Diamond42
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Mac will not boot up. Gray screen. Wheel goes round

I have turned off Mac.  Unplugged from wall. When I turn it back on it does not boot. Only grey screen with wheel going around.

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on May 30, 2014 4:24 PM

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Diamond42

Q: Mac will not boot up. Gray screen. Wheel goes round

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  • Helpful answers

  • by arthur,

    arthur arthur May 30, 2014 5:17 PM in response to Diamond42
    Level 5 (5,193 points)
    iBooks
    May 30, 2014 5:17 PM in response to Diamond42
    1. hold the power button down until your Mac shuts down.
    2. Unplug all extra peripherals- keep only the minimum stuff plugged in that you need, like mouse and keyboard, if they are wired (and monitor). I'm assuming that you have a Mac Pro like it says in your profile, and not a MacBook Pro.
    3. restart and hold down the shift key until you see the Apple logo.
    4. do that much and see if it boots up, and then report back, and we'll keep working on it.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 30, 2014 5:42 PM in response to Diamond42
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 5:42 PM in response to Diamond42

    Safe boot

     

    *  shutdown

    *  start the Mac and *wait* for the startup chime to sound

    *  after the sound, press and hold down the shift key

    *  keep holding and *wait* until the grey  Apple logo appears

    *  now release the shift key and just wait (it could take a few minutes)

    *  eventually the login screen appears with the words SAFE BOOT

     

    If this works, I would recommend you download  and run the combo updater to refresh your files for good measure.

     

    OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 (Update (Combo)

    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1746

     

    If this fails...

     

    Hold down Command R and boot into the Recovery Drive. Select Disk Utility and Repair Drive. It's possible you will need to reinstall  OS X.

     

    _recovery.png

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 30, 2014 5:51 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 5:51 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Just saw this fix for a black screen. Apparently there is an issue with an automatic update that never quite gets past the login screen.

     

     

    1. Shut the computer down by holding the power button for 10 seconds

    2. Restart the computer and press shift at the same time until you see the progress bar start moving

    3. Once you reach the point where your screen goes dark and you see the cursor, type the first letter of the username for your computer, then hit Enter, then type your password, then hit Enter.

    4. After a moment, you should see the spinning beach ball

    5. Your screen should then move on to something along the lines of "Completing OSX Installation" (I can't remember the exact wording). Let it finish. After that it should go to your normal desktop and the issue should be fixed. (If your screen goes pitch black during this process, hit the space bar. I thought it wasn't working, but the screen was just sleeping).

  • by Diamond42,

    Diamond42 Diamond42 May 31, 2014 5:58 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2014 5:58 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    I got this far and the screen on the left says in red ......toshiba 16 gb mk. Then in the big screen to the right it says this drive has a hardware problem that can't be repaired.  Back up as much data as possible and replace the disc.   At bottom it says S.M.A.R.T.  Status failing.    Lots of other things too ...like disk 1 and underneath OxS X base system to click on.  Afraid to go any further.  Hate to have to drive 75 miles to Apple.

  • by Diamond42,

    Diamond42 Diamond42 May 31, 2014 6:00 PM in response to arthur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2014 6:00 PM in response to arthur

    Sorry.  It is a MacBook pro

  • by Diamond42,

    Diamond42 Diamond42 May 31, 2014 6:02 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2014 6:02 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Doing a repair disc. Will see what happens.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 31, 2014 6:17 PM in response to Diamond42
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 31, 2014 6:17 PM in response to Diamond42

    This is a serious error. If you do not backup your data, you can loose everything on your drive is the drive dies.

  • by Diamond42,

    Diamond42 Diamond42 May 31, 2014 6:29 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2014 6:29 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    I wish I was more computer literate. I am at my cottage with no backup discs.  I should just shut down and take it to a professional.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 31, 2014 6:32 PM in response to Diamond42
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 31, 2014 6:32 PM in response to Diamond42

    I agree. It's best to let someone with experience help you. I would hate to see you loose all your data.

  • by Diamond42,

    Diamond42 Diamond42 May 31, 2014 6:47 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2014 6:47 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    I am shutting down but just wanted to thank you.  On the last attempt without doing anything drastic I shut down and rebooted holding down only the shift key.  The home page came back but slowly so I am going yo take it to a doctor ..