iMac won't boot, keyboard unsynced

[Bjean42]

Hello,

My iMac is stuck on the white start-up screen with the apple and spinning wheel. I've tried to reboot, I've shut down, unplugged, waited, replugged, turned back on and it stays there. My problem is my keyboard is no longer synced to the computer. It's wireless, so I thought I'd try buying a wired keyboard. Well you have to sync those too. So I can't get past the startup screen without my keyboard and I can't use my keyboard without getting past the start up screen. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

I see you have another thread about this iMac startup issue, so we will continue to diagnose it there.

However, you do not need to sync a wired keyboard like you do the Apple Wireless Keyboard. It is a simple USB connection.

The issue you are having has to do with a corrupted OS X install.

C

 

[Bjean42]

I borrowed a keyboard and I still can't get past the logo screen when trying to boot up. Pram reset restarts it but it still gets stuck on logo screen. Control plus R shows my hard drive, tried to plug in a external but it won't show up. I wouldn't really know what to do once if it had shown up. Any other diagnostic I can do to figure out what's wrong with it?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Oops...you didn't start the thread I referenced above, you simply added a post. So, we can handle this troubleshooting here. Sorry about the confusion.

-Is the keyboard you borrowed an Apple or PC keyboard?
-Does the external hard drive you connected have OS X installed on it?
-When you startup with Control-R, it doesn't show the Recovery Partition? If not, try Option-Control-R.
-Do you have an Apple Store near you? It may be best to have them check out the situation.

It sounds like a corrupted OS X install, unless you cannot startup to the Recovery Partition.

C

 

[Bjean42]

Ok, I ended up taking it into apple for diagnostics and my hard drive is dead, as suspected. So I replaced the hard drive w Best Buy (no Mac specialist in my area and my computer is too old for Apple to do it). I decided to do an Internet install of the operating system. Well when I power on my Mac and all I get is a blinking folder with a question on it. Is there something wrong with the new hard drive or the connection to where it's not recognizing it?

 

[Bjean42]

Hello and welcome.

I see you have another thread about this iMac startup issue, so we will continue to diagnose it there.

However, you do not need to sync a wired keyboard like you do the Apple Wireless Keyboard. It is a simple USB connection.

The issue you are having has to do with a corrupted OS X install.

C

Ok, so I replaced my hard drive and I can only get a flashing folder with a question mark. To get the operating system without using an internet download, can I just order a Mac OS X disc from Apple?

 

[honestone]

Ok, so I replaced my hard drive and I can only get a flashing folder with a question mark. To get the operating system without using an internet download, can I just order a Mac OS X disc from Apple?

First, what OS do you want to install? For Lion (OS 10.7) and above, it is no longer available on a DVD. You can purchase Snow Leopard, OS 10.6.x on DVD, from here:

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

Not sure which version of Snow Leopard that will be, but if it is OS 10.6 through OS 10.6.7, you can upgrade on line to OS 10.6.8 by downloading the Combo Updater, from here:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1400?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

But, first you need to get the OS onto your empty hard drive.

Secondly, what exact Mac model do you have?

Third, if you want to install OS 10.7 or above, you'll need access to another Mac, and one with a Firewire 800 port (hopefully your iMac has a Firewire 800 port, and that is why you need to tell us the iMac model you have).

Once you let us know that (assuming you want to install OS 10.7 or above), we can help you further.

By the way, what device are you using to make posts here?