Wont start, stuck at screen with spinning gear...

title says issue... today when i turned on my ibook, that i just recently purchased used for school, i plugged in a flashdrive to get something off of it. now this is my first mac so i dont know the proper way of things with it yet. but anyway, my laptop froze while doing so, all i got was the rainbow pinwheel that i was able to move. so i forced it to shutdown by holding the power button. now when i turn it on, all i get is the loading screen with the little spinning gear under the apple logo. any ideas on what to do?

HI,
today when i turned on my ibook, that i just recently purchased used for school
Hopefully the install disc(s) were included when your purchased the iBook. If not, you can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available. You will need the discs in order to reinstall the Mac OS X.
Try resetting the PMU, instructions here. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431?viewlocale=en_US
Try starting up in single-user mode and then running fsck:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
Carolyn

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I have an iMac G5 stuck on the gray screen with spinning gear. I woke up to it being stuck on a blue screen, then force quit and now it's stuck on gray with spinning gear.

I have an iMac G5 stuck on the gray screen with spinning gear. I woke up to it being stuck on a blue screen, then force quit and now it's stuck on gray with spinning gear. Please advise.

If you have a G5 then it's a PPC (Power PC) based iMac, this is an Intel iMac forum. Try the Gray screen appears during startup link for troubleshooting steps. I suspect the HD has crashed.

Another iBook cannot get past the grey screen with spinning gear

I have read the other posts on iBooks not starting up. I too have used Onyx recently but this was to cure the problem of a freeze. Now start up cannot get past the grey screen. PRAM has been zapped and safe mode will not work. Worse, the CD drive will take CDs so cannot go back to start up disk.
Bizarrely, a visit to the Apple Store and the iBook started no problem. System was reinstalled using archive option and various health checks apparently showed no problems. But then got back home and again start up froze at grey screen with spinning gear. I have left it on this for over 15 minutes but to no avail. I have tried to connect to another ibook using T key to get target mode. I'm not sure if I am doing this right. I have started up working iBook plugged in the firewire to both machines and then started up ailing iBook holding down T key. 2nd iBook wont start at all.
Any suggestions?

An Archive and Install will preserve you user settings and data. You will need a minimum of 5 GB free on the hard drive to perform an A&I; you can reduce the space required by about 1 GB by selecting the option to install language support only for the language you use (assuming you don't need multiple languages).
However, after seeing your other post (BTW, it'll be easier to keep track if relted issues are in the same thread), you do not want to try an A&I if Disk Utility is reporting anything about 'could not be repaired'. Doing so will would ensure problems down the road, if it worked at all. It's possible for one disk problem to mask another. Whenever Disk Utility (or any other repair utility) reports making repairs, it's good practice to repeat the repair until it reports no problems found or it becomes clear it cannot repair the disk.
DiskWarrior has an excellent track record at repairing problems that Disk Utility cannot (especially Disk Utility versions prior to OS X 10.4.2).
If the drive cannot be repaired, you may be able to keep it by doing an erase install with the write zeros (one pass) option. That will update the hard drive firmware record of bad disk sectors to avoid using. If there are only a few bad sectors, that may let you keep using the hard drive for several more years. An erase install will do just that to your data, through. If you have access to another Mac with either a large amount of free disk space of a DVD burner, you can try using the other Mac as host and the eMac as target in FireWire target disk mode. You can run the host's copy of Disk Utility on the eMac hard drive, and hopefully be able to mount the emac HD so that you can back up the data in your Home directory.

Always Shuts down at gray screen with spinning gear

Hi All
I think this may be a serious problem
Macbook was working fine then during downloading an app I got a message 'do you want to shutdown' i clicked cancel but re appeared with same message.
I shut down macbook and restarted and booted up to grey screen with spinning gear then off, the whole macbook switched off. I tried to reboot but everytime it switched off at the same point.
I tried to boot from DVD install disk but done the same, tried booting into safe mode but shut off at about 25% on the loading bar. Have reset everything and tried again but still the same prob.
Replaced the hard drive with a spare which had windows 7 on, still didnt allow me to boot from dvd disk but it stopped at the message ' do you want to start windows in safe mode' along with all the other options. I left it at that screen for about 45 mins and the ,acbook never switched off. So i now figured I may have a bad DVD osx disk, A frien of mine has Mountain lion on usb stick, so i borrowed and booted from the usb, got to the screen with the spinning gear and then....it switched off.
Checked fan while booting and all seems fine.
So my question is why is it shutting down, also why does it not shutdown before the spinning gear screen. It cant be over heating as above i fitted a hdd with win7 on and left it at the prompt for 45 mins.
Many thanks for looking
laurie

Hi Nance,
Welcome to the Discussions.
Put Install Disc 1 in the drive and start while holding down the "c" key. Select Disk Utility from the Installer menu, click on the drive on the left and click on Repair Disk. If it reports errors and repairs, repeat the process until no errors are reported.
Post back the results and any unrepaired error messages.
John

HT1455 Did the lastest Apple update and now my Mac has gray screen with spinning gear and a status bar goes to half then turns computer off....help?

Did the lastest Apple update and now my Mac has gray screen with spinning gear and a status bar goes to half then turns computer off....help?

Thanks for your help.
Same thing happen when I hold the button, it idle for a while and then turn off by itself. Any more suggestions?
I got the disc..

Brand new MacBook Pro doesn't get past grey screen (with spinning gear)

Hello,
I'm a new Apple customer - I bought a new 15" MacBook Pro during the Black Friday sale last week. Since purchase, I've installed the software I needed (Office, CS4) and have used it to browse the web and write emails.
Today when I tried to use it, I simply got to the grey screen with the Apple logo on it and the spinning gear device underneath - got absolutely no further.
I have done the following (running from mains adaptor - but the battery indicator is reporting 7 lights anyhow):
1. Boot from the OSX Install Disc, and run the disc repair utility. It reported no problems found. Restarted... same problem.
2. Boot holding down SHIFT to go into safe mode. Underneath the spinning gears, a progress bar filled up to 100% and then disappeared; leaving the grey screen, logo, and spinning gears. Nothing further.
3. Boot holding Option, P, R as per the manual to reset the PRAM. According to the manual there should have been a chime/beep - there wasn't. It just sits on the grey screen, logo, spinning gears. Nothing further.
Right now I've got a £1300 MacBook Pro less than a week old and it appears to have just packed up.
Am I missing anything here, or should I just return it?
Thanks,
Chris

Definitely take it back!
My friend bought a new iMac from the Regents St. store a few weeks ago, just before the update to the new models came out, and after a week she couldn't get it to boot. I felt very embarrassed as I had persuaded to her to switch to Mac after years of PC woes, so a broken mac after a week didn't look do me any favours. The genius guys didn't mess around, they took back the dead one and gave her a new one, this time she got the new version, they also threw in iWork free as a good will gesture. New one is running fine.
If you haven't already got Applecare, I highly recommend buying it within the next 12 months. I have needed it on a couple of occasions after the standard warranty ran out and the tech support has been brilliant, got me working again no quibbles.

Startup unsucessful stuck on gray screen with spinning gear-type thing

I think it may have been because i tripped over my macs powercord and it shut down that my computer wont start anymore, i tried safe boot etc... but nothing works it's just stuck on the startup screen, if anyone has any clue as to how i can resolve my issue, i'd be extremely greatful

Shturts,
Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
How long did you give it to Start Up in Safe Mode? It can take upwards of 20 minutes for an eMac to start in Safe Mode as a faceless version of Repair Disk runs in the background at the gray screen / Apple logo / spinning gear stage.
If Safe Boot isn't finishing after 30 or more minutes, use your OS X install disk to boot the computer and run Repair Disk, as described in Using Disk Utility and fsck. If any errors are reported repaired, repeat Repair Disk until it either reports no erros found or unable to repair, in which case you should consider investing in a copy of DiskWarrior.

Computer wont go past grey apple startup screen with spinning gear help!!!!

Hey everyone Im hoping someone can help. I just did a software update download from Apple. It came back and said that not all of the items were installed and the computer needed to restart. I did the restart. Now it wont go past the grey apple screen with the spinning gear.
Any ideas anyone?
THanks

Hi Ghost516, and a warm welcome to the forums!
You have corruption on your Hard Drive, likely before the updates even.
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Tiger Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishes.
The usual reason why updates fail or mess things up, or things don't load/run, is if Permissions are not fixed before & after every update, with a reboot... you may get a partial update when the installer finds it doesn't have Permissions to change one obscure little part of the OS, leaving you with a mix of OS versions.
Some people get away without Repairing Permissions for years, some for only days.
If Permissions are wrong before applying an update, you could get mixed OS versions, if Directory is the slightest messed up, who knows!
If many Permission are repaired, or any Directory errors are found, you may need to re-apply some the latest/biggest updates again, or even do an A&I if you have enough free disk space.
The combo update for PowerPC-based Macs...
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx10411comboupdateppc.html
The combo update for Intel-based Macs...
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx10411comboupdateintel.html
Repair Permissions before & after re-install, then reboot again each time.
If all the above do not resolve the problem, then it's time for a relatively painless Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space, and don't have any Disk Directory problems...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Be sure to use Preserve Users & Settings.
I only use Software Update to see what is needed, then get them for real via...
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
That way I can wait a week or so, check the forums for potential problems, and get Permissions & such in order before installing.
If it appears to be time for An Archive & Install, which gives you a new OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Be sure to use Preserve Users & Settings.
If none ofthis works report back.

Start Up problems, I'm past the grey screen now at blue screen with spinning gears.

Hello I'm working on my Mothers I Mac I believe its a G5,, I do see IMAC 8.1. Today when she turned it on all that came up is a gray screen with a spinning gear. I tried Disk Utility but the HD wasn't being recognized. After a few more trial and errors I finally reset the SMU, Which when I ran disk utility again the hard drive was recognized. I verified it and it said HD seems to be ok. I restarted and sure enough I made it past the gray screen but now Its stuck on a blue screen with a spinning gear. It looks almost like the login screen is trying to load but never comes up. Every 10-20 sec it flickers and the gear just keeps spinning. The fan was never coming on, not until I reset the SMU so I'm currently letting it cool down. Hoping this helps. Should I run the disk utility again and click the repair hd, even though no errors were listed when I verified it.

An iMac 8,1 is an Intel model. Are you sure it's a G5 (not an Intel model?)
Perhaps you should try reinstalling OS X:
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, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) 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. Now restart normally.
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. 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.

Grey screen with spinning gear

Hi all,
Have had this for a while now, when switched on i get the chime, apple logo and then goes to a blue/grey screen with the spinning gear. also at this point i get the mouse cursor which comes and goes.
Have tried all the safe mode and verbose mode.
Verbose just produces the screen shot i have attached, i left running through the night and comes up with the same message but with different time stamp
I did try and boot from my Leopard 10.5 cd but just went straight through to the grey screen.
Any help would be really appreciated

Have you seen this Apple note on gray screen/spinning wheel boots?

Blue screen with spinning gear when quit apps/log out

My issue was when I quit all applications and logged out. The screen turned a light blue and in the center a spinning gear. After this screen was there for some time, it was just blue...and then it finally went back to the normal login screen and I pressed "sleep".
I woke it up and tried logging in as Guest to see if it did the same thing. I quit all applications and the same result.
I did install Touchcopy that morning...perhaps something happened with that? Although it is supposed to be compatible with Leopard and Snow Leopard and I used the program during the day and it worked fine and quit fine.
Do you know what would cause this? I couldn't find anything on this discussion site.
I see people talking about "reparing permissions", but I don't know what this means. As I said, this is my first Mac.
thanks!!!!
chris

Thanks for your help. I have read so many people talk about "repairing permissions", but I didn't know what that was. I know plenty of Windows maintenance and "best practices", but none for Mac. Thanks..
Here are the results of the Repair Permissions and Verify Disc.
Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Reading permissions database.
Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
Permissions differ on "private/var/log/secure.log", should be -rw------- , they are -rw-r----- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/AirPort Base Station Agent.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/FWAVCPrivate.framework/Versions/A/CodeResourc es", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/DVD.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSettings.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSources.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Movies.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Music.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Photos.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Podcasts.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/TV.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/BackRow.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/QuickTime/AppleProResDecoder.component/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/InternetUtilities.bundle/Contents/ CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunesHelper.app/Contents/CodeResou rces", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/A/AppleMobile DeviceHelper.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/A/AppleMobile Sync.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskManagement.framework/Versions/A/Resources /DiskManagementTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/Locum" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/Extensions/webdavfs.kext/Contents/Resources/loadwebdav" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions differ on "Library/QuickLook/iWork.qlgenerator/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Warning: SUID file "usr/sbin/pppd" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/sbin/vpnd" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions repair complete
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.

Grey screen with spinning gear after downloaded maverick from snow leopard.

I have downloaded a osx maverick from my original snow leopard. It downloaded successfully but by the time need to restart,the grey screen appear with a spinning gear without any further progress,it jz hang there. What should I do? I have tried to re-download it for three times,it still the same. I have performed a disk utility repair, safe boot,nvram/pram reset but I haven't re-install it from a disk. Can anybody tell me what to do further? I'm not a computer genius.

Have you seen this Apple note on gray screen/spinning wheel boots?

HELP! RESTARTED MACBOOK AND NOW HAVE STUCK LOGIN SCREEN WITH SPINNING WHEEL

So basically i restarted my macbook pro because it was performing very slowly for some reason. After i restarted it i logged in and the apple logo with the spinning wheel was stuck on the screen. I have filevault 2 on. My OS X is mavericks. I have backed up my data so i dont mind if i will have to delete the data on my macbook pro. Please help and thank you!

So you recently replaced the original drive with a new one, is that correct?
If so do you have a SATA/IDE to USB adapter or an Enclosure of some type?
All Mac notebooks that have removable/replaceable hard drives also have a cable that goes from the drive to the Logic board. These cable are known to fail at any time or become intermittent. Working for some things and not for others.
One way, and the best way, to check if it is the cable is to connect a known previously working hard drive to the system by one of these adapters or enclosures and running the system from there. If the system runs fine, although slower, and that same hard drive doesn't work when installed inside the system then it is most likely the cable that is at fault.

Macbook wont go past grey screen with spinning cog below...HELP!

PLEASE, PLEASE....could someone advise urgently, was using machine ok, left it for a few mins & it went to sleep...then I couldn't log back in. Restarted and now can't get past this grey screen....have tried all recommendations...tried re install and says it can't. Tried the fsck...it say's "volume check failed". Tried the disk check...it said there was no problem. I am in Spain (Palma) and about to set off acrosss the Atlanntic to S.Maarten...my warranty expires in April and I am unlikely to be anywhere with a mac dealer or authorised service place in the next 6 months...my life is on this machine!! PLEASE HELP????

What happens if you boot from your system install disk and run Disk Utility? Does the utility see the drive and can you verify/repair the drive?
-Bmer
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White screen with spinning gears

white screen on reboot, how to fix

Try a Safe Boot. Hold the Shift key down at startup. Will take much longer than usual; it's checking and repairing, if possible.
Or insert the Install DVD, hold C key down and repair the drive. See "Try Disk Utility."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417

Wont start, stuck at screen with spinning gear...

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