Random Crossed Out Circle On Boot After Replacing HD / Copying Image

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Level 1

16 points

Random Crossed Out Circle On Boot After Replacing HD / Copying Image

Hi, I recently had to change the HD in my MacBook Pro. I did a complete backup of my HD as an image onto a firewire HD using Shirt Pocket's "SuperDuper!" software. After I replaced the old internal HD with the new one, I restored the Image onto the drive. Everything went well, however the first time that I launched OSX on the new HD, the Apple logo turned into a circle that's crossed out. After I restarted everything went smooth and everything functions normally. Now a few weeks later it happened again, right before my DJ gig. Same as before, I restarted with a cold boot and it works fine. I'm just wondering if anyone knows what's happening, what's causing this random boot failure? Thanks.

Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, Logic Studio, iPhone, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jun 27, 2008 6:35 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 27, 2008 6:53 PM in response to djanthonyw

Did you prep the new drive?

Extended Hard Drive Preparation

1. 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 or Leopard.)

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.

4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.

5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.

6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

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Answer 2

djanthonyw Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 28, 2008 12:07 AM in response to Kappy

Thank you for the reply, but yes, I did all of that. I stated that after I restarted it boots normally. I actually restored the image 3 times when I put the new drive in, and 2 out of three times it happened on boot after restoring. I also remember now that with this last time before it happened, I also booted on my Mac Pro from my MacBook Pro's HD, I wonder if that had something to do with it?

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 28, 2008 2:05 AM in response to djanthonyw

If you boot the computer from the backup drive from which you restored the system does it do the same thing? If so then you probably have a defective backup.

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Answer 4

djanthonyw Author

Level 1

16 points

Jun 28, 2008 8:37 AM in response to Kappy

No, because it's on the backup drive as an image. I can't boot from that image. It can't be a defective backup because it boots fine after I restart. I'm thinking maybe because I didn't choose the startup drive after I restored from the backup drive or after I used the HD in the MBP to start from the Mac Pro.

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 28, 2008 11:19 AM in response to djanthonyw

Well you can open Startup Disk, select the volume, then click Restart. However, if the problem persists then likely it's a problem with your backup image. In the future don't use a disc image for a clone. Clone directly to the backup drive that way you can also boot from it.

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Answer 6

Aug 7, 2008 7:57 PM in response to Kappy

Even I am having similar problem. The only difference is that my Leopard had been working fine till yesterday. Yesterday during the day my iPhoto Library crashed. All the pics were fine in the folder, just the library crashed. I was like that it could have been worse so I rebuilded my iPhoto Library. Then later in the evening, my iTunes Library crashed. Same thing happened. My songs were safe in the folder, just the Library got corrupted. Then I tried to use my Time Machine backup and it turns out that it had crashed too. For time machine, I had first put my Hard Drive on Airport Extreme. Using that system, I was able to back up via USB as well as wirelessly. This system had been working fine for months until yesterday when my computer failed to even recognize the Time Machine backups. I was ****** but still let go. I didnt immediately took a fresh backup, thought will do it tomorrow. And when I woke up this morning, I got a crossed circle sign after the Apple Sign on booting up.
I then ran Disk Warrior using my Dad's Laptop keeping mine in Target Mode. Rebuilding hard drive has helped solve many problems before. But it didnt help either. Further, after a few mins of staying at crossed circle, it start to load of WindowsXP.
Any suggestions on how to fix this?

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