JasperKamer

Q: iMac with new ssd showing nothing but white screen and pointer

Hello,

I'm trying to fix an old (2008) imac, 20", the hdd of this mac crashed so I installed an SSD and tried to use the boot selector to boot to my bootable yosemite install usb. When I try this, booting while pressing the option key, in stead of seeing the boot selector I only see a white screen with the black pointer. I tried booting another mac to this usb, and this worked fine. Does anyone know why this happens?

 

Thanks in advance,

Jasper

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Apr 2, 2016 2:16 PM

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Q: iMac with new ssd showing nothing but white screen and pointer

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  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Apr 2, 2016 2:47 PM in response to JasperKamer
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 2, 2016 2:47 PM in response to JasperKamer

    Are you using a wired keyboard attached directly to the back of the iMac? If not you might try that.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Apr 2, 2016 4:11 PM in response to JasperKamer
    Level 9 (58,466 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 2, 2016 4:11 PM in response to JasperKamer

    If you created a bootable clone you can boot from that and then look for the SSD. If you did not, then get either the original install discs that came with the computer or a Snow Leopard upgrade DVD (available from Apple for $20) and boot from that and then format the SSD and install the system on the SSD.

  • by JasperKamer,

    JasperKamer JasperKamer Apr 3, 2016 1:40 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 3, 2016 1:40 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    I'm already using a wired keyboard, and if I do not press the option key while starting up the folder with questionmark will appear, so it does recognize that i'm trying to start the boot menu, but then it just shows a blank screen with a black pointer..

  • by JasperKamer,

    JasperKamer JasperKamer Apr 3, 2016 1:42 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 3, 2016 1:42 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    I created a bootable version of the mac osx Yosemite installer, this works fine on another mac I tried this on, but this mac just doesnt show the menu to select the drive from which to boot.. When holding down the option key it just shows a blank screen with a pointer.

  • by Raymond de Groat,

    Raymond de Groat Raymond de Groat Apr 3, 2016 2:02 AM in response to JasperKamer
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 3, 2016 2:02 AM in response to JasperKamer

    Holding the Option key at startup as you describe, brings up the Startup Manager. You see a blank screen because the Startup Manager finds no bootable devices.

     

    Hold down the 'Command-Option-R' keys and power on your iMac. Your Mac should eventually boot to the OS X recovery over the internet, assuming you have an internet connection. From here you can install OS X to your SSD drive. You may need to format your new SSD drive using Disk Utility available from the drop down menus.

     

    For more information on using OS X recovery, see this KBase HT201314 here: OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

     

    Good luck!

     

    -Ray

  • by JasperKamer,

    JasperKamer JasperKamer Apr 3, 2016 2:14 AM in response to Raymond de Groat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 3, 2016 2:14 AM in response to Raymond de Groat

    Thanks for your reply, unfortunately this old imac does not support internet recovery.. I don't understand why booting to this usb works fine on another mac but it doesnt show up in the startup manager of this mac..

  • by Raymond de Groat,Solvedanswer

    Raymond de Groat Raymond de Groat Apr 4, 2016 12:32 AM in response to JasperKamer
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 4, 2016 12:32 AM in response to JasperKamer

    I don't know why the startup manager is not seeing the Yosemite Installer. Try a different USB port. Make sure you're using the USB port on the back of the machine, not on the side of your wired keyboard. Check this short KBase article for more clues.

     

    Starting from an external USB storage device (Intel-based Macs) - Apple Support

     

    You say you can startup another Mac using the Yosemite USB installer? If the other Mac has FireWire, you could try connecting a FireWire cable between the Macs, plug the Yosemite USB installer into the USB port on the bootable Mac, then start the bootable Mac in Target mode by holding the 'T' key down. Now see if your iMac 2008 can find a bootable partition in the startup manager when holding the option key at boot. If successful, you should be able to see the internal hard drive of the target Mac and any other bootable volumes connected to it, including the Yosemite USB installer. For more about booting a Mac in Target mode, see this KBase article.

     

    Share files between two computers with target disk mode - Apple Support

     

    Good luck! Let me know how it goes.

     

    Raymond

  • by JasperKamer,

    JasperKamer JasperKamer Apr 4, 2016 11:30 PM in response to Raymond de Groat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 4, 2016 11:30 PM in response to Raymond de Groat

    Thanks for your tip, I used the target mode and it worked perfectly!

  • by Raymond de Groat,

    Raymond de Groat Raymond de Groat Apr 5, 2016 4:04 AM in response to JasperKamer
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 5, 2016 4:04 AM in response to JasperKamer

    Glad to know it's working!

     

    Raymond