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Boot up takes literally forever!

macuser1232

macuser1232

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2012
673
7
I was just booting up my MacBook Pro when it was taking over 5 minutes to boot and I was force to hold the power button until it shut off because the spinning wheel(not beachball) wouldn't stop spinning. Why was it taking so long? Please help.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Do you hear the HD constantly recalibrating? It's a very regular click. If so, ur HD is going bad.
 
T5BRICK said:
I'd suggest booting from your restore discs or internet recovery and using Disk utility to repair your hard drive.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417

If that doesn't work, run Apple Hardware test to see if you can identify any issues:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

Also, when you post asking for help it is nice to know the specs of your computer. Some of these processes are different for early vs. later model Macs.
Click to expand...

Sorry I was debating on whether I should give the specs or not. It's the same as what's in my signature. Early 2011 Macbook Pro i5 with 8gb of ram. Also, I am unable to run the diagnostic test since it didn't come on a CD and I upgraded to Mountain Lion.

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I already verified and repaired disk and nothing is wrong. No click sounds either.
 
Before folks have you chase your tail, lets do something simple:

Make sure the proper disk is set up as the start up disk in system preferences.
 
macuser1232 said:
Sorry I was debating on whether I should give the specs or not. It's the same as what's in my signature. Early 2011 Macbook Pro i5 with 8gb of ram.
Click to expand...

It's not that big of a deal, but when I'm viewing the forum from the mobile site via my phone, it doesn't show signatures. Now that I'm using my desktop, it's right there.

Also, I am unable to run the diagnostic test since it didn't come on a CD and I upgraded to Mountain Lion.
Click to expand...

You don't need a disc to run AHT if you've got a new enough computer. Follow the instructions on the link.
 
T5BRICK said:
It's not that big of a deal, but when I'm viewing the forum from the mobile site via my phone, it doesn't show signatures. Now that I'm using my desktop, it's right there.



You don't need a disc to run AHT if you've got a new enough computer. Follow the instructions on the link.
Click to expand...

I already told you, because I upgraded to mountain lion the hardware test doesn't work anymore.
 
T5BRICK said:
Something must have gone wrong with your ML install. AHT should still work.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11342

Is reinstalling OSX and restoring from a backup an option?
Click to expand...

Well I actually already have reinstall several times and every time when I hold "D" down nothing happens. I am planning on getting an external hard drive and erasing my hard drive then doing a full reinstall though.(not that it makes a difference)

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I do know one thing though. When this incident happened, I was restarting my Mac while it was freezing up while using Colloquy. I was trying to connect to a chat room and it was freezing so I decided to go ahead and restart and then once it restarted that's when It wouldn't boot.
 
macuser1232 said:
I do know one thing though. When this incident happened, I was restarting my Mac while it was freezing up while using Colloquy. I was trying to connect to a chat room and it was freezing so I decided to go ahead and restart and then once it restarted that's when It wouldn't boot.
Click to expand...

What you're experiencing does sound like a failing hard drive. When you boot into the restore partition and fire up disk utility does the smart status indicate any issues?
 
T5BRICK said:
What you're experiencing does sound like a failing hard drive. When you boot into the restore partition and fire up disk utility does the smart status indicate any issues?
Click to expand...

I already used Onyx and the smart status didn't indicate any issues.
 
Does the Mac built-in diagnostic does a thorough testing of the drive? A quick analysis just tests the TOS (directory); further test goes out and read each sector and make sure sectors' mark readable; finally a deep analysis goes out and actually read each sector's data making sure there is no checksum (corruption) and should takes hours.

am not that familiar with OSX myself.
 
I'm almost positive it isn't a failing drive. I don't hear any noises coming from my Mac and this thing only happened once.
 
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