I found this answer l knew it all along for along time my mac would have issues with the SWOD there is a lot of things l had tried. I mostly when using apple products was working on the iOS devices early iPhone 3gs,4 and done a lot of unbricking for friends and bricking on my devices to find those answers.
Now when l was using my mac in the past the battery died was disappointed in the just out of warranty support l got and applying for work with apple but l use pc's also so mac don't always like that its just the culture but l can appreciate both still got iMac that most used in school and it works and the first ipad and customised it so the battery and even with normal use lasts a month this was all done out of warranty in small group of good programmers who are very well known in the ios community.
Now getting back to that spinning wheel problem. When l would boot up my mac it would always have this SWOD and it l seen it a lot with people having different problems. This may not work in all cases. If l put my airport on and connect to the net the same with my ipad the same router the ipad would connect the mac would SWOD if l take the ipad or iPhone off it wouldn't even my pc connected same problem.
Removed them all from router and deleted all the connections l had remembered from other networks no fix.
Tried Ethernet and same problem changed cables same problem. But the airport can see the router if l switch it to manual connection which l knew if it can see the Ethernet and the airport before hand than the problem is deeper. This would cause me issues with a lot of apple products like iTunes, Appstore , Safari l could go on but it made it hard to troubleshoot cause there was noway to upgrade if ya cant connect with any browser cause they were effected google chrome,firefox and as l said safari and Appstore were effected so it makes it hard to upgrade or even fresh install.
Lucky stayed with snow leopard and apple still sells this l hear as hardcopy which is good for some users they may for example want to upgrade from Yosemite but can cause links have been deleted. Esp since there are no hardcopies really of operating systems moving past lion and mountain lion as much anymore cause apple really are heavy reliant on appstore. And lets face it the has been very good even for apple even before steve passed and the apple team that help put the appstore together.
So back to the SWOD problem effected all my hardware cause it would flatten the battery even with this SWOD l read on one post it can take 3 hours no it shouldn't do that SWOD for 3 hours unless your mac is not designed for the os and Snow Leopard uses minimum specs compared to newer macs that are suited to the OS they are designed for its a hardware issue as mentioned earlier.
I decided since my airport can see my modem and other modems it cant be the problem it can see the other NBN modems on wifi airport across the street why do l get connecting to or already connected to my router modem hardware. And its not a hardware issue as it happens on both wifi and Ethernet.
So l bypassed my NBN modem router , l've tested as l have a few modems adsl2 had no problems, the cable modem did have the issue . Now l am on fibre so removed that modem went into the NBN box and no more SWOD everything works as it should no more hindering different hardware issues inside my mac and no more software issues inside my mac.
Now ISP's don't trouble shoot mac problems as in hardware and apple don't troubleshoot the network issues. Apple make its products and ISP's have their own each different but some of the hardware ISP's are using NBN modems, cable modems and modem routers can cause issues with your mac and give you the SWOD and no matter if you reinstall your mac software it will happen again even on fresh install cause the confliction is in the compatibility with the hardware to your mac and this will cause different problems to different model macs.
For people with SWOD and are online and are stuck with a SWOD try to disconnect from the net as this issue of hardware incompatibility has cause my mac problems from hanging at white screen after bootup to getting into the OS with safemode only to have it crash again cause its still connected to router or airport was left on or Ethernet was connected. This wont solve everyone's SWOD issues it will help a lot of people but try and find the hardware issue before getting a new mac and giving in as a lot of times people will replace logic boards and all kinds of hardware devices trying to solve this issue and in a lot of cases replace their mac too. This is an issue that cant be blamed entirely on apple but effects their products and it cant be blamed on one hardware company as people use all kinds of different hardware and it can cause all kinds of problems especially since mac have gone intel and make macs more user friendly for hardware devices .
If you getting SWOD as there are different reasons for it happening so remove some of the problems which can be one piece of hardware connected to your mac from a 3rd party usb mouse and keyboard I had a combo problem first was my battery which keeps the mac running in a low power mode making everything slow replaced battery then SWOD from modem router which effected all my apps and os cause the hardware causing conflictions through that modem router when its connected. This also gave me problems in safemode bootup as well as normal bootup.
So really look what is causing the issues and what's connected to your mac as its not always what one tech may tell you it is. I found these to be useful from another forum which are someways to get into diagnostic testing but they didn't solve my issue but these will come in handy for testing others hardware issues. They did help getting stuck on white screen as after SWOD rebooting becomes an issue as turning off the mac via a hard power reset isn't good for the hardware but sometimes is only option to reboot and get things moving forward. Hope this helps some of you out with the issues l been reading.
Reset NVRAM
Sometimes you need to restore the NVRAM to get your computer functioning again, reset the NVRAM by powering down the MacBook; restart and immediately hold down the "Command-Option-P-R" keys simultaneously. When you hear the start-up chime a second time, release the keys.
Startup Disk Selection
After resetting the NVRAM, you may need to select the startup disk. This issue usually affects computers with more than one hard drive. Start the computer as normal and hold down the "Option" key as the computer starts. When the Startup Manager displays, use the left or right arrow keys to cycle between hard drive options. Select the main hard drive, usually called Macintosh HD, and press the "Return" key. Wait for your computer to boot into the operating system.
Safe Mode
Starting in Safe Mode also includes an automatic disk check to verify and repair any issues with the operating system software. If you boot into Safe Mode successfully, you can then shut down your computer and attempt to boot normally. To start in Safe Mode, shut down your computer and press the power button to restart; after you hear the start-up chime, press and hold the "Shift" key. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo.
Disk Utility
Use Disk Utility to check the status of your hard disk and make sure that you don't have a failing hard drive. Shut down your computer; restart and then hold down the "Command-R" keys until you see the OS X Recovery utility screen. Select the "Disk Utility" option and select the "First Aid" tab. Select your hard drive from the sidebar and then click "Repair" to diagnose and repair the disk. If you have a failing hard drive, a notice displays telling you to back up your system and reformat the hard drive.
Reinstall Mac OS
Reinstalling Mac OS X fixes any corrupt system files and repairs the operating system without deleting your files, applications and other data. Restart and hold down the "Command-R" keys. After you access the OS X Recovery utility, you may need to select a Wi-Fi network so that your Mac can download the latest installation files. Select the "Reinstall OS X" option, click "Continue" and then follow the onscreen prompts to complete the reinstallation of your operating system.
