HELP - Grey Logo, spinning wheel, No BOOT ! ! ! !

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dimsim

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#110045 2-Oct-2012 09:26

Ok, my cousin has just bought me their mac which wont startup...all I get is a white screen, grey apple logo and a spinning wheel at the bottom.

i can get into single user mode ok but machine wont start in safemode though. the safemode progress line get to about 30% then just quits and goes back to the spinning wheel.

ive run fsck -fy on the drive (several times) and it found no errors, and ive run the disk utility from the OSX install DVD and that too found no problems. I've also run the Apple System Diagnostics disk and checked the HDD and it reports all A-OK. I verfied the permission and it fond a few permissions that had changed so i repaired those also but STILL NO BOOT!

I can boot from an Ubunutu Live CD and read the MAC HDD no problem.

I've found online theres a program called applejack but it looks like thats just a way to run the disk utility from single usermode and nothing more than ive tried already...

is it re-install time? can i copy their files to an external HDD before re-installing?

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#694645 2-Oct-2012 09:31

Constructive help: Might want to change your subject header to something more meaningful ;)

dimsim

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#694646 2-Oct-2012 09:33

I also started it up in verbose mode and it only progressed to here

dimsim

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#694649 2-Oct-2012 09:41

ubergeeknz: Constructive help: Might want to change your subject header to something more meaningful ;)

advice taken :)

mruane

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#694651 2-Oct-2012 09:47

Did you try resetting the PRAM and NVRAM during start up?

Press (and hold) Command, Option, P and R before the grey screen appears immediately after hitting the power button.

Cheers Mike

magu

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#694652 2-Oct-2012 09:48

Yeah, your first subject line put me off even checking the post.

Is this running OS X Mountain Lion (or Lion)? Best bet is to reinstall the system. You won't lose any docs if this is already a used machine.

What model (and how old) is it?

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dimsim

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#694662 2-Oct-2012 09:58

@mruane - yes, tried that no difference

@magu - 24" IMAC Aluminium Body OSX (2009?) 10.6.8 (Snow leopard?) unfortunately don't have the 10.6 install DVD only 10.7

magu

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#694664 2-Oct-2012 09:59

dimsim: @mruane - yes, tried that no difference

@magu - 24" IMAC Aluminium Body OSX (2009?) 10.6.8 (Snow leopard?) unfortunately don't have the 10.6 install DVD only 10.7

Might as well upgrade to 10.7. An upgrade doesn't wipe it.

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." - Doc Emmet Brown

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Kyanar

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#694916 2-Oct-2012 15:47

Are there any USB devices plugged in? I found that sometimes my MacBook would site there doing this as well until I removed all the USB devices and rebooted.

shadybrothers

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#694959 2-Oct-2012 16:42

Advise your cousin to just buy a Mac, they just work, everyone knows this.

this is a slap in the face!

gzt

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#695090 2-Oct-2012 19:33

Does it boot in safe mode?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

Edit: This is better http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

dimsim

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#695120 2-Oct-2012 20:25

shadybrothers: Advise your cousin to just buy a Mac, they just work, everyone knows this.

ha...rofl

its funny, i always get suckered in by the shiny bits and the slick look but the honeymoon only lasts for a few minutes then the fun begins... with the kind of control apple has over the hardware and OS these devices should be perfect but I've not yet met one that is...

this 24" IMAC for example, seems to run ridiculously hot (all the heating and cooling cant be good for it) and the screen suffers from the worst screen burn I've ever seen. a 10yo CRT on an old terminal wouldn't be as bad as this... (probably due to the heat of the machine itself) but I left the Apple Diagnostics disk running for a few hours and came back and its burnt itself into the screen!!! I now casually read that otherS have suffered similar events but they're casually told "that's what screen savers are for" and to "create a blank white JPEG" and leave that on the screen for a few hours!!!

dimsim

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#695123 2-Oct-2012 20:32

gzt: Does it boot in safe mode?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

Edit: This is better http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

see opening post... progress meter get to about 25-50% then quits...and I'm back to the fabulous spinning wheel again...

have just attempted to load OSX 10.7 back on and the install finishes etc, I'm casually told to power off to reboot (wouldn't it be better to have a reboot button, or have it on a countdown timer???) and I'm back to the spinning wheel again.. so even a re-install doesn't work... the verbose mode shows its now stopping somewhere different though so maybe this is progress??

Rybowski

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#704577 22-Oct-2012 10:19

Still no luck on this issue?

The last resort is to completely wipe your drive. I believe the lion installer has the option to wipe the drive and then install a fresh copy. I would suggest creating/using a flash drive or DVD to install from. Then you can migrate your files back from a time machine back up, or use carbon copy cloner to make a clone of the drive to migrate from. I have done the carbon copy cloner method twice without issue.

I have read that you have done lots of testing, but have you done the apple hardware test?

dimsim

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#704715 22-Oct-2012 19:07

It was the last resort I was trying to avoid..

I hadn't tried the Apple Hardware Test which I believe is included on the restore media (which I didn't have) I did however download and make a Apple System Diagnostics disk which unusually passed all hardware. Given that all hardware had passed (including an extensive disk test) I then tried to complete a restore which would only partially complete (i burnt additional media and also tried running it from an image on an external hard drive) but couldn't get the restore to complete until I replaced the hard disk.

I'm going to conclude that the disk although it had passed the apple diagnostics test was at fault.

I like the aesthetics of these machines but the design could have had a bit more thought go into it. Why is there not an access door some where to simply replace or upgrade the hard drive? It wasn't too much trouble after securing the correct torx bits but the job could have been so much quicker to diagnose and to fix if the hard drive was more accessible.

Rybowski

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#704863 23-Oct-2012 05:39

dimsim: It was the last resort I was trying to avoid..

I hadn't tried the Apple Hardware Test which I believe is included on the restore media (which I didn't have) I did however download and make a Apple System Diagnostics disk which unusually passed all hardware. Given that all hardware had passed (including an extensive disk test) I then tried to complete a restore which would only partially complete (i burnt additional media and also tried running it from an image on an external hard drive) but couldn't get the restore to complete until I replaced the hard disk.

I'm going to conclude that the disk although it had passed the apple diagnostics test was at fault.

I like the aesthetics of these machines but the design could have had a bit more thought go into it. Why is there not an access door some where to simply replace or upgrade the hard drive? It wasn't too much trouble after securing the correct torx bits but the job could have been so much quicker to diagnose and to fix if the hard drive was more accessible.

I agree with you on that. I replaced the hard drive on my first generation macbook pro several years ago. Took me a very long time to even get into the computer. I think I removed over 20 screws including some torx screws for which I had to buy a screwdriver. Real pain. My girlfriends Macbook has a much better design. Remove battery, 3 screws, and then pull a little switch to pop out the drive. Simple as.

Glad you got it sorted! Strange that the hard drive passed all the tests, but then again those tests aren't always 100% accurate. A ghost in the machine.