iMac boots to desktop then immediately hangs on color wheel

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Level 1

8 points

iMac boots to desktop then immediately hangs on color wheel

Thank you for taking a look at my question.

When I boot up my iMac, everything starts up fine at first - it goes right to the desktop, the mouse moves around, and, if I'm fast, I can even click on 1 maybe 2 things before the computer completely locks up on the spinning color wheel of death. I can still move the wheel around on the screen without any latency, but I can't actually do anything. Typing on the keyboard does nothing, though the caps lock key does light up. Booting in safe mode produces exactly the same results, except that it asks me to log in first.

Something must be starting that I need to get rid of, though I don't install much of anything on this computer and rarely make changes (it is a demo machine that lives in a small computer lab I manage, off network). I never had any issues with it, then, one day, this problem began. Maybe I ran an OS update and that caused it to crash?

I'm very familiar with troubleshooting a Windows computer, but Macs don't really offer many intuitive troubleshooting options, IMO. This seems like a fairly simple issue to reslolve, but my searches online haven't produced any results - people seem to suggest safe mode and command line solutions, but safe mode doesn't change anything and I obviously can't open a command line to type anything.

The iMac was purchased around 2010 and I'm 99% sure it has Yosemite installed, but unfortunately I have no way of being able to check at the moment.

Any assistance very welcome, thank you!

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 15, 2016 8:20 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Sep 30, 2016 12:29 PM in response to cfrankarc

Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair Disk and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Then re-install the OS.

OS X Recovery

OS X Recovery (2)

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Answer 2

cfrankarc Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 30, 2016 11:35 AM in response to Eric Root

I appreciate your assistance, but your description is short and difficult to follow. When I boot in the Disk Utility, there isn't anything anywhere that suggests "verify/repair disk," so I tried "first aid" on every partition located on the left side of the screen. Everything showed up positive with no errors, so I tried booting again.

It sounds like you're saying that I have no hope and am required to nuke the whole machine and reinstall the operating system? Is that seriously my only option? Windows boot errors and problems like this are relatively straightforward to solve, when an Apple hangs the whole thing is lost??

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Sep 30, 2016 12:07 PM in response to cfrankarc

If all you saw was First Aid, you are most likely running El Capitan.

I suggested reinstalling the OS because based on what you posted, everything is so unstable, that the computer is unusable. If you can get the computer to boot and be useable, try running this program in your normal account , then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

Were you able to boot into the Recovery Partition? That is where I was suggesting using Disk Utility.

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Answer 4

cfrankarc Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 30, 2016 12:28 PM in response to Eric Root

Yes, I was able to boot in the recovery partition (or at least I believe so - getting it to boot the disk utility with CMD+R is doing just that, right?)

After doing more digging within the disk utility and realizing that I was able to browse my files, I started to stop caring about file recovery. I tried holding down T like one of the links you posted suggested to run the computer like an external hard drive, but I don't have a firewire cable.

After all that, I decided to just move on with life and tried reinstalling the OS. I got to the page asking where I'd like to install OS X and, when I click on my "Macintosh HD" and my "Recovery HD" I receive the same pop up error that appears to point to the problem:

"This disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. Back up as much of the data as possible and replace the disk."

This computer is only about 4-5 years old and doesn't get heavy use, I can't believe the HDD has crashed so hard. Very disappointing. Unless someone has a different suggestion, it would appear the computer is useless until I get a new HDD for it.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Sep 30, 2016 12:32 PM in response to cfrankarc

If you live near an Apple Store, make a Genius Bar appointment to have the computer tested. Supposedly there is no charge for testing. Use 2nd link if not near an Apple Store or aren’t in the US. Hardware Repair - Keeping Confidential Data Safe

Genius Bar Reservation US

Authorized Service Provider

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