Resolved iMac would not boot and solution with question

[AppleFan360]

I had something interesting happen yesterday. I went to turn on my late 2013 27" iMac and it would not boot. I got the Apple logo and the spinning icon but it would just stay on that screen and not do anything.

I tried all of the normal stuff. Unplug all peripherals, reset NVRAM, repaired permissions, repaired disc and checked hardware (cmd-d). All came out fine.

Obviously the hard drive (1 TB Fusion) and all of the hardware was working so it had to be a software issue.

So as a last ditch effort, I went into the recovery partion and re-installed Mavericks (leaving the data in place) and Voila! The iMac booted up perfectly and is running better than ever.

My question. Usually I keep things pretty clean on this iMac. Occasionally I will empty the trash, repair permission and check the interal HD. I noticed that when I re-installed Mavericks, I gained about 30GB worth of hard drive space. Is there a cache somewhere in this OS that also needs to be cleaned that might have caused this issue? I've been using iMacs since 2006 and this is the first time this has happened. Really weird.

Thanks.

 

[Weaselboy]

My question. Usually I keep things pretty clean on this iMac. Occasionally I will empty the trash, repair permission and check the interal HD. I noticed that when I re-installed Mavericks, I gained about 30GB worth of hard drive space. Is there a cache somewhere in this OS that also needs to be cleaned that might have caused this issue? I've been using iMacs since 2006 and this is the first time this has happened. Really weird.

Thanks.

Yes... there are some cache and swap files that get deleted when doing a reinstall, but they will be recreated after you use your Mac a bit. There is no need to manually do anything with them and that definitely would not have caused your no boot issue.

Unless you recently installed some software that is incompatible and caused this, I would say you have an impending hardware issue of some sort... maybe a drive failure on the way.

If you did not install anything that caused this, your Mac would not just spontaneously not boot for no reason. If I were you I would take it in to Apple to have them check it out for you.

Hopefully you have a good backup in place in case the drive(s) die.

 

[AppleFan360]

If you did not install anything that caused this, your Mac would not just spontaneously not boot for no reason. If I were you I would take it in to Apple to have them check it out for you.

Hopefully you have a good backup in place in case the drive(s) die.

I can't think of anything I installed recently that might cause this. Yes, I do keep a Time Machine backup. I think I'm going to take a wait and see attidude. If it happens again out of nowhere, I will take it to Apple.

Thanks

 

[BrianBaughn]

A couple (out of many more most likely) possibilities I can think of are:

1. Your iMac may have had some corrupted system files due to a bad shutdown or power outage.
2. The hard drive may have a bad sector on it. The reinstall may have skipped or missed the bad sector but it's possible it will rear its head again in the future.

 

[AppleFan360]

A couple (out of many more most likely) possibilities I can think of are:

1. Your iMac may have had some corrupted system files due to a bad shutdown or power outage.
2. The hard drive may have a bad sector on it. The reinstall may have skipped or missed the bad sector but it's possible it will rear its head again in the future.

I was thinking #1. There are times when I will turn on the iMac real quick to check e-mail then turn it right back off. Maybe some background stuff was running during shutdown that didn't complete. It's very well possible I could have a bad sector as well. Just have to wait and see. I will update this thread as necessary.

 

[rambo47]

A couple (out of many more most likely) possibilities I can think of are:

1. Your iMac may have had some corrupted system files due to a bad shutdown or power outage.
2. The hard drive may have a bad sector on it. The reinstall may have skipped or missed the bad sector but it's possible it will rear its head again in the future.

I agree with a corruption problem, must likely caused by a power surge or an improper shutdown (like in a power outage).

 

[SaSaSushi]

I tried all of the normal stuff. Unplug all peripherals, reset NVRAM, repaired permissions, repaired disc and checked hardware (cmd-d). All came out fine.

Obviously the hard drive (1 TB Fusion) and all of the hardware was working so it had to be a software issue.

Not obviously, I'm afraid. The Apple Hardware Test can often miss hardware issues. I agree with Weaselboy that I would definitely take/send it in to Apple just in case. Of course, it may have just been a corrupted file as well.

I think I'm going to take a wait and see attidude. If it happens again out of nowhere, I will take it to Apple.

So long as you have a complete backup of your data, but I would definitely have Apple take a look at it before any coverage expires.

 

[khedden]

I had this happen with a 2006 iMac a few years ago. I re-installed the OS and everything seemed fine... until it happened again a few months later. Again I re-installed, and it happened yet again shortly thereafter.

After that, I replaced the HDD and its been fine ever since.

 

[AppleFan360]

I have a question. Could memory issues cause something like this as well? I came across a few support articles on the Apple site regarding memory issues. I was thinking about reseating the memory.

I have a total of 32 GB of memory. Two of the sticks are Apple memory and the other two are crucial memory that I purchased off Amazon that are supposed to be 100% compatible.

Oh and by the way, I occasionally get kernel panics as well.

 

[Weaselboy]

I have a question. Could memory issues cause something like this as well? I came across a few support articles on the Apple site regarding memory issues. I was thinking about reseating the memory.

I have a total of 32 GB of memory. Two of the sticks are Apple memory and the other two are crucial memory that I purchased off Amazon that are supposed to be 100% compatible.

Oh and by the way, I occasionally get kernel panics as well.

It is possible. Bad memory can cause disk corruption and then the disk corruption might cause the no boot problem.

 

[jg321]

Usually I keep things pretty clean on this iMac. Occasionally I will empty the trash, repair permission and check the interal HD.

What is this obsession everyone has with repairing permissions?! I've never once had to do this, and I use a Mac every single day at work, and have multiple personal ones. From Snow Leopard to Mavericks, I've never needed to do this.

Edit: Oh yeah, and I'd suspect faulty hard drive. Memory is possible, but less likely to "go bad". A hard drive however is very likely to go bad; they all do at some point!

 

[SaSaSushi]

I have a total of 32 GB of memory. Two of the sticks are Apple memory and the other two are crucial memory that I purchased off Amazon that are supposed to be 100% compatible.

I'm using the exact same Crucial RAM in the exact same configuration and the first set I got had a bad module. I ended up returning it to Amazon for an exchange and the second set has been perfect for 4 months now.

Oh and by the way, I occasionally get kernel panics as well.

Bad RAM is the leading cause of them.

Grab a copy of Memtest86 and make a boot disc. If you run it in Parallel CPU mode you should know pretty soon if there's a bad memory module.

Alternatively, if you remove the Crucial and the problems resolve, it's another good indication that you need a replacement.

Incidentally, the first set of Crucial I got and had problems with was low density (8 memory chips on each side of the DIMM) and the replacement I've had no problems with is the high density version of the same part (4 chips each side).

 

[AppleFan360]

Can someone take a look at this Kernel Panic and tell me what they think? It happened when I started the computer. Yes, I plan to get with Apple support tomorrow. Just wanted to see what you guys thought.

Wed Jul 9 22:07:36 2014
panic(cpu 3 caller 0xffffff80016dc24e): Kernel trap at 0xffffff8001a4c54e, type 13=general protection, registers:
CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0x000000010b601000, CR3: 0x0000000004407000, CR4: 0x00000000001606e0
RAX: 0xffffff8035d070c0, RBX: 0xffffff8001d03638, RCX: 0xffffff8001c69010, RDX: 0xffffff8031d10cf0
RSP: 0xffffff82cf813c80, RBP: 0xffffff82cf813ca0, RSI: 0xffffff8001d03638, RDI: 0xffffff8035d07080
R8: 0x000000000000005d, R9: 0xffffff8001c01910, R10: 0x00000000000003ff, R11: 0xffffffffffffffff
R12: 0xffffff7f81dfb54e, R13: 0xffffff8035cca400, R14: 0x0000000000000000, R15: 0xffffff8035d07080
RFL: 0x0000000000010282, RIP: 0xffffff8001a4c54e, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010
Fault CR2: 0x000000010b601000, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Fault CPU: 0x3

Backtrace (CPU 3), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff82c2685df0 : 0xffffff8001622f79
0xffffff82c2685e70 : 0xffffff80016dc24e
0xffffff82c2686040 : 0xffffff80016f3746
0xffffff82c2686060 : 0xffffff8001a4c54e
0xffffff82cf813ca0 : 0xffffff7f81dd6993
0xffffff82cf813cf0 : 0xffffff7f81dd67ce
0xffffff82cf813d50 : 0xffffff7f81dd6cc0
0xffffff82cf813dc0 : 0xffffff7f81dc4dbe
0xffffff82cf813e00 : 0xffffff7f81dcecfe
0xffffff82cf813e40 : 0xffffff8001a954e9
0xffffff82cf813ea0 : 0xffffff8001a94cfa
0xffffff82cf813f30 : 0xffffff8001a90e89
0xffffff82cf813f70 : 0xffffff8001a95e03
0xffffff82cf813fb0 : 0xffffff80016d7417
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily(2.0)[994495B5-FB34-3DB5-B47A-D2A732E52F33]@0xffffff7f81dc1000->0xffffff7f81e32fff
dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore(28.30)[2A8A5F6B-0A7C-33A0-8E5B-4C10F646EC4F]@0xffffff7f81db6000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
13E28

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 13.3.0: Tue Jun 3 21:27:35 PDT 2014; root:xnu-2422.110.17~1/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: BBFADD17-672B-35A2-9B7F-E4B12213E4B8
Kernel slide: 0x0000000001400000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff8001600000
System model name: iMac14,2

System uptime in nanoseconds: 8070116241
last loaded kext at 5467017724: com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch 80.14 (addr 0xffffff7f83c72000, size 77824)
loaded kexts:
com.quark.driver.Tether64 1.1.0d3
com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver 1.3.1
com.hzsystems.terminus.driver 4
com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver 1.0.3
com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver 3.9.1
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch 80.14
com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.5d0
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 3.0
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 4.2.6f1
com.apple.driver.AppleRAID 4.0.6
com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyHIDDriver 124
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy 3.6.22
com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver 2.6.3f4
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver 2.6.3f4
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 2.6.3f4
com.apple.driver.ApplePlatformEnabler 2.0.9d6
com.apple.driver.AGPM 100.14.28
com.apple.driver.X86PlatformShim 1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.60
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.5.13
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBCDC 4.2.1b5
com.apple.GeForce 8.2.6
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD5000Graphics 8.2.8
com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltIP 1.1.2
com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 1.0.0
com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleHWAccess 1
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelMCEReporter 104
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.7.0
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferAzul 8.2.8
com.apple.nvidia.NVDAStartup 8.2.6
com.apple.driver.AppleSMCLMU 2.0.4d1
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothUSBDFU 4.2.6f1
com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.2.6f1
com.apple.driver.AppleMuxControl 3.6.22
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.3.5
com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.2.5
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 3.6.6
com.apple.driver.CoreStorageFsck 380
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 3.0.1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeLZVN 1.0.0d1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.BootCache 35
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 683.4.0
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 404
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 5.0.2
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 2.6.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC 1.5.2
com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet 3.8.1b2
com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 842.21.65
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 3.0.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI 683.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 2.1
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.7
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 153
com.apple.security.quarantine 3
com.apple.driver.AppleMultitouchDriver 245.13
com.apple.kext.triggers 1.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.7
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 2.6.3f4
com.apple.vecLib.kext 1.0.0
com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily 98.22
com.apple.nvidia.driver.NVDAGK100Hal 8.2.6
com.apple.nvidia.driver.NVDAResman 8.2.6
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.9.7fc2
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.14
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 91.1
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy 1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltEDMSink 2.1.3
com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl 3.6.22
com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2 98.22
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.2.6
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 2.6.3f4
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 2.6.3f4
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.12d1
com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin 1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.8
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 5.7.1d6
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.2.6f1
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 3.6.22
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert 1.0.4
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.4.1
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.12d1
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.4.1
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 3.6.6
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass 3.6.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 3.6.6
com.apple.driver.IOBluetoothHIDDriver 4.2.6f1
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 4.2.6f1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 660.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 650.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 656.4.1
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter 3.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPOutAdapter 3.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily 3.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIUpAdapter 1.4.5
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter 1.4.5
com.apple.driver.CoreStorage 380
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 660.4.2
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.5.5
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI 2.0.1
com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily 3.3.1
com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController 1.0.3b4
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 640.36
com.apple.driver.mDNSOffloadUserClient 1.0.1b5
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 3.2
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 683.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 2.0.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.security.sandbox 278.11.1
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 7
com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore 2
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 371.1
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.9
com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily 23
com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore 28.30
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.9
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.4
com.apple.kec.pthread 1
com.apple.kec.corecrypto 1.0
Model: iMac14,2, BootROM IM142.0118.B00, 4 processors, Intel Core i7, 3.5 GHz, 24 GB, SMC 2.15f2
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M, PCIe, 4096 MB
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 4 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x802C, 0x384B54463531323634485A2D314736453220
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM0, 4 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x802C, 0x384B54463531323634485A2D314736453220
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM1, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x859B, 0x43543130323436344246313630422E433136
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x859B, 0x43543130323436344246313630422E433136
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x111), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (6.30.223.154.65)
Bluetooth: Version 4.2.6f1 14216, 3 services, 23 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Ethernet, Ethernet, en0
PCI Card: pci11c1,5901, IEEE 1394 Open HCI, Thunderbolt@196,0,0
PCI Card: pci1b21,612, AHCI Controller, Thunderbolt@10,0,0
Serial ATA Device: APPLE SSD SD0128F, 121.33 GB
Serial ATA Device: APPLE HDD ST1000DM003, 1 TB
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD20EURS-63S48Y0, 2 TB
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD20EURS-63S48Y0, 2 TB
USB Device: BRCM20702 Hub
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
USB Device: FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
USB Device: USB2.0 Hub
USB Device: USB 2.0 Hub [MTT]
USB Device: CRDA103-461
USB Device: USB Receiver
USB Device: Silicon Media R/W
USB Device: USB 2.0 Hub [MTT]
USB Device: Officejet Pro 8500 A910
USB Device: USB 2.0 Hub [MTT]
USB Device: USB 2.0 Hub [MTT]
FireWire Device: unknown_device, Unknown
Thunderbolt Bus: iMac, Apple Inc., 23.10
Thunderbolt Device: My Book Thunderbolt Duo, Western Digital, 1, 26.2
Thunderbolt Device: Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter, Apple Inc., 3, 5.6

 

[SaSaSushi]

loaded kexts:
com.quark.driver.Tether64 1.1.0d3
com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver 1.3.1
com.hzsystems.terminus.driver 4
com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver 1.0.3
com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver 3.9.1

If it is a software issue, it is likely to be associated with one of these third party drivers. The first one I'd try to remove is the www.tether.com driver at the top of the list to see if that helps.

 

[Intell]

To further go upon what SaSaSushi said, it appears to be a HID device that causing your problems. Try moving the Logitech extensions as well.

 

[AppleFan360]

I've been on the line with Apple support and they suggested 2 things.

1. Try a different USB Hub. Apparently some USB hubs can cause issues like this.

2. Do a complete erase and restore (last resort).

They said it still could be memory but try the USB hub first. Not a bad idea since my current hub can be a bit flakey (pretty rare however).

I know there are numorous threads here about which hub to use but do you guys have any suggestions? I need a USB 3 hub with 7 ports or more.

Thanks.

 

[yjchua95]

I've been on the line with Apple support and they suggested 2 things.

1. Try a different USB Hub. Apparently some USB hubs can cause issues like this.

2. Do a complete erase and restore (last resort).

They said it still could be memory but try the USB hub first. Not a bad idea since my current hub can be a bit flakey (pretty rare however).

I know there are numorous threads here about which hub to use but do you guys have any suggestions? I need a USB 3 hub with 7 ports or more.

Thanks.

7 ports or more?! :O

How about a Belkin Thunderbolt dock? It's only got 3 USB ports, but has a lot more other ports (TB port, Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet, audio in, audio out, FW800).

 

[AppleFan360]

Just to follow up on this thread. It turns out the issue is the Crucial RAM I purchased from Amazon. I removed the Crucial RAM from my iMac and it's been running smooth as silk with no Kernel panics at all. I'm currently in the process of getting the RAM replaced by Crucial. Will follow up again after.

 

[rei101]

The same happens to me with my 2010 iMac after I installed a Mavericks update 3 months ago. In my case the computer was running slow, taking ages to do anything, beach ball every where. Until one day it didn't power up.

To make long story short... I deleted the drive and installed Snow Leopard and everything fine.

It is a problem with Maverick 100% sure because I never had that issue since OS9 or 8.5 back in the 90s. A OS glitch that is random.

I even used Disk Warrior and everything looked fine. The bug is sort of random, I have seen discussions in here with the same problem. It looks like hard drive failure but is not.