imac stuck on grey screen

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hello, it's my first post. I have searched a little, and done some reading here and tried some of the solutions but they haven't worked. about a week ago I got the spinning rainbow circle, I turned it off from the back and when I turned it back on it was stuck on the grey screen with progress bar. I left it for a while, the bar went and was replaced with a grey circle spinning.

I have tried a lot of things, running from the cd to use disk utility. but after going through that, verifying and repairs all I got was a message saying I should back up and re-install, I think that's what it said. I cannot run in safe mode. one suggestion I read said to try linux. I had no idea what it was but after some reading thought it was worth a go. I ran it off a disk, not installed. I used ubuntu. once booted up I was able to see the macintosh hd. it said there was 55gb free which I think was about right. when I went to user and my name, all the folders, movie/pictures/music etc all had a x on them and when I clicked on any they all said I didn't have permission etc....

the trouble is this has been going on for over a week, I do want to try and fix it myself but I feel like i am going round in circles, I don't know what I can try or not, I think I am being too cautious but I have a lot on the imac I don't want to lose.

many thanks.
 

chscag

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Welcome to the Mac Forums.

When you post with a problem you should first tell us which Mac (year, model) you have and what version of OS X it's running.

It sounds like you have a failing hard drive. Have you been making backups of your data? If you haven't, you might lose everything on that hard drive.

Also, if it is the hard drive that needs replacing, it's not going to be easy to swap it out in an iMac. The entire front panel display must first be removed before you can gain access to the inside of the machine.
 
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many thanks for the reply. i am sorry for not putting the specs up, it was late and i was trying to remember what i wanted to write.

IMAC 20" Model A1224 Bought Around OCT 2009. Running Snow Leopard

i thought it might be a hard drive fault, i know from having a desktop p.c. for ten years or so when the hard drive goes, but as i have said i don't have a great deal of experience with mac's. is it possible to change any settings so that i can access the folders when running in linux, then i can at least check whether the hard drive is going?

i use the mac nearly every day to do work on. i usually back up but i haven't for a few weeks, stupid i know. that's why i want to see if i can at least get to my files/folders. if something needs to be done, hard drive replaced etc then that's fine but i wanted to try something first.

cheers
 

chscag

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You can try to get at your data several ways:

Boot the machine with a Linux "Live" CD and extract what data you can.

Remove the hard drive and place it in a USB carrier, attach it to another Mac or to your Mac after replacing the drive. Extract the data that way. Try the Linux live boot first.

Also, to learn how to change out the hard drive, go to iFixit: The free repair manual and look up their take apart instructions for your model iMac.
 
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hi
many thanks for the reply. i have ran linux from a cd, once it loaded to the home screen, i was able to see the macintosh hd, and the folders within, they all seem to be there. then i click on users i think and it has a folder with my name on. but when i try and open any of the folders/files within, namely movies/pictures etc... i get a message saying i don't have permission..

that's why i tried to go to the command screen because i read that you can change permissions there, but to be honest i don't really know what i am typing.

or am i doing something wrong when using linux? should the files be accessible? i would rather try this way first before i even contemplate having any parts changed.

cheers.
 

chscag

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I don't believe you can set or change permissions from Linux. Your best bet may be to remove the hard drive and place it in a USB carrier. Install the new hard drive, reinstall OS X, and then attach your old hard drive to the iMac and extract the data. If you get a permissions denied error, you can change permissions to read and write from the Finder.
 
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many thanks for the reply.

i still have a couple of months left on the guarantee. but i wanted to try to see if there was anything i can do before getting in touch with the shop. if the hard drive needs replacing etc... that's fine but i want to try and access my files and folders first if at all possible.

i am in the mac commands screen, is that right? i held cmd and s on start up. but when opened i don't know what to type, can i change the permissions here?

cheers
 

chscag

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Permissions can be changed directly from the Finder. Just right click on the file or folder, select "get info". At the bottom of the dialog you'll see a small lock. Click on the lock and then enter your admin password. The lock will open. Change permissions to read and write. Close the lock.
 
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i still have a couple of months left on the guarantee...

If so, don't spend TOO much time monkeying around with it. See if the shop will swap the hard drive (if that's the problem) and offer to pay more for a bigger capacity HDD. Then put the old one in an external case to extract the data. OR, a lot of shops will do that for a reasonable fee.
 
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thanks for the replies. to be honest i probably should have been in touch with the shop a few days ago, but i wanted to try and sort something out myself, but as you say there is little point going round in circles.

when you say permissions can be changed in finder, does that mean once the mac is booted up and running or can that be done in linux? because i cannot get the mac to boot on its own/from the macintosh hd. the only thing that works is when i run off a linux cd.

if i can get the hard drive replaced and i get the current one back, as you say i can extract the data from it, will the files still be there/accessible? sorry for sounding a little vague its just that the mac has been fine for a few years, i haven't had to do anything with the mac since i have had it except to install some software.

cheers
 
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bit of an update. i wanted to try and see if i could transfer my files. i have tried in linux but had permission issues which i couldn't find an answer to. so the other option was to try with another mac. after a good few weeks i have managed to use another mac. i have connected that one to mine with firewire and my HD is know showing up. unlike when i tried with linux i can access the contents of the hard drive. one problem is with my pictures. i have a lot but when i click on the iphoto pic it opens up iphoto on the second mac but i can only find a few of my pictures amongst those on the other mac. my macHD is still showing 250gb used, so i am guessing they must be there somewhere, where might they be?

also i have just plugged in a new external drive i bought to copy my files over. but when i plugged it into the other mac for the first time it says disk insertion, the disk inserted is not readable by this computer, so i opened disk utility, i checked the info for the external drive which said under file system Mac OS Extended (Journaled). i thought that was right but the drive wasn't showing up or working. is this the right format? i tried altering it, i changed it to ms dos fat 32, when i did this i was able to copy files over from my mac HD fine, but i don't think thats right. i don't have any big files they are mainly work templates or some photographs, i don't think i have an individual file bigger than a couple of GB. Cheers
 
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i managed to back up my files, the important ones at least. i then erased the hard drive, all via my brother's macbook, then reinstall mac os. i am slowly putting the software back on and generally getting it ready for use. i think i will not put as much stuff on it this time and just have the things i really need.

thank you for the help over the weeks, cheers.
 

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