PowerPC :: System Become Slow Not Getting Past Logo Screen
Aug 7, 2006
So so annoyed right now. Today my 12" G4 powerbook started to become slow, lots of spinning wheel, delayed menus etc. I checked file permissions, rebooted and it just kept on getting slower. Eventually it wouldn't get past the white apple screen. I booted off the Tiger DVD and ran disk utility to fix and repair permissions again. It wouldn't let me repair the disk as I kept getting this error: 'Repair volume failed with error could not unmount disk'.
I had to reboot again, and eventually my hard disk no longer appears in Disk Utility. I tried to boot into safe mode and get this:
'"I0ATAController device blocking bus
I0ATAController device blocking bus
I0ATAController device blocking bus
I0ATAController device blocking bus
I0ATAController device blocking bus"
I have a Rev A 12 inch Powerbook - 867 mHz, 640 RAM, 40 GB hard drive. The machine's always been reliable and has performed great over the years. I bought it the last week of July, 2003.
Yesterday, the Pbook was shut down, and I press the on button so it would boot up. Almost immediately, the hard drive makes a loud, whirring noise. The computer advances to the gray screen with the Apple logo, but it doesn't get past that point and the noise continues, as if it's a car engine that just won't start...
I'm going to take it to my local Apple Store in the morning, and hopefully the data, including my nearly 22 GB of music, can be saved. Any thoughts on how to get my computer working again? By the way, it's the original hard drive installed. Hopefully this is enough info to generate some ideas, I'm stumped.
I'm trying to repair a Powermac G5 (dual 2.0, the first model I believe, with a new Radeon 9800 graphics card) that won't boot and I'm having some problems that I can't seem to diagnose.
The machine will boot to the openfirmware prompt or target disc mode and will show the 'OS not found' icon if left to boot from the HD (which has been wiped). If I try to boot from either the included restore disc or a retail 10.4 DVD I've tried it will show the boot screen with the Apple logo on it but no spinning status indicator underneath. It just freezes on that screen. Once it showed the status indicator but it just continued to spin for about 30 mins, at which point I gave up. Same issue if I try to boot the hardware test (except it freezes on the hardware test loading icon rather than the Apple icon). The superdrive appears to work as it is accessible in target disc mode.
I've reset the SMU and reset the PRAM via the keyboard shortcut. The one thing that leads me to think it's a firmware fault is that when I run the 'reset-nvram' command it gives an OK, but when I then run 'reset-all' it freezes rather than rebooting. Any ideas anyone?
My computer died last night with each application not responding. I couldn't shut down normally so I held the power button to turn it off.Â
Next morning, I tried to boot the MacBook Pro and the boot process stalled at the grey screen with the Apple Logo and spinning wheel. I let it go for an hour and there was no change on the screen. Based on Apple's desk I ran Hardware diagnostics (extended with looping disabled) and got the following errorÂ
4HDD/11/40000000: SATA (0,0) Â
The screen shot is belowÂ
I ran this again with standard testing (no looping) and standard with looping and all gave the same results.Â
Info: MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
This morning, I would turn it on and it'd go to the grey screen with the Apple logo for a few seconds and then go to the icon that is a circle with a line through it. After reading online, I was able to boot it up in Safe Mode. I went to Startup Disk in Preferences. I chose the MAC OS X, xxxx and then clicked the lock to prevent further changes and then clicked restart. Now when I turn on the macbook, it goes to the grey screen with the Apple logo for at least two-three minutes and then just shuts off. Won't boot into Safe Mode now. I already tried the Command-Option-P-R keys trick like five times.
My Macbook Pro is not starting past the grey screen and the apple logo and the rolling circle. I have tried every method and I am desperate to do anything to start my computer even erase the entire disc. I have contacted the Apple store and they told me the cost will be equivalent to $600 to just repair it and no way I will be able to afford it. I am willing to do anything and even erase my entire disc. However, for that the instructions on the Apple page state that 'Insert your Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5 installation disc'. However, I do not have my installation disc Is there any other way I can erase the OS system and at least reboot my Macbook?
I am looking at purchasing an Ibook G4 but the description of the item includes this:"When you switch it on it begins to load up i.e. the blue screen with the Apple logo, but then the screen goes black or flickers. Said friend has kindly wiped the hard drive for me so now when you switch it on it makes the �opening� noise then you get a blue screen with alternating �?� and the Finder logo."
I have a feeling this may have been a temporary fault with the screen connector being loose and possibly damaged.But i assume the alternating "?" and the "finder logo" is simply a lack of OS?
I'm trying to resurrect an iBook (translucent white case, 14.1 LCD) that was long neglected, so not sure on its past service history. The following do NOT work: - won't boot up past the gray screen with Apple logo and spinning gear icon (just hangs) - same problem if I try to boot from install DVD ("c" or using "option" then selecting DVD) - same problem with safe boot with "shift" - reset PRAM It will connect via firewire target disk mode to another computer, and I used that to completely wipe the disk and do a clean install of 10.5. When I tried booting into single-user mode (cmd-s), it fills about 2/3 of the screen with normal-looking messages, but then hangs after this (no keyboard response): Got boot device = IOService... [various other stuff] BSD root: disk0s6, major 14, minor 5 I'm out of ideas. Any suggestions? The machine is old enough that it's probably not worth the diagnostic fee of the local Apple shop. Since I can't get it to boot, I can't even run TechTools.
At the tech dept we have this G4 that refuses to boot past the grey screen with the rotating wheel. The logic board has been replaced, we've removed all sticks of RAM save 1x512, we've tried a known working optical drive, replaced ribbon cables (optical cable was frayed on one end) No dice. Option booting works, but once we select the DVD we can't boot from an install PPC CD either, it just gets stuck at the grey screen. We also have a tech HD inside that the computer does not boot from either.
I recently required a Power Mac G4, and it was working fine, albeit a bit slow but I just assume that was because there's too many files on it, but that's another story. I shut it down before I left work, when I came back in the morning it was just the grey screen with the apple. I reset it, still no response. I reset the PRAM, nothing. I tried to boot in Single user mode, nothing. I tried to boot in verbose mode, nothing. I force ejected the CD and put in an OSX disk one from my laptop, asked it to force read by restarting and pressing "C" and still nothing. I am not sure if a cable inside has been jarred lose.
When I turn on my computer, the wheel keeps spinning and stops on the grey apple screen. If I leave it there for a few minutes, the fan gets really loud.
I tried pressing Apple, Option, P, R, but it only chimes once.
I also tried holding down shift and restarting.
And I tried holding down option and restarting.
I even tried to take out the memory and put it back in.
Nothing is working.
I have the startup disks, but I don't know how to put them in the cd drive.
Since the computer won't boot up, I can't open the tray.
I was given a PowerBook G4 15" today. I need to fix it, but I can't find out what exactly is wrong. I've used MROOGLE and I can't find any problem quite like what I'm experiencing. In my case, the laptop will turn on, make the chime, and stay stuck on a white/grey screen. No apple, no spinning gear, no nothing. Just a blank white/grey screen. However, when I insert the Leopard DVD and hold down "C" the apple appears as well as the little spinning gear. That goes on for a few minutes. BUT, after those few minutes are up the small gear still spins, but the Apple logo is replaced with a prohibitory sign (like what you would see on a non-smoking or no parking sign) and it sticks there and sometime says that I need to re-start my computer. The same happens with the Tiger disk. Also, when I place the Leopard or Tiger disk in the SuperDrive and hold down "option" so that I can boot OS X from the DVD, I click the little continue arrow and nothing happens. I've reset everything there is to be reset, and I've opened up the computer and re-seated everything that could possibly be re-seated. RAM, HDD, all connector cables, etc. There isn't any visible physical damage inside of the computer either.
The most recent thing I've tried was to boot off of a PPC-specific Ubuntu disk. It does some stuff and lets me run the kernel, but after that the computer gets stuck on a black screen and does nothing at all. I'd really appreciate it if you all could offer some advice as to what may be wrong. All suggestions and ideas are welcome too.
I've been reading this site for a while now, first time I'm posting. I recently purchased 8 GB of RAM for my 2010 13" MBP. There are two 4 GB DDR3 PC3-10500 1333mhz sticks. When I install them in the laptop my computer does not get past the apple logo boot screen (the spinning disc freezes). However, I can boot into Windows (boot camp) without issues.
Also, when I pair either of the 4 GB sticks with one of my old 2 GB stock sticks the laptop boots up fine in OS X. The system profiler registers it as 6 GB of 1067 mhz RAM (the stock sticks are 1067 mhz)
At work, we have a 17" G5 iMac from back before the iSight was put in. We're an Apple shop, so we have the new iMac actually on the floor for people to try out. The old G5 this thread is addressing is up on a shelf, but we want to turn it on as a display model. We plug a temporary mouse and keyboard into it, but the machine never gets past the white Apple screen with the "I'm thinking" animation. After a minute or two, the fan turns on full blast, but the white screen remains without any signs of moving on. What is our problem?
Whenever I shutdown or restart MBP 13 with latest OS X. I see white screen with spinning sign. It is never ending. Once I have kept it like this for more then 20 hrs. I have contacted Apple couple of times but the solution was not permanent. Please check video link to better understand my issue. [URL]
Info: MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.2)
I own an iBook G4. I could not get it to boot up, it would just go to a grey screen with the apple symbol and a timer/clock that looked like a gear.FYI: I may provide more information than necessary in the text below. I'm not sure what is and isn't relevant.
Following some advice I found in this forum I got out my old OS disks to boot from the disc instead of the hard drive. I intended to archive the old hard drive and install my latest OS (10.4.6 on the disc, 10.4.11 was the version I had been running on the machine, I believe). The machine told me it needed 4.5 Gb to install 10.4.6 Tiger, but I only had 4.0 Gb left on the hard drive. So instead, I archived and installed with the OS that came with the computer originally, 10.3.4.
I got things going, did the archive and install, and got to the log in screen. Unfortunately, I could not remember the password, so I booted up in single user mode, and entered the following to get into the machine:
1. mount -uw / 2. rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone 3. shutdown -h now
This got me in with a new admin login, and I started up in 10.3.4. I soon noticed that I could still see all of the files that I put on the hard drive on my old operating system. I thought I shouldn't be able to see them, but since I could I decided to try to copy them to an external hard drive. When I did, I got an error message saying that there was a read/write error. I was not entirely surprised, but I decided it was time to turn back to the forums for help.
What I want to do is copy everything from my old hard drive onto an external hard drive, make room on the iBook hard drive to reinstall my latest operating system (10.4.6). Once I've done that I'd like to get the essential files back onto the iBook from the external hard drive and continue using my computer (even though it is a dinosaur).
I am a high school teacher and in my lab, for the first time, I have an eMac (1 GHz G4), that, when I turn it on, all that shows is a grey screen with an apple in the middle. I tried doing a "mac-boot" to no avail.
I have a Powerbook G4 with me and it doesn't boot up. I am suspecting it is hard disk/ software error that is stopping it from booting up. Here is what I see when I try to power it up: White screen, Apple logo with the round circle with rainbow color. Do you guys think that is is a software error that is stopping it from booting up? The last thing I did was to install Windows Messenger for Mac! I am thinking of trying to do a re-install using the disc that comes with my Powerbook purchase but I am at a lost of what to do. Can anyone please share with me the steps that I need to take? I've got a 'new' hard disk already, please advise on how can I rebuild my Powerbook!
I am trying to install windows 7 on macbook air, through an external DVD drive, since USB didnt work for me. The DVD is detected and ounce I click start windows installation, the system boots and gets stuck at the gray boot screen with the apple logo. What is causing this? how can I solve this?
there back in September when I got my macbook I had the problem where it wouldn't boot past the apple logo screen and it was taken away and the hard drive had to be replaced and now it has happened again! I'm so annoyed as Im getting really close to exams at Uni so need my computer but will it need to have the hard drive replaced again!? As well with it being Lion I dont have a disk with it to try utility disk.
My mother's unibody white MacBook will not get past the grey apple and spinning gear when you first boot up the computer. This was after she opened a link in an email from a friend who had her email compromised. Now I'm getting spam emails with the same link from my mother's hacked email, and her computer won't even get to the login screen. I took it to the genius bar only to be told it was likely HD failure, but the windows partition works without a hitch! What could this be? A trojan? Is there any way to retrieve data (really just pictures) before I attempt to reinstall OS X?
My iMac will not boot past the logo and spinning gear (After a Rogue Amoeba update). I can't access the recovery disk I made on a flash drive. (Am I doing it correctly? - Hold down option while switching on? It just stays on the logo).
I have had my MacBook for almost two years and the battery had just died on me. So I sent it back to Apple and got a new one. But ever since switching over to this new battery, my computer has had issues starting up. A grey screen fades into white and the Apple logo never appears. The computer will just stay like that for hours. A friend suggested turning the power off and back on, holding apple+ctrl+P+R, which worked. However, the next time I turned my computer on, the screen stayed white again, without an Apple logo. Can you tell me what the deal is? Should I bother reporting this to Apple? Is this permanent damage I'm going to have to go thru everytime I start me laptop? Any way to fix it? Thanks.
I just acquired a G4 MDD Power Mac. Dual 1 Ghz processors.I pulled the HD out of my older g4, connected it, and powered the machine up. The HD has OSX 10.5 and works fine in the older G4.
The first thing I notice is that the Small fan (in the door) is spinning, but the Large fan under the Power Supply is NOT. The red light on the Motherboard is on.
What happens is that all I get is a white screen, with the Apple Logo, and the spinning circle. it never acceses the hard drive and boots into 10.5 What does this point to? I hope the Dual processors are not the problem here. But that large fan not spinning worries me.
Reset my disc permission is Disk utility ...like the idiot i am, and now My MBA won't boot past the Apple logo and spinning cog. In Single User Mode the key problem seems to be. sudo: /private/etc/sudoers is mode 0666, should be 0440 :/ root# sendmail: warnibg: valid_hostname: empty hostname sendmail: fatal: unable to use my own hostname / is it possible to repair permissions in Single User mode?
Her laptop is running terribly slow. She uses this computer for iTunes/iPod and running Safari and Word...not much else. Not sure why she would be having any problems. Hardrive space isn't a problem, as there is about 10G availableThe computer boots VERY slow...it takes at least 5 minutes. Once running, launching any application takes much longer than it should. Surfing the net also is very spotty. A page will load, then for no reason, the spinning beach ball (SBB) pops up and freezes the computer for 30 seconds to a minute. This happens the entire time online for any page...even after the page is fully loaded the computer continues to have the SBB appear every few minutes. This issue is not isolated to Safari...it seems the entire OS is lagging horribly. I tried running Disk Utility, which couldn't even finish. After spending 10+ minutes with the progress bar not moving, I gave up.
I have an iBook G4 1.07 GHz 30 gb 256 RAM with Panther. It was working fine until my HD got close to being full. Now I can't get it to boot past the Apple screen. It will either freeze there, or move on to the blue screen and freeze before the progress bar enters. I want to re-install Panther but I can't get any CD to boot during startup by holding "C", including the Panther OS CD, the Hardware Test CD, or the Tech Tool CD. I am able to boot to single user mode, where I type fsck -fy, and I recieve no errors with the hardware. I had this issue beore and my HD had to be replaced by Apple.
