TS1411: Your Mac won't start up in Mac OS X (Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier)

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SDAlongshot

Q: Issue with starting up with macbook pro. Start up disk full?!?

Hi there. When i try to start up my macbook pro i get a message saying start up disk almost full. Following this the login screen appears. I log in but then it gets stuck on a background of space? How can i fix this? Its not a very old macbook pro (had it 2 years) and i just hope that i dont have to format it. I look forward to any advice and i thank you in advance.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 11, 2012 1:46 PM

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Q: Issue with starting up with macbook pro. Start up disk full?!?

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 11, 2012 1:48 PM in response to SDAlongshot
    Level 10 (271,348 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2012 1:48 PM in response to SDAlongshot

    Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive

     

    1. See Lion's Storage Display.
    2. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder.
    3. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive.
    4. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
    5. See Where did my Disk Space go?.
    6. See The Storage Display.

     

    You must Empty the Trash in order to recover the space they occupied on the hard drive.

     

    You should consider replacing the drive with a larger one. Check out OWC for drives, tutorials, and toolkits.

  • by SDAlongshot,

    SDAlongshot SDAlongshot Oct 11, 2012 1:56 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 11, 2012 1:56 PM in response to Kappy

    did you actually read what i put? i cannot access the trash or any apps because i am stuck on a background screen after trying to log on. the reason i put about that message is because i thought that was the cause for it.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 11, 2012 2:05 PM in response to SDAlongshot
    Level 10 (271,348 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2012 2:05 PM in response to SDAlongshot

    Erase your drive and reinstall OS X. I hope you have a backup. You will need the Snow Leopard installer DVD that came with the computer.

  • by SDAlongshot,

    SDAlongshot SDAlongshot Oct 11, 2012 2:37 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 11, 2012 2:37 PM in response to Kappy

    How do i erase the drive?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 11, 2012 2:54 PM in response to SDAlongshot
    Level 10 (271,348 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2012 2:54 PM in response to SDAlongshot

    Drive Preparation

     

    1. Boot from your Snow Leopard DVD. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button.  When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.

     

    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

     

    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.

     

    4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the Snow Leopard installation.