A prohibitory symbol, which looks like a circle with a line or slash through it

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Level 1

9 points

A prohibitory symbol, which looks like a circle with a line or slash through it

I have a Mac 27 2015 which up to few days ago ran perfectly and fast and never had a problem (it is an upgraded model not a basic one)

last day I worked on it normally in the morning and then went to do my stuff around. At a certain moment I glanced at it and saw it was rebooting, thought it was an update which apple recommend to keep automatically on for security updates so be it.

well from that time my mac won't start and it appears A prohibitory symbol, which looks like a circle with a line or slash through it, and an url with Apple support.

I searched on apple and there is an article from Feb 2 2024 which says "A prohibitory symbol, which looks like a circle with a line or slash through it, means that your startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a version or build of macos that your Mac can use" so why did they sent to my computer???!!!!

I followed apple instructions online, try the chat, called by phone and they have not helped so they expect to bring for service.

anyone had same problem ?

I find amazing that now I have to pay for service for a product that was working perfectly and broke because the manufacturer sent something to it that maybe was not compatible with it ( I have Monterey OS) !!!! ps it did make all other updates over the years with no problem

iMac 27″, macOS 12.7

Posted on Feb 11, 2024 3:54 AM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,790 points

Apr 26, 2024 12:46 PM in response to ririman

I would buy either of the following:

Option #1

Apple Refurbished Mac mini a Refurbished Mac mini 3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7, 10GB Ethernet - Space Gray $1529.00
27 inch Monitor with 2K 2560 x 1440 IPS Panel 75hz | Computer Monitor 27 inch QHD with HDMI, DP and VESA Wall Mountable on Amazon for $139.00

Keep your old keyboard and mouse and use those on the new Mac mini. Total investment is $1529 + $139 = $1,668.00

or Option #2

new iMac from B&H Photo (get their Payboo credit card to save on any sales tax!!!)

Apple 24" iMac with M3 Chip 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD $1899 no shipping!!

Both options would be worlds better than your old Mac. Also you can easily migrate from the old Mac's Time Machine backup External Hard Disk!!

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,790 points

Apr 26, 2024 10:52 AM in response to ririman

FWW Apple does not make HD's they never have. When they built computers that used HD's they sourced them from the primary vendors of the day, Seagate, WD etc.... So the fact that you're 10 year old computer's HD failed sounds about average. All HD's fail, it's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of when, unfortunately predicting when the failure will occur is very difficult.

Personally on such an old computer if you still want to keep it (frankly it is obsolete in that it will not run current versions of Mac OS) I would have simply used an external USB 3 SSD rather than spending money opening the computer and installing a new HD. SSDs are much faster and tend to last longer than HD's and with prices falling they are downright reasonably priced.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,790 points

Apr 26, 2024 12:10 PM in response to ririman

That's fine, to be honest I think you are being a bit short sighted by investing $ 400 on a machine that has zero value and may fail again shortly due to other issues. However of course it is yours and it's easy for me to spend your money. :-)

Best of luck.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

207,709 points

Mar 1, 2024 3:26 PM in response to ririman

dialabrain is right - it sounds like a failing hard drive.

Macs can't install systems that won't work on them. It's a built in protection.

Is this why you tried after you got that screen: if your Mac starts up to a circle with a line through it?

If not give it a try. But being an 8 year old it's probably hardware related like dialabrain suggested.

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Feb 11, 2024 4:03 AM in response to ririman

It sounds like a possible hardware failure. You should have it looked at. It is going on 9 yrs old.

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Answer 6

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Feb 11, 2024 4:20 AM in response to ririman

You're welcome. FWIW, there is no telling when a hardware failure can occur. At this moment I am typing on a Late 2015 5K iMac. I'm hoping mine won't fail anytime soon.

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Answer 7

Mar 1, 2024 3:03 PM in response to ririman

This exact thing has just happened to my 27inch 2017 IMac 😭 was working perfectly but woke up to it doing the same.

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Answer 8

ririman Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 11, 2024 4:18 AM in response to dialabrain

thank you for your answer. I'd be perfectly ok if the hardware would have failed by itself and not after receiving some sort of update....anyway as you say it is not a new model although it was working as if it was and never had one issue. I will definitely bring it to check.

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Answer 9

ririman Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 22, 2024 1:38 PM in response to ririman

Hello I just wanted to update on this . First of all I was able by myself to restore to OS El Capitan . Then I brought it to the Apple store because I want them to upgrade to the latest possible Mac OS which is Monterey. They told me sure. They ran a test. One is ok another one "issue found" ,could be hardware . They could not find what hardware was mounted on. I have sent them receipt of the purchase (yes I still had it). They asked me to leave it there and they wpuld call me with costs either hardware cable 108$ or hardware disk replacement 399$ plus 99$ service plus tax I guess....I said ok call me and let me know what that is. The same day in the evening they called me :"the computer is too old we cannot order parts come get it" . This is their service. The day after in the morning I went to pick up my untouched computer.

Now I have it at home. I have installed the mac os till big sur but suddenly it shuts down and restart with a message on a black window "your computer shut down because of a problem or something like that" ran repair on disk utility and hardware diagnostic on apple and no issue found. So I am stuck if it persists I am bringing to a local shop to replace ssd.

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Answer 10

ririman Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 26, 2024 10:10 AM in response to ririman

Update: brought it to a private repair shop and they told me disk drive to replace. Now they told me are going to put a generic non apple brand HD drive 1TB . My iMac is late 2015 27" and had 3TB FUSION DRIVE. below specifics of the computer. Will this be ok for this computer? I do not do professional video or games and have iCloud to store all my stuff.

???? Thanks for the support

iMac 27" late 2015 5k Retina display

intel 4.0gh quad core turbo I7

32GB 1867MH DDR3 SD RAM (FOUR 8GB)

3TB FUSION DRIVE

AMD RADEON R9 M395 w 2gb video memory

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Answer 11

ririman Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 26, 2024 11:05 AM in response to rkaufmann87

thank you for your answer I am not a tech savy and don't know how to do what you suggest and make it work

wirh an external drive if the computer keeps rebooting every 5 minutes as it is.... I wish I could do it on my own! I don't need latest version of mac os I want to keep this one because it is fine as it was for web browsing email video watching . that's it. Do not want to spend 1400$ plus tax for a new 24" imac at the moment. If I spend 400$ and they make it work normally again I'd ve more than happy!

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Answer 12

ririman Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 26, 2024 12:16 PM in response to rkaufmann87

as a matter of fact I still did not went ahead with the repair I am still debating! what would you do if it was you? I do not take offese do not worry if you think I am wasting my time with this machine feel free to say. I am learning a lot, and I think this community is really really helpful !

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