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User profile for user: darbiken
darbiken Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Black screen with Cursor at startup?

I put my macbook air (13 in 1.4 GHZ 126 GB (?) 4 GB RAM, latest update) to sleep the last night and opened it up later today to find that when I would login to my regular admin account, a black screen would come up showing the cursor and I couldn't get out of it (but notifications would appear as shown in the picture). It almost seemed to interrupt the login loading bar thing.


I've tried:

Powering down 10 secs, attempting to do the safe mode thing, holding down a combination of the control, shift, option, power buttons during the boot up as suggested on forums, escaping and force quit, logging into a guest account, et cetera, but nothing has done the trick. Whatever I try, it always goes to the login screen, and once I log in, I get the black screen.


When I leave it at the black screen for a while my regular desktop comes up, but it's oddly missing the top menu bar, so I can't access system preferences, and I can't type or access the launchpad from the shortcut keys. My macbook also seems selective on what I can access or click on. I can get on the internet, but because I can't type, I can't really do much. Because of these problems, I can't find a way to reinstall the software. I don't have AppleCare or access to a Genius Bar. Does anyone know how to solve this?






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Posted on Dec 27, 2016 6:12 PM

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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,849 points

Posted on Dec 27, 2016 6:24 PM

Possible Fixes for El Capitan and Later Installations


You should try each, one at a time, then test to see if the problem is fixed before going on to the next.


Be sure to backup your files before proceeding.


  1. Resetting your Mac’s PRAM and NVRAM
  2. Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
  3. Start the computer in Safe Mode, then restart normally. This is slower than a standard startup.
  4. Repair the disk by booting the from the Recovery HD. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears. Choose Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volumeentry from the side list. Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait for the Done button to appear. Quit Disk Utility and returnto the Utility Menu. Restart the computer from the Apple Menu.
  5. Install Combo Updater Download macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Combo Update and install.
  6. Reinstall OS X by booting from the Recovery HD using the Command and R keys. When the Utility Menu appears select Reinstall OS X then click on the Continue button.
  7. Erase and Install OS X Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
  1. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
  2. When Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry) from the Device list.
  3. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down.
  4. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  5. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
  6. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  7. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continuebutton.
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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,849 points

Dec 27, 2016 6:24 PM in response to darbiken

Possible Fixes for El Capitan and Later Installations


You should try each, one at a time, then test to see if the problem is fixed before going on to the next.


Be sure to backup your files before proceeding.


  1. Resetting your Mac’s PRAM and NVRAM
  2. Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
  3. Start the computer in Safe Mode, then restart normally. This is slower than a standard startup.
  4. Repair the disk by booting the from the Recovery HD. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears. Choose Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volumeentry from the side list. Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait for the Done button to appear. Quit Disk Utility and returnto the Utility Menu. Restart the computer from the Apple Menu.
  5. Install Combo Updater Download macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Combo Update and install.
  6. Reinstall OS X by booting from the Recovery HD using the Command and R keys. When the Utility Menu appears select Reinstall OS X then click on the Continue button.
  7. Erase and Install OS X Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
  1. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
  2. When Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry) from the Device list.
  3. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down.
  4. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  5. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
  6. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
  7. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continuebutton.
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Black screen with Cursor at startup?

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