If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.īoot in safe mode.* The instructions provided by Apple are as follows: Finding out which one is a process of elimination. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock.
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How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk modeĬ. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine.
Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”ī. Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime, or from a local Time Machine backup volume ( option key at startup.) Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.Ī. There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot.