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Very Dissapointed

T

TRIFORCE89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2007
17
0
Hello,

I'm a new Mac user. I've had this MacBook Pro for a week and now and I'm now encountering my second annoyance.

When I first setup my MacBook Pro it has an odd issue of returning to the login screen when I would click Shut Down or Restart. I solved this problem by reinstaling OS X.

But, I don't want to reinstall OS X again as this would be the third time (the first reinstall was upon opening the MacBook Pro to remove Garage Band and trial software). Three times in a week is absurd and is not helping me to think favorably of Macs.

Anyway, my recent problem involves my 80GB iPod - which I purchased along side my MacBook Pro. I initially formated it as HFS+ and then FAT32 (using my Windows XP Boot Camp partition). But then I didn't touch. I didn't even put audio on it. I unmounted it and let it be. Yesterday, I hooked it up to my old PC to start bringing my files over to the Mac. After transferring them, I restarted my MacBook Pro without unmounting the iPod. I was greeted by a white screen upon reboot.

Eventually I was able to bypass this by holding down the mouse button upon startup. I then proceeded to enter my password at the login screen. I reformated and restored my iPod as HFS+ and tried restarting again. The problem persisted. I was stuck at a white screen (I would turn the computer off by holding down the power button).

This morning, I called Apple technical support where they told me not to have iPods plugged in on startup. I said that there is no error when I have my old iPod mini plugged in. Actually...having it plugged in on startup isn't an issue. I get a white screen if its plugged in on reboot (so...I plug it in before startup or once I'm logged in and then restart to be greeted by a white screen). I was told to visit my nearest Apple store and plug the iPod in o various computers to see what happens.

So, I did. One the employees walking the floor was helping me. The look on his face when the white screen appeared on his iMac was very amusing. So, I was sent to the "Genius Bar". He reformatted and restored the iPod on his MacBook Pro. Plugged into mine and all was well. But, I was not content. I then proceeded to reformat and restore the iPod using iTunes on my MacBook Pro. Then I restarted and...white screen again.

We reinstalled iTunes and once again reformatted and restored the iPod. It appeared to work. Back at home, I reinstalled iTunes on my Windows partition as well. Then I formatted my iPod as FAT32. I restarted numerous times before this with it still as HFS+ and there wasn't an issue. I then restarted many times after formatting as FAT32 and there was no issue.

And then I sync it up with my OS X iTunes Library. Once it finished, I restarted and...once again the white screen is back.

What is going on? Why is this happening? How do I solve this? On the phone, Apple said not to have an iPod plugged in and then they changed their mind. In store, I encountered two employess who said they've never seen this before and one who said he has no idea how I did this.

And neither do I. Works in HFS+. Works in FAT32. Once I sync it up with music it stops working?

Also, at the Apple Store I was told that the MacBook Pro was trying to boot off the iPod and that's why I was getting the white screen.

I have tried repairing permissions. I tried installing the EFI update (it turns out that I already had it installed). And I tried holding Command+Option+P+R on start up.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
 
I read that sort of quickly but why are you formatting your iPod and messing with it on the Windows side and not OS X?
 
@MacNut: So, I have to manually unmount it each time? How come there's no issue with my mini? And there wasn't an issue on the Apple Store's MacBook Pro. But if that's the solution, I'll accept it.

@RichL: I'm only using it on the Windows side simply to get it to be FAT32. That way I can get my data off my old PC and put it my new Mac. All audio syncing and whatnot is being done on the Mac side.
 
I'm trying to understand your post, since some of the wording makes the exact order of events a bit confusing...but why are you insisting on leaving the iPod plugged in while the computer is booting up? It looks like you said that the you get a white screen if the iPod is plugged in during boot up...or if you plug in the iPod after a boot-up, login, and reboot (which sounds like the exact same situation as the first, and that makes no sense). If not having the iPod plugged in on bootup means that the white screen doesn't happen, why not just unplug it? That's obviously not a permanent solution, per se, but it is a temporary one. Correct me if I'm misunderstanding the situation here, because I have a feeling that I am.

@MacNut: I don't see any reason why "leaving it mounted" as he reboots should be a problem. The shutdown and reboot process will unmount all mounted devices.

Edit: If you're just getting old data off your old PC using the iPod, why don't you reformat the iPod to HFS+ before syncing it with your OSX iTunes Library and using it?
 
If the computer is turned off (the iPod is not plugged in) and I plug the iPod in and then turn on the computer, I don't encounter any problems. If it is plugged in after I've turned on the computer then once I restart without unmounting (or shut down and leave it plugged in and turn it back on), I get the white screen.

And...I would like to leave it as FAT32 because I'm going to be starting univeristy this fall, majoring in Information Technology. I think I may be using PCs a lot, so I would like to use the iPod as a portable drive as well.
 
Any difference if you perform the same steps to reproduce the white screen, but hold the option key down as your restart? (Gotta go through all the options with such little information and a machine I don't have any access to.)
 
I tried that before (I probably should've mentioned that. Sorry). I was hoping I'd get to the boot option screen (is it called EFI?), but I couldn't get passed the white screen.

It's not...a random white screen by the way. Its the white screen before the Apple logo appears.
 
I had problems rebooting my MacPro with the iPod plugged in. I discovered [I think], that if you shut down the computer, and DON'T WAIT for the iPods "Do Not Disconnect" message to go away, and attempt to reboot the computer, you [or at least I did] get a blank screen, no Apple, no boot.. nothing.

However, if you shut down the computer, allow the iPod to completely cycle around and turn itself off, THEN restart the computer, all is well.

I must have rebooted my machine 2 dozen times, before I noticed the iPod screen...
 
TRIFORCE89 said:
I tried that before (I probably should've mentioned that. Sorry). I was hoping I'd get to the boot option screen (is it called EFI?), but I couldn't get passed the white screen.

It's not...a random white screen by the way. Its the white screen before the Apple logo appears.
Click to expand...

Does SDDave's suggestion work?

Just FYI: The Apple logo appears once the Mac boot process has already been started; the boot select screen appears before that stage, which is why I thought it had something to do with boot drive selection. It could still be something with the firmware/EFI since you get stuck on the white screen prior to the actual Mac booting stage...hmm.
 
Yeah, his suggestion does work. I noticed the screen and how long it takes for it to disconnect upon shutdown. But...that would mean I can only Shutdown with the iPod plugged in. Not Restart. Which isn't a big a deal.

The whole thing isn't a big deal and I can easily adjust, it's just....strange. And if something's not working, I'd rather right it.
 
What's the longest you've left the computer on with the white screen? It sounds like it is scanning the iPod for any bootable media - try leaving it all plugged in and see if it boots up eventually.

I've sometimes had a white screen before the Apple logo appears for more than 30 seconds. Do you get the little animating circle/line thing?
 
I'm about to try a verbose boot. I'll see how long it stays on the white screen first though.

And...I'm not rebooting for fun. I'm rebooting because I know there's a problem when I reboot and I'm trying to troubleshoot and fix it.

EDIT: I don't know what the stance on double posting is here, so I'll just edit.

I left it at the white screen for 10 minutes before turning it off via power button.
I couldn't verbose boot.
And...holding the mouse button on startup didn't get me past the white screen like before.
 
my god man you gotta calm it down a bit why u reinstalled os x like 3 times is beyond me the first one i can understand and why are u leaving your ipod plugged in on startup. if thats really your only problem then i wouldnt complain if the ipod works with fat32 when the computer is booted up then whats the big issue. when its starting up is windows your default startup? If so windows may be searching for a bootable partion of ipod.. os x could be doing the same but no likely. I would just start ejecting it. if its working in os x and windows then leave it be because the rest of your computer is fine.
 
My MacBook Pro boots fine with my iPod, as do all of our Macs. However none of the PCs will boot with an iPod connected.

Are you sure it isn't affecting your Mini because it isn't set to mount as a disk drive wheras it is on your MacBook Pro? I can't remember if this setting follows the iPod round or sticks on the computer.


FYI: There's a setting in Accounts which tells OS X to log in straight away after a reboot, or just to wait at the logon screen.
 
@mongoose8p:
First reinstall was to remove some programs that I didn't need.
The second was because when I would hit shut down or restart...it wouldn't. It would go back to the login screen.

And, I haven't reinstalled a third time yet. That's what I'm trying to avoid.

OS X is set as my startup drive. I've check that twice.
Both this iPod and my mini are set to "Enable for disk use"

I've done a Google search and there are few other people who seem to be having this issue (not all with a MacBook Pro. I saw one with an iMac). But those threads weren't very helpful. It was mostly people saying "Why not unplug it before restarting?" ... Ignoring a problem isn't solving a problem.
 
Unless there's a nother way of doing it. Is there?

I'm going System Preferences > Startup Disk.

From left to right it reads Mac OS X, 10.4.10 - Windows - Network Startup
 
TRIFORCE89 said:
Unless there's a nother way of doing it. Is there?

I'm going System Preferences > Startup Disk.

From left to right it reads Mac OS X, 10.4.10 - Windows - Network Startup
Click to expand...

Make sure you click on one so that it is highlighted (Mac OS X, 10.4.10) ... otherwise you don't have a default set... I am guessing its trying to search your iPod to see if there is a boot loader on there too.
 
No, it wasn't highlighted. Thanks for that tip.

I highlighted it and restarted and I was still stuck at the white screen. So, I tried again, but locked that screen so it couldn't be changed. Then, I restarted and the white screen still came.

EDIT: I used Disk Utility to repair the iPod. And then I used it to erase the iPod. I have now used iTunes to restore the iPod. The iPod is functioning and I have tried restarting several times from both OS X and Windows XP. I have NOT encountered the white screen.

This is however, the same functionality I encountered after returning from the Apple Store and before syncing it with my iTunes Library. Once synced, the white screen returned.

It is now syncing. Once it has completed, I will restart once more and hope for the best.
 
Why restart so much?

I rarely restart my computer (every 3-4 days). I just let it sleep. And why do you have to have the iPod connected during boot?

Seems like you have a problem from something simple and you are in denial for that being the cause and want a fix for it.

Just don't have the iPod plugged in! Simple as that.
 
Ignoring a problem is not fixing a problem. I shouldn't have a white screen on startup if I reboot with an iPod plugged in. Yes, the simple solution would be to not reboot with an iPod plugged in - but that's not really solving the issue.

And...I wouldn't be rebooting so much if there wasn't a problem. I'm rebooting in trying to fix it. I don't normally reboot every ten minutes. Ideally, yes, I would like to have it on for days at time. I'm just troubleshooting right now.
 
Sounds like the problem came from using Windows to format it. You said you did that after you came back from the store. Can't use use OSX to reformat it instead of Windows?
 
I restarted a few times after formatting it with Windows, and it worked. The white screen returned after syncing it with my OS X iTunes - which its doing again now. So, once it's finished I'll see if the white screen continues to appear.
 
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