Won't get to login screen.

Okay. I am trying to turn my iMac on, first power on, it held at the grey screen, nothing happened, so I shut it down by holding the power button after about 10 minutes of nothing. I turned it back on again after a few minutes, and now I get the grey screen with the Apple logo as well as the spinning gears, but it holds there. Won't get to the Leopard login screen.
I popped the install disc in, ran disk utility and repaired permissions and the disk. All is fine. I then restarted it, reset the PRAM. And then after resetting it, let it start up, same thing.
Not sure what is going on.
Anyone might be able to shed some light onto what is wrong?
Thanks
Jordan

Yeah, I've tried taking out all the USB devices, that was what I thought was wrong first. Nothing worked...
Trying the Command-V thing got me a bunch of stuff I could barely read let a lone write down, but some things I was able to catch are:
event logs /seventsd out of sync with volume
kernal freed its link data
saved a bunch of crash reports
IOUSB Interface match category does not exist
also, EHCI root hub simulation match category IUDefault matchcategory exists
I appreciate the link, ran through all of that and still nothing. I've let this guy sit for the longest of 10 minutes, and it still holds there. I can't even get to the login screen.
It would be no big deal just to reformat and re install, but I haven't backed up in about 3 weeks, so a lot of new pictures my wife has uploaded will get lost that are only on the computer...
This happened, I just updated my Parallels to the newest build to fix all the Leopard bugs. And after updating, it wouldn't process and work. So I quit everything, couldn't even force quit Parallels, tried restarting, and everything left but my desktop pictures, for about 15 minutes, so I did the hard shut down. And since I can't get it back to on past that grey screen.
Im lost, never had a problem like this before.
Message was edited by: veganjustice
Message was edited by: veganjustice

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c. 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.
d. 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 the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d 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.
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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.
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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.
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Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
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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 11
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 12
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.
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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.

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First you don't delete the suspect .plist, you move or rename it. Deletion is down the road a piece
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Many, including myself, have dragged the entire Preferences directory onto the desktop and rebooted without a problem.

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