find the option to import from DVD in Bridge (either in Win 7 or Mac). My DVD drive on my Win machine is external while I have the regular internal DVD drive on my Macbook Pro. I'm trying to import images from DVD to HDD through Bridge. Go through the first round of select/reject through Bridge and then take them to LR for further edits.
I currently copy them from DVD drive to a USB pen drive. And then using the Bridge import dialog (when I plug in the USB again) copy them to my HDD. I do this becuase I also need to batch rename my files, add metadata and keywords during import. The simple copy/move function won't allow these additions and so I have to resort to this workaround of DVD to USB to HDD (thru Bridge). If I can import directly from DVD through bridge, it'll save me quite some time.
Look forward to assistance pls.
Thx,
Chinmoy

I feel a bit silly now. For 2 days I struggled and then posted my Q.
After posting the Q, I figured it out in about 15 minutes.
Insert DVD.
Open Br
Navigate to DVD
Select all images
Right Click - Batch Rename
Choose Destination Path and New file name.
And go!
If you've had the same problem I did, hope this helps.

Hello.. my hp dv6748us cannot boot from usb nor external harddrive.. may harddisk is already broken

hello.. my hp dv6748us cannot boot from usb nor external harddrive.. may harddisk is already broken so i bought i new one. my internal dvd drive doesnt work also.. can anyone help pls.. thnks

Is USB boot enabled in the bios, it should be able to boot from USB.
Other than that you will need a working DVD drive.

Cannot access boot menu/ThinkVantage setup/boot from DVD

So I am trying to install W7 from an external DVD drive but I am not able to
a) Access the boot menu: Immediately after I power on the notebook, the computer boots into Win 8. There is no message displayed "Press enter to interrup booting" (or similar), but the loading-throbbler is shown directly. Other keys don't work either (F1, DEL, F12,...)
b) Boot from DVD
c) Access the "ThinkVantage Setup": The manual says I have to enter ThinkVantage Setup and select to install Win 7 there, but I can't find such tool on the computer.

This is from memory, hopefully it's close:
Within Win 8, bring up the charms bar. Then Settings. At the bottom is "Change PC Settings" it looks like a title, but it is a link. Click it. Select "General" on the left. Then scroll down the right panel to "Advanced Startup" select "Restart Now".
Here's where my memory is a little hazy: either "continue" or "turn off your PC". On restart you should be able to hit ENTER (or whatever key it is on your machine) to get to BIOS.
You may need to disable Secure Boot and change the boot mode to Legacy or UEFI + Legacy to boot your DVD.
My understanding is that since Win 8 actually hibernates instead of doing a full shutdown as the default, access to BIOS and boot options is disabled. It's necessary to force a full shutdown before BIOS and boot options can be safely accessed.
Z.
The large print: please read the Community Participation Rules before posting. Include as much information as possible: model, machine type, operating system, and a descriptive subject line. Do not include personal information: serial number, telephone number, email address, etc. The fine print: I do not work for, nor do I speak for Lenovo. Unsolicited private messages will be ignored. ... GeezBlog
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Mac Mini won't boot from dvd

I just picked up a used Mac Mini and the previous owner didn't wipe the hard drive. He did include the original install disks in the package, though. I inserted the install disk & it says that OS X Tiger can't be installed on the mini (currently it is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8). I tried to boot from DVD but if I hold down the c key, nothing happens and it boots to the HD like normal. If I hold down the option key, the only boot option shown is the HD. I don't get any request for a password, so this mini doesn't appear to have a firmware password set. The DVD drive appears to be functioning fine since it can read the DVD - I just can't boot from it. If I use the Startup disk utility the only option shown once again is the HD. I even tried upgrading to Mavericks, but get an error message that it can't be installed on this mini (I checked the requirements and this machine meets them - running 10.6.8, at least 2 Gig ram, 1.83 GHz Core 2 duo, 60 Gigs free space on the drive.......
I want to do a clean install but am at a loss on how to do so. Any suggestions?

I inserted the install disk & it says that OS X Tiger can't be installed on the mini (currently it is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8).
You can't install an older version of OS X on top of a newer version. You would have to erase the disk first.
I tried to boot from DVD but if I hold down the c key, nothing happens and it boots to the HD like normal.
Make sure you're using disk# 1 of 2 of the two gray disk set., and that you hold the C key down for enough time, the boot process from the DVD is much slower than from a hard drive. However, since you have Snow Leopard installed now, there is no point in trying to install Tiger, unless he didn't give you his Admin password; you wouldn't be able to add yourself as a new user or delete his user name without knowing the admin password.
If you did get Tiger installed, then you would have to buy a copy of Snow Leopard on DVD.
I checked the requirements and this machine meets them - running 10.6.8, at least 2 Gig ram, 1.83 GHz Core 2 duo, 60 Gigs free space on the drive.......
Those aren't the complete requirements. It has to be an Early 2009 MacMini, Model Identifier number 3.1, to be compatible with Mavericks. Click on the Apple Menu's, "About This Mac," More Information, then System Report, to locate that information.

Hi, I have a hard disk failure so to recover my data I am using disk utility to restore the data on an external drive while booting from a second external hard drive. When I perform the operation it gives me an input/output error and stops. Any tips?

Hi, I have a hard disk failure so to recover my data I am using disk utility to restore the data on an external drive while booting from a second external hard drive. When I perform the operation and after having selected both my destination and source drives, the operation begins but soon fails due to input/output error. If I try to create an image of the drive it gives me the same error message. Any help would be much appreciated.

Disk Utility only creates a image of the drive, so it's no help getting exactly what you want, which is your files. If the file structure is messed up or the drive is failing then it's no help.
If you have a external boot drive and you can't access the internal non-booting drive though the typical Finder and windows to transfer your files via drag and drop methods, then you need to install Data Rescue on the external boot drive and it will do as best as it can to recover your files. (works on non-encrypted/non-Filevaulted drives only)
.Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Are you sure you have hard drive failure, or that OS X isn't merely not booting?
Because if the drive is working physically, then there is a host of fixes
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents#/

Reset Password - System does not boot from DVD

My System: Macbook Pro - 2Ghz Intel Core Duo - OS X - 10.6.8
Hi everyone,
i forgot my password. So i want to boot from install DVD to reset the password. Unfortunately my macbook pro does not boot from DVD (10.6.3).
I press c all the time...but sometimes the macbook pro throws the DVD out...and sometimes nothing happens.
The DVD drive is working fine...
Any other idea?
Thanks in advance.
Fabian

So when you boot holding option it shows a padlock with a password field? Is that correct?
In that case we're talking about the firmware password, which you can't reset via the install disk. There is only one way to do this, I'm not certain if one is allowed to divulge that information publicly - might want to try googling "reset firmware password"

Boot from DVD but cannot find hard drive now

just updated to 10.7.3, then cannot boot from hard drive. I boot from DVD and cannot find hard drive now

Did the 10.7.3 update complete the installation process?
Some updates, when being installed and applied can restart (but not fully start up) the machine a couple of times.
I'd restart your machine and give it a few uninterrupted minutes to see if it boots up normally. Depending on the specs of your iMac, the remapping of app shortcuts etc can take a little while to complete (but not an excessive amount of time).
It is unlikely the update caused your hard drive to fail.
If your iMac doesn't boot up, restart and boot into the recovery partition of Lion by holding down both the cmd & R keys while booting. This will run Lion Recovery which will allow you to repair your Hard Drive, reinstall or install a fresh copy of Lion (network access is required).
If this fails, boot from the recovery DVD and launch Disk Utility from the Tools option in the toolbar and see if your hard drive is listed in Disk Utility. If your hard drive is not listed, there is a hard drive problem and you'll need to speak to Apple Tech Support to arrange a repair.
Hope this helps

Trouble Booting from DVD/CD/External HDD

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