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What to do if the Mac OS does not boot. MacBook won't boot. Alternative option - rearrange the RAM

Experience has shown that the most vulnerable laptop spare part is Apple MacBook Pro is HDD. We often have to change hard disks for new ones after two to three years of service.

Basic recommendation: if you have an old MacBook Pro with the usual hard drive, which you have not changed since you bought the computer, do not wait for “that” day, take care of a backup copy in advance. For creating backup copy we recommend using Apple Time Capsule or suitable cloud storage(eg Carbonite.com).

Frequent symptoms that a disk is failing: prolonged system loading, periodic freezing of applications during operation, suspicious sounds from the case.

If you are unlucky and the system no longer boots, but valuable data remains on the disk, you must keep in mind that further use of the disk (turning on the computer, trying to restore functionality through disk utility) is fraught with data loss.

If the data is extremely important, it makes sense to turn not even to our service, but to specialized data recovery laboratories.

If it is desirable to restore the data, but not so much that you would have to part with a decent amount of money and time for a trip to the service center, you can proceed as follows: we will assume that you do not have another working computer running Mac control OS. In this case, you need to find a suitable external drive and install Mac OS on it via the built-in recovery system (in the same way as you would reinstall the system on internal media, just select the orange external drive instead of the internal one). Then you need to boot from external media (to do this, press and hold when turning on alt key(⌥)). When the system boots, try to access the disk (you may need to enter a password). If the disk is unavailable, try running the Repair disk command. Perhaps after this some of the data will become available.

Despite the fact that the iMac computer is a reliable device, it is still not ideal, and therefore it is not alien to various kinds of software and system failures. The worst failure, of course, is the lack of desire to turn on. Fortunately, this kind of behavior of the Apple iMac does not always indicate some kind of serious breakdown. In this article, we will tell you why your iMac won't boot and what you can do yourself to fix the problem in a given situation.

First of all, of course, we should diagnose the situation in order to understand whether we can cope with it on our own or not. And the main point is to determine the nature of the problem - if it is software, that is, related to certain system glitches, then, as a rule, you can fix it yourself. In a situation where the problem is hardware in nature, the cause is a malfunction of some “hardware” component, which means that service and expensive repairs will most likely be required.

How to understand that the problem is software?

There can be a great many system conflicts, as a result of which the aimak model A 1224 or any other model does not turn on or load, however, to eliminate the most popular ones, it is enough to do the following actions.

Checking the boot disk

If your iMac turns on but doesn't boot to the final stage, the first thing you need to do is check to see if your boot disk settings have gone wrong. To do this, as soon as the device starts to boot, click on Option key and check if the correct disk is being used to boot. Correct boot disk- Macintosh HD.

If you have it installed as boot Macintosh disk HD, but the iMac still won’t boot, which means we’re looking for the problem further - we’re trying to activate safe mode. To get into this mode, you need to hold down the Shift key when starting the device. If you manage to get into safe mode, reboot from it and then, most likely, the computer will be able to boot into normal mode without any problems.

Disabling peripherals

Various kinds of disks, flash drives and other components connected via a USB interface that are not removed by the user when the iMac is turned off can also cause a system failure. In order to exclude this reason from the list possible options“Why didn’t the iMac boot?”, disconnect all the peripherals that connect to the device via USB (even if there were no conflicts with this equipment before), and also do not forget to remove the disks.

Resetting the settings

Removed everything and turned it off, but your iMac still won't turn on? Don't be alarmed, all is not lost! We press the boot button again and this time, when starting the system, we hold down the combination Command+Option+P+R, this way we reset the NVRAM settings - this memory area is responsible for saving the set time zone, time and other system parameters, so don’t be surprised that after resetting, you will have to configure these iMac settings again.

Resetting the power controller settings

If you're still reading this article, it means your iMac still won't boot. Don't worry, we still have a couple more ways to get him to do it. First, we reset the power controller settings, this is done very simply - completely disconnect the computer from the network, wait 15-30 seconds, connect network cable, wait 5-10 seconds and try to boot the computer.

Launch Mac in command line mode

And finally, the last desperate step, which, unfortunately, often leads to the need to reinstall the system, which means that some of your data may be lost. What needs to be done? When booting the iMac, hold down the Command+S combination, the command line will launch, enter the command “fsck-fy” into it - thereby you initiate a scan file system, which will help eliminate existing software glitches (if any, of course). After running the diagnostics, enter “reboot” on the command line and the PC should start booting.

Important point! If you are not ready to reinstall your iMac, it is best not to take this step.

How to understand that there is a hardware problem?

As a matter of fact, if all the above measures did not help solve the problem, then most likely you are faced with a hardware problem. Another argument in favor of problems with the hardware is a complete refusal to turn on - that is, the download does not even start. However, nevertheless, before taking your device to the service, we recommend contacting Apple support; the chance that its specialists will help you is not so small.

If the support service is powerless, then we go to the service and hope that we will be able to get by, as they say, with little loss. The most “light” option is that the power cord is faulty. However, practice shows that more often the reason the iMac boots is due to problems with the power supply and video card, and sometimes even the hard drive suffers.

Let's summarize

So, if your iMac does not turn on, first of all, with the hope that in your case the problem is of a software nature, we consistently try to fix it, guided by our advice. If none of the tips help, contact Apple support. In a situation where its specialists are powerless, we take the computer to service center and we believe that we did not encounter a serious breakdown.

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The good thing about the Mac OS operating system is that it is easy to learn and works almost flawlessly. But this does not mean that the possibility of problems arising with it is completely excluded. If it happened software glitch, most often you can eliminate it yourself. The main thing is to choose the right tool, and in this case, the method of emergency starting the computer. On a MacBook, there are more than a dozen emergency modes that you can enter when you boot your computer. In this article, we’ll look at how each mode is useful and how to get into it.

Table of contents:

Recovery Mode

To get into recovery mode, when you turn on the computer, after the sound signal about the start of the boot (if any), but before the boot indication appears, you need to press the Command+R key combination on the keyboard.

Recovery mode offers the user to use utilities to:

  • Restoring the system from a backup recorded in Time Machine. This can be done if the backup mode was enabled when the computer was running;
  • Reinstalling Mac OS. The utility allows you to quickly reinstall your computer's operating system step by step;
  • Read information on the Apple website. This may be required if problems arise with the computer and there is no other device to visit the site;
  • Check your hard drive for problems or erase information from it.

Recovery mode in Mac OS is useful when the computer does not boot, and the reason for this may be system damage. In this case, you can restore a copy of the system or reinstall it.

Autorun manager mode

To switch to startup manager mode, you need to hold down the Option button and the Menu button. It's worth noting that if you have an Apple Remote (connected to your device), you can use it instead of the Option button.

Startup manager mode is required to switch between operating systems, for example, if Windows is installed on the computer as the second system.

Boot mode from external CD/DVD drive


To boot from external drive, you need to hold down the C button when starting the computer.

If installation version operating room Mac systems The OS is available on disk, you can install it in a similar way. But it is worth noting that in this moment computers running Mac OS have virtually no optical drives, and this download option is only available for computers based on Intel processors.

Please note: If your computer does not have a disc drive, you can boot from an external CD/DVD drive by inserting it into an external drive connected to the computer via USB.

Booting in external hard drive mode

To enter this download mode, you must first enable it. For this:


In this mode, you can transfer information from one MacBook to another at high speed. To do this, you need to connect computers to each other via a FireWire or Thunderbolt connector. The computer on which the external mode is enabled hard drive, will be displayed on the second computer as external storage, and from it it will be possible to high speed transfer data.

Safe mode


To boot into safe mode, you need to hold down Shift when starting the computer.

Safe mode is useful when you need to solve problems with your computer, for example, when the system does not boot for one reason or another. When you start your computer in safe mode, a diagnostic test is performed, according to which Mac OS can independently fix some of the problems that have arisen.

Starting the computer in safe mode assumes that functions and programs that are critical for the operation of the system are loaded. If problems occur with your computer due to third party applications, the MacBook will be able to boot into Safe Mode without any problems, from where you can remove third-party applications or disable them automatic download at system startup.

Network recovery mode


To boot into network recovery mode, you must use the keyboard shortcut Command+Option+R when starting your computer.

This boot mode is close to safe mode, but it has one important difference. You need to boot Mac OS into it if you need to restore the system. For example, when the partition on the disk that is responsible for recovery is damaged, you can use this mode and use the distribution kit from Apple servers to reinstall the system.

Boot logging mode (Verbose mode)


To switch to detailed logging mode when the computer boots, you need to hold down the Command+V key combination.

This mode assumes that a normal boot will occur. Mac computer OS. Its difference from the standard computer startup is that instead of the usual loading indicator, the user will see how the computer startup process progresses. An experienced user can use the boot protocol to determine what exactly is the problem if there are computer malfunctions.

Diagnostic mode

To enter diagnostic mode on a MacBook, you need to hold down the D button while booting.

The diagnostic mode on computers running the Mac OS operating system is required to test the hardware components of the device. In it you can check which hardware components are faulty, as well as perform initial diagnostics. If there are suspicions that the hard drive has failed or is damaged, the RAM is faulty, or there are problems with the processors, you can check them through the diagnostic mode.

Network diagnostic mode

To switch to network diagnostics mode on Mac OS, you need to hold down the Option+D buttons when starting the computer.

This mode is almost identical to that discussed above. It also allows you to test your computer's hardware components. The difference between this mode and the previous one is that it uses diagnostic tools located on Apple servers (an Internet connection is required). Accordingly, this mode can be useful in situations where an SSD disk or HDD drive is partially or completely damaged.

Boot mode via NetBoot server

To get into boot mode from the NetBoot server, you need to hold down the N button while booting.

This mode is used to restore the operating system. It can be used if the other recovery methods discussed above are not suitable for one reason or another. Recovery mode via NetBoot means that the finished recovery disk image is located on a server that can be accessed via the network.

Please note: This mode is most often used system administrators to restore the functionality of computers on Mac OS, combined into single network, but not connected to the Internet.

Command line mode

To boot into command line mode, you need to hold down the Command+S key combination when you boot your computer.

In command line mode, also called single-user mode, only the command line is available. This mode is suitable if you need to diagnose your computer or carry out Maintenance. To take advantage command line on Mac OS, knowledge of UNIX commands is required.

PRAM/NVRAM reset mode

To reset PRAM/NVRAM when the computer boots, you need to hold down the Command+Option+P+R keys. They must be held until the computer reboots (about 20 seconds). If the computer beeps at startup, the beep will sound again.

NVRAM is a small non-volatile memory that stores Mac settings OS. Depending on what kind of computer it is, it changes the list of settings stored in this memory, for example, this could be screen resolution, boot volume, volume, etc. Resetting these settings may help if you have problems booting your computer.

SMC (System Management Controller) reset mode

Depending on what kind of Mac OS computer you have, the reset methods differ:


  • Spontaneous changes in the keyboard backlight level;
  • Problems with changing the display backlight level - lack of response to the brightness up/down keys, incorrect choice of backlight level when auto-brightness is on;
  • The computer does not respond to attempts to turn on (pressing the power button);
  • Incorrect reaction of the computer to opening/closing the lid. For example, the computer may not wake up from sleep mode or may not turn on (new MacBook models automatically turn on when the lid is opened);
  • Problems with battery charging or MagSafe indication of the battery charging process and operating mode;
  • Problems with recognizing the amount of battery charge, rapid discharge;
  • Enabling additional cooling (coolers) at low load;
  • Malfunctioning sleep mode - spontaneous falling asleep and waking up;
  • Problems in the operation of system or third-party applications - constant crashes, freezes when loading;
  • Problems with the external display.

Despite the high degree of reliability and performance, various models MacBooks may have difficulty booting the system. What to do if your MacBook won't boot?

Causes

There are three groups of sources due to which the device may not start:

  1. Problems with components. This could be a breakdown or malfunction work hard disk, RAM, etc.
  2. Violations in Mac work OS.
  3. Incorrect connection of third-party devices.

Troubleshooting Methods

If your MacBook freezes when loading, you need to do the following steps one by one:

  • boot in safe mode;
  • use disk utility;
  • make copies of files via external disk mode and reinstall the OS.

Starting in Safe Mode is useful if mac OS won't boot. The procedure looks like this:

  1. Turn off the problematic device by pressing and holding Power.
  2. Restart the MacBook while holding down the shift key.

  1. It may take some time to turn on, so you may want to wait a bit.
  2. To track download processes, it is provided additional opportunity(verbose mode). To launch it, you need to simultaneously press: shift + command + V. This mod displays detailed information about the loaded objects.

If you start the MacBook in safe mode, we reboot through the top Apple menu.

If the cause of the freeze is the hard drive, you can solve the problem using disk utility.

  1. Turn off the MacBook. If a freeze occurs with a functioning disk, and the matrix displays White screen, you need to forcefully interrupt the device by pressing and holding for a few seconds Power buttons.
  2. Launch and open recovery mode. Press the power button while holding down the command + R keys.

  1. The OS X Utilities window will appear on the screen. From the four options in the window, select the disk utility block.

  1. Select the desired disk line in the window.
  2. We start the process by clicking on Verify Disk.

  1. If problems with the disk are detected, a solution will be proposed. To fix the problem, you will need to click on the Repair Disk button.

  1. After the process is completed, the device is rebooted again.

If, after completing the above steps, the MacBook still freezes when loading, it is recommended to reinstall the OS, first saving the data. A special external drive mode is provided for this. To activate it and save data you will need:

  • second working MacBook;
  • connect active devices to each other via a Thunderbolt cable;
  • force shutdown a frozen MacBook;
  • start a non-booting device and immediately hold down the T key;
  • hold it down until the Thunderbolt icon appears.

The service has started. Now, on a properly functioning device, the Finder displays the hard drive from the second connected device. We transfer all important data from it to a working MacBook. After completing the procedure, safely remove the disk and disconnect the cable.

Let's move on to reinstalling OS MacBook. We perform the following actions:

  1. We launch the recovery mode, as was done in the case of disk utility.
  2. In the window that opens, select the “Reinstall OS X” field.

  1. Follow the step-by-step instructions until the procedure is completed.

If, after reinstalling the OS, the MacBook still does not boot, you should contact special services.