MAC won't start!!!! Spinning Apple! Closed

Question

Good evening everyone!

I'm DESPERATE.

Yesterday I tried to update my Mac, but it was taking way too long; after about 1 hour 15 - 1 hour 20, I had only a quarter of the progress bar for the update search, so I cancelled it. I continued doing my stuff normally. I didn't turn it off during the n...ight. At 10 this morning, the fan woke me up because it was going crazy. I turned it off normally, no problem. I just got home from work, and it won't turn on!
I try to start it, I see the Apple logo with a spinning circle... Nothing happens, it won't boot up.

It's not making any more noise than usual... the user selection screen isn't showing up...
I've done several restarts, same thing. I removed the battery for a good minute, still nothing.

It's a Mac 10.5.8

If you have any idea, I'm all ears because right now, I feel like crying!!

Thank you!

_Ritchi_ · Accepted Answer

Hello,

I have a preliminary question: What is the exact model of your Mac?
Please specify if it’s a MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro, etc., the processor (PowerPC or Core2Duo or ...), the frequency, the amount of RAM, the size of the hard drive, ...

You say that after completely reinstalling Mac OS X Leopard, your Mac is slow: this is not normal. Could you have a RAM issue? Is your hard drive full?

Have you tried booting in safe mode (more details here)? Does it allow you to start the Mac?

There are different actions that can be taken, such as:

Repair the system files
To do this, restart the Mac in "single mode" by holding down the Apple and S keys (or Cmd and S, depending on the keyboard) until a black screen with white text appears.
When nothing moves on the screen, press Return: the new line that appears should now start with :/ root#
Now type the command fsck -yf and press Return to execute the command.
- note1: respect the case and spaces
- note2: in single mode, the keyboard is QWERTY so to make the hyphen character (the one before the y), it is recommended to use the one from the numeric keypad.

Wait for the result of this command (which may take a few minutes).
As long as the result contains “File was modified,” repeat the fsck -yf command and press Return.

Type reboot and press Return
The Mac will restart normally

Repair permissions
This can be done using Disk Utility: see the section "A. Repair permissions"

Reset the PRAM:
Restart the Mac
Press and hold the 4 keys ALT-CMD-P-R (note on older keyboards, the CMD key is represented by the Apple)
Keep these 4 keys pressed until the fourth 'boing' (sound at startup).
Release these 4 keys
Let the Mac start up.

Ritchi

dede74000 · Answer

Hello,

First of all, it would be good to use metropolitan French, not that from elsewhere, whose local terms are incomprehensible to the average French speaker (of which I am one) ;-)

If you have the installation disk that came with this Mac (model and reference?), insert it into the drive and restart while holding down the C key. If the Mac boots from this disk, go to the Utilities menu, then Disk Utility. In the left part, select the HD (internal hard drive) and then click on First Aid and, at the bottom, on Repair Permissions. Let it run; it might take a while.
When the repair is finished, you can click on "Verify Disk" and if there are no problems reported, try to start normally. If a message says "your hard drive needs repairs," click on Repair. Let us know what it is.
--
"One must have a lot of patience to learn to be patient."
[Stanislaw Jerzy Lec]

Sephirus · Answer

Try to keep pressing ALT as soon as you see the gray screen appear. After a while, it will offer you MACINTOSH HD, hit enter. Otherwise, Dede's response might also work.

charlolotte06 · Answer

Hello,

I have the same problem with my 27-inch iMac with 8GB of RAM, and I don't remember the rest.

It was working perfectly fine last night; I turned it off (no updates running, nothing out of the ordinary), and this morning, I can't turn it on. It plays the Apple startup sound, then shows a white screen with the Apple logo and loading.

I'm leaving it on to see if anything happens, but it's been stuck like this for about 5 minutes now.

I can hear the hard drive searching; it's the same noise it usually makes when it starts up.

I've read everything you've written, but I don't have the installation disk, and I only have a wireless Bluetooth keyboard. I'm worried it won't work when I press a key during startup.

What should I do?

Thank you.

JKS · Answer

I've tried all your tricks. Nothing works, just a spinning wheel and a spinning wheel indefinitely. I'm desperate..

dede74000 · Answer

Good evening,  Have you done everything recommended by Ritchi above? If not, you can find some information in the help with the link below:  Maintenance/repair of Mac OS X

FateSaber · Answer

Hello,

I am encountering the same issue and I can't do anything about it. I ran fsck -yf but it doesn't work, it shows me
** the volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

And I want to try despite several attempts.

I own a MacBook Pro 13' i7.

vivi · Answer

I did everything you explained, and now the Mac is restarting constantly.

_Ritchi_ · Answer

vivi  what was the problem before you applied what is suggested above?  Ritchi

Plop · Answer

Hello Ritchi,
My Mac (MacBook Pro) wouldn’t start and was stuck on the startup page with the apple and the spinning wheel
I did everything you mentioned, but in single mode, my Mac keeps saying "file was modified" all the time.. I don't really know what to do anymore.. I keep rewriting fsck -yk. Do you have any ideas?

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Hello vivi / Plop

It is strange that "file was modified" is displayed multiple times or even every time.
One solution is to boot from the Mac OS X installation CD/DVD and reinstall the system.
If you have a Mac running Tiger or Leopard, be sure to choose the "Archive and Install" option.
If you have a Mac running Snow Leopard, this option is chosen automatically.
If you have Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), you need to restart the Mac and hold down the cmd and R keys to launch the Lion recovery mode.

Ritchi

Anonymous user · Answer

Hi Ritchi,

There's a small extra chance to successfully repair with Disk Utility when the Mac boots from the DVD since the hard drive is then fully available to rewrite certain corrupted files. Maybe it's worth trying before reinstalling.
But one thing catches my attention, maybe just a typo, it's the procedure mentioned as having been done, fsck -yk, instead of fsck -fy.. the f is there to force certain operations...

Catch you later!

Plop · Answer

Thank you for your help!
I have tried cmd with R several times, it opens the disk utility. I have already used the disk utility, but even when I use it to try to repair the disk, it tells me it can't do it.
And I don't have a CD with my Mac (I called Apple support this afternoon, they were a bit pessimistic :) ), they explained to me that there is only a virtual CD with my version of Mac, no CD that I can insert.

Plop · Answer

Currently, when I redo single mode to try your technique, the line with root doesn't even appear anymore.

Anonymous user · Answer

If the Mac has successfully booted with the cmd and R keys held down, it is running Mac OS 10.7 and you have booted into the recovery partition.
So, if Disk Utility fails to repair the hard drive after booting from the Recovery partition, which you attempted, you should initiate the reinstallation of Mac OS 10 from the Apple website. This can also be done after starting the Mac with the cmd and R keys pressed. But instead of launching Disk Utility from the available options window, you choose to reinstall Mac OS. This will proceed without data loss.

Plop · Answer

And otherwise, if it can help, I tried to back up my data using the Target app with another Mac, my Mac wasn't even detected I don't know if this can help you understand thanks to everyone anyway!

Plop · Answer

I tried to reinstall MACOS10, I get to the page where I have to select a disk, but I only see "recoveryHD" displayed, and this disk is locked, I can't click on it.

Plop · Answer

I tried to start the restore again, this time, I got "recoveryHD" and "macintoshHD", but both are locked, I can't click on them!

Anonymous user · Answer

A Target application?? I don't know ...

On the other hand, the "Target mode" or in French "mode Cible," I know that, but it's not an application, it's a procedure.
This procedure involves connecting two Macs together using a Firewire cable.
Of course, both Macs must be equipped with a Firewire port.
You leave the healthy Mac running, connect the sick Mac with the Firewire cable when it is turned off, then start this Mac while holding the T key until it appears on the healthy Mac's desktop like a regular hard drive. The sick Mac will then display the Firewire symbol "floating" on the screen.
In the case of a recent sick Mac, therefore your case, the master Mac must also have an Intel processor, not an old Mac with a PowerPC processor.
Then, you can do whatever you want with the content of the "hard drive" of the sick Mac.

But, this procedure doesn't seem useful to me; you simply need to restart the installation of Mac OS from the Apple website. It works well, but a decent internet connection is required.

Anonymous user · Answer

If the Macintosh HD disk is greyed out and refuses the installation of Mac OS on it, something unusual has happened with this Mac.
You should then try one thing, but this will result in the loss of all data.
This consists of restarting with the cmd and R keys, launching Disk Utility, then erasing Macintosh HD, reformatting it as Mac OS Extended, then quitting Disk Utility, and finally starting the reinstallation of Mac OS.
--
Always indicate the exact model of your Mac and the version of Mac OS!
Francis Sanspseudo - iMac Intel Core2Duo-Mac OS 10.7 + iMac-G5 running Mac OS 10.5

july · Answer

Good evening, I tried your manipulations, with cmd it ends by indicating: :/ root AppleIntelCPUPowermanagement: initialization complete it's a 2009 MacBook Pro with Leopard I no longer have a CD (obviously) Do you have any information? Thank you in advance

tilho · Answer

Your hard drive has most likely failed, so it probably needs to be replaced.   Going through any manipulation with the disk utility, as many self-proclaimed experts suggest, is simply not recommended: it does not test the disk physically and will only further damage your data.

Anonymous user · Answer

Hello,   tilho Feb 11, 2013 at 11:06 Your hard drive has most likely failed and therefore it probably needs to be replaced. Going through any manipulation with the disk utility as many so-called experts suggest is simply not recommended: it does not test the drive physically in any way and will only further damage your data.  On the contrary, the disk utility shows the S.M.A.R.T status of the boot drive. It is therefore inaccurate to say that Disk Utility is not recommended. On the contrary, it is the first place where we find an indication regarding the mechanical condition of the hard drive. Disk utility has never damaged any data.  Best regards.

nino · Answer

Hello everyone,  I would like to present you with a puzzle.  I have a 15" MacBook Pro from 2010.  It had a small bump on the screen after falling from a height of 10 cm, as I managed to catch it a bit with my foot. Visually, the Mac is fine, no dents, screen not cracked.  I shut it down and restarted it and it took hours to display Finder. Really, hours. And it manages to display the desktop with my icons, everything looks fine, as if nothing happened.  And then, surprise, I can't open any folders or applications (the mouse works) I could copy and paste files, but couldn't open them. And when I tried to open it, it said: "Finder has quit unexpectedly..." (sorry I forgot the phrase).  The Finder wouldn't open anymore and I couldn't click on the Apple icon to shut it down, I had to force the Mac to shut down by pressing the power button.  So I did everything mentioned above and Disk Utility said disk OK. So I connected my Mac to another MacBook to start it in disk mode. There, I managed to retrieve and save all my files and then I formatted it (still from the other MacBook).  I unplugged it and restarted my MacBook to check that everything was erased and yes, everything was erased because it asked me to reinstall Mountain Lion. Yes, I was on "Mountain Lion", I connected it to the internet and it downloaded the thing, installed it, and restarted, and there it is stuck on the Apple logo with the spinning wheel and nothing is happening.  Do you have any leads?   Best regards

Anonymous user · Answer

nino May 31, 2013 at 2:17 PM Hello everyone, I would like to present you with a puzzle. I have a 15" MacBook Pro from 2010. It suffered a little impact on the screen after falling from a height of 10 cm, as I managed to catch it a bit with my foot. Visually, the Mac has no damage, no bumps, and the screen is not broken. I turn it off and then turn it back on, and it takes hours before the Finder appears. Really, hours. It manages to display the desktop with my icons, all fine, as if nothing happened. And then, surprise, I can no longer open any folders or applications (the mouse works); I could copy and paste files, but not open them. When I tried to open, it said: "Finder has quit impr..." (sorry, I forgot the phrase). The Finder wouldn’t open anymore, and I couldn’t click on the Apple menu to shut it down; I had to force the Mac to shut down by pressing the power button. So, I did everything stated above, and the disk utility says the disk is OK. I then connected my Mac to another Mac laptop to start it in target disk mode. There, I managed to retrieve and save all my files, and then I performed a format (still from the other laptop). I disconnected it and restarted my Mac laptop to check that everything was erased, and yes, everything is erased because it asks me to reinstall Mountain Lion. Yes, I was on "Mountain Lion." I connect it to the internet, it downloads the thing, installs it, and restarts, and then it's stuck on the Apple logo with the spinning wheel, and nothing happens. Do you have any clues? Best regards  Hello,  It would have been more judicious to start a new discussion for this problem, which is different from the initial question of this thread.  Now, regarding your issue, what can we say?  That the hard disk seems to function correctly, since it is OK in target mode. That the system falters when the RAM is under stress. That the RAM sticks are components clipped onto the motherboard, and a shock can make them more or less loosen from their slots...  So, you can deduce or personally I would go for a check...  Best regards  -- Have a nice day or good night..:). Francis

ndeyediop61 · Answer

I have the same problem, how to do it?

Fenry95 · Answer

Hello,  Can someone help me please! I am desperate :'( So, I wanted to upgrade my MacBook to OS X Lion 10.8 (I think) for free. It keeps asking me to install an update from the App Store. When I enter my password, my Mac freezes... I restart it and then there’s the Apple logo with a loading bar that fills only a bit... This happens twice in a row and then either it shuts down automatically or it keeps loading... PLEASE HELP ME, I FEEL LIKE CRYING :'(

MAC won't start!!!! Spinning Apple!

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