Won't boot on start

imac running snow leapord won't boot on start-up; any ideas?

Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Folder with question mark issue
..Step by Step to fix your Mac

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  • MacBook Pro won't boot at start.  I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

    MacBook Pro won't boot at start.  I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

    Read this article...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

  • HP Mini won't boot or start.

    HP Mini (Vivienne Tam model)  won't boot or start.  Your help is greatly appreciated. Please help. Thanks!

    Hi PPBlake,
    Took a look around to see if there was any information on that error, and found a few things for you. Most of the steps are for Vista and Windows 7 - if you have a different OS loaded on that Mini, please post back anytime to let me know.
    Quote from "Testing for Hardware Failures":  3F0: This indicates a potential problem with the hard drive. Please run the hard drive test.  See Testing a Hard Disk from the BIOS for more information.
    I also found this link, it might help as well: Resolve Boot Device not Found Error Message
    Good luck, and let me know how it goes
    *** If my reply was helpful, please click on the "Kudos Thumbs-Up" on the right, as a way to say "Thanks!".
    If this reply also fixed your issue - please click the "Accept as Solution" button, so that others can find the same answer. ***

  • My N900 won't boot or start

    hey guys i really need a big help here , my n900 was working fine but yesterday the network was down so i removed the battery and put it again and it worked fine and i put the phone in the charger and i slept , when i get wake up in the morning i realized that phone didn't charge it was weird for me so i removed the battery and put it again and it won't work any more...i tried to boot it and it worked fine and i choosed from boot the backup but it keep telling me error in backe up...i shut it down and since that N900 dont want to make boot or start again...when i try to open it comes the white screen with blue Nokia and it shut down....when i connect it to the computer the phone do weird thing...it keep power on with the white screen and the blue nokia, then turn off again and start again and turn off again, the N900 keep doing this untill i removed it from the computer. 
    I asked one of my friend have N900 and he told me that may be this happened because the battery.so i removed the battery and put it into a desktop charger for 1 hour and put it in the phone but nothing happened... still the same situation.
    I don't know what to do if  , there is any solution please guys tell me 
    and finally i'm sorry for my bad english.
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    @scozy
    Sounds like your N900 may have entered a "Boot loop", you might want to look over at talk.maemo org:http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=71915
    Happy to have helped forum with a Support Ratio = 42.5

  • Macbook won't boot or start, constant disk drive noise

    I purchased a Macbook Pro and been using it constantly for over 2 years now but never seen a problem like this.
    I partitioned my HD to run Windows a while back but recently decided to remove it. I partitioned the HD back into its original state. While verifying the drive in Disk Utility, the drive said it had an error, don't remember what, but was able to repair it using the installation cd.
    Soon after i thought everything was normal but my computer started to slow down and freeze, I had to manually turn off my Mac by holding now the power button. This went on for a bit and soon afterwards the computer wont start at all. I also heard a beeping noise when i turned on my mac but that was only once.
    I dont hear a boot chime and the screen doesnt turn on. All i hear is the disk drive making its noise that it usually makes when you turn on the Mac but in this case it just keep making the noise.
    Has anyone encountered a problem like this before? Any help would be great. My data has been backed up but i would rather that i didnt has to reset my Mac. I'm guess is that the HD might be failing, if thats the case then i got no choice.

    Have you tried starting from the installation dvd? If it won't start from this it's likely to be a hardware problem.
    You could also try starting in target disk mode by holding the t key until you see the screen with the target on. Even if you don't see the screen light up still try the following. If you have access to a second Mac and a firewire cable try connecting the 2 with the cable after the attempted target mode startup and see whether the hd shows on the second machine. If it does then you probably have a failure of the graphics processor. I was able to do this earlier this year when my screen didn't light up.
    My next Q: Do you have the Applecare extended warranty? If you do then take it to your nearest authorised service centre for diagnosis.
    Neville
    Message was edited by: Neville Mayfield

  • G3 in box for over a year, won't boot up, start, respond, etc...

    Simple enough. I haven't used my older iMac G3 for probably two years. Purchased around 2000, used until maybe 2003, last started maybe two years ago for a couple of days. Before and since it's been shut down, carefully packed in the original packing and stored in a temperature controlled room (with music equip). Today I realized I need some older .psd files from the hd. Unpacked the machine, plugged it in and fired it up.
    Nothing.
    I waited a few hours and tried again.
    Nothing.
    After research I deduced the internal battery was probably toast and the most likely culprit. I replaced the battery and the results are:
    I get the booting "buzz" or "hum" (whatev you want to call it) but no green, orange or red button. Nothing actually.
    Anyone encounter the same issue or similar? Any advice, thoughts, perspectives? Thank you in advance.

    You may need to open up you iMac and take the harddrive out and place harddrive in an external enclosure or internal harddrive slot.
    There are two assemblies with the iMac G3. The crt and the computer. The crt is fully enclosed. The computer is a tray that slides off. Working with the computer tray should be safe.
    Check out this site
    iMac HDD Upgrade Guide (Slot-Loading) Visual Installation Guide - slot loading iMac Hard Drive Visual Installation Guide
    You have a 3 and a 1/2 inch ATA harddrive. They are also known as parallel ATA or PATA.
    You may not have to be as particular as I suggest below. If you do not need to boot the external, you could try USB. There are some real cheap external connectors without a case. Should work for you.
    You need an external Firewire drive to boot a PowerPC Mac computer.
    I recommend you do a google search on any external harddrive you are looking at.
    I bought a low cost external drive enclosure. When I started having trouble with it, I did a google search and found a lot of complaints about the drive enclosure. I ended up buying a new drive enclosure. On my second go around, I decided to buy a drive enclosure with a good history of working with Macs. The chip set seems to be the key ingredient. The Oxford line of chips seems to be good. I got the Oxford 911.
    The latest the hard drive enclosures support the newer serial ata drives. The drive and closure that I list supports only older parallel ata.
    Has everything interface:
    FireWire 800/400 + USB2, + eSATA 'Quad Interface'
    save a little money interface:
    FireWire 400 + USB 2.0
    This web page lists both external harddrive types. You may need to scroll to the right to see both.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATAFW800_FW400USB
    Here is an external hd enclosure.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW91UAL1K/
    Here is what one contributor recommended:
    http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10452917#10452917
    Folks in these Mac forums recommend LaCie, OWC or G-Tech.
    Here is a list of recommended drives:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5564509#5564509

  • Macbook Pro Won't Boot After Starting Lion Install

    2008 Macbook Pro 17" with Core 2 Dou processor.
    Internal Disk has two Partitions
    Downloaded Lion from App store and ran installer. Selected 2nd partition which is Mac OS Extended Journaled. (I was intending to do a clean install on this empty partition.)
    Installs appears normal, goes to boot and hangs at the gray screen after the chime.
    Verbose logging does not show anything obvious, no more info after identifying the network adaptors.
    Booting with option key does not give option to boot to Snow Leopard partition.
    I

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    Press Command and R keys when your Mac starts and reinstall OS X. Mountain Lion is damaged in the computer

  • Won't Boot internal Start Up Disk

    Hi all,
    Today I had to do a hard shut down after my 2009 mac book pro froze. After this, the computer would not boot up again. I get as far as the grey screen, with the rotating "gear icon". It stays on this screen indefinitely.
    I tried booting to the recover disk - it did not boot into it
    I have tried doing a safe start up - nothing happened
    I tried resetting the PRAM - it restarted twice, but after that nothing else changed
    I tried doing the fsck -fy command, and nothing really came of that. However, it did say that the OS was "not yet set".
    I changed my HDD a few months ago, and have a clone of my hard drive from then. When I plug that hard drive in and try to boot into it, it works, as the computer was a few months ago. I opened the disk utility and repaired my main hard drive, I am currently verifying the partition labled "Macintosh HD" on it. It has so far said (in red) Journal needs to be replayed but volume is read only.
    Ive exhausted my knowledge so that leaves me here.
    I dont think its my logic board, because I can still boot into my old HDD... but im not sure.
    This leaves me thinking it could be my new hard drive that has somehow failed to connect to the Start Up Disk.
    Any insight would be much appreciated,
    Thanks,
    Austin.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    It looks like the hard drive is damaged. Try to repair it and see if you can use it. However, it looks like it is physically damaged and you will need to replace it.
    Your MacBook Pro needs a 2'5" SATA hard drive, and you can buy near any hard drive that meet that requirement. Have a look at OWC for information > http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

  • Intel iMac won't boot. Starting chime, then beeping. What's wrong with it?

    I pressed the power button on my iMac to turn it on - I didn't hold the button down, it was just a normal press - and it made the normal start up chime when turned on, but after that it beeps twice, then after that it beeps three times every three seconds and won't start up. I pressed the power button and tried again, but still the same thing. I tried holding down the power button to power on to do whatever that does (I can't remember exactly). It makes the long beep sound, makes the start up chime, then the same thing. I'm not sure what to do. I've have some very important files and projects that I can't afford to lose... sigh Can someone tell me what to do?
    Message was edited by: digitalhigh

    I've just had a similar problem. My 24" Intel iMac was shutting off but itself. It will start fine and after a couple of minutes it will shut off, till I couldn't start it anymore. It even beeped 3 times a couple of times. Tried everything that was adviced, then I took it to the apple store and they told me the problem was the power supply from the computer, they replaced it and now it's working fine.

  • New SCSI Hard Drive Won't Boot

    Hello,
    I have a problem. My original SCSI drive died on me and I took it out and converted over to only ATA drives. Ever since I did that, my computer has always been a bit lagging. Slow. Not too fast. Anyway, I bought another SCSI drive and I'm trying to use that as my boot drive. I used Carbon Copy Cloner and checked "make bootable" in the preferences, but for some reason my computer just won't boot from it. I've formatted it and it shows up on my desktop, but it won't boot. Start. Make OS go boom boom. I would appreciate any help I could get. Thanks in advance.

    First of all, thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.
    A couple of things. I check my system profiler and I couldn't find out what kind of SCSI card I have. I even opened up my machine and there wasn't any writing on it. So how do I find out what type of card I have? My other question is if the same card worked for the SCSI drive I had before, why won't it work on the new drive. I've set it as the master at the end of the SCSI cord and like I said I used CCC. The drive shows up on my desktop but won't boot. Should I try loading OS from disks instead of using CCC?

  • System won't boot-no chime.

    Despite repeated attempts and resetting the CUDA button, the system won't boot when start button is pressed. In the first few seconds it seems to make normal sounds; but no chime and settles into simply fan noise. This is true even if using C (with an Install CD). or Shift key. Is there anything else I can try? (I know it's actually a G3 B&W Motherboard; but I had nowhwere else to post it)

    I do not remember exactly what was happening when it stopped. It may have been executing something , hung up, and wouldn't respond to the Command-Opt-Esc or I do remember one incident when it was booting up and stopped when it was partly thru "searching for local discs.
    I checked the ref. article and tried to measure the voltages on the power connector. I was never quite sure what pin was what, since the colors did not jive with those in the article. At any rate 2 were approx. + 5 V (one was 4.85), the rest were essentially zero (I believe 1 or 2 were about 300 mv). I did notice that when the power connector is reconnected and start up is attempted, 3 little green lights come on on the motherboard. One goes off after a while.
    I have tried the old Sonnet upgrade and have tried reseating all the RAM modules. All to no avail.
    The Hard drive and all other parts seemed to be working fine prior to the failure.

  • Recovery Disc won't boot

    Hello,
    I have a HP Compaq nx7400. I've created Recovery Discs but they won't boot from start up screen. When I press F9 and pick optical drive the DVD is spinning from time to time and nothing happens until windows startup.
    I've suspected that there might be a problem with my optical drive so I've borrowed an external DVD. The same thing happens when I startup from DVD USB external drive.
    I have suspected that there might be somekind of a Recovery DVD problem so I've tested them on a different laptop. The recovery disk have booted without any problem.
    I run out of ideas. Any solutions, please?

    Try repeatedly pressing F2 immediately after pressing the power button and see if it will at least take you to the laptops BIOS screen (usually blue with a lot of hardware options).  If you can do this, you could try going back to the toshiba site on a secondary computer, redownloading the BIOS update accept follow the secondary manual install procedure (usually requires a disc to be burned or put on a USB drive).  By not completely loading the BIOS update correctly, you may have corrupted your BIOS firmware which is the essential hard coded software on the motherboard that tells the system how to initially load everything before handing it all off to Windows when windows starts.  All that "start up" form the BIOS is what happens with the laptops POSTs or shows you the "Toshiba" screen initially for 3 to 5 seconds as soon as you turn the system on.  Let me know if this helps.

  • OS X Server 10.4 won't boot: AppleFileServer: Server crashed and exited...

    OS X Server 10.4 won't boot. Starting in verbose mode the error is :
    /usr/sbin/AppleFileServer: Server crashed and exited with status 4.\n
    Ran fsck, and reported errors. Ran DiskWarrior and those errors seem to have cleared up. Running fsck now reports clean. Running disk utility reports no errors.
    Must be a corrupt config file, but where to begin?
    Any help appreciated. Thanks!

    Your enclosure is locked.
    When the enclosure is locked, keyboard input is disabled (as a security measure).
    Unlock the enclosure (the little lock wheel on the front of the server) and your keyboard will magically start working.

  • I have an iMac that won't boot up.  I've read all posts on this subject to no avail.  When power is switched on, it chimes, Apple logo appears, spinning wheel, then loading bar starts to fill.  It gets to about 25% then switches off! Help please!

    iMac that won't boot up!   When power is switched on it chimes, Apple logo appears, then loading bar, then spinning wheel.  Bar seems to load up and gets to around 25%, then reverts to the start again, gets to about 20% on the bar and then switches itself off leaving a black screen.  Tried all the remedies on internet with no avail so would welcome some advice other than binning what is a relatively new computer.  Earliest appointment Apple could offer was Thursday 17th, really useful for a business user _ not impressed,

    You've probably tried this, but will it Safe Boot? Restart holding down the Shift key until you see the grey progress bar. You'll need to input your admin password during bootup. If it will boot you can then try to eject the disk using the various suggestions here that you haven't tried already:
    http://osxdaily.com/2009/08/28/eject-a-stuck-disk-from-your-mac-dvd-super-drive/
    Or this (not tried this myself, but if things are desperate): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7NYW9Dr448

  • My clone external hard drive won't boot - start up?

    Hi,
    I am selling my MacPro and need to clone its system drive for the new lap top I will buy soon. So I bought a new external 2TB HDD from OWC. I have found that this external HDD will not boot up, even though it says it is bootable, and appears in the Start Up prefs when I select it. It sppears on the desktop, doesn't make any weird clicking noises as well.
    I am using 10.6.8 OS X. The 2TB HDD has two partitions (created with DU), one is bootable (Mac OS X extended journaled), and the other is a regular HDD space for media etc. It is GUID. It has "Ownership" checked in the info box.
    I used CCC 3.4.4 and since this is 'hopefully' a one time deal, selected the 'Delete anything that doesn't exist on the source' setting. I cloned my system drive to the bootable space and had no problems with the transfer. Plenty of space to write all the files. I even made sure everything was checked in the 'source' window that a system drive might need. Everything was checked.
    I spoke with a representive at the OWC Sales company and checked that this HDD can be used as a bootable drive.
    I checked the connections: with external HDD with FW800, and Sata connectors. I have checked it with my Mac Book Pro as well. Same result. No boot.
    I really don't understand why this drive won't boot, since everything looks correct.
    Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas for fixing this issue?
    Thanks
    M

    Not sure if you managed to get this issue resolved yet Marcus, but I too have a similar problem:
    Currently I'm upgrading from Leopard to Lion (via Snow Leopard) on both an iMac and MacBook Pro (both Intel), but before I proceed with the OSX upgrade I wanted to back everything up. Thus far I have partitioned an external firewire drive (G Drive - one that is bootable), and cloned each machine using Carbon Copy Cloner to it's own partition (both GUID). There is plenty of space left over on each partition.
    The issue - I can boot the OS X from the external drive on the MacBook Pro but not on the iMac.
    When I restart and hold down Option on the iMac the only drive that appears is the HDD, not the other two selectable drives that are visible if I boot up on the MacBook Pro. On the iMac in System Prefs > Startup Disc I can see all 3 drives but when I select it and restart, the machine freezes on the grey loading screen and goes no further.
    Not that it should make a difference, but there is a 3rd partition on the external drive that is currently empty (for extra storage).
    Any help is greatly appreciated - I can't find any relevant answers elsewhere. Thanks,
    Dan

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