mac stuck on utilities screen

[Flyster]

ok, getting rid of an old mac and worried ive broken it, was trying to delete all the old passwords entered the wrong passwords in a few times and i must of been locked out, its now stuck on the osx utilities screen, ive done countless amount of reboots and no matter how many times once it does reboot it still comes onto the utilties screen, nothing happens with the reinstall disk , the startup disk is also blank-HELP

 

[pigoo3]

Need a lot more info:

- What exact model Apple computer is this?
- Not really sure what is meant by "stuck on utilities screen"? If the startup disk is "blank" (as mentioned)...then there's no way this computer is even getting to a utilities screen...since there would be no OS installed on a "blank" drive.
- What reinstall disk are you using (what OS version)...and what does it look like (color & graphics on it)?
- If there actually is an OS installed...what version is it?

* Nick

 

[Flyster]

im using osx yosemite ,
should of rephrased its not stuck on utilities but when ever i restart it loads straight on to that screen
the reinstall disk is grey but nothing happens when i use that

 

[pigoo3]

Sorry...but all the info requested was not provided. When all info is provided...will reply with additional questions/ideas.

Thanks,

- Nick

 

[Flyster]

upon power up it goes straight to a screen similar to this

osx yosemite 10.10.5

 

[pigoo3]

upon power up it goes straight to a screen similar to this

If the computer keeps going to this screen...have you tried doing anything from this page to remedy the situation? Such launching Disk Utility and repairing the disk?...or doing the "Reinstall OS X" option?

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

upon power up it goes straight to a screen similar to this

Have you actually tried closing that window and Quit the Utility application and then restarted from your normal selected boot volume???





- Patrick
======

 

[pigoo3]

Have you actually tried closing that window and Quit the Utility application and then restarted from your normal selected boot volume???

Good suggestion Patrick. One area of confusion...OP mentions in post #1 that the "startup disk is also blank". Tried to get clarification on this earlier...but did not receive additional info. Possible that if there is no OS on the main partition...maybe this is why the computer keeps booting into the Recovery Partition.

- Nick

 

[Flyster]

Have you actually tried closing that window and Quit the Utility application and then restarted from your normal selected boot volume???





- Patrick
======

everytime i restart it goes back to that screen, i have repaired the disk and restarted and get the same screen after loading

 

[gsahli]

That Utility screen is called Recovery Mode. Try rebooting, and hold down the option key, and choose the Macintosh Volume for boot. If no other choice appears, your startup volume is damaged, and (I think) you'll need to reinstall.

 

[pigoo3]

everytime i restart it goes back to that screen, i have repaired the disk and restarted and get the same screen after loading

If you could reply to what I wrote in post #8...it may help us understand the situation & resolve things. I've asked for this info 2x so far in the thread...and have not gotten clarification.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

@Nick

If you could reply to what I wrote in post #8…it may help us understand the situation & resolve things. I've asked for this info 2x so far in the thread...and have not gotten clarification.

- Nick

I think you're going to have to put on one of those big ten gallon hats, AND pickup a really BIG stick.

We don't get to know by osmosis!!!






- Patrick
======

 

[ferrarr]

Flyster, your image, in post # 5, is for Mountain Lion Mac OS X 10.8, is that the screen displayed on your Mac, or is it an image you got off the internet? If it is from your computer, your Recovery partition is from 10.8, but still useable, if you want to recover from that Mac OS X version. Do you have an external bootable drive you can start up from? It can be a bootable installer from any version of Mac OS X.

Since you mention you have a grey install disc, you can insert that and hold down "C" to boot from that.

 

[pm-r]

Flyster, your image, in post # 5, is for Mountain Lion Mac OS X 10.8,

Wow Bob, how did you know and pick up that detail???? Impressive on the details eh??





- Patrick
======

 

[pigoo3]

Wow Bob, how did you know and pick up that detail????

If you look at the little icon to the left of "Reinstall OS X"...the icon is of a Mountain Lion. May have to zoom in to see it better.

- Nick

 

[harryb2448]

Can you leave Disk Utility and highlight 'Reinstall OS X'? If so go with that and leave at least overnight assd Recovery is pretty slow.

 

[pm-r]

If you look at the little icon to the left of "Reinstall OS X"...the icon is of a Mountain Lion. May have to zoom in to see it better.

- Nick

OK if you say so.

It reminds me of the joke of the little old lady complaining of the neighbors indecent exposure but told the police she had to stand on a box to get to the ladder so that she could get high enough to see out her small bathroom window. ;D

Maybe I need a Retina iMac to see that small ML icon properly. You think…???






- Patrick
======

 

[Rod]

Hey Nick, I puzzled over how you you knew that it was a Lion display for about half an hour before I spotted that clue.
Anyway in regards to Flyster's problem. It's possible that when restarting he is not choosing the startup disk. As I recall when you restart from the Apple Menu you need to choose which disk to use or it will simply restart to the Utilities page.
Could it be as simple as that?
Flyster, when you restart can you check which startup disks are available by selecting "change" startup disk. If Macintosh HD is available then restart from that. If not then your OSX partition is either damaged or missing.

 

[pigoo3]

Hey Nick, I puzzled over how you you knew that it was a Lion display for about half an hour before I spotted that clue.

Gotta give proper credit to member ferrarr. He mentioned it first.

- Nick