Why is my macair stuck on the gray start up screen?

I try to start my computer but it just sits there on the gray screen with the apple symbol and the spinning wheel. I don't have the external cd drive so is there anyway I can fix this?

Assuming you are running 10.7.x boot the mac holding "Command + R" and restore your drive.

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Occasionly stuck at the gray start up screen...

About two weeks ago my G5 got stuck at the gray screen and the fans started up, full blast. I attempted to reboot, but still the same issue. I unplugged the machine for about 24 hours and luckily it turned on as it should upon my next attempt, however the issue has reoccured twice since that day. After powering the machine on, I can tell when the CPU is not going to boot up because once the gray screen is shown, the loading icon beneath the Apple logo will not be displayed. I have also noticed that when I am able to get around this issue that my Mac has been "acting strange" such as Safari having unexpected shut downs more often than ever before. Any suggestions?

You sound as if you are having thermal problems - go to User>Applications>Utilities>Console and look in your system log for any temperature related items. You may either have bad caps or your power supply unit it failing.
You can try to reset 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.
Let us know if that helps. Also, make sure your vents are free of dust and empty Safari's cache.

Lion 10.7 Stuck at the gray start up screen. Spinning ball. I don't have an install disc. Now what.

Isn't there a way to"safe" boot?

Yes. Restart, holding down the SHIFT key. Details in http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455

My iPod Touch (2nd Gen) is stuck on the Apple start up screen.

My iPod Touch (2nd Gen) is stuck on the Apple start up screen. I have restored it three times so far, but every time it turns off the problem returns. Since restoring yesterday, the battery life has been dramatically shortened as well. I have no idea what to do, as my iPod is out of warranty and this problem started for no reason what so ever. I also have no local access to Apple support. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've tried this. Though it brings temporary success, in the fact that the iPod functions until it is turned off again. Then the problem seems to return. I thought it might be a problem with the backup file, but I have since restored it completely (to have nothing but the basics on) and the problem is still there.
Thank you for the responses so far though. Hopefully, they can help others with a similar problem.
mary annfromhamilton wrote:
my ipod touch ( 2 gen ) isnt even updating from version 4.2.1 like its says its up tp date
I believe mine is also 4.2.1. I made an error when selecting the OS at the bottom of my posts and have no idea how I change it.
*EDIT* - I have now managed to change my iOS, not that it makes much difference. I've heard people have been having trouble with iOS 4 on the 2nd Gen iPod Touch?
Message was edited by: Rickithly @ 14:40, 03/08/2011

TS2570 My 2010 MacBook pro gets stuck at the apple start up screen

I think I've tried almost everything possible and my computer gets stuck at the apple start up screen with the loading bar under every time I shut the computer down and restart it. I've tried all the resetting, trying to do the apple hardware test (which never worked), and so many other things that I can't even remember everything that I've tried. Could someone out there possibly help me?

Yes. I turn it on like I normally would. I hear the chime and everything. It looks like it wants to start up and it acts like its loading. Then it just gets stuck when the loading bar gets to right about the middle.

Stuck at the Gray Apple Startup Screen

I've got a bit of an issue here I could use some help on. Let me first start by saying that I've already researched this some on these boards, but the folks with similar issue threads didn't seem to cover my issue.
I have a PowerPC G4 with 1Ghz/1Gig Ram (I'll call it "Server" for this discussion), that I use as a storage center for my files. It has 2 hard-drives in it that segregate my jobs. I normally connect to each of these hard-drives from my work station to work.
I was gone on vacation for the past 5 days, and left only the Server turned on so I could hook up to it remotely if need be. I returned this morning, booted up my work station, and went to connect to the Server. When I did, neither of the hard drives were showing up over the network, although each was accessible directly at the Server. I decided to reboot the Server to see if they would then show up. This is where my trouble begins...
The computer promptly booted up to the gray screen. I let it sit here for about 10 minutes with no progression. I then decided to try and startup from my OSX install CD so that I could run the disk utility. Oddly, it would not boot from the CD. I tried this a few times, holding down the "C" key each time, but it would just boot to the gray screen and sit idle there.
I then decided to try booting in safe-mode. So I restarted and held down the "shift" key. This seemed to do nothing as well. I discovered online that sometimes it takes awhile for a safe-mode boot, so I have left the computer with a weight holding down the shift-key for the past 30 minutes. Still nothing. Sitting at the gray screen with the small revolving circle of lines.
I have disconnected every peripheral except the monitor and network cable. It is almost like the keyboard isn't being read. I can't eject the CD while at the gray screen, although if I mash the eject key right after the "bong" on reboot, it will eject.
I'm at a loss here and would appreciate any help or insight. I'll keep a close eye on this thread and reply asap to any who has some ideas. Thanks in advance.
Chris Zimmerman
The Nicholson Group

Hi, Chris.
1. For the inability to start up from a CD:1.1 Try resetting resetting PRAM and NVRAM.
1.2 Try resetting the PMU (Power Management Unit). Depending on the type of G4 you have, one of the following should apply:• "Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics/Gigabit Ethernet): Resetting the PMU on the Logic Board."
• "Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics): Resetting the Logic Board."
If you are unsure as to which model PowerMac G4 you have, start with "PowerMac G4 Models."
2. If you can then boot from a CD:2.1. Run the Apple Hardware Test that came with the affected computer. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ for comprehensive advice on using the Apple Hardware Test in troubleshooting, including running the test in Loop Mode.
2.2. Run the procedure specified in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ. Perform the steps therein in the order specified.3. As a guess to cause, a power failure may have occurred while you were away. That may have damaged either the affected Mac's hardware or corrupted its startup disk in some way. I recommend all desktop computers have their own UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to prevent such power-related problems.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

HT201262 I have the gray start up screen that just keeps spinning. I have 'dubious permissions on file' I cant boot my MacBook Pro 15"

I cannot start up / boot my MacBook Pro (15"). When I power it up, all I get is a 'persistant gray screen' with that gear icon spinning under the apple.
I did run a 'safe boot', and saw that I had 2 possible errors that might be causing it:
1) 'lanchctl: dubious permissions on file. /Library/LaunchDaemons
2) 'lanchctl: dubious permissions on file. /etc./mach_init.d
Also, there was a line that said that my 'IPv6' was disabled ??
If anyone knows what I can do to fix this, I would be very grateful. All my songs and videos and pics are on my mac,and I have had it since 2007.
Thank you kindly,
Gino
[email protected]

Try a SMC reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
Ciao.

The apple on the gray start-up screen turns into a circle with a slash.

My G5 has been pretty reliable for the past three (?) years. Lately it's been a bit squirrely booting up--once it went into kernel panic during boot, but powering down and restarting seemed to fix that. Lately, too, when I let the machine run and it goes to sleep I'll come back after a couple of hours to find the fan running at top speed and the machine unresponsive. Yesterday it seemed to have problems booting so I reset the PRAM and NVRAM and ran Onyx and it worked fine all day. This morning when I went to boot, I got the usual gray screen with the whirling gear. After about a minute, the apple in the center of the screen turned into a circle with a slash while the gear continued to whirl. How do I fix this?

I've subsequently tried a number of things. I reset the SMU, which didn't help until I also reset the PRAM. Computer booted normally. I rebooted from the Tiger DVD and repaired the start up disk; there were only two small errors to be fixed. The machine booted normally (and pretty quickly) for about a week before the problem resurfaced. I again went through the first two steps and got things working once more.
Lately the problem has returned. First, resetting the PRAM didn't help; only resetting the SMU worked. At the last event I needed to reset the PRAM without resetting the SMU. When I get home tonight I'll try booting from the DVD and repairing the permissions on the start up drive.
At first, I thought I'd leave it running all night, but when I got to the office in the morning the fans were running at full throttle and the machine was in a coma. All I could do was reboot--which it did, immediately going into kernel panic. I shut it down and rebooted, resetting the PRAM in the process. The computer booted and ran fine all day, although it seems slow (I did have Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom running simultaneously, but I do have 5 GB of RAM).
It's been suggested I may have a corrupt RAM chip (computer doesn't chirp at me, as I'm told it would) or, more terrifying, a processor is about to check out. I also have an ATTO SCSI card in this to run a legacy scanner. Could that be a problem?
Any advice?
JP

When trying to view videos in full screen, It changes to the gray start up screen picture...

, and the video disappears. Any idea how to fix? Im on an early 2008 white macbook 13 inch. Running Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63). Thanks !

Hello, adammusic.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
I would need a little more information regarding this issue to provide a better answer. However, it sounds like you are experiencing and issue with your MacBook restarting. Here is an article that I would recommend going through if you are experiencing that issue.
OS X: When your computer spontaneously restarts or displays "Your computer restarted because of a problem."
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT200553
Cheers,
Jason H.

Am stuck in the grey start-up screen

Any ideas about what I can do to resurrect my Air?

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

Can't get past gray start up screen. Help!

Last night, my macbook pro froze when I tried to wake it from sleep. I pressed the power button and haven't been able to get on at all since. I've tried everything I can think of- I held down the c button on power up (with my original installation disc in ), tried holding the shift on power up, and tried holding the option key on power up. Nothing takes me past the gray start up screen. The gray spinner goes and goes until it eventually freezes as well. I even did the /sbin/fsck -fy thing. after a couple of runs of that, it came up saying that everything appeared to be okay, but when I type reboot, I'm taken right back to the gray screen. I don't know what else to try. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's been three days since I first posted, and still haven't had much luck with anything. Anyone else have any other suggestions? I'm about ready to throw my laptop at the wall at this point.
Earlier today, I was able to finally get to the Disc Utility, but when I went to the first aid tab, my HD wasn't listed. There was only the CD/DVD drive and my installation disc. Stupidly, I navigated away from that screen, and am now right back where I started stuck at the gray startup screen. Even after I run fsck in single-user mode (which I have been able to get to consistently) when I type 'reboot' it makes an attempt to restart, but the spinner goes forever and I can't log on.
Anyone? Anything?

Can't get past gray start up screen after failed software update

Uh-oh. I think I'm in trouble now.
This afternoon I was trying to do a software update on my iBook. After about an hour and a half, there hadn't been any progress, so I figured it had frozen, and forced it to quit. When I tried to start it back up again, it comes up to the gray start up screen, and then just sits there and spins. Here's what I've tried so far:
Safe mode- doesn't work, just sits at gray screen
Using option key- shows my HD, I select it, sits at gray screen
Using OSX installer disk- I'm able to get to disc utility this way. SMART status says verified, ran repair disk and it found no errors. Tried to run repair permissions and it just sat there for about 3 hours with the bar spinning blue and white, but not actually filling up. It wouldn't allow me to stop repair permissions, so I had to force it to stop. I thought about reinstalling, but I don't have enough space on my HD.
So, that's where I am at this point. Now I find out how I've managed to mess things up so completely, and cross my fingers that someone will please, please, please have an answer. Thanks!

Kristen Stanton wrote:
I tried to backup my iBook HD using target disc mode, but it wouldn't work. The target computer (G4 running 10.4) would come up to the blue screen with the FireWire logo bouncing around, and would go no further.
I think the problem there is that you need to boot the iBook with the T key held down, not the G4(10.4). What this does is mounts your iBook's drive on the G4. The bouncing FireWire logo should be on your iBook, not your G4. This means that you connect the two machines, hold down the T key on the problem computer to mount the volumes onto the working computer.
There shouldn't be a compatibility problem because it mounts it as an external hard drive (not necessarily a boot volume.)
Will the disc come out of the iBook when there is no longer a FireWire cable connecting to both computers?
Let me know...
D.

Gray Start Up Screen Circle With Line Through It

so i am starting up my macbook, and on the gray start up screen there is a circle with a line through it, and i dont have any idea what that means...
i recently got a new hard drive put in it, and since then its been pretty darn slow, and i cant do certain things like use safari because it is too slow and freezes up.... and then when i restarted it this happened...
i dont know what to do and what this means.
Thanks
Randi

well that kinda helps... but after i try everything that i can do at the moment, the its says to go to the apple menu, but there is no apple menu that i can get to.. so this only helps to a point... i guess i will have to go waste my money at best buy with the geek squad lol...
if anyone has any help...
pleasseee help me!!!

Brand new MBP stuck on grey Apple start up screen

My new MBP 13" arrived today. I removed the SSD from my current Macbook and installed it in my MBP. I pressed the power button, and it got stuck on the grey start up screen with the grey Apple for 5 minutes. I shut it down and put the SSD back in the Macbook - worked perfectly. So I tried installing it again in the MBP, and had the same problem. It just stays stuck on the grey screen with the Apple.

Last night the electricity went out and my power surge protector was not working so my iMac just force shut downed.
So, when the electricity came back i turned on my Mac but it is *Stuck in the Startup/Boot Screen with a Grey Apple Logo,a Empty Progress Bar with stays for 1 or 2 minutes and a small Spinning Wheel which would Spin Forver! I Have tried the SMC and Pram reset but no use, i have also tried to insert my OS X Lion 10.7 Installation disk and it would not load if i hold the C Key in the Startup, I Have Managed to go to Disk Utility Through "Recovery HD" but the Volume "Macintosh HD" is Greyed out and Unmounted and i cannot repair it. There are some files that i'd like to Recover if there is a way to fix it without deleting files.
**PLEASE HELP ME FIX THIS!**
Details about the iMac:
iMac 21.5 Inch i think from Mid 2010,
OS X Lion installed maybe 10.7.2 or 10.7.3 (im not sure)

Why is my iphone stuck on the connect to itunes after trying to update itand itunes is telling me it cannot reach the update server

why is my iphone stuck on the connect to iTunes after trying to update it and iTunes is telling me it cannot reach the update server I have also tried the recovery instructions, iTunes wont even connect to the iTunes store and my internet connection is fine

Come on now, someone must know how to fix this.

Why is my macair stuck on the gray start up screen?

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