Trying to fix startup disk

Well after i installed leopard i ran disk utility and it froze in the middle.. i restarted and now my computer hangs on the grey screen..
I bought a firewire cable and can connect my two MBP's following this guide:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
and have my broken MBP as the target..
I have DiskWarrior and want to run it on this drive to see if it can fix it but I always get this error:
"Diskwarrior cannot currently be run from this disk because mac os x ignores ownership of some disks by default. please restart from the diskwarrior disc, or followht einstructions below..
it says to go into get info and uncheck the "Ignore ownership on this volume" under permissions..
although it is available on the harddrive that os x is not being booted from.. the little checkbox is not available on the host computer's harddrive get info tab. I've been searching around and cannot figure this out. What should i do? Thanks!

See MacFixit or Alsoft about whether it is safe to use Disk Warrior.
I would say no. Use Leopard DVD instead. Or, use Single User Mode's command line FSCK -FY
The "ignore ownership" would be on a volume that you want to boot from, but are not currently using. And do so before installing or cloning.
I would erase the drive and start over. Another reason for backup and clone of your working Tiger system before attempting a new OS.

Similar Messages

Trying to change startup disk HELP!

Using alsoft diskwarrior. Changed the startup disk in the preferences to the CD. Now, can't change it back! The computer automatically reverts to the diskwarrior software to boot from...ideas?

Restart the computer and hold the mouse button down to force ejection of the CD. The computer will then start normally. Then open the Startup Drive preference and set the startup drive to the internal drive and click on the Restart button.
In the future you don't need to change the startup disk to boot from a CD/DVD. Simply insert the disc in the optical drive, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the "C" key until the gray startup screen appears. Release the key when the spinning gear appears.
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Yosemite will not install and won't let me change startup disk, it's saying there is a file system problem but disk utilities can't fix it.

I Downloaded the Yosemite upgrade and went to install it on my iMac. The install failed saying file System needed repair. Ran disk utility could do the verify but the repair button was grayed out. When I tried to change startup disk back it wouldn't let me , saying it couldn't gather enough file info. So I'm stuck and can't boot my Mac. How do I get out of this?

Do a backup. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Try to reboot normally.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)

Select Startup Disk Locks Computer?

Hello! I'm a long time Mac user and OS9 is old work but I've run into a problem I can't seem to alleviate. When I click to select a startup disk in the startup disk control panel it locks the computer. My utilities all give me a clean bill of health and I haven't done or added anything to the system folder in the last couple of years. I haven't had any crashes or locks in a couple of years also. I tried trashing the startup disk prefs file which had no effect also. Usually I don't have any problems sorting out an extension problem but I'm at a loss on this one. Any ideas? Tom
Oh yes, the computer is a G-3 minitower, 768 megs of ram, one internal scsi on sys bus, one internal ide drive and an internal scsi on a card; also an external firewire drive. OS9.2.2.And the problem manifests itself on any drive selection. Tom

Hi, Tom -
That sometimes happens when a 3rd-party driver has been installed.
Although OS 9's Drive Setup can not initialize and format drives connected via firewire or USB, it can do that for SCSI drives. However, if the drive has had 3rd-party drivers installed, their presence can confound Drive Setup.
The solution then is to put the drive into a PC and format it as a PC drive. Then bring it back to the Mac; Drive Setup should then work on it. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find a PC which can handle a SCSI drive.
An alternate may be to use OSX's Disk Utility, which in many ways is more robust and capable than OS 9's Drive Setup.
Since the drive is working now, redoing it may not be of great priority - but it is something to keep in mind for the future, such as if (or when) you install OSX on that machine.

Macbook wont show any startup disk, grey screen

Hey there! Here is what I did, and what I get.(Sorry for my bad English) I wanted to have 3 partitions for my macbook, one for msc osx, one for windows, and one for shared data. I've started with bootcamp. I've created partition, then canceled installation of windows 8. then I've added third partition from disk utility, then I've restarted computer, started installation of windows 8. I've noticed that third partition is showing as unlocated memory,(but it's shown in mac os x) during installation of windows 8. After finishing installation of win 8, I've gone through disk managment from control panel, and created local disk from that third unlocated memory, then from my computer I saw that my third partition isnt accessable.. then I've removed it from disk managment, so its again unlocated memory. Then I've restarted computer, but computer didnt started anumore.. it's shows grey screen, then after about 15 seconds, it's showing black screen, then trying to start windows 8, then it's shows blue screen with icon, then restart again, and again.. on start when I'm pressing option key, nothing happens, also nothing happens when I'm pressing option + s. I've tried to start recovery mode, by option + r. that one worked, in disc recovery left part I can see my 3 partitions.. but I cant do nothing with them, I've tried to erase third partition, but I got error, about partition map.. I've tried to use reinstall os x, but when I need to select partition to install, there is no any partition, also when I'm trying to select startup disk, it didnt show anything,( mac os x, windows..). Any idea what to do? It's my first time using mac, and soooo disapointed.. any help? Thanks in advance.

Have you tried Internet recovery?
Hold the command and option and r keys down on a wired or built in keyboard. Boot the machine and you will see a globe spinning as IR loads.
Next select Disk Utility and the disk0. Click Erase and if there is a slider, move it one or two spots to the right for a 0-3x secure erase and mapping off of bad/damaged sectors on the boot hard drive (SSD no need).
Once finished, check Partition that Option:GUID and Format is OS X Extended Journaled and the name is MacintoshHD or else make it so and click Apply.
Quit and install the OS X version that is provided with Internet Recovery, it depends upon what originally came on the machine.
(taken from advice of ds store. Thanks)
You can then migrate your data back from your backup.
Pete

My mac book startup disk is full and when I start it, it give me a blank blue screen. I have tried the shift and I started in safe mode, and it gave me the stars screen. How can I delete files to fix the problem

My mac book startup disk is full and when I start it, it give me a blank blue screen. I have tried the shift upon start
and I started in safe mode, and it gave me the stars screen. How can I delete files to fix the problem

1. Start up in Safe Mode.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
3. Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the dropdown.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Empty Trash. Restart.
4. Delete old iOS Devices Backup.
    iTunes > Preferences > Devices
    Highlight the old Backups , press “Delete Backup” and then “OK”.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
5. Re-index Macintosh HD
   System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

HT1338 My Macbook Pro 13" says that I have no more memory in my startup disk. I've tried clearing files and folders and deleting applications but it still says that I have low memory. How do I fix it?

My MacBook Pro 13" says that I have no more memory in my startup disk. I have tried deleting applications, files, folders, and it still says I have low memory. What is taking up all that space?

First -- do the target disk backup. Somehow get a backup.
You might try booting to Single user mode: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492 and removing the files in the command line. When you put files in the trash, the space is still used up until the trash is emptied.
using rm command removes it totally. Just be very careful because you remove the wrong file, and you have to relad the system

Trying to get rid of error "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition". Recovery HD visible.

Hello,
I've been stuck for some hours now trying different things to install Windows 7 on my Macbook Air, and I think now is the time to call for some custom help.
I'm using OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks.
So some months ago I just wanted to run Linux on my laptop so I installed rEFInd, shrunk the Macintosh HD partition by 25GB and booted on a linux live USB flash I burned using dd.
Then I used gparted to create my linux partitions.
It worked just fine, even though disk utility from OS X seemed quite unhappy about this (it seemed to have incorrect informations about the filesystem on these partitions, seeing them as journaled Mac OS while they were clearly not). At this point already, the Recovery HD from mac showed up in disk utility, which I found weird but didn't bother me.
But recently I needed windows on my Mac. So after a few tries for the triple boot, I managed to create a bootable USB stick with boot camp, which already showed me the message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" and hence refused to partition/install himself.
So I thought "OK, that's no big issue, I can just partition with disk utility and then boot on the USB stick and everything will work fine". But when EFI booting on the USB flash drive I got stuck at the beginning of Windows installer with no keyboard or mouse support.
After some hours spent googling, I was unable to find a working fix for that, and as there was no support for my case (where I used bootcamp to create the bootable flash but NOT to partition/reboot) I decided to give bootcamp a try.
So I erased my linux partitions, and cleaned up everything I could on the HD with disk utility. That means I now have two partitions showing in disk utility : Macintosh HD and Recovery HD.
When using disk utility from terminal, the list is :
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            80.0 GB    disk0s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Recovery HD             650.1 MB   disk0s3
But boot camp still isn't happy, and the message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" keeps popping after the intro and I can't partition/boot from bootcamp.
So, as I don't understand what is wrong here anymore, any help would be greatly appreciated!
I will be watching the thread a lot because I really would like this resolved (or windows installed one way or another) this weekend; so any questions on my past manipulations or config just ask!
Thank you.

keyboard issues are also something of a common issue.
I wish the best threads were voted to the top of forums, something! Me, I literally burned out here, but after installing 10 Preview, wanted to "see what was going on" after hiatus of a couple years and see if anything had changed (no, not really!)
Also, these new Communities are not putting "more like this" and failing to help too.
I think rewriting Boot Camp Assistant's built in help and pdf would help a lot, and needs to be clearer and go into details. And Yosemite was not it seems tested against Boot Camp, and drivers for new Macs + new OS also lag behind. Again, common and no sign of improvement or change.
One of the tricks to the "can't partition" is rather simple - of course backup is step #1 and is spelled out - SHRINK the main HFS+ partition! then stretch it back to full length. Sometimes a reboot is needed, and sometimes even do a Safe Boot - not sure what but Recovry Mode might be a good option too. That does seem to consolidate free space, move files that are locked and cannot be moved otherwise, and allow BCA to partition, jusst be sure to have enough space left and large enough for a proper Windows install (and fudge factor).

Safari crashes or hangs requiring unplugging power to my iMac desktop running OS 10.8.2. This doesn't happen with FireFox. Also while trying to recover my old files using Carbonite I get messages saying there is no space on my startup disk 1 TB?

After replacing my burnt out original hard drive in my iMac 24 inch desk top computer with 1 TB hard drive I've had repeated problems with Safari hanging/not responding. This has frozen my computer and required me to unplug the power cord and restart. It doesn't happen with FireFox. In addition, while trying to restore from Carbonite I've had it hang five or six times never completing the restore. When the technician replaced the hard drive he installed OC 10.8.2. When restoring I get repeated messages that there isn't enough room on my startup disk to continue the restore. This obviously isn't the case because I have far more storage space with a 1 TB hard drive. Any ideas what is going on and how I can prevent these two problems from continuing? Thanks.

You've got an incompatible Logitech driver and java was incompletely uninstalled.
You may have a problem with the Wacom driver.
I don't know if fixing those things will help.
There also a few window server errors, but I don't know if they are causal.
If you can note the time of the hangs, that might help narrow it down in the logs.

I installed bootcamp but became a pain to use so I unistalled it. Now every time I turn my Macbook pro on it keeps asking me what startup disk to use. I tried using the system preferences to correct this but it hasn't worked. Can someone help

I installed bootcamp but became a pain to use so I unistalled it. Now every time I turn my Macbook pro on it keeps asking me what startup disk to use. I tried using the system preferences to correct this but it hasn't worked. I even restored my mac back to factory settings but it still asks me what startup disk to use. I have looked everywhere for a solution but one anywhere

Delete the System Preference .plist file (preference file) and when rebooting and #2 Reset the PRAM
Deleting the System Preference or other .plist file
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Then head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select the OS X volume to boot from.

Cant start up on my Macbook pro. All I get is a grey spinning wheel. Tried all the Startup key combinations and nothing works. I reset the NVRAM and nothing. I booted with start up disk , ran disk repair and all is ok. Tried to re-install OS but when I ge

Can not start up on my Macbook pro. All I get is a grey spinning wheel. Tried all the Startup key combinations and nothing works. I reset the NVRAM and nothing. I booted with start up disk , ran disk repair and all is ok. Tried to re-install OS but when I get to designating drive its blank. When I go to startup disk there is a "?" mark. When I restart under startup disk search for a drive it still comes up with nothing. Before I got the grey spinning wheel I had a locked screen. Could not move curser or click on anything. Finally just shut down. Thank you in advance for any help!

Shouldn't still have a 'beachballing'... if the drive is being found and the system is trying to boot from it but is having problems, I would suggest looking over ds store's user tip - Step by step to fix your Mac.
It's likely either something corrupt in your system files or a failing hard drive. But follow ds's steps until you find the cause of the problem.
Good luck,
Clinton

TS2570 Hi, MacBook Pro & Snow Leopard- startup probs. I have tried repairing with the disk utility, resetting PRAM, booting in safe mode, and finally trying to get to archive&install the o/s, but it cannot find the destination volume. IsAn erase the only

(10.6.8 Intel core duo 2009)
Hi,
I have a grey screen and grey rotating wheel startup probs. I have tried repairing with the disk utility, resetting PRAM, booting in safe mode (which gave a subset of the errors that 'disk repair' did- namely- 'invalid sibling link,invalid record count, invalid node structure, invalid key length) and finally trying to get to archive&install the o/s, but it cannot find the destination volume. Is an erase the only option? PS I have backed up most files individually, but my daughter did not back up any from her user account. Any help would be appreciated. J

Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Why is my computer slow?
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Cannot find hard drive in startup disk or when trying to reinstall OS X

I just wanted to double check to see what the problem would be before going in any repair place.
I have recently had a gray screen and obviously when ever I start it will go to the gray screen with a folder with a question mark appears.
I've gone to the OS X utility by pressing and holding option, but whenever I've tried to do any of the repairs such as:
reinstalling the OS X
going to startup Disk
It won't show any hard drive what so ever for me to even try and fix.
But when i'm in Disk utitlity it has the base disk0 and it verfies it and says its okay.
really confused and not that well informed with Macbook pro hardwire problems.
I think its just a HD fail. but I'm trying to see if there is any other possiblities.

Take the HDD out of the MBP and install it in an enclosure. Connect it to the MBP via USB and boot the MBP via startup manager:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1310
If the MBP boots, you have a faulty SATA cable. If it does not, you will have to access the HDD via the recovery partition or the original install disks and run Disk utility>First Aid.
Ciao.

Can't start in single user mode, trying to fix blue screen startup

Trying to fix my blue screen startup and I'm on the step to fix the Network Preferences and I'm suppoed to go into single user mode. It starts but then locks up. last line is: localhost:\ root# Anyone have an idea?

Hi David.
Sorry we haven't received any response yet. getting used to the new forum is occupying a lot of peoples time at present I fear. I've yelled a bit louder this time!
In the mean time, have you already tried starting up in SAFE mode, rather than SU? http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393 and following the other processes identified in http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
If you have access to another firewire equipt Mac then you could also use Target disk mode (connect the two together with a firewire cable, then start up your own computer while holding down the t key. ) Your own HD would then appear on the desktop of the other computer as another HD, and you can then proceed to remove or shift the same .plist files (on your own HD) identified in point 4 or 5 of http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
Cheers
Rod

I am having problems trying to boot from my Windows XP startup disk.

PLEASE HELP ASAP! I upgraded my MacBook Pro 17inch laptop for a larger hard drive. I had my MAC and Windows XP partitions re-installed but I am not able to boot from Windows XP partition. I can see both operation systems in the system preferences of the STARTUP DISK section but when I shutdown my computer and hold down the OPTION key there is no WINDOWS XP icon. I keep getting the error message: NO BOOTABLE DEVICE. INSERT BOOT DISK AND PRESS ANY KEY.
I have a very important project to complete this Friday and all of my files are on my PC partition. Could someone please help me to figure out how to get my PC drive to start rebooting? I would sincerely appreciate it. Thanks!

courtesy of the following site:
http://www.builtfromsource.com/2008/04/05/a-match-made-in-****-windows-xp-boot-c amp-20-and-ntfs/
Feel like wasting several hours? Try installing Windows XP with Boot Camp 2.0 (the version released as part of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard) using NTFS, the file system required for partitions larger than 32 GB. Then watch as it fails miserably, again and again.
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
Sound familiar? You didn’t do anything wrong—this is actually Apple’s fault. Hal.dll, the “hardware abstraction layer”, doesn’t have any particular significance; it just happens to be the first file that Windows looks for as it’s loading. Attempting to replace this file with the copy on disk won’t work, and your boot.ini is probably fine.
So how do you fix it, then? The solution is a bit involved, but not too bad all things considered. Here are the steps:
If you haven’t already removed the bad installation, you’ll need to do so. In OS X, open Boot Camp, click Continue, select “Create or remove a Windows partition”, click Continue, and then click Restore.
Create a new partition as you did before, and start the installation.
After the computer has rebooted and it’s booted from the CD, type “R” to go to the console. You should be dumped to the C:\ prompt.
We’re going to reformat the drive as NTFS ourselves instead of letting the Windows installer do it. Type the following and hit Return:
format c: /q /fs:ntfs
Then type this to reboot the computer:
exit
Hold Option after it restarts, then boot to the Windows installation CD again (I believe it boots to the CD by default at this point, but this is just to be sure).
Install to C: (be careful not to select your OS X volume!), but—and this is important—choose NOT to reformat. Leave the file system as is.
Continue the installation process as you would normally.
That’s it! If things went well, the lovely 256-color Windows logo should load and you’ll be looking at Napa Valley in no time.

Trying to fix startup disk

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