iMac 27 Snow Leopard will not fully boot up. The Pinwheel of perpetual spinning....

[Macintaj]

Greetings-

We have Snow Leopard on our iMac 27 (late 2009, Model 11.1, Core i5, 2.66GHz, 20gb RAM) and recently it was always getting stuck on the login page with the pinwheel of death never ceasing. I booted in safe mode with no issues. I removed all login items except itunes helper in 2 of the 3 accounts set up on the iMac. (One account is for my 8 year old who hasn't used this account for a very long time) I also ran all disc utilities in both accounts. (My wife's and mine) Now I can get through the login page ok, but before the OS fully loads the pinwheel begins and never stops. I know we likely should have upgraded our OS long ago, but we did not until El Capitan came out, and I put El C on my macbook pro and the photo software is so awful we have been avoiding doing it for some time. It would seem my choices may be: Back everything up in safe mode, install El Capitan and look for better 2nd party photo software, or take it to a Mac shop and see what they can do. I can follow directions, but I'm not the most tech savvy person and digging around on the net has not yielded much beyond what I've already done.

Thanks,

Peter.

 

[MacInWin]

Hard to say what's wrong, but as a start, how much space is left on the Hard drive. And do you actually have 20GB of RAM memory on it? I didn't think machines that old could hold that much RAM.

I don't use iPhoto or Photos, but from what I have read, the functions of the two are very similar, just the interface changed. Most folks who stuck with it are pleased after a while. But I'll leave that to someone who actually does use them.

 

[pigoo3]

Agree with MacInWin. Check hard drive free space.

Also consider (hopefully not)…that the hard drive could be failing. And if you can log in completely. I would suggest downloading, installing, and running the free maintenance app called Onyx.

- Nick

 

[Macintaj]

There is 318 GB available on a 1 TB drive. Yes, it has 20 GB RAM recently upgraded. I won't say more about it, but the new photos is very mediocre compared to iPhoto, and there are there are a few key features that just plain suck. Maybe there's a workaround I haven't found yet. The white back ground is enough to turn me completely off. I digress. Could the HD be failing of utilities comes through essentially ok?

 

[dtravis7]

Hard to say what's wrong, but as a start, how much space is left on the Hard drive. And do you actually have 20GB of RAM memory on it? I didn't think machines that old could hold that much RAM.

Just a note, A late 2009/Early 2010 27" iMac with either an i5 or i7 will take 32 GB RAM. Check OWC.

 

[MacInWin]

Learn something every day!

 

[pigoo3]

There is 318 GB available on a 1 TB drive.

Sounds good.

Could the HD be failing of utilities comes through essentially ok?

Hard drives can fail slowly…and in some cases suddenly. Only mentioned a failing HD as a possibility to possibly explain the beachballs.

If you can boot into the computer successfully…run Onyx.

- Nick

p.s. If the main issue in this thread is the spinning beachball on a Late 2009 27" iMac running Snow Leopard…I would suggest we focus on this. And not complicate things with iPhotos & El Capitan details. Can always discuss the other topics later.

 

[Macintaj]

Well said Nick. That is what I am facing and the main issue. Anyone have input if I have other options besides backing up everything in safe mode, install El Capitan and look for better 2nd party photo software, or take it to a Mac shop and see what they can do. I can follow directions, but I'm not the most tech savvy person and digging around on the net has not yielded much beyond what I've already done.

 

[pigoo3]

Anyone have input if I have other options besides backing up everything in safe mode, install El Capitan and look for better 2nd party photo software, or take it to a Mac shop and see what they can do.

Yes. I've suggested 2 times…run Onyx…and let us know how it goes!

- Nick

 

[Macintaj]

Hello Nick,

Well thus far as I have said previously I have not been able to get the iMac to boot fully unless I am in safe mode, so downloading any program is not possible. I will keep trying and searching for other solutions.

Thanks,

Peter.

 

[ManoaHi]

I haven't seen if you've run recovery on your Mac. Shut down your Mac, power it on, then at the chime, hold command+R. Run disk util and select your normal volume and click on verify. If you get errors, run repair. Hopefully you've got your backups and hopefully you've got a bootable USB thumb drive, so that you can run Disk Util and do the verify and repair if needed. Have you done this already? Also on the bootable USB thumb drive, be sure to have Onyx installed onto it.

 

[pigoo3]

Well thus far as I have said previously I have not been able to get the iMac to boot fully unless I am in safe mode, so downloading any program is not possible. I will keep trying and searching for other solutions.

Sorry Peter…forgot that was an issue. Actually I wasn't quite clear if you were or were not able to boot successfully (normal boot)…so thanks for clearing that up.

Since this computer has Snow Leopard installed in it…do you have the original gray colored disks that the computer came with when new…or do you have the retail Snow Leopard install DVD?

- Nick

 

[IWT]

I haven't seen if you've run recovery on your Mac. Shut down your Mac, power it on, then at the chime, hold command+R. Run disk util and select your normal volume and click on verify. If you get errors, run repair. Hopefully you've got your backups and hopefully you've got a bootable USB thumb drive, so that you can run Disk Util and do the verify and repair if needed. Have you done this already? Also on the bootable USB thumb drive, be sure to have Onyx installed onto it.

Hi ManoaHi,

As the OP is running Snow Leopard, the Cmd + R option is not available. At least, I'm pretty sure that Lion was the first OS to have a Recovery partition?

Ian

 

[pigoo3]

As the OP is running Snow Leopard, the Cmd + R option is not available. At least, I'm pretty sure that Lion was the first OS to have a Recovery partition?

Ian

You got it Ian…absolutely right. No Recovery Partition with 10.6 (10.7 "Lion" was first).

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

Well, as the Mac can boot up in Safe Boot Mode, all the OP has to do is get rid of whatever is preventing the full boot and I'd suggest starting by eliminating all items in the System Preferences Users login tab option.

At least eliminate any non-Apple or third party startup item from that list.

 

[Macintaj]

Well, as the Mac can boot up in Safe Boot Mode, all the OP has to do is get rid of whatever is preventing the full boot and I'd suggest starting by eliminating all items in the System Preferences Users login tab option.

At least eliminate any non-Apple or third party startup item from that list.

Hello pm-r, If I'm understanding you correctly, as noted in my first post I have already done this, and just checked my daughter's account to make sure there was nothing there to address, and there was not.

Thanks,

Peter.

 

[Macintaj]

Sorry Peter…forgot that was an issue. Actually I wasn't quite clear if you were or were not able to boot successfully (normal boot)…so thanks for clearing that up.

Since this computer has Snow Leopard installed in it…do you have the original gray colored disks that the computer came with when new…or do you have the retail Snow Leopard install DVD?

- Nick

I am checking to see if I in fact have these.

 

[Macintaj]

Well it looks like I blew it big time, and have made one of those decisions you make once. Now the iMac will not even boot in safe mode, and during the 2-3 weeks it would I did not back it up (told myself I was too busy with farm work and that since it worked in safe mode, I had time). My brother in law who used to work at Apple suggested I try resetting the PRAM. My wife had said the last time she heard it shutting down she was hearing clicking. When I attempted to reset the pram I heard he clicking as well, and the screen went to a flashing question mark folder, which I believe means the hd is not engaging. All in all, it sounds like data recovery time with no other option. My local Apple shop has said there's the $50 option of pulling the hd and seeing if it will work in another machine, then there's the $250 for 24 hours of on-off attempts to gather data, then there's a clean room that starts at $500. In anyone's experience in a situation like this, does it make sense to try the cheapest and work up, or is it such that some of these should be skipped as they likely won't work here?

Thanks,

Peter.

 

[Slydude]

All in all, it sounds like data recovery time with no other option. My local Apple shop has said there's the $50 option of pulling the hd and seeing if it will work in another machine, then there's the $250 for 24 hours of on-off attempts to gather data, then there's a clean room that starts at $500. In anyone's experience in a situation like this, does it make sense to try the cheapest and work up, or is it such that some of these should be skipped as they likely won't work here?

Thanks,

Peter.

Others will correct me if I am wrong on this but everything I've read suggests that sometimes using multiple methods will conflict/contradict each other causing more issues and reducing the chance of recovery. There is also the possibility that the mechanism will fail completely since it is often necessary to attempt to read each file several times during the recovery process.

If you have another Mac available, rather than pay the Apple shop for 24 hours of on/off attempts to recover files. I'd let them pull the drive then when they give it to you put it in an enclosure and see if you can read the drive. Sometimes you will get lucky and the drive will start working long enough to recover something. If the data is vital data recovery may be the only option. I haven't had experience with that though.

No matter which method you choose I suggest prioritizing things and going after the most important data first on case the drive fails mid recovery.

 

[MacInWin]

As Sly said, generally you get one shot at trying to recover, unless you are very, very careful. I would have a reputable shop remove the drive, as Sly suggested, and put it in an enclosure to see if it can be read at all. If it mounts, and if you can read it, pull your files off of it. If it won't mount, or cannot be read, the less you do the more likely a professional can recover it for you.