Question:
mac os x won't start up?
2011-08-19 21:42:41 UTC
i have an older mac that works on os x... when i press the power button to turn it on it plays the start up chime and then goes to the normal grey screen with the apple logo and the spinning gear... then nothing. it stays on this screen for a minute or two and then just turns off.
anyone have any tips or ideas on how to get it to completely start up???
Five answers:
SilverTonguedDevil
2011-08-19 23:16:34 UTC
Mr. Frisk is of the opionion that Windows has no issues. All those questions in Yahoo Answers about Windows issues with black screen, blue screen of death, missing DLL, etc. are all fake.



There are several versions of OS X. Which is yours? My answer is for OS 10.5.8.



Follow these steps in this order:

-- Disconnect everything except the power cord.

-- Restart and hold the shift key for 30 seconds. NOTE: This will cause a 1-2 minute delay at the spinning gear icon, so just wait to see if it continues. If that helps, go to "Shift" below. If not, read on...

-- Boot to the OS X DVD. Go past the language choice, and open Disk Utility. Repair the HDD. If problems found, repair again.

-- If no problems found, quit Disk Utility, quit the installer, and restart while holding ⌘ and the S key for 30 seconds. NOTE: This next group of commands are for those who either hate to reinstall or don't have a reinstall DVD. Any mistake in typing could damage the system files or your saved documents.

Type:

/sbin/mount -uw /

Press Return.

Type :

sudo rm -r /Library/Caches

Press Return.

Type your admin password (you will see nothing but the key entries will have the effect).

Press Return.

Type:

sudo rm -r /System/Library/Caches

Press Return.

Type:

sudo mv /Library/Fonts /Library/Fonts-old

Press Return

Type:

sudo mv /Library/Preferences /Library/Preferences-old

Press Return.

Type:

reboot

Press Return.



If that doesn't help, boot to the OS X install DVD, go past the language screen, and...

-- for OS 10.5: go forward to choose "Options", and then "Archive and install", but put a check for "Preserve Users and network settings".

-- for OS 10.6: Reinstall OS X.



Shift -- Restart again not holding shift. If that works, you're done. If not, troubleshoot Login Items.
bondurant
2016-10-16 06:20:02 UTC
have you ever subsidized each and every thing up? if definite it will cost you no longer something. put in the structures disk, reload the OS then bypass into time device and fix your documents. it takes a pair hours. if no longer the MAC keep will in all probability cost approximately 200 greenbacks to repair it for you and attempt to retrieve your documents. continuously back issues up, MAC could be extra effective kit yet a stressfulcontinual is a stressfulcontinual, they fail
Jamie Frisk
2011-08-19 21:44:58 UTC
Well, it's a Mac.

So there's the problem right there.



It might be a corrupted file, especially if you don't shut it down properly (i.e. you just hold down the power button)
Andrew Shulman
2011-08-19 23:32:42 UTC
1. bring it into the apple store. it's easier to just show them whats going wrong than telling them. so set up a genius bar appointment. they can probably help you. 2. your computer probably has an issue with the motherboard, meaning it's broken. so you probably need a new computer. this happened to me and we were afraid it was the hard drive, but it was the motherboard.
janissary
2011-08-19 21:45:20 UTC
http://macs.about.com/od/macoperatingsystems/qt/osxstartupkeys.htm


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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