IMac Boot-up failure

[neilrpasc]

I have a 24 inch iMac with the M1 chip. Now out of warranty but less than two years old. I suspect there may have been some start-up probs for some time (eg the finger recognition has only been working intermittently) and, when I have logged in using the password, an error has usually been flagged but then start-up has proceeded without any further probs - until now.

The log-in screen now seems to be completely frozen. The mouse cursor is unresponsive and I cannot input the password via the keyboard. I know that both mouse and keyboard are fully powered up. I have tried disconnecting the power supply, then re-connecting, to no effect.

Any suggestions on what may be wrong and a way forward ?

Thanks

 

[TonyAguila]

I have a 24 inch iMac with the M1 chip. Now out of warranty but less than two years old. I suspect there may have been some start-up probs for some time (eg the finger recognition has only been working intermittently) and, when I have logged in using the password, an error has usually been flagged but then start-up has proceeded without any further probs - until now.

The log-in screen now seems to be completely frozen. The mouse cursor is unresponsive and I cannot input the password via the keyboard. I know that both mouse and keyboard are fully powered up. I have tried disconnecting the power supply, then re-connecting, to no effect.

Any suggestions on what may be wrong and a way forward ?

Thanks

First thing to try… Do a shutdown. If you cannot do it from an active screen, simply press and hold the power button until it turns off. After a few seconds, press and hold again the power until the list of drives and the Option button come up. Press the shift key when you select the startup drive in order to boot in Safe Mode. Log in, and if things look good, restart again to see if things look normal again.

If problems persist, you should probably reinstall macOS. Let us know.

 

[neilrpasc]

First thing to try… Do a shutdown. If you cannot do it from an active screen, simply press and hold the power button until it turns off. After a few seconds, press and hold again the power until the list of drives and the Option button come up. Press the shift key when you select the startup drive in order to boot in Safe Mode. Log in, and if things look good, restart again to see if things look normal again.

If problems persist, you should probably reinstall macOS. Let us know.

Many thanks, Tony. This seems to have worked. I'm still puzzled why this problem occurred but only time will tell if there is any underlying issue. But much appreciate you helping me get out of the immediate fix.