Circle with line through it from sleep

Question

Level 1

1 points

Circle with line through it from sleep

So I have a 3TB fusion drive 27" iMac from late 2013 (Running El Capitan). Never had any problems with it until recently. Over the past few days a problem has developed, however. It wont happen all the time, but its happened twice now, so I know I should probably look into it.

The Problem:

I'll go to bed, the computer will go to sleep, then in the morning it will have a black screen with a circle with a line through it. If I use the button on the back to turn the power off, then back on startup takes awhile, but it restarts. Then it runs normally for awhile.

Attempted Fixes:

Last time this happened I tried resetting the PRAM and repairing the disk, but it just happened again this morning.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 3 TB Fusion Drive, 8GB Ram

Posted on Jan 26, 2016 7:31 AM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,564 points

Jan 26, 2016 8:27 AM in response to crummer

In About the screens you see when your Mac starts up - Apple Support it advises that symbol indicates the computer cannot find a valid System Folder to startup from. What I would recommend is a couple of things, first is System Preferences - Startup Disk verify that your internal drive is selected. If it is not, select and then restart and test.

Post back with the results, it also could be something else.

Of course, as usual please ensure you have a full backup of your internal drive. Either a Time Machine or bootable clone backup is fine.

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Answer 2

crummer Author

Level 1

1 points

Jan 26, 2016 9:34 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Yeah, I found that article before.

I seem to be getting the screen at a point when I haven't restarted, though. It just happens at some point during the night while the computer is asleep. I am at work right now, so I cant check if the start-up disk is selected, I'll do that when I get home.

I am not sure why turning the iMac off via the button on the back and then back on again would start normally if it were missing a System Folder or something.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,564 points

Jan 26, 2016 9:41 AM in response to crummer

Okay,

Once you have gotten home to check the startup disk, post back with your results.

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Answer 4

crummer Author

Level 1

1 points

Jan 28, 2016 7:53 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I made sure that the startup disk was set to Macintosh HD. Also tried resetting SMC.

Today I got a similar but different issue (first time having an issue since last post). Today the screen was entirely black no symbol on it. The back light was still on. Had to do a hard reset to get it to come back still.

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