When I boot up my iMac I get a black screen with white text?

Question

Level 1

20 points

When I boot up my iMac I get a black screen with white text?

Hey guys wondering if anyone can help me. I installed mountain lion on my iMac the other day (2.8ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 24inch) and now when I turn it on I get this screen come up? Any one no of a way to fix it? It comes up black all this white text appears and at the end it says..

"If you wish to boot the system:
exit
:/ root #

You type exit and some more stuff comes up then the mac boots up, normal apple loading screen and your in?? I tried reinstalling mountain lion again and I had no luck. Still doing it? Its strange cause ML is running fine on my macbook air. If anyone has any suggestions I would be so grateful. Tell me this isnt the end of her?

Its not something silly like the keyboard and mouse aren't connecting? I leave them on all the time.

Heres a snap of the screen

Thanks everyone

Posted on Aug 13, 2012 2:56 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Paul_31

Level 6

14,172 points

Aug 13, 2012 3:02 AM in response to Danakin186

If seen this mentioned a couple of times on here. I think a PRAM reset may fix it:

Reset PRAM

Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P and R.
You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

Reply

Answer 2

Danakin186 Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 13, 2012 3:35 AM in response to Paul_31

Hi Paul, I just tried it, I got the grey screens and the bongs twice. Booted up and then restarted it and it seems to work fine. I will keep an eye on it and see it if happens again. What does the PRAM and resetting it actually do? just for future reference.
Guess no new mac for me 😟

Thanks

Reply

Answer 3

Danakin186 Author

Level 1

20 points

Sep 2, 2012 8:14 AM in response to osvaldas

Hey Osvaldas, nice to know I wasnt the only one having this problem. I tried what Paul_31 suggested. Reset the PRAM which funnily enough is what the Genius in the apple store suggested. It worked for a couple of days then started playing up again.

I spoke with a couple of geeks at work and they suggested booting off of a ML stick and cleaning my hard drive. U know the restoring and verifying that u can do? When u go into disk utility? I did that and it made my mac run a bit better. So u could give that a try.

Randomly tho I think it could be that my mac doesnt see my wireless keyboard and mouse, I have to give it a few minutes for them to come to life before I boot up. Are u running a wireless mouse with ur laptop?

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 5, 2013 5:24 PM in response to Danakin186

I did reset the PRAM, but don't think that worked. I did find this on a blog on the web. It worked for me

When I first read this post I did not realize that the Mac boots properly if you type "exit". It seems like perhaps your mac thinks you want to boot in "verbose" mode. Trythis before doing a reinstall.

http://www.ernieflores.net/osx-page-3/always-boot-mac-os-x-in-verbose-mode/

I got this info from here

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/280859-black-screen-white -text-startup.html

note: after it starts with the white text and black screen just type exit then hit return key and the computer will startup. open the terminal after that and follow the ernie flores blog tip.

Reply

Answer 5

osvaldas

Level 1

0 points

Aug 31, 2012 11:30 PM in response to Danakin186

I've got exactly the same problem with my MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008, 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo). However, resetting PRAM and NVRAM did not solve it. Has anybody else experienced the same?

Reply

Answer 6

Paul_31

Level 6

14,172 points

Aug 13, 2012 4:29 AM in response to Danakin186

Here's the things it can help sort out: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Reply