"No Entry" sign at boot.

Question

Level 3

598 points

"No Entry" sign at boot.

I'm using another computer to access the discussions.
Hi.
Problem as of an hour ago. Found my screen dark but MBP not asleep. Tried to get screen lit by pressing some keys. Finally, I pressed the Power to reboot.
I discovered that when I try to boot the MacBook Pro (OSX 10.6.6) the grey apple logo changes to a "no entry" symbol and the grey segmented icon whirls around.
Disk permissions have been repaired from installation disk and the repair disk proceeded with no problems. Same "no entry" sign appears after retry.

Recently, my Time Machine backups since I began in July 2009 were unusable and unrepairable with any Apple tools or Disk Warrior. No usable backups. Hmmmm.

Naturally, I could use some help with this. I'd like to be able to boot my MBP.

15 2.33GHz MBP (maxed), Mac OS X (10.6.6), AirPort, 9x12" Wacom tablet, 23" Cinema Display, 0.9TB RAID, more...

Posted on Mar 24, 2011 7:29 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 29, 2017 2:40 PM in response to stan

(Thanks to this post!)

Mac pro cMP 4,1 early 2009.

Yep my old OSX drive was clicking and finally died but not before I scraped all the data off using an external osx drive installed online, phew.

To replace: Installing a new SSD Samsung EVO 500gb for my osx drive (after giving up on the expensive/obsolete AHCI samsung sm451 pcie option), and restoring from time machine back up El Cap, same thing.

No Entry sign, and Folder question mark.

SO:

Reset smc once,

Connected everything inc time machine external drive, and Current temporary osx external drive

Pram twice,

Two attempts to go into recovery mode, with one pram attempt inbetween,

Showed no entry sign, had a second thought, apple logo returned,

Then successfully into recovery mode Worked!

Disk utility; erase and name SSD, wow that thing's fast...

Time machine restore system to SSD (2 hours) only installs the OSX (which isn't obvious as no mention online, but what I wanted) If full system with all drives required, go into other time machine modes when logged in and new osx running.

1 hr 30 to go, So far so good...

Cheers! now for a beer. 🙂

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Answer 2

wayne@cf

Level 1

4 points

Aug 14, 2017 4:17 AM in response to stan

Affected system:

MacBook Pro 15" TB - FileVault encryption enabled.

Symptoms:

normal boot - brings up 'no entry sign'

boot to recovery - brings up 'no entry sign'

Attempt to fix:

Target mode - Attached mac, Disk Util - authenticate with password - 'repairs' disk - successfully make local image of HD.

Still boots to 'no entry sign'

What worked for me:

Boot with command,+option,+r - select wifi connection and authenticate; boot system auto-downloads; prompts to reset password (don't even think of it)

Go to Apple menu -> select startup disk

select internal HD icon - prompts for password - input login password (NOT encryption key)

restarts - success!!!!!

Appears to be 'fixed'.

Conclusion:

So selecting the Internal HD as the startup device within the Password recovery tool prompts for login password (due to FileVault encryption) which once entered solves the 'no-entry' issue!

No formatting, re-installation for Time-machine recovery needed!

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2011 8:07 PM in response to stan

You can try resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

If no help try a Safe Boot http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

If this works enter your password.

Then go click on Apple Menu -->Preferences
• Then go into Accounts
• For your Login account under Login Items
• Remove all login items
• once you have completed that, close the window.

Next place you need to go:
• Click on Macintosh HD icon
• Click on System Folder--> Library
• From Library select and open StartupItems folder.
• Remove all Startup Items to Trash.
• Close windows and reboot up normally.

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Answer 4

dechamp

Level 4

3,495 points

Mar 24, 2011 8:17 PM in response to stan

Typically, the "no entry" sign means that the Mac can't find a boot drive.

My first guess is that your hard drive has died. That's cheaper than a motherboard issue by far.

Since you have a MacOS Install DVD, you could run the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) by inserting the DVD, power up the computer, and hold down the "D" key to get the test to run.

You should get error codes or descriptions that you can report back with, or Google.

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Answer 5

stan Author

Level 3

598 points

Mar 24, 2011 8:19 PM in response to leroydouglas

I have access to all the files on my home folder. I have booted up on a "Leopard" back-up. The home disk and all folders and files is available to me, directly.
Q: Do you suggest that I slip into the suggested folders to remove startup files directly without rebooting first?
Thanx.

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Answer 6

Mar 24, 2011 8:26 PM in response to stan

stan wrote:
I have access to all the files on my home folder. I have booted up on a "Leopard" back-up. The home disk and all folders and files is available to me, directly.
Q: Do you suggest that I slip into the suggested folders to remove startup files directly without rebooting first?

No, I would try a safeboot first this will tell us if the next step is worth doing.

After this follow dechamp advice above for running AHT.

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Answer 7

stan Author

Level 3

598 points

Mar 24, 2011 8:26 PM in response to dechamp

The Hard Drive is alive, well, and running. I can access all the files and folders. I am running on an external "blessed" drive running a copy of Leopard.
Q: If I archive (to a third drive thru FW 800 or USB) and reinstall Snow Leopard, will I still have a fresh copy of a "NO ENTRY" system?

I know that Bill Nye, the science guy, says that 1 good experiment is better than 100 expert opinions; but, reinstalling all the applications, passwords, etc. scares the spurs out of me. I want to avoid all that if at all possible.

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Answer 8

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,848 points

Mar 24, 2011 9:02 PM in response to stan

Prohibitory sign usually means a critical boot file is missing or damage. You'll likely need to reinstall, but you can do so over the top of what you have and shouldn't lose anything, though anything is possible.
Here is a dated, but still somewhat relevant article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1892
Note that there isn't an archive and install option, now, and you can't boot from an OS 9 CD. The default install now works similar to the old archive and install, only better and it doesn't leave behind a "Previous Systems" folder.
As I look over it, about the only useful info is try a PRAM/NVRAM reset, and if that doesn't work, try reinstalling.

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Answer 9

stan Author

Level 3

598 points

Mar 24, 2011 10:33 PM in response to leroydouglas

Safeboot works; but, the removal of the suggested login items didn't work. I still get the "no entry" 57 spins after the Apple logo appears. As previously mentioned, there is no hardware issues to report after the AHT.

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Answer 10

stan Author

Level 3

598 points

Mar 24, 2011 10:39 PM in response to leroydouglas

These steps did not fix the situation. Thanx anyway.

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Answer 11

baltwo

Level 9

62,374 points

Mar 24, 2011 11:29 PM in response to stan

Backup all your data files and home folder, then reinstall SL on top of your currently hosed OS. That will only replace OS components and basic Apple apps, such as Mail, TextEdit, Safari, and Terminal, but should resolve your "no entry" condition. If so, run Software Update and bring everything back up to the latest. Once finished, make a bootable backup of your installation and replace the Leopard one. AFAICT, there's no reason to have that, when a Snow Leopard one is more appropriate.

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Answer 12

stan Author

Level 3

598 points

Mar 25, 2011 6:42 AM in response to baltwo

Hi,
This is the thing I've been trying to avoid but now it appears unavoidable. Note that the only thing that has saved my bacon so far has been multiple, cascading back-ups. I've been using Time Machine since it was available for two years and it was 100% unusable and unrecoverable so I had to revert to my Leopard back-up.

The lesson is this, kids: Don't trust a single back-up with your valuable data.

Nothing else here has worked. I found that what I have is a "persistent grey screen" which is covered by the knowledgebase article at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 in detail. Now that it's diagnosed, I just have to fix it. Wish me (good) luck.

Here're the problem symptoms:

Instead of seeing the Finder or the login window after startup, your computer may stop responding and the display may only show a persistent gray screen (you may also see an Apple logo, spinning gear, spinning globe, prohibitory sign, or a folder with a flashing question mark on it). Note: The below steps may not apply if a blue screen appears during start up.…

Thanks everyone who tried to get me out of a jam. I think that I've answered my own question; but, with help from my friends.

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Answer 13

stan Author

Level 3

598 points

Mar 25, 2011 6:43 AM in response to Barney-15E

PRAM and NVRAM reset did not solve the problem, thanks.

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Answer 14

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,848 points

Mar 25, 2011 5:28 PM in response to stan

Then you'll need to reinstall the system. It shouldn't alter the data, just the system files.

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Answer 15

Nov 30, 2013 10:54 AM in response to stan

My two cents. might not apply to this exact issue.

I managed to destiry my EFI partition but cloning the entire drive from one year older Macbook.

One one think it should work since all that changed was the CPU speed however I was wrong.

The EFI would not boot and I got the annyoing no entire sign.

Called apple support and they asked me to go to the store since even COMMAND-R did not work.

Steps I took to fix the problem:

1) I used paragon studio 12 (Thats what I had but you can use any partitioning software) to remove ALL the partitions including the first EFI one. Scary but I did it.

2) Connect a physical ethernet cable (Wi-fi didn't work so much for me) and used the COMMAND-R boot option, this time it worked right away since my HD was erased with no partitions. I assume this is how they install OSX first time out of manufactuing but I am only guessing

3) Instead of reinstalling OSX I used the recovery mode to run the Disk Utility and copy the entire Mac HD parition.

I think oince you delete the entire disk the COMMAND-R will generate EFI etc. ..

Hope it helps!

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