Mac Pro won't boot passed blue screen

After you start from the installer use Disk Utility (Utility menu) to repartition and reformat the target drive. Reinstall Snow Leopard. Do not migrate. Create a new admin account in Setup Assistant but use the exact same username and password you normally use. Before you make any attempt to restore files from another drive or backup be sure you have a properly functioning Snow Leopard. Then download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. Run Software Update to download and install any other required system updates.

Well, you could try using:

Boot Using OPTION key:

1. Restart the computer.

2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

"OPTION" key.

3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.

4. Select the desired disk icon from which you want to boot.

5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.

And see if that works. Otherwise, your optical drive isn't working properly or your Snow Leopard DVD is dirty and needs a thorough cleaning.

Do you have a firmware password set?

No, a firmware password is different.

Five ways to eject a stuck CD or DVD from the optical drive

Ejecting the stuck disc can usually be done in one of the following ways:

1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the

left mouse button until the disc ejects.

2. Press the Eject button on your keyboard.

3. Click on the Eject button in the menubar.

4. Press COMMAND-E.

5. If none of the above work try this: Open the Terminal application in

your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following:

/usr/bin/drutil eject

If this fails then try this:

Boot the computer into Single-user Mode. At the prompt enter the same command as used above. To restart the computer enter "reboot" at the prompt without quotes.

Drive Partition and Format

1. After DU loads select this (not your normal startup drive) 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.

2. 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.

3. Quit DU after formatting and return to the installer. Now install Snow Leopard.

Do not migrate. Create a new admin account in Setup Assistant but use the exact same username and password you normally use. Before you make any attempt to restore files from another drive or backup be sure you have a properly functioning Snow Leopard. Then download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. Run Software Update to download and install any other required system updates.

You may not like my advice, but:

1. Do not migrate.
2. Reinstall all third-party software.
3. Drag and Drop all your user files from your old Home folder.
4. Do not copy anything from your old /Home/Library/ folder.
5. Reinstall plug-ins testing each one for compatibility before intalling another.

None of this will take any longer than if you used Migration Assistant except for upgrading third-party software. Now, you can do it differently but if you were having problems before, then one way to avoid problems is to start from scratch so you can have better control over what you start with and what you end with.

Sorry. It's /Users/yourusername/ and has that nice house icon when you are looking at the one on your startup volume. Otherwise it appears as just another ordinary folder.

We refer to it as "Home" because that is your user folder on the computer. You store "your stuff" in your "user folder or Home folder."