iMac 21' stuck on apple screen! PLEASE HELP!

well i was running bootcamp and needed to switch to the mac so i restarted it. When I restarted it, it got stuck on the apple logo and the spinning wheel. I left it on for about 20 minutes and nothing happened. I noticed a little after I started using bootcamp there would be a little loading bar under the spinning wheel that would show for a minute and the disappear if that is any use of information. I can still get on bootcamp by holding the option key but when i try to go on mac it gets stuck. If someone can help with this problem that would be great! thanks!

can you boot into safe mode?

umm well im not sure if i was doing it right but i held down the shift button before i booted it up kinda how i held the option button before i bootup to get into bootcamp

well first off i would try doing a hardware test, from your OSX disc. then we can rule out any hardware issues.

if you can boot into OSX on safe mode, you might aswell do a repair permissions in disk utility.

shoozter said:

When I restarted it, it got stuck on the apple logo and the spinning wheel.

Click to expand...

That is what Apple calls a "gray screen" problem, and this is how they suggest that you troubleshoot the problem:

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

Often the problem goes away instantly if you disconnect a recently attached hardware peripheral. (e.g. new external hard drive, USB hub, keyboard, etc.)

___________________________________________

Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
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robduckyworth said:

well first off i would try doing a hardware test, from your OSX disc. then we can rule out any hardware issues.

if you can boot into OSX on safe mode, you might aswell do a repair permissions in disk utility.

Click to expand...

well i did the repair permissions and rebooted my iMac. That loading bar still shows up before the spinning wheel but it actually finished the bootup in a little less than 2 minutes. It seems to not be running as smoothly as i remembered since im usually on bootcamp, but im not so such if its related to my problem. so what do you think?

have a read at the article above, it has a lot of useful information.

did you do the hardware test? also, as per suggested above, try disconnecting any peripherals you may have.