[kaeg04]

First off, my system info:
Macbook Pro 17 inches
Dual core, intel processor
Purchased 11/2006
Running Mac OSX... 10.4.x (I believe..)
System has run completely glitch free for over two years, and the hard drive still has over 60%of it free and unused.
I have done no modifications or shady downloads, unless you count ShapeShifter and NeoOffice.
No external hard drives attached.

THE PROBLEM:

Today while trying to download some songs from iTunes, the system prompted me that I needed to download a newer version of iTunes. After I clicked ok to let it go ahead and download the update, it asked if I wanted to download other recommended updates from Apple, including one for Safari and a general security update.

I clicked yes, and as the system was downloading the updates from Apple, I went off to lunch. When I came back, the download was all done, but the computer said I needed to close Safari and then restart the computer for the updates to take effect. So naturally, I closed all of my programs and selected "Restart" from the menu at the top.

The computer shut down, and then as it restarted, it did the typical "startup apple sound" and showed the grey screen with black apple logo, and under it was the spinning gear looking thing, as always. Instead of it taking the typical 3 seconds to go, it spun and spun and spun.....for 20 minutes without any signs of the hard drive working and trying to install the updates or anything. Just the fans running.

Frustratedc after another ten minutes, I held down the silver button and shut off the machine.After ten mins, I restarted it again, and again has the same trouble. Next, I tried removing the battery and restarting, only to have it do the same thing again and keep spinning away for 45 minutes as I left to go run errands, hoping it would help. I came back and it was in the same pre-startup phase.

I took it to the apple store and they won't be able to look at it until tomorrow.

Any ideas as to what could be up? Anyone suddenly unable to restart the computer following an update straight from apple?

Thanks for any and all help.

[lfiscal]

Although, I have an iBook G4. I am having the exact same problem. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing has worked. I believe that it was a quicktime install that I did. I can't get past the gray screen unless I use the install CD or I boot into single user mode.

Have you tried to boot from the installer CD and gone into disk utility to repair permissions?

I do believe it is a permissions issue, but I don't know how to get around it at this moment. I will keep working on it and let you know if I find a workaround. Please let me know what they tell you at the apple store.

[Juanitopost]

I haver the same problem. I did the update, but it never works. Same as Kaeg04, showed the grey screen with black apple logo, and under it was the spinning gear looking thing, as always.

I tryed everything but nothing happens.
Reboot with Restore disc. It never run.
Rebbot on user mode or verbose mode. Does not work I can't type any command such as reboot and enter, as in a web advice.

I live in Mexico and i dont think they could help me. Let me know please if you find out how to solve this problem.

Juan

[snarker]

I'm having a similar problem. I downloaded all the upgrades, it said it needed to restart, and I closed everything etc. But when it goes to the screen where it actually installs everything it just sits there. I can leave it for a half hour or five hours and the little bar doesn't move at all. Any idea what could be causing this?