Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!
Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >
Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >
My MacBook Pro won't turn on from the grey screen. I have tried refreshing the RAM, and that has not worked. I tried placing the start up disk into the computer when turning it on and that still has done nothing.
It takes a while for it to get to the prohibitory sign. Before the prohibitory sign it usually has an apple and it just sits there for a while.
I don't know what to do.
Help is wanted.
Thank you very much!
MacBook Pro
Mac OS X- Gray screen or prohibitory sign appears during startup
The usualy fix is to reinstall OS X. If your are running Lion or Mountain Lion:
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
If you are running Snow Leopard or earlier:
Reinstall Snow Leopard without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. 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. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
I have just tried these options, and still nothing makes my computer move from the grey screen. I appreciate the quick response, but unfortunately this hasn't worked. Is there anything else I can try?
So you are saying that even when you boot from an installer DVD the startup does not get beyond a gray screen? That could well mean the hard drive or the controller is shot.
Does the dark gray Apple logo appear? Does the spinning gear appear below the logo? Are you able to do the following:
Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Please tell us what version of OS X you were using and specifically which model MBP?
I have done the resetting of the RAM, but I can't figure out how to do the SMC and I literally can't get to the applications menu where I need to put it to sleep.
Now, I am able to get it to show the menu with my start up disk, and it asks what I would like to start it from.
It shows EFI Boot disk, hard drive disk, and then my startup disk shows up. I think it is the one before Lion, and currently lion is installed. I installed a new operating system after I bought it.
So I clicked use the startup disk, but then when I go through the process of installing it, it asks for a harddrive to install it on and nothing shows up. My computers hard drive doesn't show up. I tried plugging in my external hard drive for kicks to see if that would show up and it did. This is scaring me that my hard drive doesn't show up.
Now what could be the matter?
Your advice has already helped me a good amount and I greatly appreciate it!!! Thank you for the crazy fast responses and the great insight.
I'm not sure why you can't reset the SMC:
Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Resetting the SMC on Mac portables with a battery you can remove
Note: Learn about removing the battery on MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Resetting the SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own
Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).
I can't remove my battery, so I have no idea what else to do. It said you need to take that out.
Do you know why my hard drive wouldn't have appeared when I tried using my disk?
What OS are you using and what specific model MBP do you have? Kappy asked this earlier.
Ciao.
I honestly am not sure what OS, model a1278 is the model mbp I have.
Anything else I can tell you to help you help me?
Thank you
An A1278 is an early 13" 2011 MBP. Did your MBP come with a Snow Leopard install disk or did it come with Lion installed on it (then there would be no disk with the MBP)?
Ciao.
It came with snow leopard I think, but I was able to download the newer version because I purchased my mac within a month of the new OS release.
If you can find that Snow leopard disk, do what Kappy says in his instructions: REINSTALL SNOW LEOPARD WITHOUT ERASING THE DRIVE.
Ciao.
I am trying to do what Kappy said.
I got it to the screen where I can select the start up disk and use it. I go to disk utility, and now nothing is showing up. I am at a stand still.
My hard drive doesn't show up
It appears that your HDD may be dead and will have to be replaced. There is a possibility that the internal connection is faulty. If you install a different HDD, and it also does not appear, you may have a bad cable which would have to be replaced.
Ciao.
Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE
Yes, I concur with Oglethorpe. Your HDD needs to be replaced at the least. This assumes no other hardware problem. Connecting a disk that is known to be OK should appear in DU.
Kappy, greetings: Just filling in while your away. You may take it from here.
Best regards.
Ciao.
Why won't my MacBook Pro start up from the grey prohibitory sign?
