Won't boot up...apple logo/spinning gear..

I am trying to get my older iMac to boot up. It has seen been sitting for a few years because I couldn't get it to boot up. I thought I would revisit this since I have some spare time.

I booted up into holding down the option key.

It shows my HDD and Recovery . I have tried both but I get the same result. Apple logo with the spinning gear. Nothing else happens.

Dead HDD? Or is there any other options to try and get this to boot up?

I got all excited when I saw the HDD and recovery showing.

Thanks fir any suggestions.

Not enough detail about the older iMac (year for example would be VERY helpful), but the next obvious step is to try and boot it from the DVD drive using a retail OS X system install disk like the one it may have come with. If it boots up from that, then the hard drive is probably shot, but now you know what to do.

sorry for lack of detail. The imac appears to be a 20' early 2008 model with 4gb ram, 2.4ghz core 2 duo processor. I was able to get to the el capatan installer screen via my bootable usb in safe mode (option key). The first i did this I could see the hdd on the mac. I selected that drive to install el capatan. Then this error " OS X could not be installed. Unable to unmount volume for repair" .

I also opened the disk utility and tries using first aid but got error messages similar to the above. One error mentioned " updating boot support partitions for the volume as required. Unable to unmount volume for repair, operation failed"

Also got an mapping error somewhere along the way.

I guess try installing from a OS X disc if i can find it?

Thanks for your patience and help/suggestions.

My bet would be that the hard drive is dying/dead, it sounds like the machine itself is mechanically sound. Replace the hard drive (an SSD would be *really good option* in a machine that old) and you should then be able to install.

Thanks! So I guess the data is gone obviously.

trellaine said:

Thanks! So I guess the data is gone obviously.

Click to expand...

We don't know, but quite likely if you didn't have any sort of backup and don't want to spend the usual big bucks$ for a possible recovery, if the data is even worth trying to recover.

Or do you or any of your friends have a compatible version of DiskWarrior etc. you could try and use?? If so, some data recovery may be possible. Maybe…

Ok thanks for that idea. I'll have to see. I agree the data isn't worth recovering. I was more curious to see what was there.

I will see if I have an old install disk, try booting that way. See what happens. But I'm guessing I'll get the same errors.

Disk warrior is expensive eh. Must be good stuff.

I just tried using install discs and when it asks where to install I see my HDD with a yellow ! on it . And the coloured balloon spinning. Can't be good.

I think my initial diagnosis was right. This doesn't mean the data on it is unrecoverable, but if you are sure there is nothing on there that that's important, replacing it is the easier route.

If you think there could be something really valuable on there, such as photos, then it might be worth trying the trial of the $100 Drive Genius. The free trial will let you SEE what can be recovered, then you can buy it to actually recover those things.

You're experience a bootloop.

chas_m said:

I think my initial diagnosis was right. This doesn't mean the data on it is unrecoverable, but if you are sure there is nothing on there that that's important, replacing it is the easier route.

If you think there could be something really valuable on there, such as photos, then it might be worth trying the trial of the $100 Drive Genius. The free trial will let you SEE what can be recovered, then you can buy it to actually recover those things.

Click to expand...

But don't I need an OSX to run this program?

You can install on an external USB drive and use that to boot and maybe recover data.

Aww right. Would I do this in safe mode? Hit option key upon powering on the Mac?

Thanks

If you are using an external boot drive you can hold down the Option key on startup and select the boot drive.

It might also be a good idea to have some drive space available (such as on an external drive). Most data recovery programs need additional "known good" drive space to store recovered files.

trellaine said:

I just tried using install discs and when it asks where to install I see my HDD with a yellow ! on it . And the coloured balloon spinning. Can't be good.

Click to expand...

The reason you're seeing this, is because whatever OS on the drive is newer than what you're trying to install.
To be able to install you need to reformat the drive, which means you wont have what you're trying to recover.
And yes, the drive is probably going out.

Grrr I'll give it one more day of trying to communicate with the hard drive. Then I might as well erase the drive. Then I think I'd be able to install an OS X onto it.

Thanks everyone

trellaine said:

Grrr I'll give it one more day of trying to communicate with the hard drive. Then I might as well erase the drive. Then I think I'd be able to install an OS X onto it.

Thanks everyone

Click to expand...

Or just replace the drive and and carry on and leave any possible recovery for a rainy day with the old drive stuck into an external exclosure.

If you're having problems with the drive and it's going bad, installing a fresh OS isn't going to fix it. It needs to be replaced.

Guid?

Any idea what this means? I tried to install el capatan onto an ext USB drive. I get this message: A GUID partition table (GPT) partitioning scheme is required"

The Usb drive was formatted via el capatan on my other iMac.

Thanks for any help