LostAccount
Level 1 (125 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Solid grey window where I should see a login window

HW and SW Configuration

iMac 27 mid 2011, 3.4GHz, 32GB RAM (only one 8GB stick installed now while testing), two internal drives upgraded via OWC.

On the two hard drives; one is an SSD with the OS, an admin account and guest user. The other internal is a 2TB rotational drive hosting my main user account and my data. Data backed up via time machine.

 

OS X version 10.11.5

 

Issue:

Login window is solid grey, no mouse pointer

 

Before the problem occurred

When using the mac it suddenly put up a solid grey screen with evenly spaced black vertical lines. I waited a bit but then shutdown using the power button as nothing was happening. I restarted the Mac and I saw a message that a kernel panic occurred (grey screen with multi language message) and then it rebooted again on its own but where the login window would normally display I get a grey screen.

 

Hardware test

Apple hardware test show "no trouble found"

 

SMC and PRAM reset

 

What I have tried

I can boot into single user mode and an fsck -fy shows no trouble.

 

Booting from an external USB boot (10.11) drive does the same thing, a solid grey screen, no mouse pointer where the login window should be.

 

Booting to the recovery partition from the internal (SSD) or said external shows the apple logo and a progress bar but eventually a grey screen with no mouse pointer appears

 

Safe boot does the same; an Apple logo and progress bar appears as normal but eventually a solid grey screen with no mouse pointer appears just when the login window should appear.

 

Tried booting with all devices disconnected, same grey screen when login window should show up.

 

*Tried an internet recovery, countdown occurs but then instead of the choose language screen I get a solid grey screen with no mouse pointer.

*Can't boot to original software via DVD as optical drive is not working.

 

My suspicions

I suspect that because my main user account is on the rotation internal drive it's causing the issue. Then again, this wouldn't explain why I can't boot from the external USB drive with 10.11. The OS on the external has been tested using a MacBook Air.


Need some real help please.

 

Message was edited by: LostAccount

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), iMac mid 2011, 3.4Ghz i7 32GB RAM

Posted on May 28, 2016 8:22 AM

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LostAccount

Q: Solid grey window where I should see a login window

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  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex May 28, 2016 8:23 AM in response to LostAccount
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:23 AM in response to LostAccount

    If the Startup Drive does not have the System and the User Account both, you can expect trouble....

    In the user account itself there are hidden files. And folders that should be there, like Library. There are also folders that do not need to be on the startup disk, like Documents, Pictures.

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 28, 2016 8:26 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:26 AM in response to Lexiepex

    The internal boot SSD drive does have an admin and a guest account. The other internal rotational drive has my main account. I should still see a login window though but beyond this, when I boot from a known working external hard drive I get the same issue, a grey screen where the login window should be. The apple hardware test shows no trouble found.

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex May 28, 2016 8:27 AM in response to LostAccount
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:27 AM in response to LostAccount

    I am talking about the account(s) you want to start up with.

    In earlier years there were several threads about this setup.

    Lex

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 28, 2016 8:30 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:30 AM in response to Lexiepex

    I am not sure what you mean about the accounts I want to start up with.

     

    The iMac always displayed a login window, if I chose my main account, it would load from the rotational drive. If I chose the guest or 'other' admin account it would load those from the SSD, where OSX boots from.

     

    Why would it do the same when booting off a known working OSX (10.11) on an external USB drive?

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex May 28, 2016 8:35 AM in response to LostAccount
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:35 AM in response to LostAccount

    First I want you to check that the startup accounts are organised physically as I proposed, before asking questions what if.

  • by ~Bee,

    ~Bee ~Bee May 28, 2016 8:43 AM in response to LostAccount
    Level 7 (31,777 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:43 AM in response to LostAccount

    Hi Lost --

     

    Are you saying that there is no OS loaded on your main account on the rotational drive?

    Can you tell us if there were any changes to your set up made recently?

    Can you copy and pasted the Kernel Panic Report for us to see?  It may give us a good idea of what your problem is.

    What is your usual RAM set up?

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 28, 2016 8:47 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:47 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Do you have steps for me.

     

    Here is what I can offer

     

    SSD Internal

    |

    — OSX, admin and guest user account

     

    Rotational Internal

    |

    —Main User account called Alex (admin)

     

    In an attempt to read between your lines, could it be that something has gone wrong with the Alex account and therefore the login window won't display as some data is being read without success?

     

    Still, I wonder why a stock install of OSX (10.11) on an external USB HD exhibits the same issue when booted from USB.

     

    Could this imply that the internal rotational drive is somehow corrupt, be it the cable, data or the drive itself, even the SATA port on the MLB?

     

    Let me know what you would do under the circumstances. Please let me know if you need more info.

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 28, 2016 8:52 AM in response to ~Bee
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:52 AM in response to ~Bee

    Hi ~Bee

     

    The rotational drive has no OS of any kind loaded.

    No changes recently made to software or hardware other than the routine apple or third party SW updates via the App Store.

    On logs, I only have access to single user mode. I am simply locked out as there is no login window. Can I ssh in single user mode? If not I can only take photos using my iPhone.

    I use 32GB Crucial RAM but I chose, during the troubleshooting to install only one of these RAM sticks.

     

    Thanks for asking.

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 28, 2016 8:58 AM in response to ~Bee
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 8:58 AM in response to ~Bee

     

    Are you saying that there is no OS loaded on your main account on the rotational drive?

     

    As an FYI, I chose to link my user account to the larger internal rotational drive because the SSD would be too small for my data. It was a matter of convenience. I used the Advanced Options available by right clicking the user account in the Users and Groups System Preferences.

     

    I am aware that there is fair warning when making any changes so I assume responsibility of course, just looking for some way out. I will likely not go down this route again and simply use the larger internal HD for data only.

     

    Again, it confuses me that the external USB drive exhibits the same behavior which leads me to believe that the internal rotational drive might be suspect somewhere, data or hardware. I hear no clicking noise from the internal HD though.

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 28, 2016 9:01 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2016 9:01 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Lexiepex wrote:

     

    If the Startup Drive does not have the System and the User Account both, you can expect trouble....

     

     

    Yes, the startup drive (the SSD does have an admin and guest account), both were logged into in the past successfully.

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 29, 2016 9:30 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2016 9:30 AM in response to Eric Root

    Just an FYI.

     

    diskutil verify is unavailable in single-user mode, as I found out when trying steps in Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck - Apple Support

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex May 29, 2016 9:49 AM in response to LostAccount
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2016 9:49 AM in response to LostAccount

    In your first post you said "because my main user account is on the rotation internal drive"   then later you said (to Bee) "The rotational drive has no OS of any kind loaded".

    To me and to Bee I suppose, you have to explain that. Also what do you mean by "loaded", is there no OS on it or is it just not "loaded" (whatever you mean by that is unclear). I have the feeling that I am on the wrong leg now. Can you clear up the mists?

  • by LostAccount,

    LostAccount LostAccount May 29, 2016 11:57 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2016 11:57 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Lexiepex wrote:

     

    In your first post you said "because my main user account is on the rotation internal drive"   then later you said (to Bee) "The rotational drive has no OS of any kind loaded".

    Sure. Sorry if I was not clear. I will include some screenshots from a MBA for illustration purposes.

     

    First, yes that is correct, the rotational drive DOES NOT have OSX installed but it does have the account that I usually log into. The SSD does have OSX installed and an admin account (in case of an emergency).

     

    To achieve this I did the following:

    Screen Shot.png

     

    and then I referred the user account to the rotational drive.

     

    Screen Shot 1.png

     

    This is how I partitioned the said user account from the main drive to a the second drive (rotational)

     

    This is why in an earlier reply I posted that I take responsibility for forgoing the warning.

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