FireMedic6

Q: I recently updated my 2 year old iMac over the internet and now it will not start up. When I press the start button the normal  start up sound is heard and the apple logo appears on the screen followed by the start up sequences then the screen goes black

I recently updated my iMac over the internet and now it will not restart. The Apple chime sounds after pressing the start button and the Apple logo appears on the screen followed by the start up status bar at the bottom of the screen then after a few seconds the screen goes black and the unit turns off.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Aug 15, 2012 12:08 PM

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Q: I recently updated my 2 year old iMac over the internet and now it will not start up. When I press the start button the normal&nbs ... more

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  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Aug 15, 2012 12:12 PM in response to FireMedic6
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Aug 15, 2012 12:12 PM in response to FireMedic6

    You may need to restore the Firmware.

  • by Paul_31,

    Paul_31 Paul_31 Aug 15, 2012 12:26 PM in response to FireMedic6
    Level 6 (13,815 points)
    Aug 15, 2012 12:26 PM in response to FireMedic6

    You may want to try booting into the Recovery HD and checking the disk for problems.

    Restart holding Command+R, when it boots (hopefully), select Disk Utility and then select your Macintsoh HD and click on Repair Disk. If any errors are found/corrected click on 'repair disk' again until you get a clean pass. Restart as normal from the Apple menu.

    If this doesn't help, try a Safe Boot: restart holding down the shift key until you see a grey progress bar. Once booted (again, hopefully) restart as normal from the Apple menu.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Aug 15, 2012 2:02 PM in response to Ralph Landry1
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Aug 15, 2012 2:02 PM in response to Ralph Landry1

    The progress bar indicates that fsck is running. It has nothing to do with firmware updates.

  • by daxler,

    daxler daxler Jun 7, 2013 5:53 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2013 5:53 AM in response to Paul_31

    This seems to have worked for me!

    My 1996 iMac would not start after the last update, working now!!

  • by FireMedic6,

    FireMedic6 FireMedic6 Jun 7, 2013 6:56 AM in response to FireMedic6
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2013 6:56 AM in response to FireMedic6

    Thanks gentlemen for the tips. Unfortunately, I ended up having to takie it in to the Apple store and they replaced the hard drive and power supply module. Lost all my data, but they let me have my old hard drive back in case I wanted to try and have the data taken off and put on a flash drive by a firm specializing in that type of service. Got it home and it was still giving me problems, started noticing an electrial short type of smell - returned to Apple store and ended up replacing the whole computer.  So far all is good with the new desk top at no additional cost over the initial repair cost.  Happy customer but disappointed in loss of data on old computer. Thanks again for the tips and suggestions.

  • by Ralph Landry1,Helpful

    Ralph Landry1 Jun 7, 2013 7:24 AM in response to FireMedic6
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Jun 7, 2013 7:24 AM in response to FireMedic6

    Since you have the old hard drive, have you tried to see if the replacement Mac will recognize it?  That would be very easy and relatively inexpensive.  You can get an external enclosure from OWC, http://www.macsales.com for $20 - 30 and just drop the old drive in the enclosure, plug it into a USB port and see if the Mac can access it.

     

    Recently removed the hard drive from a MacBook Pro my daughter had so she could use th drive as an external with a new MBP.  Works great.

  • by FireMedic6,

    FireMedic6 FireMedic6 Jun 7, 2013 10:45 AM in response to Ralph Landry1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2013 10:45 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

    Ralph,  Thank you I will give that a try. I appreciate your follow up!!

  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Jun 7, 2013 10:57 AM in response to FireMedic6
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Jun 7, 2013 10:57 AM in response to FireMedic6

    You're welcome.  And if the drive really doesn't work, you are only out a small amount for the effort...if it does work, you have all your material you thought you had lost...so good luck and hope this works out for you.