2013 iMac not booting from Macintosh HD

[Gary Brackins]

2013 iMac 14,2 (specs in sidebar)

I need help in determining if my internal HD has bit the dust or not.

I used CCC to clone my drive to an EHD this morning. I booted the computer from the EHD to ensure it cloned properly. I then selected Macintosh HD as my startup disk and rebooted. Things went well for the next couple of hours, but my computer started to act strange (slow to respond) so I decided to give it a reboot. All I got was a black screen with the cusor (and no startup chime).

I booted in recovery mode and ran Disk First Aid on the Macintosh HD and it says the drive is ok, but when I tried to reboot from Mac HD I got the black screen again. I next booted from my EHD and again Disk First Aid says the Mac HD is ok (see attached)



My Macintosh HD is a Fusion Drive which was replaced about 6 months ago. I ejected and shut down all externals except for the CCC drive.

I did notice that when I rebooted when it started acting up that the lights on the EHD were flashing even when the iMac was shut down.

It is under AppleCare, however it's an hour's drive to the store, and I'm not certain its the internal hard drive.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Gary

 

[pigoo3]

Try this:

- Unplug any external drives
- Do an SMC Reset.
- Do an NVRAM Reset.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

- Nick

 

[Gary Brackins]

thanks pigoo3!

I will give this a try later as I have to head out for a meeting. I'll post my results.

I forgot to mention earlier that the Macintosh HD was accessible when I booted from the EHD.

Be back in a couple of hours.

thanks again, Gary

 

[harryb2448]

You do seem to have a huge number of mpartitions and more than one EHD? The problem may be the computer is confused in what to boot from. With the computer running, go into Systems Preferences > Startup Disk and unlock the padlock and select your internal hard drive.

 

[chscag]

It's a Fusion drive so the problem could well be the small SSD has bit the dust. Fusion drives are problematic and difficult to diagnose. I think you may well have to make that hour drive to the Apple store to get it sorted out. Make sure you get an appointment first.

 

[harryb2448]

For problematical read extremely problematical.

 

[Gary Brackins]

yes, I do have numerous EHD, however the only one plugged in and active is the CCC that I used to boot from. I went into preferences and selected the Macintosh HD as my startup and got nothing but a black screen.

I followed pigoo3's recommendations and got no where positive. I did the SMC and NVRAM reset per the links and when I rebooted I got a black screen with only the cusor showing, same as before.

Well it looks like I'm heading over to Apple to replace the Fusion drive again. Hopefully if that is the issue I can get a HDD in its place. Having to replace a drive every 6 months would get old quickly.

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[chscag]

Hopefully if that is the issue I can get a HDD in its place. Having to replace a drive every 6 months would get old quickly.

That's not how Apple Care works. They are only authorized to replace your Fusion drive with the same type. I guess it wouldn't hurt to speak with the manager and ask.

 

[Gary Brackins]

well I spent an hour or so on the phone with AppleCare and the computer is back to booting properly (so far). I had to reinstall the OS and so far so good.

thanks again for all the help!

 

[chscag]

well I spent an hour or so on the phone with AppleCare and the computer is back to booting properly (so far). I had to reinstall the OS and so far so good.

thanks again for all the help!

Glad to hear you didn't have to take that hour drive. Just make sure you're keeping up with your backups. ;D

 

[Gary Brackins]

Glad to hear you didn't have to take that hour drive. Just make sure you're keeping up with your backups. ;D

thanks chscag, I backup like a fiend!

 

[pigoo3]

I followed pigoo3's recommendations and got no where positive.

Sure you got somewhere positive. You eliminated at least 3 things from a possibly much longer list of troubleshooting steps. Once most or all possible troubleshooting steps have been explored…with no improvement's. A person may be left with only one conclusion…"somethings busted"!!!

Congrats on getting things working. Hopefully it's long lived!

- Nick

 

[Gary Brackins]

you are absolutely correct, as usual. I did eliminate possibilities which directed me to the action that led to improvement.

thanks again!

 

[pigoo3]

you are absolutely correct, as usual. I did eliminate possibilities which directed me to the action that led to improvement.

I was mostly teasing! Splitting hairs regarding the use of the word "positive"!

The important thing is it's working!

- Nick