Wont boot from cd???

I have a slot-loading iMac that wont boot from a CD.
Does anyone know why? I have tried holding C and choosing the CD as a start-up disk but it doesnt work. The CD i am trying to start-up on is the Mac OS 9 CD.
Can anyone help??
Thanks Daniel.

Did you have any luck on this?
I am having the same quandry. I have a slot-loading 450MHZ imac which I purchased used with 10.2 installled on it. When I tried to upgrade to 10.3 using my black retail CD I own I was told I needed to upgrade the firmware. Then I discovered that Classic had been deleted from this computer, so had no way to boot in 9.2.2 to install the Firmware update....so I figured I would have to start from scratch from my white 9.0 retail CD and do the upgrades to 9.2.2, but it wouldn't boot from the white CD.
Then I followed instructions I found here and used my 10.3 disc to access Disk Utility and reformatted the HD with the OS 9 Drivers (losing the 10.2 install it had in the process), and reset the PRAM twice.
So now I just get a gray screen with the flashing Question Mark in a folder. I have tried an external CD drive to confirm it's not a problem with the optical drive and have booted from the OS 9 CD on another slot-loading imac to confirm it's not a problem with the Disk. I have a 9.0 CD and a 10.3 CD but nothing in between.
Still no luck...

Similar Messages

24" iMac - Wont boot from HD or disc... Help!

Hi guys,
Just been working on iMac, forget the exact spec but it's a 24" Intel 2.something Core 2 Duo or whatever it is, 4gb DDR2 RAM, gotta be about 2 years old to the day and after my last 2 Macs have lasted forever, never developing a fault, I didn't take out Applecare... Perhaps I had a bit too much faith...
As I say, just working away and all of a sudden, upon putting a video in Quicktime to full screen, the whole image has kinda of condensed itself into the top 20% of the screen and started slightly flickering the image. I've tried quitting some of the programmes, but neither the mouse nor leyboard have been responding so I've just had to turn the computer off.
I've gone to turn it back on, and after about 30 seconds, it's got as far as the grey screen but then the little spinning progress indicator pauses and it does nothing else.
I've reset the PRAM and that made it take longer before it froze but ultimately did nothing.
I've now tried getting it to boot from the Snow Leopard disc but this does the something, until after about 3 - 5 minutes, the screen goes all pshychedlic, like looking at an old school TV really close...
So looking for any suggestions on other things to try before I have to take to my local store... Any hazard a guess at what may be up with it?
I've got a back up the whole computer but I don't think this is a software problem, I'm assuming it's going to be a hardware one?
Any help at all would be much appreciated!

Ok, tried Safe Mode and that wont boot either. Saw a little progress bar on the grey screen though which made a change, but ultimately, it crashed once that had disappeared.
I've just noticed that at the point when the progress wheel stops spinning, a pattern of dead pixels appears across the screen that aren't there when the progress wheel is spinning.
The more I talk to people about this, the more graphics card seems to come back as the likely culprit, based on the fact that:
- it started by me putting a video to full screen
- the fact the display went weird when it first happened and also it plays up after it crashes with the psychedelic colours
- it wont boot from HD, disc or now in safe mode either, however it does run AHT fine.
- I've hoovered out the vents on the iMac and somehow it seems slower than it was before (bit odd)
- the dead pixel thing mentioned above
So now thinking it may be time to get a new graphics card?
Reckon this is likely, even though the AHT hasn't picked up any problems? As mentioned earlier, I'm not too concerned about it would seem it doesn't particularly test the graphics card too much, so all just seems to point towards it.
Anything else that I could do to single this out as the likely culprit?
Guess this is a chance to upgrade!

Satellite C50-A634 wont boot from USB or DVD

My new toshiba Satellite C50-A634 wont boot from usb, or dvd ,
i have downloaded win 8.1 and burn image to dvd but i still get an error message "no bootable device......please restart system" .
Can some one plz help?

Hi
Does Satellite C50-A634 supports internal CD/DVD drive or did you try to boot from external optical disk drive?
You have to know that _Satellite C50 & Satellite C50D models *without* a built-in ODD_ are not able to boot from an external ODD due to a technical limitation.
Details here:
[Limitation of external boot media for Satellite, Satellite Pro C50 & C50D devices|http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/TSB3B03JA0000R01.htm]
Only USB flash drives are supported as external boot devices!
It is necessary you can use a USB flash drive as recovery media on notebooks without a built-in ODD.

M30x bios does not detect hard drive, wont boot from HD

Can someone help me in this issue.
My Sat m30x wont boot from Hard Drive, instead tries to boot from network.
Tried to load setup defaults and Hd wont show on the settings
tried to reistal origin CD software by toshiba and the message no target drive displays
Can this be a hardware problem, some damaged fisical conection, or is it a bios problem
thanks in advance for some ligth on this problem

My M30x has the same problem. I just have used it for 2 months.
I sent it to the repair center as I was told to do, because it has warranty.
I'm still waiting for a response from them. I don't know what caused it.

IMac wont boot from CD

I am selling my iMac so want to reformat the HD and do a fresh install of Leopard.
When I try to boot from the system CD I get the grey screen, I hear the CD Drive reading the disk, then the computer reboots. The same thing happens every time no matter how I try to boot from the CD. When I eject the CD, or boot from HDD, it loads the OS fine. It just wont boot from the CD.
I have tried:
Booting from CD by holding the C key during startup
Booting from CD using Startup Disk in System Preferences
Installing OS from the 'Install Mac OS X' application on the disc
Holding the option key during startup and selecting the CD drive
Resetting the NVRAM
Verifying the HD in disk utility
Verifying the CD in disk utility
Verifying and repairing HD disk permissions in disk utility
Running the install on my MacBook to check the CD (booted to the CD and started install process fine)
I have searched for previous discussions that reference this issue but could find none with this specific problem. The CD drive reads other media fine so I don't think it's a hardware issue.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Clean the disk?
Dirty lense?
The bottom of the disk must be free of scratches and especially human fingerprints which the oils can trasfer insdie the machine.
Use a bit of rubbing alcohol on a very soft clean cloth and polish ot a shine before using the optical drive.
Order a replacement disk from Apple, buy jewel cases that suspend your disk, the plasic/paper sleeves Apple provides aren't good.

G5 wont boot from installation disk?

Any suggestions for a G5 that wont boot from the installation CD? Regular starts fail at the grey screen with the apple logo. I've re-set PRAM and SMU, and replaced the battery. G5 passed the Disk Utility tests and the hardware test run over firewire from a PowerBook. I've tried booting from the CD while holding down the various keys. Runs fine in terminal mode so I've saved all my files. Not sure where to go from here. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi choriocapillaris, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Can we assume it booted from this Install Disc before, or could this be an Install Disc from another Mac?
If it is the right Disc, put it in the PB, boot the PB into Target mode...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
Boot the G5 with the Option key held down & see if the Install Disc in the PB eventually shows up as a boot choice for the G5.

My mac mini wont boot from disk

My 2010 Unibody Mac Mini wont boot from disk, i need to open disk utility to repair my drive but it wont boot, any ideas?

it started yesterday, and nope, not changed anything apart from the apple update for S.L. a week or two ago, and its stuck at the spinning gear, this has never happened before

Pavillion zv5000 laptop wont boot from cd after mobo and hdd replace

So I inherited a dead zv5000 laptop with no hdd. I replaced the motherboard and CPU, and it powered up and booted from the cd drive with no hdd installed. I was able to run memtek and the original hp os recovery discs, with no hdd installed.
Then I put in an empty hdd. The bios sees the hdd ok, but I suddenly can't boot from the cd drive. The bios settings are correct, and the discs spin in the cd drive, but it wont boot with the recovery discs, memtek, or an original xp install disc.
When I remove the hdd, it still wont boot from the cd drive.
So I google and I read stuff about hp tattoos on hdds and motheboards and dmi, and no passwords for the average person to do the tattoo.
So what do I need to do ? I don't understand why it was good with the new motherboard, but as soon as I plugged in an hdd it wont do anyting. I cant update bios because I cant boot past the bios, and not sure how that would help anyway.

If you have an open firmware password, delete it. It will not boot off anything but HD with OF password. Or at least thats what it was for me.

2010 13" MBP Wont boot from internal. Will boot from external

This is fairly long winded, I will try to be as clear as i can.
Last week my 13" MBP refused to boot after running out of battery during sleep.
I have done the following to the original drive:
Booted from Lion Recovery, repaired, verified, and repaired/verified permissions.
Booted from Snow Leopard DVD, done the above.
Used Disk Utility on another Mac, done the above.
The drive still will not boot from the internal cable.
I can see the drive when attached internally, but cannot do any of the above actions as it is "unable to unmount"
I can boot from the drive if I use a USB external adaptor.
I bought a new hard drive....
I have done all the same on the new HDD with additionaly installing fresh Lion / Snow Leopard to the new drive whilst its in the internal position (Leopard from the DVD originating with my laptop, Lion from Lion Recovery whilst the other drive was on USB) but still having the same problem when it comes to booting - i.e. wont boot from internal. will boot from external USB.
Ideally I would like to end up with a lean install of lion, on the new hdd, booting from inside the laptop.
Please help, this is driving me mad.

I think you have solved your own problem. If you have two different HD's and they both do not work once connected, but do when placed in an external enclosure, then I would think it has something to do with the connection.
Slap the old drive back in the machine, and take it to the genius bar, and have them diagnose it. Hopefully they will have an answer for you. If not, bring the other drive too inside he external enclosure, and show them that it boots via the external.
Then, lay the whammy on them, and tell them that the original drive works inside the enclosure too.
Would be interesting to know what the actual issue is, and the resolution as well...

Macbook Pro Wont Boot from Retail 10.6.3 DVD

Just like the title says. It wont boot off the retail 10.6 disk I got a couple weeks ago.
I think my EFI partition might have been corrupted...so I want to repartition the HD and reinstall the OS but the computer wont boot from the DVD.
Any ideas?

Hi Alexander,
If your MBP shipped with an OS later than 10.6.3, it won't boot from that disc. Use the install disc that shipped with your MBP.

Lenovo s10e wont boot from hdd or usb when warm

lenovo s10e wont boot from hdd or usb when warm
I have ownd my Lenvo S10e about 1 year now
and now it begins to **bleep**in up
I have tryd with and without hdd and booting up live linux from USB Works good untill the lenovo s10e begins to be hot, then i got to boot then blank screen
same hapen when using the hdd,
I have bin usubg the XBMC-9.11 live linux
Its an media senter for linux
I use it to see movies onto my bigscreen tv and use my linux server as media server
When the lenovo is coold i can start xbmc no problem
I take a movie look on it when the movir is finisht and i go back Whole computer is hangup
Now i cant doing any more looking on movie untill the computer has bin coold again
This is happening with and with out HDD installed !
So what is this ?
Is it som thing that be to work ?
It is like it cuts of SATA and USB when it worm !
Sorry for my bad english..

Yes i did try to get the temp info from lm-sensors but did not get any cpu temp info or fan info.
I can tell that the Fan dont work at all running Linux !
Fan only works with Windows ! Why i dont know
I tryd my Ubuntu 9.10 - 10.04 without Sacsess, fan still off
Booted up Windows Xp Pro from a Usb stick and the fan started from then boot of windows install untill i self shoutdown the computer !
So linux dont have any drivers to control the Lenovo S10e fan ?

My Mac Pro flashes the question mark and wont boot from hard drive, flash, or Cd... Please help!

My Computer froze so I shut it down... When I tryed to boot up again it wouldn't power up. After a few tweeks I got it to power up but now it wont boot from the hard drive, flash drive or a cd. It want to start, then, after a few seconds it stops. Not sher what to do. Can anyone help?

Have you tried Safe Boot?
You also might reset PRAM and reset SMC.
Have you tried booting with the Recovery System? See its possibilities here.
From there you can make repairs to your primary startup partition.
Do you have a backup? If not, do you have an external drive large enough to back up your primary drive? It would be good to have one in case your drive needs repair or replacement.

MBP i7 17" wont boot from external CD/DVD

I have installed a second hardrive in my mbp using the optibay. Since then ive been trying to install windows on the second harddrive, but it wont boot from the windows cd. After some testing, it turns out it wont boot -any- cd from an external cd/dvd drive.
When i put in a bootable cd and boot with the option key, it does recognize the cd. When i select it, it starts spinning up, stops, and i get a grey screen with an flashing apple/failed sign.
I have already tried the following:
- Reset PRAM
- Use the superdrive i removed as USB cd/dvd drive
- Use a different USB cd/dvd drive
- Tried to boot off a bootable USB memory stick
- Installed rEFIt boot loader.
- Tried the (USB) superdrive on a previous model 15" MBP, and it boots without problems.
Im at a loss what else i can try. OS X installed perfectly when the superdrive was still connected to the internal SATA connector, but i dont feel like switching the whole thing back. Not to mention i wont be able to install windows on the secondary drive.
Maybe i could try an ExpressCard SATA controller? Or would that be a waste of time/money? Im also considering installing through target disk mode, but im afraid ill run into all kinds of trouble.
I hope you'll have some ideas!

I think can wrap this up.
The OS X Installer that came with my MBP did work on the external USB superdrive. So it appears the same thing applies for any USB connected device: only OSX installer will boot from it.
As for my initial booting needs: i have successfully installed Windows using bootcamp, though i used a workaround so i didn't have to boot from cd. For anyone who wanders around here and wants to know:
- Created a 10GB VMWare disk image for Windows
- Booted windows install disk inside VMWare
- Upon first reboot i shut down the virtual machine
- Connected the 10GB VMWare disk image to a Debian virtual machine
- Ripped mbr using: dd if=/dev/sdb bs=1 count=446 > mbr
- Copied it to my mac, and installed it to my drive using: fdisk -u -f mbr /dev/rdisk1
- Copied over the VMWare disk image to my Bootcamp Assistent created partition using: dd if=/dev/sdb1 | ssh root@mymac "dd of=/dev/disk1s3"
- Used WinClone to make an image of my Bootcamp partition, and immediately restored it. This fixes some windows issues for the new partition, and resizes it to fit your bootcam partition
- Reboot into windows and the install will continue!
Some tweaking of these commands are needed. If you don't know what you're doing: don't.
Any questions, feel free to contact me.

Wont boot from CD after hard drive installation.

I just installed a new hard drive in an iBook 700mhz. I expected the system folder missing message, as the hard drive was blank. However now it wont boot from CD when I hold down c on boot. Also when I hold down option, I get a circular arrow and an arrow pointing to the right but no real options. I reset the PRAM but that didn't help. Any one have an idea?

Over the years I've seen some optical drive failures that were actually being caused by the hard drive. The first thing I'd suspect given a new drive is that you didn't quite seat the I/O cable. The second is that the HD is defective. A couple times everything seemed fine and when the drive was placed on the bench and after formatting it there and reinstalling it the drive and computer were happy.

How to undo boot camp, wont boot from install disk in dvd drive

A few months ago I went through trying out boot camp and parallels. Now, I think something is messed up. I dont need either right now, so I just want to wipe out the whole system, repartition the drive, and restore to a blank new install of os x 10.5 leopard.
But when I put in the install disk, it wont boot up off it.
I tried holding down the c key while powering it up, and it just cycles through: hearing the drive whirl, a bling sound, and then repeating it again while the screen is blank. Finally, I held down the click button on the touch pad so it would eject the install disk.
Maybe this will help someone recognize part of the problem. Ever since messing around with boot camp and parallels, my machine wont "reboot". To reboot it, I tell it to reboot, then it hangs on the star like screen, then I have to hold the power button down, then if I do nothing, it tries to boot, but ends up in a dos looking screen saying no bootable device. So when I power it back up, I hold down the alt key, and then I have one choice: the hard drive. I pick that and it boots up ok.
So... I thought, well, maybe the boot camp is still messed up; maybe I should undo boot camp. When I start the boot camp assistant, there is only a "partition" and "back" button; nothing to "restore" the hard drive to just one partition.
What can I do? I want to wipe the drive and install a fresh install from my install disk.

Forgot to specify:
Im using an older Unibody Macbook (back when they were not all macbook pro's) 2008ish with Snow leopard 1.6.8
The thread you linked me to, Eric, shows the guy 'Niganit' with the eXACT SAME PROBLEM as me! He seems to have found out the problem but I dont see his resolve.
I just dont have the option to install windows 7 in any other form that a cd
a picture;

Wont boot from cd???

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for