Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I had a lot of tabs open and several applications as well. things really slowed up when I added El media player to the mix. finally computer froze completely and now can't get it to restart (stuck on grey screen) tried SMR plus PRAM procedures without success.
MacBook Air (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.7)
Hmm... try doing this:
1) Force your Mac to shut down by pressing and holding the power button for about 5 sec.
2) Start in Safe Mode. Press the power button to turn it on, and before you hear the Startup "Dummmmm" chime, hold down the Shift key. For a few sec, you won't see the Apple logo. Keep pressing the Shift key until you see it. If you press it after the Apple logo appears, start from Step 1 again.
3) This time, your Mac should take longer to boot. (Like a minute or 2 longer as it is going thru the necessary files to boot from, and not just everything like in Normal Startup mode; which caused it to hang)
4) Does your Mac boot sucessfully to the Login Screen or Desktop? The login Screen should show SAFE MODE in red at the top. The Desktop should have Sound disabled and seems a lot slower. If you see either of these, backup ALL your files (if you have not already done so) on to an External HDD. Create a new User Account in System Preferences>Accounts with about the same info as your current account (The name will have to be different though, if your previous account was John, this time, add your last name as in John Appleseed.) Make sure it is an Admin account. Then, login into the new account and delete your previous account. Copy all your files over to your new account and restart your Mac correctly by going to Apple Menu>Restart.
5) This time, don't press anything and let it boot normally. Does your Mac boot correctly? I hope that helps you a little. Get back to me if it does not work! 😉
Righto, I set it to do it's internet recovery overnight. When I woke it had fixed whatever was the issue without wiping my drive. All the tweaks I made to get it to where I wanted it were still there. I'm extremely thankful for that.
I'll monitor and report back if things go pear-shaped again.
Robbes...from past experience, and too many failed HDs (mostly on Windows machines)...BACK UP YOUR DATA IMMEDIATELY if the drive is working, because I will bet my bottom dollar it will go out again, and by the fact that it started working again, my guess is it is beginning to fail and you will get to a point where it will NOT work anymore. I do believe you can replace the HD on a 2008 Air. BUT, you will need to buy a ZIF connect PATA drive. The first gen macbook airs used a 1.8" ZIF PATA drive in them, if I remember correctly, before switching to SSDs. If you go to a site called ifixit.com, you can find detailed step-by-step instructions on how to replace it...but you will need two different size torx screwdrivers, and possibly one called a pentaloabe driver (5 point Apple uses for non-tampering screws). I hope I am not too late in posting this...hope u see it 😝
You are a lifesaver! Thank you so much, for the info. You rock!!🙂🙂🙂
mac book air stuck on grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel
