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jasono · Apr 11, 2004, 07:58 PM

I just installed the latest security update to OS X rebooted. I then ran some prescheduled tasks (sudo periodic daily, sudo periodic weekly and sudo periodic monthly) and rebooted. On the second reboot I zapped my PRAM. It's been a while since I've done any of this. Anyway, after I rebooted the second time my Mac wouldn't fully boot. I have 2 displays attached and the secondary monitor was gray, the main was black. I let it sit for a while (~10 minutes) then hit the restart button, same thing. Out of curiosity I hit the Programmers button and it booted up. Everything seems fine. When I rebooted the same thing happened again.

Anyone have any clues here? What might be causing this and do you have a recommendation on the fix?

Thanks

CharlesS · Apr 12, 2004, 01:32 AM

For problems like these, I usually go into Open Firmware (command-option-O-F at boot) and type this:

reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all

This will reset all Open Firmware settings to their defaults, hopefully solving your boot problems. If it doesn't work, post in here again and someone else may be able to help you.

jasono · Apr 12, 2004, 01:35 PM

Thanks. Just to clarify on what I reported initially. It seems the computer is able to reboot after a restart/shutdown. For some reason it is taking approx 5 minutes to do so, and one screen is gray, the other is black. The programmers button had nothing to do with the restart, as a reported earlier. I think I just hit it at the time it decided to startup.

So far I've reset my PRAM and NVRAM at startup, but I think I may need to reset the NVRAM from shutdown, which I didn't do. Anyway, I'll try your suggestions later tonight.

jasono · Apr 12, 2004, 11:23 PM

Tried the last recommendation and I'm still having the problem. The computer just hangs at start up. When it does start up I get a larger Apple logo and spinning (processing) graphic. When the computer does boot it runs fine. Any ideas what I can check next? This is truly frustrating. I starting feel like I'm at work trying to debug a problem with XP!

So far I've:
Reset PRAM from shutdown and reboot
Reset NVRAM from shutdown and reboot
Opened up the computer and pressed the PMU button once
Repaired permissions

I'm running OS X 10.3.3 on a 450 G4 desktop. No recent app installs prior to the problem.

himself · 01:38 AM

I'd suggest disconnectiong the second monitor, and starting from there. If you manage to get it working, reconnect your second display and see what happens. Are both of your displays connected to the same video card, or two separate cards?

By the way... was there a specific reason why you zapped the pram the first time? It typically doesn't hurt, but otherwise I don't see the point in zapping the pram unless you are having specific problems - even for pre-emptory maintenance.

CharlesS · 01:53 AM

Originally posted by himself:
I'd suggest disconnectiong the second monitor, and starting from there. If you manage to get it working, reconnect your second display and see what happens. Are both of your displays connected to the same video card, or two separate cards?

By the way... was there a specific reason why you zapped the pram the first time? It typically doesn't hurt, but otherwise I don't see the point in zapping the pram unless you are having specific problems - even for pre-emptory maintenance.

Good idea. In fact, I'd take it one step further and disconnect all external hardware, save for things you need, like a keyboard, mouse, and one display.

edit: I just had another thought - after you zapped the PRAM, did you set the startup disk back to your HD in the Startup Disk preference pane? In the old days, doing this used to speed up boot time noticeably - in fact, on some old machines, the "no startup disk" question-mark icon would flash a few times before it found the drive. I don't have any idea why it would take this long to scan for your disk with modern hardware, but if the disk is playing hard to get with the boot ROM, maybe setting that preference would fix it.

jasono · Apr 13, 2004, 11:35 AM

I'll try removing my peripherals and second monitor. I thought about trying it last night but was feeling a little too lazy to pull all the cables.

Why did I zap the PRAM? Stupid MacAddict article about cleaning up your Mac prompted me to do it. My computer has been a little sluggish lately and this months issue has some tips on cleaning and speeding it up. It had the opposite effect.

I didn't set the Startup disk after resetting the PRAM. I'll try that, too.

Good times...

jasono · Apr 13, 2004, 10:28 PM

So it turned out to be the startup disk not being selected. It was looking at the network startup. Does zapping the PRAM change this?

Also, I set the startup disk to the correct drive, clicked the lock to prevent further changes and restarted. When everything came back up I checked the setting again and the lock was unlocked. Is this normal behavior for other folks?

Thanks again for the advice on this.

CharlesS · Apr 14, 2004, 01:46 AM

Originally posted by jasono:
So it turned out to be the startup disk not being selected. It was looking at the network startup. Does zapping the PRAM change this?

When you zap the PRAM, it erases the Startup Disk setting, causing the Mac to try all its options until it finds a bootable disk. In your case, it seems like it was taking a while to scan everything. If you have a network startup, that explains it.

Also, I set the startup disk to the correct drive, clicked the lock to prevent further changes and restarted. When everything came back up I checked the setting again and the lock was unlocked. Is this normal behavior for other folks?

Thanks again for the advice on this.

If you have an admin account, the pref panes are unlocked by default. You can change this in the "Security" preference pane.