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Level 1

0 points

Macbook will not boot, stays on gray screen no apple logo

I was in the middle of watching some streaming content in netflix when my macbook froze. I tried to force quit, but to no avail, so I forced shut down. When I press the power button to reboot, I hear a couple of clicking sounds like the fan is trying to start up, but it doesn't. The screen remains on the gray screen and the apple logo never appears (no apple startup sound either). I do not hear the fan running.

Other possible factors:
-I know there are some software updates waiting, I just haven't had the chance to.
-A few days ago I did get a message that virtual memory or maybe it said hard disk (I can't remember) memory is close to being full. I trashed a whole lot of stuff, but did not get around to clearing my trash yet.

Any ideas?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Dec 8, 2010 12:42 PM

19 replies

Sep 2, 2012 9:27 PM in response to DanielMeier

Same exact problem

Dec 1, 2012 1:38 PM in response to DanielMeier

I know this post is from a long time ago, but my MacBook just started doing the same thing.

Hitting power gives me the start up chime, harddrive spins normally, fan spins normally, cd drive gives a quick squak and I get a solid gray (no apple, no folder, no '?').

I have tried all of the various key combinations and the only one that does anything is pressing ALT/option gives me a black mouse cursor on the screen.

Did you ever find a solution to this? I've never messed with installing or different boot options on MacBooks, so I'm not sure what to expect or what to do different.

I've tried putting in OSX disc one but nothing happens. I can't get it to eject now either.

Blm5274

Level 1

4 points

Aug 26, 2017 7:26 PM in response to DanielMeier

This is exactly what my MacBook is doing! Did you ever get a resolution? Booting in safe just gives me a mouse but still just a gray screen.

Blm5274

Level 1

4 points

Aug 26, 2017 7:27 PM in response to ThePucketteer

This is exactly what my MacBook is doing! Did you ever get a resolution? Booting in safe just gives me a mouse but still just a gray screen.

Macbook will not boot, stays on gray screen no apple logo