Q: Grey screen & key combinations that doesn't work
Hello, guys. I've got an iMac Early 2008 (8,1) and I'm experiencing the infamous "grey screen of death". I read and tried all the things that are on the following threads, but nothing solved my problem .
grey screen of death? Did it die? Any suggestions? Help I'm ready to jump!
MacBook Pro won't go past grey screen with loading bar and wheel
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
The things gone bad (grey screen and boot issues) when I was running Snow Leopard and, after a frustrating tryings to solve it, I made a clean install of El Capitan. Worked fine for a couple weeks, but the problem is back, sometimes with the "Question Mark" blinking. Since then, I tried everything (reset the NVRAM, Disk Repair, performed the command on the Single User Mode, start etc).
I tried to restart from OSX Recovery (Cmd+R) and I experienced two things: 1. absolutely nothing happen; 2. when I used the command with the Flash Drive (El Capitan) I got the OSX Install screen (and this after 15 minutes holding Cmd+R). Again, I repaired the disk, but the problem persisted after reboot.
The Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics are a mythology for me. I never got to use. If i try with nothing plugged or inserted on, nothing is the answer. If I try with the Flash Drive, I got nothing or, again, the OSX Install screen. If I try with the factory CD, nothing happens OR the computer starts normaly. It's completely aleatory behavior. On this very moment, I'm writing this with the computer working. But I don't know if after I shut it down it will be back or not.
So, here I'm asking for your help.
1. Does anyone have one idea what is happening?
2. Why the startup key combinations are not working as described?
3. How do I know if it's a hardware or software problem? Solution?
Thanks,
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Early 2008; Core 2 Duo 2,4GHz; 4 GB
Posted on Mar 6, 2016 12:24 AM
First, the Apple Hardware Test for that computer is located on disc two of the original gray factory install disc set. Do you have the correct gray install set? You should be able to run AHT by inserting disc 2 and restarting while holding the D key. Be aware that AHT isn't always reliable when it reports no errors.
Have you checked this OS X Yosemite: If you see a gray screen at startup
Or this About the screens you see when your Mac starts up - Apple Support
Have you considered that your startup drive may be failing? You could install OS X on an external drive and test to see if startup is normal with that.
Posted on Mar 6, 2016 6:51 AM