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Message |
    
davidbuckley
Citizen
Username: Davidbuckley
Post Number: 460
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 9, 2005 - 5:22 pm: |     |
Hello and TIA.
I am running a 533mhz G4 tower and have had very strange problems.
Initially Eudora (or, as a buddy says, Euwhora) 5.2 freaked out under Panther resulting in a system that wouldn't boot, meaning the system would start to boot and then give me the circle with a line through it and then freeze/kernel panic.
I was advised that I probably had a bad hard drive and that I should get a new machine but after running disk first aid, repairing permissions and using disk warrior, I installed Tiger using archive and install which got the system operating again, albeit with continuing weirdness.
1. There are 2 drives in this machine, the one running OSX (now Tiger) and a disk that has 9.2.2 on it; the second drive is no longer visible to the machine after the initial freak, utilities don't see it.
2. When the machine is booted now, even after successfully repairing permissions, I get the spinning circular lines and then the dreaded circle with a line through it but then the machine completes the boot process and gives me the log-in window; I have a standard Mac keyboard with number pad on the right and input from the number pad will only reach the machine when entering the password to log in. After login the numbers on pad (not operators, -,+,=, etc..) are disabled and sometimes using it results in the application freezing and then I cannot force quit, must reboot.
3. The latest ultra weirdness: go to dock to select a running application and instead of going to the running app, mail or Palm Desktop or whatever, a finder window would open and the app would be located and highlighted in the window! I could only reboot to get this to stop.
If you've read all this, many thanks--if you have any suggestions--even more thanks!!
Be well and compute well, all.
David
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monster
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 1708
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 9, 2005 - 8:15 pm: | |
It sounds like you may have more than one problem, turn off the Mac & try taking all of the memory but one stick out and then reboot, do you have the same start up symptoms?
If yes, shut down replace that stick with another and reboot, if the boot symptoms are clear check to see if other weirdness is gone also (it will run slower since it won't have as much memory).
regardless if the other operating symptoms are present still, shut down and replace the rest of the memory one stick at a time with a shutdown & reboot between each stick to see if the kernel panic comes back.
If the kernel panic is present upon reboot, for every reboot when done with each single stick alone, then it isn't memory, and may well be a logic board problem, or something else (even the power supply).
Have you tried booting while holding the option key down to see if the Mac will see the OS 9 drive as a bootable drive?
Have you opened the Mac and tried touching the OS 9 disk to see if you can feel if it is spinning?
   
Is the same archive and install installation since the last time we talked?
I don't see how a Eudora fsck up could hose the entire system, it most likely was the first app that had symptoms due to another problem.
To check your plist files (preference files) for corruption, download PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT to check them out,
http://homepage.mac.com/jonn8/as/html/pt.html
Have you booted up off the OS X CD to run Disk utility off of it, using the repair disk option as well as the repair permissions option?
While doing this, if anything was repaired, did you do the process over & over until it reported the drive as OK?
aaahhh I think I'll go get a beer from the fridge, I can't seem to get out the front door to go to Bunnys tonight.
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Bailey
Citizen
Username: Baileymac
Post Number: 108
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 9, 2005 - 8:27 pm: | |
Yup - what Monster said.
Try booting off the CD (insert the disc, hold the c key and restart)
Use the repair options, and see if the OS 9 disc is recognized. You should be able to select the startup disc, OS 9 or OS X.
I hope you have all your important data backed up, just in case.
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davidbuckley
Citizen
Username: Davidbuckley
Post Number: 461
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 9, 2005 - 11:30 pm: | |
Thanks folks. I was gonna say "guys" but as I don't know Bailey is a guy I decided to be careful.
Monster, to quote from an email to you from 10/6:
DiskWarrior ran via FireWire Target Disk mode, said it found bad directory and could and did repair. Replaced directory, apparently successfully, but can't boot, even in single user or open firmware mode--just goes straight to circle w/ line through and then panics. Haven't done Tech Tool yet; should I bother at this stage? I could mount the disk on the desktop and seemed to be able to drag files to Powerbook. I did zap PRAM to no avail.
This was all before installing Tiger. Now when booting I get the "line through circle" but then the machine starts up, no panics, other symptoms as above.
Checking out memory because it can just go bad?
Bailey: Pretty sure I remember Disk Utility not seeing 2nd drive (OS9) when booted from install disk.
Never thought to open case and feel drives; shall do.
Monster, btw, what is
???
Wow, I cut and pasted and it became Apples but not in your post?? Whatup wit dat?
Many thanks and be well,
David |
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