Mac wont boot!

Lashes · Mar 22, 2007

Hellooo im new to this so dont laugh! lol

I updated my mac last night...it took around 3 hours to update the OS...kinda locked up...mac wouldn't do anything!
Me being the impatient person i am...i turned it off!

Now i tried to turn it this morning and it just gets stuck at the apple loading screen! help!

have i broken it ? lol...ive tried some of shortcuts & stuff but screen doesnt change ... its been like it for around an hour!

Help!

...Leys xx

Lisa · Mar 22, 2007

If you're talking about the latest update, it does take a few extra minutes to reboot the first time after installing the update. Try it again and let it sit.

Lashes · Mar 22, 2007

Ive left it for about an hour...il try it again tho & see what happens!
thanks

Sherman Homan · Mar 22, 2007

I think you hosed the update, now the Mac has no idea what to do. You many need to dig out your original install disk and do the Archive and Install deal. It is straight forward, just make sure you read each item carefully before clicking continue, it is possible to completely erase your drive, go slow!

Before you do that, try to start in Safe mode, hold down the Shift key at the startup chime. It will take a while to boot, it runs a disk repair utility and empties a bunch of system and font caches. But no where near an hour! If that doesn't work, you will probably need to reinstall.

When you get the System reinstalled, you will need to redo all of the updates again. The biggest problem that people seem to have with the update is running other applications while the update is in progress. Don't!

Dillinger-63 · Mar 22, 2007

Just to let you know this happened to me too. Once the download and install was completed I rebooted my MBP, and I got the Apple logo and spinning gear for 20 minutes before I finally shut the MBP off. Why, the shut down? because my fan kicked in and got louder and louder as if it were a jet engine, I was concerned that the chip might be getting way to hot and I did not want to chance screwing up my computer. I can understand rebooting taking a while but 20 minutes was way to long, so I knew there was something wrong. The final result was a new install of OS-X and all of my programs.

Lashes · Mar 22, 2007

one problem, i dont hv any of the disks to this mac ...i swapped it for a crap laptop with somebody who didnt hav a clue about macs lol...

is it possible to buy these disks? maybe ebay or something ?

i tried holding shift on startup but nothing happens!

kgeier82 · Mar 22, 2007

link if your not a student:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=405B1455&nplm=MA453Z/A

if you are, just goto the store, and education link on the right side. enter your school, blah blah blah, 79$

doesnt seem like you can wait but leopard is right around corner (10.5)

Lashes · Mar 22, 2007

student discount is well good!
well im gettin a tutor to have a look at it 2moro...if he cnt fix it - il be back! lol

Zoolook · Mar 22, 2007

Are you talking about 10.4.9 or 10.5?

My .9 was easy, but of course backing up before a major OS upgrade is always prudent. If I go to Leopard, I'll be doing it clean anyway.

Dandab · Oct 29, 2007

Same Problem. Won't boot tiger w/ cd

Dillinger-63 said:
The final result was a new install of OS-X and all of my programs.

I AM also having the same problem as we speak. I have my OSX Tiger cds but it will not run!!! I pop in the disk one but it just sits there at the apple screen. Anybody have a good solution for this?

i've also tried holding shift and nothing happens. one thing i did notice is that for a split second before it goes to the gray apple screen and stays there, it flashes a picture of a folder with a question mark on it. did you get that too?

i just reformated with tiger and if i can't get tiger to start i would like to reinstall it again but this time the cd won't boot.

Thx in advance

Elliott G3 · Apr 14, 2008

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, so I have a G3 slot-loading imac running OSX 10.3.9 and I was running out of memory so I deleted some files and the next day I turned the computer on and it just sat there with the apple logo and the spinning gear thing. I thought it was just being slow so I left it alone for an hour. I come back and it's still just sitting there. I've done all I think I can do, and I've got it running back on the os 9 installation disc but I can only get it to run on that. I am able to access my hard drive and I tried using my iPod as a storage device but the computer says it's unreadable so I have to delete everything on it to make it readable. I'm afraid to clear my hard drive after I back it up onto my ipod because what if the ipod is unreadable after I clear the hard drive? All my stuff is on that computer and I don't want to lose it.

I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sherman Homan · Apr 14, 2008

I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You really need an external Firewire drive. Back your files up to that. Then you can try to figure out what might be wrong with the internal drive. My guess is that it is dying, so the sooner you get your things backed up the better!
Also, you probably should create your own thread, this one started out as a 10.5 update problem. You will get more hits with your own post.

Elliott G3 · Apr 14, 2008

Help!

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, so I have a G3 slot-loading imac running OSX 10.3.9 and I was running out of memory so I deleted some files and the next day I turned the computer on and it just sat there with the apple logo and the spinning gear thing. I thought it was just being slow so I left it alone for an hour. I come back and it's still just sitting there. I've done all I think I can do, and I've got it running back on the os 9 installation disc but I can only get it to run on that. I am able to access my hard drive and I tried using my iPod as a storage device but the computer says it's unreadable so I have to delete everything on it to make it readable. I'm afraid to clear my hard drive after I back it up onto my ipod because what if the ipod is unreadable after I clear the hard drive? All my stuff is on that computer and I don't want to lose it.

I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elliott G3 · Apr 14, 2008

Thanks Sherman Homan

I have 2 questions

1. i'm new to forums and I... don't really know how to start my own thread.

2. where can I get an external firewire drive?

Sherman Homan · Apr 14, 2008

1 You have a problem best defined under the Apple Desktop forums:
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/
so click that New Thread button!
2 Depends on where you are, BestBuy, newegg.com

Mac SK · Apr 14, 2008

I would run out and get a thumb drive or usb hard drive to back up some files on. Sounds like you trashed a file linked to a system file. Do you have a repair dics for OS10 like Nortons, to recover your system.

harryb2448 · Apr 14, 2008

With all today's essentials, it is vital to have an external drive of some description as a back up but it is a little late for that now.

Pop your Panther DVD in and boot from that, go to utilities and see if Repair Disk or Repair Permissions does anything. Otherwise I think you are in for a clean erase and install.

If so the perfect opportunity to look for a bigger HDD.