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New iMac not starting up

D

Drask

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2012
228
0
Hey guys, I bought a new iMac 2 weeks ago, today i tried to faster the magic mouse speed and did some youtube video where a guy clicked on the terminal : defaults write com.apple.scaling 8.0 (not sure if it has something to do thought) 10 minutes after that my computer got frozen and I restated it, but It wouldn't boot. Instead a white screen with a folder and a question mark is blinking.

Any help?
 
Then your hard drive is not bootable. You may need to just do an Archive and Install, which won't destroy your data.
 
iDecker said:
Then your hard drive is not bootable. You may need to just do an Archive and Install, which won't destroy your data.
Click to expand...

Mind if I ask How? I've been trying what simba told but but no luck so far :( Btw when I manually put my network it does nothing so I'm stuck there
 
Which OS are you running? Do you have the restore discs that came with your Mac?
 
Lion didn't make a Recovery HD on your hard drive for you?

If not, boot to the disk and Reinstall Lion.
 
iDecker said:
Lion didn't make a Recovery HD on your hard drive for you?

If not, boot to the disk and Reinstall Lion.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, It wouldnt matter anyways since I updated to Lion when I got the iMac from day 1. I don't mind if I lose my data, i didn't have much anyway.

I'm currently doing that with the disk, Ill let you know what happens.

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simsaladimbamba said:
Computers coming with Lion don't come with grey Restore DVDs anymore.
Did the computer come with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Restore DVDs and you updated to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, which is a bit unlikely though?

OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery
Lion Recovery Disk Assistant
Click to expand...

The computer came with Snow Leopard, but I upgraded to Lion.

Im currently trying to install it, but when it gives me the option to select the disk where i want it, it doesnt show any. :confused:
 
If you use Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to install, then only a Clean Install will work.
To create a Clean Install (formerly known as Erase & Install) of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (the 29 USD Upgrade DVD is a fully working retail version of Mac OS X and does not need a prior installation of Mac OS X on the Mac), follow one of the following guides:


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Drask said:
Im currently trying to install it, but when it gives me the option to select the disk where i want it, it doesnt show any. :confused:
Click to expand...

Open Disk Utility and see, if your HDD shows up there:


____________________________________________________________

Links to guides on how to use Disk Utility, the application Mac OS X provides for managing internal and external HDD/SSDs and its formats.
____________________________________________________________​

What Mac did you get exactly? Is it a 2011 model or earlier? It is used from your description, but am not sure.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
If you use Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to install, then only a Clean Install will work.
To create a Clean Install (formerly known as Erase & Install) of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (the 29 USD Upgrade DVD is a fully working retail version of Mac OS X and does not need a prior installation of Mac OS X on the Mac), follow one of the following guides:


----------



Open Disk Utility and see, if your HDD shows up there:


____________________________________________________________

Links to guides on how to use Disk Utility, the application Mac OS X provides for managing internal and external HDD/SSDs and its formats.
____________________________________________________________​

What Mac did you get exactly? Is it a 2011 model or earlier? It is used from your description, but am not sure.
Click to expand...

2011, yes. And no, it doesnt show in dis utility, the only one it shows is the optical dvd/ Mac OS x Intall dvd
 
Drask said:
2011, yes. And no, it doesnt show in dis utility, the only one it shows is the optical dvd/ Mac OS x Intall dvd
Click to expand...

Do you have (or anyone you know) another Mac with Firewire and a Firewire cable to start the iMac in Target Disk Mode?

It seems, the HDD is shot, which can happen, to new and old HDDs alike. As you still have a warranty, you can let Apple take care of this, if it is a hardware defect.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Do you have (or anyone you know) another Mac with Firewire and a Firewire cable to start the iMac in Target Disk Mode?

It seems, the HDD is shot, which can happen, to new and old HDDs alike. As you still have a warranty, you can let Apple take care of this, if it is a hardware defect.
Click to expand...

Nope I don't have any friends with macs, and yea apple can take care, but it's to damn heavy I wouldn't want to take it back again lol. Thanks for your replys anyways, looks like I'll be taking it back, wouldn't want this to happen often, anywaysm do you think it has something to do with what I wrote in the console?
 
Often times, hard drives just fail. Just like getting a bad grape in a bunch, it's going to happen.
 
iDecker said:
Often times, hard drives just fail. Just like getting a bad grape in a bunch, it's going to happen.
Click to expand...

It's just bugging me the fact that it had worked perfectly for 2 week, and it failed 5 minutes after I typed that in the console.
 
Hey guys, Just letting you guys know, I'm back from the app store with a new iMac, looks like the HDD crashed or something, well strangly enough I got a diferent one, (the sameone but with Lion and no bootable CDs).

Thanks for your help!
 
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