Macbook keeps booting OSX Utilities instead of Mac OS X

Solution 1:

I had the exact same problem and my IT guy told me to reset my NVRAM.

Just hold down ⌘ CMD+⌥ OPT+p+r on restart and keep the keys held down until it chimes 3-4 times. Then let go.

Worked like a charm for me. I off to back up my data now.

Apple page about resetting NVRAM.

Solution 2:

Your machine is booting into Recovery mode for some reason. The logical reason would be that there is some fault on your usual OS volume that prevent it from booting, or it is being instructed to do so. Given that you state that you get to this recovery screen regardless of what volume you select to boot from, it seems the former is more likely.

You should enter the Disk Utility program at the bottom of the list in the screenshot, and perform a check on your chosen startup volumes permissions, see instructions here. This may or may not solve the problem, but it's a first step. Even if it does solve the problem, it would not explain the repeated problem on a clean OS install. Perhaps this problem is merely the symptom of an underlying hardware failure on your drive.

Solution 3:

For me it was due to an invalid file entry on the disk - perhaps due to a recent power loss. I opened the Disk Utility on the OS X Utilities screen and validated all drives shown (using the "Repair Disk" button). It repaired my disk (file count in a directory was off by 1), and now all is back to normal (so far).