Urgent: Mac OSX hard disk doesn't start at all, doesn't show logo during start up, bootcamp partition installed

Question

Level 1

0 points

Urgent: Mac OSX hard disk doesn't start at all, doesn't show logo during start up, bootcamp partition installed

I'm really frustrated. I'm logging in from Bootcamp Windows.

First, I formatted my Hard Disk yesterday, and I accidentally erased the bootcamp partition without using Bootcamp assistant, so the "free space" partition was created. I formatted the Mac OS X side reinstalled Mavericks and everything was working perfectly. Next, I wanted to install Parallels 7, using the Bootcamp partition that I wanted to reclaim. So I created another windows partition and unistalled using the Bootcamp assistant, and the free space was merged with OSX hard disk this time. So things seemed to be perfect. The Mac OS X hdd had all its original volume.

Second, this is where everything turned haywire. Because I needed to use Revit and Rhino on a larger partition, I had to install Windows again, creating a 115 GB partitiod. I used BC assistant. It installed Windows fine, but on restarting, Mac OS X did not boot. It didn't even show up as a disk when I hit the ALT key. But when I checked Disk Utility in Recovery mode, the disk was showing up fine. So I decided to reformat it again - erasing the contents and tried installing Mountain Lion, which was the only option I had using Internet recovery. The installation did not work! It said, the recovery system from the main volume was missing, or something like that.

Third, I tried to restore from Time Machine. Now, it boots, and the apple logo shows up, but then after a few seconds, the logo is replaced by a ➖ (X) sign instead, and nothing shows up. I'm so afraid my computer is permanently damaged, can somebody please tell me how to fix this? I have loads of assignments due this week, I'm about to cry 😟

MacBook Pro, iOS 7.1

Posted on Apr 19, 2014 6:14 PM

Reply

Answer 1

arthur

Level 5

5,242 points

Apr 19, 2014 6:30 PM in response to dsohkhlet

It sounds like your recovery partition is not working.

If your mac is capable of using internet recovery you could try booting into internet recovery (restart and hold down option-command-R) and see if it will boot into internet recovery. Then you could try to repair your HD or erase your HD and start over.

If your Mac originally came with installer disks you could try to boot from the installer disk and proceed from there with disk utility.

The X sign may mean that your HD has failed, however, so if none of these maneuvers work the next step would be to replace your HD.

Reply

Answer 2

dsohkhlet Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2014 6:42 PM in response to arthur

Thanks for the reply arthur.

I've tried repairing, Disk Utility says "can't repair". And reinstalling doesn't work either. Do you think I can delete the entire volume using Windows Disk partition manager from Bootcamp side, and make this entirely a Windows machine before I replace my HDD? I have exams to finish before the semester and I need the space!

Reply

Answer 3

arthur

Level 5

5,242 points

Apr 20, 2014 4:34 AM in response to dsohkhlet

I don't see why not, but I don't have much experience with boot camp or Windows. Maybe someone else reading this can comment.

So it sounds like your HD has not mechanically failed, just that the Mavericks partition is not functioning.

There are a couple of other things you can try to fix the Mavericks partition if you want to try that:

Try to boot into single user mode (restart, hold down ⌘S until you see a black screen with white text) and repair your hard drive. Here's a reference with directions: Repair Your Hard Disk in Single User Mode | Everything Macintosh
If disk utility can't repair the Mavericks partition, there is a small chance that Techtool Pro 7 might be able to.

Reply

Answer 4

dsohkhlet Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 20, 2014 1:25 PM in response to arthur

Thanks arthur.

It turns out, that Parallels 7 had created something called CoreStorage volume (?) and that was preventing me from reinstalling OS X again. So I had to delete that through the terminal using Recovery mode. Now I have Mavericks and Windows again!

Thanks for your help though!

Reply