I was upgrading to yosemite and when i restarted my computer i am stuck on a blank white screen. i have tried all of the resets available and nothing is working. Any insight?
OS X Mavericks (10.9)
Did you try startup manager?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1310
Were SMC and PRAM attempted as well?
Ciao.
how long should i hold it?
hessbs wrote:
how long should i hold it?
I assume you mean the power button.
You should hear the chime and then a few seconds later, the display should show the HDD icons.
Ciao.
Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, 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 that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, 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.
b. If Step 1a 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.
c. 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.
d. 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.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If a desktop Mac hangs at a plain gray screen with a movable cursor, the keyboard may not be recognized. Press and hold the button on the side of an Apple wireless keyboard to make it discoverable. If need be, replace or recharge the batteries. If you're using a USB keyboard connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 11. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.
I am having the same issue with the Yosemite upgrade with the white screen appearing immediately after the restart prompt. One solution I have seen here is the PRAM reset but problem is I don't hear the chime in order to use this option successfully. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Currently have Mavericks installed on a 27" iMac,Memory 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3,Processor 2.93 GHz Intel Core i7.
I Had the same issue...when I installed the upgrade it seemed to start out ok... But then white screened on me. I tried a number of different things but what worked was quite simple...
Reboot the machine and as it comes up go into safe mode by selecting the shift key
when it comes up..it will seem very slow and unresponsive...but it will come up.. Be patient. Then log in like you normally would .. Again it will take time so be patient.
When it came up.. The install completed and I rebooted and all seemed ok from there.... Hopefully this helps and keeps you from having to try a lot of different things that didn't work at all for me (control r did not work- the control button alone. Did not work)
have a great day... Enjoy Yosemite.
I eventually was able to install Yosemite however was unable to get out of Safe Mode. EVERY restart brings me back into Safe Mode. I had to reload Mavericks from a backup. Perhaps with the newest update release it might work. Right now i'm satisfied with Mavericks for the time being. Thanks for the help.
Everybody Stop Please!
No need for the complicated, and I'm sure very clever, solutions posted here. This is the same issue as with the full upgrade to Yosemite that caused problems for some of us. In some machines, at the point where it requires you to log back in to the OS, it doesn't display the log in box or icon - just the white screen.
The solution is just to move the mouse to the area of the screen where you know you would normally click, click and type in your password. It's annoying and might take a few goes to guess the right area but that's the simple solution.
Hope this helps.
I have a Mac Pro 2009 with upgraded graphics card, SSD etc.
One or more of the component upgrades might be complicating factor as my wife's iMac works fine.
Amazing. Everything you said applies to me. I would love to know why all this happened, however.
Thanks Robert,
This recipe worked on my iMac (2012 model) which has had no h/w upgrades; however, it does use FileVault.
THANK YOU!!!! Having the same problem and after reading all responses first, your advise looked very quick and simple - so I started with yours first . . . . SUCCESS! Very grateful and thanks again!
Thank you. I tried all of the other things suggested. I tried your suggestion last and it worked. It does take a while to go through the process as you pointed out. For those trying this out. Be patient and be sure to hit the combination of keys IMMEDIATELY after the chime. My first time I must have been to slow and I returned to the white screen. Once you are logged in, you will see the pane indicating the operating system is completing installation. After completion all was back to normal. Restarted to be certain. No white screen. Thank you again for your post.
Tried this first because it were the least steps and EUREKA it functioned.
Thanks!
Thank you Robert's your uncle !!
Your simple method just work perfectly!
Guys need not to try the complicated step at first, all you need to do is to point your mouse arrow to the usual area and make a click, then fill in your login password, and that's it!
It take 7mins more to complete the remaining installation. After that is the Yosemite welcome page, KUDOS!
Mine is iMac 27inch, Mid 2011 with 2.7 Intel Core i5 with 4GB DDR3
You rock.
By the way you do not need to guess where the user icon is. You can just use the arrow keys.
Example. On my Mac with this issue there is just one user. So the login screen would look like :
( Foo User ) ( GuestUser )
I hit the left arrow and then enter the password.
White screen after installing yosemite
