Won't Start Up!!!

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Level 4

1,303 points

Won't Start Up!!!

Well, I had the flashing question mark, but after starting up later it was fine. Until I was in iTunes and tried to "show in finder" a file, then I got the Spinning Beachball of Death and it would not stop for an hour. Cmd-Opt-Esc did nothing. I had to power off. Powered on again this AM and it just stalled at the grayish Apple screen with the little circular loading thing endlessly. I'm really worried. Any suggestions?

iMac7,1 2.4 GHz; 2GB, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Tiger iLife '08 Alesis IO|14 FW Interface

Posted on Mar 22, 2012 4:57 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Texas Mac Man

Level 8

46,839 points

Mar 22, 2012 5:36 AM in response to poflynn

Could be a failed hard drive. Do you have a backup?

Will it boot in Safe Mode? See What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? (Mac OS X)

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392 Takes a while to run, but it usually "fixes" problems.

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Will your Mac boot using the system install DVD (or another system CD/DVD)?

 Cheers, Tom 😉

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 22, 2012 9:56 AM in response to poflynn

Boot off your *original* Install Disk while holding down the *d key*, (not c key), then run the extended Apple Hardware Test. Some disks require you to use the Option key at bootup to select AHT.

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Answer 3

poflynn Author

Level 4

1,303 points

Mar 22, 2012 10:16 AM in response to poflynn

Thank you both. Will try when I get home.

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Answer 4

poflynn Author

Level 4

1,303 points

Apr 11, 2012 6:37 PM in response to poflynn

Here's what finally happened, if anyone's interested.

Doing the Apple Hardware Test didn't work, it kept stalling partway thru.

Was FINALLY able to startup from the install disk holding C key (it kept ejecting the disk several times) and did a Repair to the Hard Disk using the Disk Utility, and that seemed to do the trick.

YAY!!!

This is all the same as in this other post:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3819649?answerId=17915175022#17915175022

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Answer 5

poflynn Author

Level 4

1,303 points

Aug 21, 2012 10:23 AM in response to poflynn

Ended up replacing hard drive.

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