I have an old iMac A1225 model that every time I turn it on it's always stuck on the Apple Logo loading. Eventually it restarts and this process repeats. I have tried booting into the recovery, but I am unable to do so. I press command and r and it doesn't work, and when I press option the HD selection pops up and I click it, but then it goes to the Apple logo where I wait for it go, only for it to restart and yet again be stuck on the Apple logo. I am starting to think this is a hardware problem, but I want to see if anybody else has any input on this issue.
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Help iMac stuck on Apple Logo!
- Thread starter DroidOSXLindow
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Try holding down the option key to boot off a USB key
There are directions on how to make USB keys with OS X on them
Try downloading an apple diagnostic image and running it
If your computer came with a cd drive , the diagnostic programs is on one of those disks
If you're computer did not come with the diagnostic program , you should be able to run it over the Internet
try running it by holding down d, option d or option command d
Reset pram
Reset smc controller
Erase hard disk and reinstall OS X
Replace hard disk
Genius Bar at the apple store will help you free of charge to figure out what is going on
They just won't repair it for free without AppleCare.
There are directions on how to make USB keys with OS X on them
Try downloading an apple diagnostic image and running it
If your computer came with a cd drive , the diagnostic programs is on one of those disks
If you're computer did not come with the diagnostic program , you should be able to run it over the Internet
try running it by holding down d, option d or option command d
Reset pram
Reset smc controller
Erase hard disk and reinstall OS X
Replace hard disk
Genius Bar at the apple store will help you free of charge to figure out what is going on
They just won't repair it for free without AppleCare.
I forgot to say that I did reset the pram and the smc which did nothing to fix the issue, but how do you make those USB keys you are talking about?
Probably a failed hard drive.
Do you know what version of OS X is installed now? Any A1225 iMac (which have 24-inch screens) can be upgraded to current El Capitan. Anything older than Lion (OS X 10.7) will not have a recovery partition. If you have Lion or newer, and you still can't boot to the recovery partition, then that may just be additional proof that the hard drive is failing.
That iMac would have shipped with either Tiger or Leopard, and you might have the original restore DVD. If you do, try booting to that DVD, and run Disk Utility to check the hard drive. You may find that you need to replace the hard drive, because it has failed.
The USB installer is pretty easy to make. All you need is the downloaded OS X installer. You can download any version of OS X that is in your Purchased tab in your App Store.
You can use instructions to make a USB installer, or just download DiskmakerX, which can be used to put the installer on an external hard drive partition, or even better, an 8GB USB flash drive.
Do you know what version of OS X is installed now? Any A1225 iMac (which have 24-inch screens) can be upgraded to current El Capitan. Anything older than Lion (OS X 10.7) will not have a recovery partition. If you have Lion or newer, and you still can't boot to the recovery partition, then that may just be additional proof that the hard drive is failing.
That iMac would have shipped with either Tiger or Leopard, and you might have the original restore DVD. If you do, try booting to that DVD, and run Disk Utility to check the hard drive. You may find that you need to replace the hard drive, because it has failed.
The USB installer is pretty easy to make. All you need is the downloaded OS X installer. You can download any version of OS X that is in your Purchased tab in your App Store.
You can use instructions to make a USB installer, or just download DiskmakerX, which can be used to put the installer on an external hard drive partition, or even better, an 8GB USB flash drive.
If I buy a new hard drive and replace it, could I buy a USB stick with OSX yosemite or el capitan, and install that as well? Or if I buy just the hard drive will I still have the same OSX installed?
Your installed OS X version would be the same version you have now!
That's assuming that you restore your new drive from a backup of your existing drive. (I'm assuming that your existing drive is failing, and also that you have a current backup of your drive
)
Your iMac can boot from Leopard (maybe even Tiger), and any other OS X version up to the current El Capitan - so, yes, you can install any system from 10.5 to 10.11
Or, you can install 10.6, and use THAT system to upgrade to the current El Capitan - if you choose to do that.
To answer your last question - if you purchase a new hard drive (or even an SSD), it will NOT come with any software installed. It will be blank, and you can install any supported system on the drive (you could even make multiple partitions on the new drive, and install different OS X versions on each partition.)
Lots of possibilities, and it depends on your software needs, and what you want to end up with.
Even though you can't boot - your old drive MIGHT still work well enough to transfer your existing files and apps, which is another option that you can try, particularly if you don't have another backup to use.
That's assuming that you restore your new drive from a backup of your existing drive. (I'm assuming that your existing drive is failing, and also that you have a current backup of your drive
)Your iMac can boot from Leopard (maybe even Tiger), and any other OS X version up to the current El Capitan - so, yes, you can install any system from 10.5 to 10.11
Or, you can install 10.6, and use THAT system to upgrade to the current El Capitan - if you choose to do that.
To answer your last question - if you purchase a new hard drive (or even an SSD), it will NOT come with any software installed. It will be blank, and you can install any supported system on the drive (you could even make multiple partitions on the new drive, and install different OS X versions on each partition.)
Lots of possibilities, and it depends on your software needs, and what you want to end up with.
Even though you can't boot - your old drive MIGHT still work well enough to transfer your existing files and apps, which is another option that you can try, particularly if you don't have another backup to use.