Won't boot beyond grey screen. Gear just spins.

I have a MacBook Pro. I recently updated to OS X 10.8.2. Once this update was completed I updated my iPhone 4S to OS 6 followed by my iPad. This was done over successive days.  My problem started one morning sending an email reply via Mail. I was also checking some Internet news sights.  Suddenly I lost my connection and noticed the email had not been sent. I closed Safari and re- opened it only to see the message that I was not connected to the Internet. The other laptop in the household could connect but not mine. I choose to restart it but it never would get beyond the grey screen. Sometimes the gear freezes or just keeps spinning. I have tried everything, rebooting holding down command S to do an fsck -y check, holding down the shift key, and holding down the option key to select the recovery disk. Still nothing.  I tried using a FireWire connection to my desk top. I used Disk Utilities to  perform First Aid on the volume. I backed up the volume also this way. I then tried booting from the last OS X disk I had (Snow Leopard). I can hear the disk working but then the laptop freezes and the error message tells me that I must shut down and reboot. It restarts but it continues to reboot on its own over and over until I shut it down. I was hoping that I could do a clean install and start over but I can't get the laptop to boot from a disk I have in my possession.
What can I do?

This link is for troubleshooting the 'Gray Screen' problem....
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Hopefully it won't take a clean install

Similar Messages

  • My G5 won't start beyond grey screen

    Hi Folks,
    My G5 won't start beyond grey screen with the logo on it. The fans simply get louder and louder.
    It acts as our server and the raid drive on it had been having privileges problems. One person on another forum suggested I run Disc Utility to repair permissions. I did so, there were a couple of minor permissions fixed. After that, the Mac would not re-boot.
    I got the DVD door open and ran Disk Warrior on the drive, the files and the hardware. It claimed to repair a few minor issues and there were no problems with the hardware. It still wouldn't boot, so I reset the SMU. ?Still no start, so I reset the PRAM. Still the same.
    Any ideas?
    G5, OSX 10.5.6, 6 GB ram, approximately 100 GB free on system drive, over 800 GB free on RAID.

    I'm having the same problem though I'm running 10.4.11. After getting to about the point you are at did an "Archive and Install" but after about a day of working fine, it had a kernal panic and I couldn't boot past the gray screen again. I took it to my local Apple Store and they ran 2 hours of diagnostics w/o finding anything wrong. They told me to do an "Erase and Install." That is where I am at now because I can't get the machine to boot from my 10.3.5 Install CD--it hangs at the black screen when I try to boot from the CD by holding down "C" at boot. This is the original system software that came with the machine at purchase.
    There are many posts out there about bad RAM causing these kinds of problems. You might want to search around for those posts.
    Good luck and I'm going to watch this thread hoping that someone will have a suggestion that will help me too.
    Cathryn

  • My iMac won't boot past grey screen and it didn't come with a os x disk

    My iMac won't boot past grey screen with apple. I've tried booting in safemode but that didn't help and my iMac didn't come with a os x disk.

    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 startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.   
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
         a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
    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
    If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use either of the techniques in Steps 1b and 1c to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
    Step 3
    Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
    Step 4
    If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
    Step 5
    If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
    Step 6
    Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
    Step 7
    If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
    Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
    Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
    The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
    When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 10. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
    If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
    If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
    Step 8
    Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
    This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
    Step 9
    Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
    Step 10
    Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
    Step 11
    This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
    Step 12
    If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

  • MacBook Pro Won't Boot Beyond Grey Apple Screen - Mystery Partition Found

    My MacBook Pro, which suffers from appalling overheating (94 degrees C in each core last week) won't boot beyond the grey apple splash screen. I booted from a Developer's disk and ran Repair Disk/Disk Permissions. Both verified AND said the repairs failed. The drive (as opposed to the volumes) said it had no valid files and thus couldn't be repaired even though it verified. I target-disked it to one of my G4s and took off a bunch of apps and lightened its load, waited a while and tried again--it's been grey screen gear turning for 20 minutes now. I have Remote Desktop but it won't respond to that. Of course, Windows XP boots up perfectly normally on its Boot Camp-created partition, dumbly unaware of the general chaos on the other side.
    While I had the Disk Utility from the boot disk on, I noticed my partition scheme had changed somehow. The big partition with the system was now in position #2, set between #3 (Windows--formerly #2 of 2) and a new one of only 200MB called #1 which is formatted OS X Journaled. I didn't make that partition and it couldn't be erased. I think the cpmputer is looking in the #1 spot for a system and can't find it because some renegade partition with no brain has pushed its way to the front. How do I annihilate that thing and get on with it? How did it get there?
    Has anyone tried that alter the Apple Blower/Fan hack said to turn the fans on permanently?
    For the record, I'm in L.A. and the ground has been rocking and rolling for the past 3 minutes on and off.
    MacBook Pro 2.0/2GB/100GB   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   TiBookG4 1.0/512K/60; PowerMacG4 Quicksilver 933/1G/160; PowerMacG4 450/512K/30

    I called Apple's Tech Support and they had me do perform sevral procedures I had done already, none of which worked. They suggested that the mystery partition (which has since ceased to reappear in the Disk Utility's view of the partition scheme) was an anomaly caused by the still-Beta Boot Camp--nothing was said about Windows XP booting, but I think you're right because whenever installing Windows, it always reserves a small "free space" on the PC's drive for its own purposes. Anyway, I'mre-installing now but very unhappy to hear I have suspected all along--the overheating is killing the computer. I know this from experience because Ihad a Powerbook G4 with a at-that-time-not-yet-recalled battery that overheated to such an extent that it fried the logic board and the harddrive. After a year of arguing with Apple, they replaced the computer with this MacBookPro--and overheating laptop that also had its battery recalled, has already been sent back to Texas for over heating (they replaced the superdrive which of course had no effect on the heat issue) and now has hard drive problems. I have two old PowerMac G4s sitting here plugging along--maybe I'm over laptops. Thanks
    MacBook Pro 2.0/2GB/100GB   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   TiBookG4 1.0/512K/60; PowerMacG4 Quicksilver 933/1G/160; PowerMacG4 450/1GB/100

  • G5 won't boot past grey screen

    G5 2.0 Dual will not boot past grey screen. Running 10.5.8 on an old maxtor 160gb drive, drive is available as a startup disc in StartUp disk in system preferences. But when it is chosen the machine shuts down in the usual manner then switches to the maxtor disk and only gets to the grey screen with the apple log no progress clock appears. Using disk utility from install disk reports that drive is ok, running techtool pro 4.6.2 reports the drive is fine and all file structures, volume structures and directories are fine. So of course i am keen to find out what the issue is and wether it can be resolved without resorting to a clean install. When booted from another internal drive the icon for the errant drive is visible and all files and folders are visible and readily accessable.
    It would be great to get back to booting from this drive as it is the main drive I use and has so much more on it than the secondary drive.
    Any help will be of immense use
    Thank You

    I assume you have already tried a PRAM reset.  If so, then the following three items may yield a clue.
    Number one thing to try is a Safe Boot by holding the shift key down at boot.  You may have a something in the non-minimal Apple kext set that is causing the hang.  (If it safe boots, you may have a problem in kext caches which can be cleared.  See below.)
    Second is to disconnect all peripherals except monitor, keyboard and mouse and see if something there is contributing to the hang.
    Third is to use verbose boot (hold down cmd-V at boot until you see a black Unix terminal screen come up) and see where the system is hanging.
    Clearing the kext Caches (if indicated)
    This is probably easiest done booted from the other drive, so I'll describe that method. 
    Open the Maxtor's System folder, then open the Library folder and drag the following two files to the trash:
    Extensions.kextcache
    Extensions.mkext
    Empty the trash.
    Open a Terminal session from the Terminal application in the /Applications/Utilities folder.
    Type cd followed by a space in the command line and then drag the icon for the Maxtor into the window, which will put a properly formatted Unix path into the command line, then press the return key.  Type the following three commands
    cd System <cr>
    cd Library <cr>
    sudo touch Extensions <cr>
    then give your password when requested and close the terminal session.  Select the Maxtor as the statrup drive in System Preferences and give it a go.

  • Macbook Pro will not boot beyond grey screen.  System freezes.

    My Macbook Pro will not boot-up or get beyond the grey screen (with spinning gear wheel.)  I've tried all the recommended actions: resetting PRAM, disk repair, permissions repair, re-boot in safe mode etc but still the problem persists.  When viewing the safe-boot in verbose mode, the system seems to hang at the stage when it's checking the Airport & Ethernet - the last line on the page reads: "AppleBCOM5701Ethernet:   0    0    setFixedSpeed - logic error, speed any?"
    Any ideas how to fix this without doing an Archive & Install?
    I'm assuming that if I do an "Archive & Install" then I will lose all my Applications (VLC, Handbrake, MS Office for Mac etc.)  Will this actually be the case?  Will I lose them.
    Any help gratefully received.  Many thanks.

    jfromplymouth wrote: ...I'm assuming that if I do an "Archive & Install" then I will lose all my Applications (VLC, Handbrake, MS Office for Mac etc.)  Will this actually be the case?  Will I lose them...
    Archive and Install just affects the System files, so any apps you have  should still be available afterwards.  The Installer on the disk that  came  with your Mac, when you bought it, will tell you this before you  proceed.  Of course, you can always back out of the Installer if you feel chicken.
    Notwithstanding it is still necessary to backup everything.  You need to check that Time Machine is set to also backup your Applications folder.  It might be set not to do this. 
    It may not be necessary to worry about this if you have the original installer disc(s).  I think any stuff downloaded from iTunes etc can be re-downloaded.  However, it's probably quicker to get Time Machine to backup your apps if you can afford the HDD space.  It's bound to be quicker than re-downloading the stuff plus any updates.  And of course there's those Apps that you have but forgotten about.  What about them?

  • Macbook Pro won't boot past grey screen with Apple logo and then shuts off

    This is a long story...
    This morning, I would turn it on and it'd go to the grey screen with the Apple logo for a few seconds and then go to the icon that is a circle with a line through it. After reading online, I was able to boot it up in Safe Mode. I messed around a little bit in system preferences thinking I could fix it on my own, not really knowing what I was doing (I'm a *******). I went to Startup Disk in Preferences. I chose the MAC OS X, xxxx and then clicked the lock to prevent further changes and then clicked restart.
    Now when I turn on the macbook, it goes to the grey screen with the Apple logo for at least two-three minutes and then just shuts off. Won't boot into Safe Mode now. Please help. I already tried the Command-Option-P-R keys trick like five times.

    If you have a full retail DVD for 10.6 you can boot from that by holding the C key during startup...but you will then be in install mode if that is what you want to do.  At least go ahead and see if it will boot ok from the 10.6 disk and then you can decide what you want to do further.
    Apple does not have 10.5 for sale anymore from what some other users have said on here so if you want to go that route you will have to find a copy for sale such as from eBay or one of the Mac resellers.
    Before taking the machine to someone, try booting from 10.6 and see if that works...that way you can narrow down problems the machine may be having.

  • Macbook won't boot up - grey screen only

    Hi,
    I have a core duo MacBook from summer 2007.
    All of a sudden the MacBook won't boot up. The battery is fully charged and AC adapter plugged in (same symptoms if not plugged in). The following occurs upon pressing the power button:
    1) Start-up chime sounds
    2) Can hear hard drive and fans start up
    3) Screen turns grey
    4) Nothing happens (screen still grey)
    Thoughts? I tried resetting PRAM and PMU with no changes.

    I have the same problem, just the grey screen and tried
    - resetting PRAM (second chime, so this should be OK)
    - Safe Mode (just the same)
    and pressing Option (or C) to choose the Mac OS X Install Disc gives me the wonderful cursor which can be moved by moving the mouse. No harddisk and even no Install DVD are displayed on the screen.
    Also The Apple Hardware Test (by pressing D) doesn't get further than the, now familiar, grey screen.
    I pressed the keys with different keyboards, with the original white keyboard and with the aluminium keyboard.
    As I've tried everything, I think there's something seriously wrong. Does anybody have some last tips that I can try?

  • Macbook won't boot past grey screen with Apple logo and spinning wheel.

    For some reason, after about 1 year and 10 months of owning my Macbook, it decided this morning not to load past the grey screen with the Apple logo and spinning cog/wheel.
    I used it for a couple of hours beforehand, and it was working fine. Software Update prompted me of about about 4 or 5 updates; I can't remember exactly what was downloaded, but I think there was a Security Update and iTunes among them. I restarted, left it to install with no errors, but when I logged in, Safari and iTunes were running incredibly slowly. I also noticed that the volume keys weren't responding, as well as the power key to bring up the "Sleep, Restart, Shutdown, etc" dialog box. I forced shutdown, hoping a restart would solve my problem, and that's when my troubles started. I originally just left it, but after about an hour the wretched thing was still spinning.
    So far, I have done a number of troubleshooting tips on a variety of websites. I have tried taking the battery out and holding down power for 5 seconds, resetting the PRAM with option, cmd, p & r, and holding down power until the sleep light flashes rapidly and the computer lets out a large "BOOOP".
    I have booted off my Leopard install disk with both option and c, repaired the hard drive a number of times, with there being no errors whatsoever. I have tried repairing permissions, but everything seems to freeze up, except the mouse.
    For some reason my computer will not boot into safe mode, either, and holding cmd & s at startup doesn't get me to the stage where I can enter commands with the keyboard.
    Unfortunately, because of my puny 60GB hard drive, I only have 1GB of free space left and cannot reinstall Leopard without wiping my hard drive.
    I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could assist me with this unfortunate dilemma. It's such a shame that my computer has been fantastic for so long and now decides to play up. (Maybe it's just Apple trying to get me to buy a new 2.4Ghz aluminium Macbook sooner than I was planning...)
    Thanks very much.

    Hi ds,
    Sorry to hear you're having such trouble!
    Unfortunately, the best thing you can do at this point is reinstall Leopard (and then attempt to install the combo updater, too). If you don't have a backup of your machine, you could boot it into Target Disk Mode (by holding down T at startup) and then attach it via FireWire to another computer to salvage your files.
    I recently had to repair a machine with this exact same problem, and after messing around with that for several hours, I'd have to say that I think that an Erase and Install is the way to go. If you then migrate over your user data and start having troubles, you at least know where the problem lies. I suspect, though, that having a clean machine with all of the new updates applied will be the end of the issue.
    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There are a few other things you could try first; you could, for example, manually download the relevant combo updater from Apple's website and attempt to install it to your damaged machine while it's in Target Disk Mode. If you have a copy of Disk Warrior, that too is certainly worth a shot (and in some cases may be the saving grace). In my experience, though, a failure of this magnitude isn't easy to resolve.
    Hope that helps.
    —Hazy

  • G4 mirror can't won't boot past grey screen with dark gray apple

    Before this the computer was operating fine.
    I just went and downloaded the latest versions of itunes and Safari. It stated that I had a corrupt download of itunes. It went thru the normal downloading/install procedure. When it went to restart from the install, it just hangs up at the light grey screen with the dark gray apple and I get the spinning wheel. It stays here for one/two minutes, then shuts itself down. Any ideas for fixing? Also I do not have any install disks. Thanks.

    *Option 1*: Boot from your bootable backup drive, then erase the internal drive and clone the backup to the internal drive. You can use Disk Utility in the Utilities folder on the backup drive. Don't have a backup? Good time to start planning a backup strategy. Move on to:
    *Option 2: Download AppleJack* - VersionTracker or MacUpdate - and read the documentation carefully. Then install the utility and use it to perform repairs and maintenance on your normal startup drive. Note that to use AppleJack you must be able to startup in single-user mode. If the existing system is unable to start properly into single-user mode, then you cannot use AppleJack.
    *Option 3:* Purchase a copy of Leopard from an Apple Store or Apple retailer. Use it to reinstall OS X by doing an Archive and Install:
    How to Perform an Archive and Install
    An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
    1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
    Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your OS X 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 Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
    2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
    3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
    4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
    5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
    6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

  • G5 ALS Won't Boot Past Grey Screen...Bad Logic Board?

    Hi all-
    I did a quick search, and found various answers, but none specific to my situation, so below, please find my tale of woe, and I appreciate in advance any advice you folks could provide:
    I have a G5, 2.0GHz, 20" iMac (upgraded to Leopard) that recently stopped booting past the grey screen/ chime. Somewhat irked, I did some trouble shooting to include the following:
    1 - Reset SMU
    2 - Zapped PRAM
    3 - Run Apple Hardware Test (all tests passed)
    4 - Repaired hard drive by booting to the install CD ... it returned errors that were not fixable, but since the log is on the computer that crashed, I don't have the errors to post here
    5 - After that repair, the computer booted, so I ran disk utility again, repaired permissions successfully, verified the hard disk via S.M.A.R.T. (arguably, not the most reliable indicator of hard disk life).
    6 - Just to be on the safe side, I did an Archive and Install.
    All that done, I was able to use the computer for 2 days, and this morning, I woke up to find the fans a-blazin' and the computer non-responsive...I rebooted to...you guessed it!...a grey screen.
    Luckily for me, my memory (akin to a steel trap!) served me well...I had the power supply changed two months ago under the repair extension program for my model iMac (bulging capacitors)..but they did NOT replace the logic board.
    If you have made it this far, thank you for reading, I am building to my crescendo....
    Being a slightly balding fellow, I have very little hair left to pull out here, so in desperation and with my recent power supply repair in mind, I pulled the back off of my beloved iMac (my very first Mac!) to reveal a bulging capacitor on the +logic board+.
    My question: Could my symptoms be related to the logic board (remember the AHT passed), or might it be related to a bad hard drive (remember the S.M.A.R.T. status was verified)? Any troubleshooting steps I may have missed? I am going to bring it to my local Apple store, but wanted to know if there are any other ideas out there for me to try before making the 1.5+ hour trek south to a Mall.
    Thank you all in advance for any advice you may have!
    Best,
    jason

    Not only do you have a hardware problem, you should call Apple, tell them that you had the power supply replaced two months ago (you are within the 90 day warranty period), and ask that they replace the motherboard as well, since the previous repair didn't work.

  • IMac (early 2008) won't boot past grey screen and has lines going vertical.

    I have an early 2008 iMac that won't boot up past the grey apple screen.  I've tried booting from the install CD to no avail and it also will not load my windows partition (boot camp).  I've reset all the things I think I can reset and also tried starting in safe mode with no luck.  Has anyone experienced this before and if so, how did you fix it??  I suppose I should note as well that the ram has been upgraded to 4gb (myself).  It worked great for quite a while then I periodically got the lines along with a frozen screen but usually a restart fixed it.  I'm up against a wall with it now and short of taking it in to the genius bar (closest one is almost 3 hours away) I don't know what else to do.
    Any thoughts?
    P.S. I've attached a picture of the lines.  It gets to here and then freezes.

    I suppose I should note too that when I try to boot from the CD, the screen dims and tells me to restart after a minute or so.

  • MacBook Pro won't boot. Grey Screen appears, apple logo then nothing

    I'm very frustrated. I was using my laptop and suddenly the rainbow wheel appears and it freezes. I tried to hard reboot it and when it restarted a grey screen appears and the apple logo shows up. I bought it used from a Micro Center and I believe it's out of warranty. What is going on and what are my options?

    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 the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    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. Use the working Mac to 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
    Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
    Step 3
    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 4
    Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
    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.
    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 corrupt 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 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
    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.
    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 Time Machine or other backup.
    Step 8
    This step applies only to older Macs (not current models) that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery. Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a boot failure. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
    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. If you can't get to an Apple Store, go to another authorized service provider.

  • Help: Macbook Pro Retina won't boot past Grey screen w/ Logo

    All,
    My computer died last night with each application not responding. I couldn't shut down normally so I held the power button to turn it off.
    Next morning, I tried to boot the MacBook Pro and the boot process stalled at the grey screen with the Apple Logo and spinning wheel. I let it go for an hour and there was no change on the screen. Based on Apple's help desk I ran Hardware diagnostics (extended with looping disabled) and got the following error
    4HDD/11/40000000: SATA (0,0)
    The screen shot is below
    I ran this again with standard testing (no looping) and standard with looping and all gave the same results.
    Any ideas? The compute will not boot.
    Thank you
    Phillip

    That's what I thought but was able to do CMD-R and verify/repair permissions the disk. My hard drive is actually a flash drive so I'm guessing the controller or motherboard.
    I do have it backed up with the last 24 hours ago.
    Thanks
    Phillip

  • Laptop won't boot beyond the screen showing "Tobshiba leading innovation"

    I installed an antivirus recently and in its scan some viruses were found. Those viruses were deleted and now my laptop wont boot into windows. It just stays where "toshiba" logo is displayed. My laptop is running on windows 8.1. I have a recovery DVD, but the laptop won't boot from the DVD either. Is there a way to get my laptop to boot windows without doing a factory reset. Please help!!

    Try the Troubleshooting Assistant or the suggestions in this article.
    What can I do if my Windows 8 laptop won't start?
    - Peter

Maybe you are looking for