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Alexei · Jul 20, 2004, 08:28 AM

I have an older G4 Sawtooth rigged with a 1GHz upgrade. OSX 10.2.8 and Classic on different partitions on a new WD 120 gig master drive.
It works like a charm when I shut it down and then restart, but if I try to just restart it it can't find a boot volume. Had an upgrade on it for awhile now but the problem is recent (not that I think it's connected in some way or another). Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts why that might be happening? http://forums.macnn.com/newthread.ph...mp;forumid=65#
Many many thanks in advance.
A.

Alexei · Jul 22, 2004, 04:27 PM

You guys are only good for comparing the sizes of your specs? Or trading rumors? So much for help from fellow Mac users.

Still trying to fix that problem on my G4...

Big Mac · Jul 22, 2004, 07:18 PM

I've seen this reported about three or four times, and it has been mentioned here. Unfortunately, I'm under a deadline and don't have enough time to offer suggestions right now.

Ω · Jul 22, 2004, 07:34 PM

What have you tried?

Have you tried booting from the Jag install CD's and then using Disk Utility?

Or booting from another drive?

Alexei · Jul 22, 2004, 08:24 PM

Thanks for your replies!

I did try to boot from the install CD and it does boot fine as it does from FireWire disk or from OS9 partition. But it only does so if I shut it down first and then boot up and not if I use "restart" button in the menu.

Also if I have a Jag install disk inside it always goes to start up from the install disk no matter what I specify in System Prefs. And if the disk is not there - my Mac just can't find a boot volume.

I did run Disk utility (fine), DiskWarrior (fine), reinstalled OS (with some trouble, since instead of restarting and asking for the disk 2 it just goes to the beginning of install) all with no resolution to the problem.

Thanks again in advance.

A.

David Lee · Jul 23, 2004, 12:42 AM

It sounds like you have either, a firmware problem, a corrupt preference file, or a corrupted PRAM setting. I doubt that it is really hardware related, but try disconnecting any attached USB stuff other than the keyboard and mouse, as they are famouse for causing trouble. We once had a keyboard that would not work with a Quark dongle (legal version!) atached. Switching the dongle to an identical keyboard on another Mac was OK, but that keyboard absolutely refused to work with the dongle! Also, have you tried zapping the PRAM or reseting the Open Firmware? If I recall correctly you do that by rebooting (or shutdown and restart) and hold down the "option + command + O + F" keys, and at the Open Firmware prompt type:
nvram-reset (return key)
set-defaults (return key)
reset all (return key)
The last return key should cause the machine to reboot.
This problem could also be casued by a corrupted preference file in regard to the startup disk, but I am not sure which file (or where it is) is likely the problem. Someone must know that, so maybe they will post the "usual suspects."
You might also try to download Oynx (it's free) and use it to delete all of the system caches and VM files, but do a restart immediately after that!
Good luck

wulf · Jul 23, 2004, 06:04 AM

Also do a permissions repair. It probably isn't the solution to your problem, but it's always worth doing if you've been tooling around your HD a bit

Alexei · Jul 23, 2004, 08:40 AM

It was the firmware!

Thanks, David!

Did as you suggested and it solved the problem!
Sounded like a small issue but it was impossible to have anybody else use this machine without much explaining to do. Plus I can move on now.

Thank you, David, again, and to all who tried to help.

A.

David Lee · Jul 23, 2004, 08:24 PM

Glad you got it working right. However, after all that trouble your HD is probably a mess. Do run Disk Warrior and Disk Utility (Repair Permissions) again. I would also suggest getting and using Onyx, or something similar you like, to do the maintenance scripts (periodically) and delete the caches (very ocassionally).