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black screen with cursor (other solutions didn't work)

I have a Macbook Air 2012


My problem is:

Screen stuck as black with cursor only. I can shut it down & restart it, but it will not go past this.


Solution:

I tried this, but it did not work.


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).

Apparently it's an issue with an automatic update that never quite got past the login screen.

Posted on Jul 10, 2014 9:19 AM

Reply
14 replies

Jul 10, 2014 2:56 PM in response to bonniefromathens

If you want to preserve the data on the startup drive, and it's not already backed up, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data, you can skip this step.

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.

1. Start up from the Recovery partition, from Internet Recovery, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.

2. If Method 1 fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.

3. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

4. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

Jul 12, 2014 9:29 PM in response to bonniefromathens

Please read this whole message before doing anything.


This procedure is only suitable for advanced users, preferably with command-line experience. It works sometimes. There's no assurance it will work in your case. If you don’t understand the directions or don’t feel able to carry them out, STOP.


Back up all data if you haven’t already done so. There are ways to back up, even if you can’t log in. Before proceeding ,you must be sure you can restore everything to the state it’s in now. If you’re not absolutely sure you can do that,STOP.


Briefly, you need to delete the following file:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist


If you already know how to do that, you can skip the rest of this message. Do it, and try again to log in.


Step 1


Start up in single-user mode by holding down the key combination command-S at the startup chime. If you’re using an external USB keyboard, it must be plugged directly into a built-in port on the Mac, not into a hub. Release the keys when you see a black screen with scrolling white text. In this mode, there’s no graphical interface; just a command line. Initially, you can’t make any changes to files.


Step 2


When the text stops scrolling, and you see a line ending in a pound sign (“#”), type the following command:

mount -uw /


You must type the command exactly as given, with no mistakes. If you don’t feel able to do that, STOP.


Press the return key.


Step 3


Enter the following command:

rm -i /L*/*/*login*


Again, you must get it exactly right. You should be prompted to remove a file named exactly "com.apple.loginwindow.plist". Press the Y key and then return to confirm. Press the N key and then return if you get any other response


Step 4


Enter the command:

exit


Press return. The text will start scrolling again, and then the system will restart. Try again to log in.

Aug 3, 2014 7:54 PM in response to Loner T

Hey all- jesseinma's solution did not work for me, nor did the PRAM restart and certainly didn't want to erase my HD.


Apple knows this is an issue and has now dedicated a team to fixing the problem in their call center. Call them!


The Apple tech walked me through entering in some code (after holding down Command S) that took care of the problem and it took less than 10 min to do. I'm sorry I didn't save exactly what he told me to enter in.


Call them!!!

Aug 8, 2014 7:28 PM in response to Linc Davis

You won't believe this, but the external hard drive on which I made the backup actually went bad. The hard drive itself messed up.

So, I'm looking to see if there's any way I kept a copy of the backup on another external drive.

I've got 2 questions:

1. Who would you use to see if they can access data off the broken external drive?

2. Can you please tell me the file extension of the backup I made via your directions with disc copy? This will help me search for it.


Thank you!

black screen with cursor (other solutions didn't work)

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