[Mel]

My first post here so please go easy.....

My MacPro wont boot from cold. I have to use the keyboard 'option' key to select the boot drive manually and then the machine boots.

I have checked and reset the boot drive preferences and when SL came a long I took the opportunity of doing a 'nuke & pave' all to no avail.

When I reset or restart you can here the heads making a 'kurlunck' sound; the heads perhaps are looking for something that is not there. I took this to be a warning that the hard drive could be failing however the SMART report indicates that everything is in good health and I have been living with this for more than 6 months, so I think the hard drive is ok.

I know that google is your friend in such circumstances but this time the 'G' didnt produce anything that a mere mortal like me could read let alone understand.

Thanks in advance

Mel

[Rcovell]

Hi Mel-Welcome to the Forum.

If you've selected the location of your startup drive in System Prefs and you're still having a problem, I can't help.

But, your comment about the noise from the HD and the SMART status report struck a familiar chord. I had the same issue with a G4 iMac a while back.
The SMART status indicated 'all OK' and several other tests showed no problem. However, I was seeing more and more of the 'beach ball of death'.
Talked to my Mac service guy and he confirmed the indications of a failing HD. I was under warranty, so it was replaced.
I was fortunate to get a bootable backup using SuperDuper! the very morning service was to be provided and the backup worked great at restoring my
info to the new HD.

I'd sure keep an eye on things if I were you, the noise you hear is not a good sign.

Bob.