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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,785
132
On my 27" corei7 mid2010 iMac, i get every now and then a white screen, that seems to cover up the users login page. This occurs just before the Apple logo and the Chime sound. Normally when this occurs, thinking that its a freeze, i do a restart by using the power button. But today i acted as if there was no white screen and i pressed the buttons as if i was logging in to my user and it worked. This white screen seemed as if it was a cover up.
What could be wrong? Is there anything i can do about it? Any suggestions?
 

grwren

macrumors member
May 11, 2020
47
4
According to Apple Support, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210905 , a blank screen (black, grey (is that light gray/whiteish?) or blue) should appear at start up but apparently it shouldn't last too long, I just haven't been able to find out how long. Mine always boots w/white but it usually doesn't last that long, ≈ 15, 30 sec., sometimes a little longer then the logo, progress bar and boot up.

How long does yours last? "But today i acted as if there was no white screen and i pressed the buttons", what buttons did you press? If you think there is a real boot problem maybe you should try following some the steps in the link above or google "white screen at mac boot up" as there are a ton of fixes out there. Good luck!
 

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,785
132
I typed the pass for my user account, and that was it. Apparently the user screen was there, it was just not visible, but i could type, so i did and the pass was entered and i logged in.
 

grwren

macrumors member
May 11, 2020
47
4
Well, after doing a bit more web research on this white screen thing I'm starting to think it might be more of an issue than I originally thought. I just assumed that a white screen for a short period at boot, followed by the apple logo, progress bar and boot up were normal. I inherited this imac from my wife last year for as long as I remember always booted this way. White screen, then it boots, never seems to fail, but maybe there is a problem. I'll be going back and doing some of the suggestions from Apple Support plus others I've found on the internet.
 

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,785
132
For my case the whitish screen comes up before the Apple Logo or the Chime!
 

grwren

macrumors member
May 11, 2020
47
4
Mine, whitish screen for about 10-15 seconds w/chime, then logo & progress bar & finally desktop, whole thing takes about 90 -100 seconds. I've always assumed this was correct, now I'm not so sure. The Apple Support link says there should be a blank screen, doesn't say for how long and every thing I've googled on this subject seems to imply it could be a potential hardware, software, etc., issue. More research!
 
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