White Screen Of Death

[JaiLai]

my iMac is now showing the white screen of death, shows the Apple icon with the loading icon below it and nothing happens.

Had a look on youtube and they show some shortcut to do when booting it up, tried a couple of times but to no avail.

Really don't want to take it to the Apple store as i'm pretty sure i'll get " mister, must go to BKK" routine....

Any ideas / advice / suggestions?

Thanks.

[Fookhaht]

Is the loading icon that little spinning beach ball??

[JaiLai]

Is the loading icon that little spinning beach ball??

No, it's circle with the segments that highlight on and off, same as the phones.

[Fookhaht]

Is the loading icon that little spinning beach ball??

No, it's circle with the segments that highlight on and off, same as the phones.

Whew.

[nullx8]

press and hold [OPTION] if you hear the startup sound.

this will bring you the boot manager, if you have something newer then 10.7.1 installed you will have the option to boot a rescure system from the harddisc.

if you have a earlier version running you need to poke in the install DVD or the USB Drive to start the rescure system.

once this is running the installer will pop up .. select Disc untility .. repair the dsic and after this repair permissions ...

then reboot .. 80% of all cases this will do the job.

if there are errors do come up then you may be in bigger trouble.

do NOT just reinstall .. this is't windows ... unless your disc is dead .. there is no need to do that .. ever

Edited April 15, 2013 by nullx8

[JaiLai]

press and hold [OPTION] if you hear the startup sound.

this will bring you the boot manager, if you have something newer then 10.7.1 installed you will have the option to boot a rescure system from the harddisc.

if you have a earlier version running you need to poke in the install DVD or the USB Drive to start the rescure system.

once this is running the installer will pop up .. select Disc untility .. repair the dsic and after this repair permissions ...

then reboot .. 80% of all cases this will do the job.

if there are errors do come up then you may be in bigger trouble.

do NOT just reinstall .. this is't windows ... unless your disc is dead .. there is no need to do that .. ever

i have OS X 10.6.8, i cannot find the installation disk but have the installation disk for MPB i bought at the same time, i'm pretty sure the same OS, that'll work, yes?

[nullx8]

i have OS X 10.6.8, i cannot find the installation disk but have the installation disk for MPB i bought at the same time, i'm pretty sure the same OS, that'll work, yes?

you (maybe) wont be able to install the OEM Version but its just fine for the check.

put it in .. and hold [c] while when you hear the boot sound ... the mac will then startup straight from the disc.

or [option] then you get the boot manager . .and the disc will show as a option there.

if you need to install with this disc its doable too .. its quite simple to change the BIOS Identification of the Mac you running on

but you should know what you doing if you do so ..

[JaiLai]

i have OS X 10.6.8, i cannot find the installation disk but have the installation disk for MPB i bought at the same time, i'm pretty sure the same OS, that'll work, yes?

you (maybe) wont be able to install the OEM Version but its just fine for the check.

put it in .. and hold [c] while when you hear the boot sound ... the mac will then startup straight from the disc.

or [option] then you get the boot manager . .and the disc will show as a option there.

if you need to install with this disc its doable too .. its quite simple to change the BIOS Identification of the Mac you running on

but you should know what you doing if you do so ..

Thanks for your help but i think i'll need to go to the Apple store - can't wait!!

Tried the above but no joy......

[nullx8]

it does not boot from the DVD ?

or the boot manager not comes up ?

if the secound one is the case .... then you probably in troube .. but it doesnt mean its the worlds end .. can be a Bios/Cmos issue ... easy to fix in the applestore

[JaiLai]

it does not boot from the DVD ?

or the boot manager not comes up ?

if the secound one is the case .... then you probably in troube .. but it doesnt mean its the worlds end .. can be a Bios/Cmos issue ... easy to fix in the applestore

i went for the 1st option you suggested and have now thrown in the installation disk, let's see what happens, 'time remaining : about 40 mins'

RE the Apple store, i'm in pattaya, will one of the ( and i use the term loosely here ) "genius's" there be able to sort it or do you think it will need to go to BKK?

I am very reluctant to send to BKK, this normally turns into a long drawn out affair....

Thanks.

[JaiLai]

So i got to Time Remaining : -3 minutes now, that's a bit weird, i'll wait another couple of minutes then try a re-boot...

[GooEng]

prior to this happening did you hear any noises or notice any slowing down of the machine?

[JaiLai]

prior to this happening did you hear any noises or notice any slowing down of the machine?

Yes, the machine seemed to be slower - is that bad?

[partington]

it does not boot from the DVD ?

or the boot manager not comes up ?

if the secound one is the case .... then you probably in troube .. but it doesnt mean its the worlds end .. can be a Bios/Cmos issue ... easy to fix in the applestore

i went for the 1st option you suggested and have now thrown in the installation disk, let's see what happens, 'time remaining : about 40 mins'

RE the Apple store, i'm in pattaya, will one of the ( and i use the term loosely here ) "genius's" there be able to sort it or do you think it will need to go to BKK?

I am very reluctant to send to BKK, this normally turns into a long drawn out affair....

Thanks.

Oops , it sounds like you tried to install the whole OS again?

That wasn't the advice. It was to boot from the install disk, and then you can choose from the finder menu to start disk utilities, and then repair the hard disk from the install disk. You shouldn't have gone through an installation.

Have another try using the disk utilities from the menu of the install disk.

EDIT: Just realised this could be how long the repair permissions is taking from disk utilities. If so please ignore my redundant comment.

I'll get me coat.

Edited April 15, 2013 by partington

[JaiLai]

it does not boot from the DVD ?

or the boot manager not comes up ?

if the secound one is the case .... then you probably in troube .. but it doesnt mean its the worlds end .. can be a Bios/Cmos issue ... easy to fix in the applestore

i went for the 1st option you suggested and have now thrown in the installation disk, let's see what happens, 'time remaining : about 40 mins'

RE the Apple store, i'm in pattaya, will one of the ( and i use the term loosely here ) "genius's" there be able to sort it or do you think it will need to go to BKK?

I am very reluctant to send to BKK, this normally turns into a long drawn out affair....

Thanks.

Oops , it sounds like you tried to install the whole OS again?

That wasn't the advice. It was to boot from the install disk, and then you can choose from the finder menu to start disk utilities, and then repair the hard disk from the install disk. You shouldn't have gone through an installation.

Have another try using the disk utilities from the menu of the install disk.

EDIT: Just realised this could be how long the repair permissions is taking from disk utilities. If so please ignore my redundant comment.

I'll get me coat.

Yeah, could n't get beyond the white screen.... Hey- ho!

[GooEng]

prior to this happening did you hear any noises or notice any slowing down of the machine?

Yes, the machine seemed to be slower - is that bad?

it might not be - mine did that the first time i had a problem. performance slowed to the point where it just stopped as per yours - a geek in MBK was able to fix it in a couple of hours. apparently there was a corrupted system file somewhere.

noise seems to mean damage to the HD itself and generally is more serious in my experience. a clicking noise was what i heard prior to a total failure which resulted in the return to apple for a free replacement.

have you got a recent timemachine back up on an external HD?

[JaiLai]

Thanks for the info, interesting.

Nothing's backed up, school boy error I know but it's mostly the wife's machine for messing about online, not much else.

[GooEng]

Thanks for the info, interesting.

Nothing's backed up, school boy error I know but it's mostly the wife's machine for messing about online, not much else.

you bought your missus an iMac to "mess about online"?? now i understand your avatar ....

i'm only jealous .... good luck getting it sorted ...

[JaiLai]

Thanks for the info, interesting.

Nothing's backed up, school boy error I know but it's mostly the wife's machine for messing about online, not much else.

you bought your missus an iMac to "mess about online"?? now i understand your avatar ....

i'm only jealous .... good luck getting it sorted ...

YIp, all i seemed to do with my windows machine before that was install anti virus ALL the time. Unfortunately my wife is one of these people that just clicks away on prompt boxes when they come up, normally WITHOUT reading what they say!!

I'm heading to Tukcom this morning, let's see wot they reckon....

[GooEng]

i'd be surprised if a virus attack has killed your mac - do you think thats what it is?

[JaiLai]

Hard drive is buggered so here the circle jerk starts...

Guess wot the guy in the shop in Tukcom said, yip, you guessed it "mister, you send to BKK".

However there is a shop in Central in Chonburi that can carry out the repair BUT guess wot, yip - i have to go there myself with machine, however if send to BKK to fix they CAN send it, go figure.

I will go to Chonburi tomorrow, the plot thickens....

BTW cost will be 5-6K

[bangarang]

I am a designer and live and breathe with my mac. I had this same issue in phuket last year. It would actually take 2-3hours to boot. That is a big sign that your having hard drive problems. I would just let it load (which could take many hours) then back up your system. You will have to replace your hard drive. If you dont know what to do just go to the apple store and have them take care of it. I ended up installing the new HD myself but I left my Install disks at home so I had the apple support people in the shop copy over a fresh install on the new hard drive.

It will be about 1,000thb for the copying over a fresh OSX install and 3000thb for the hard drive but if you have the apple store do it they said it would cost about 5,000thb. If you dont know what your doing then have the apple store take care of it for you.

Let me know if you have any questions, but you can put in the hard drive yourself. search on youtube for installing a imac harddrive, and make sure you get the right type for your system, all can be solved easily.

Edited April 16, 2013 by bangarang

[GooEng]

very worthwhile post there by bangarang covering what i was just about to say myself.

also you may want to consider the option of replacing the faulty mechanical disc with an SSD drive - sourced independantly(not from apple), decent capacity (512GB) SSD drives are now not silly money and easy to install yourself. also as mentioned elsewhere on threads in the apple forum here speed up your mac significantly and offer superior reliability - i WISH i had done this when my HD failed.

Edited April 16, 2013 by GooEng

[how241]

i have OS X 10.6.8, i cannot find the installation disk but have the installation disk for MPB i bought at the same time, i'm pretty sure the same OS, that'll work, yes?

you (maybe) wont be able to install the OEM Version but its just fine for the check.

put it in .. and hold [c] while when you hear the boot sound ... the mac will then startup straight from the disc.

or [option] then you get the boot manager . .and the disc will show as a option there.

if you need to install with this disc its doable too .. its quite simple to change the BIOS Identification of the Mac you running on

but you should know what you doing if you do so ..

Thanks for your help but i think i'll need to go to the Apple store - can't wait!!

Tried the above but no joy......

There is a Apple store in the Beach Mall...second floor...It is a free place to start asking for help.

[Robbie Dye]

Or try Liberty Computers ( British guys) on 3rd RD down from the Navin Mansions entrance to Big C, direction TOT office and beach side of the road. Tomorrow u might not get a soaking, 18th u surely will!!

[BergRace]

The first thing to do if your Mac is starting to act up is to re-set the PRAM(if it boots as far as the start up sound). Switch machine off, wait until Hd has spun down(aprox 5s), press 'On' button and when you hear the start up sound press ctrl+alt+p+r at the same time, hold down until you hear the start up sound for the second time.

Next(if an iMac) is to re-set nvram, switch machine off, unplug all cables, unplug power cord for more than 15s, do a normal power up/boot.

If none of the above helps, boot into safe mode by pressing 'Shift' during power up, keep depressed until you see a horizontal time/load indicator, let machine boot completely(takes a minute or two), then do a re-start via the Apple menu NOT via Power button.

If none of the above has worked it is time to use either original install Dvd or the recovery partiton as others described earlier on.

There has been a recall for early iMacs for replacing hard drives, my late 2009 27" has already had one drive replaced due to failure but was still eligble for a new drive under the recall terms.

The last date for replacement was April 12 here in Norway. I handed mine in the 11th, the newer the better, right?

[Jaybonnaza]

If it does go I'd be interested in buying it as spare parts

[slk350]

I had this on my Mac Book Pro, 2 times. The Problem is on the Motherboard ( Grafik Karte / Diagramm Card ) i repaird it put the Motherboard in a Oven and backe it on 250 °

7 min long. Unbelivebil but is tru. Check at Google , Backing Motherboard , Logigboard Mac / .It works i did it two times the first time last for 7 months, this time is still running.

[slk350]

I had this on my Mac Book Pro, 2 times. The Problem is on the Motherboard ( Grafik Karte / Diagramm Card ) i repaird it put the Motherboard in a Oven and backe it on 250 °

7 min long. Unbelivebil but is tru. Check at Google , Backing Motherboard , Logigboard Mac / .It works i did it two times the first time last for 7 months, this time is still running.

[Cobalt60]

Had this problem too. Hard drive was broken. Luckily I used time machine utility and a seperate hard drive. This saved me loosing loads of irreplaceable stuff.

I was told the western digital hard drives will die after 3 + years.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited April 16, 2013 by Cobalt60