Continuos loading circle when I turn on my Mac

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Level 1

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Continuos loading circle when I turn on my Mac

I left my mac turnedoff for roughly a month. When I turned the computer on, the gray apple screen and the load bar appeared to start up the computer. Shortly into the loading process, the loading circle appeared (rotating circle seen to indicate loading in programs such as iMovie and Safari etc). The start up load bar disappeared and the load circle has now been rotating infinitely. I have tried pressing command+r and turning off the mac and turning it back on. I have plugged it into a power source. It won't let me past this gray screen. How do I get into my mac?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, iOS 5, Bought in June of last year

Posted on Mar 4, 2012 11:50 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

dalstott

Level 4

2,639 points

Mar 4, 2012 12:34 PM in response to SAllman

Restart while holding down the shift key to start up in safe boot mode. When the progress bar shows up you can let up on the key.

This forces a directory check of the startup volume and loads only required kernel extensions (some of the items in /System/Library/Extensions). Also disables all startup items and login items. This can help resolve software or directory issues that may exist on the startup volume.

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Answer 2

SAllman Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 4, 2012 2:26 PM in response to dalstott

Thanks man, but that didn't work. I let up on the button when the load bar showed up. The continuous load circle happened again. Any other ideas?

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Answer 3

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Mar 4, 2012 4:26 PM in response to SAllman

Disconnect all peripherals from your computer.

Boot from your install disc & run Repair Disk from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.

Select your language.

Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.

Select Disk Utility.

Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click First Aid.

Click Repair Disk.

Restart your computer when done.

Repair permissions after you reach the desktop-http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751 and restart your computer.

You are still under warranty. Either call Apple Care or

take the computer to an Apple store or an AASP. Whichever is more convenient for you.

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Answer 4

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Mar 4, 2012 5:15 PM in response to SAllman

SAllman wrote:

Any other ideas?

Mac OS X v10.4–10.6

<http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570>

Mac OS X v10.7

<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mchlp2889.html>

(Btw, if you need help, it's a good idea to specify exactly what Mac OS X version you are using. Advice for one version may not be applicable to a later or earlier version.)

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