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TonTaub · Sep 6, 2004, 12:39 PM

Dear All,

since a while I'm struggling with a cloned system disk of my PoBo.
It doesn't boot.
I did virtually anything besides reinstalling MacOS (this is what I want to avoid at all cost).

I followed
CCC's instructions, Apple's suggestions and other tips but when it comes to booting from the clone, the boot screen sticks with the grey apple and the progress indicator.

Booting and cloning from and to this external FW disk(s) works, that's for sure.

But starting from the trouble clone in verbose mode (cmd+v) it shows the system hanging right after "Got boot device = IOService:/MacRISC2PE/pci.........." followed by "BSD root: disk1s3, major 14, minor 5"

For a very short moment I hoped I'll get a clue, since fsck showed "Bad Super Block" on the bad clone. To verify that I did fsck on all availiable partitions, regardless if they could boot or not and even on the internal system disk and a freshly installed 10.3.4 on the ext. FW disk I get this MSG. I just can't tell if this info is of any value ...

So what could be missing?
What's the system looking for and not finding?
How can I fix that?

Related threads:
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=226298
http://forums.bombich.com/viewtopic....6&start=30

Thanks a lot for your time!
Michael.

Detrius · Sep 6, 2004, 02:28 PM

Technically, all you have to do in CCC is make sure that there is a check in the box that says "make bootable." Now, if you have done any weird hacks like putting virtual memory on a different partition, then you won't be able to just clone. Otherwise, that's how it's done.

Have you tried running a surface scan on either of your hard drives?

ManOfSteal · Sep 6, 2004, 02:37 PM

You may want to re-bless the cloned OS X volume...

sudo bless -folder /Volumes/Volume_Name/System/Library/CoreServices \
-bootinfo /usr/standalone/ppc/bootx.bootinfo

CharlesS · Sep 6, 2004, 02:50 PM

Originally posted by manofsteal:
You may want to re-bless the cloned OS X volume...

sudo bless -folder /Volumes/Volume_Name/System/Library/CoreServices \
-bootinfo /usr/standalone/ppc/bootx.bootinfo

Probably doesn't make a difference, but I'd use the bootinfo file from the same disk as the CoreServices folder you're blessing. Otherwise, if you had different OS versions on the boot drive and the drive you're trying to make bootable, you could end up with a mismatch.

sudo bless -folder /Volumes/Volume_Name/System/Library/CoreServices \
-bootinfo /Volumes/Volume_Name/usr/standalone/ppc/bootx.bootinfo

That's how I do it, anyway.

CharlesS · Sep 6, 2004, 02:52 PM

Oh, also, if you're getting "bad super block" with fsck, it's possible it's not using the correct version of fsck for your drive. I usually use fsck_hfs, fsck_msdos, or whatever if I run fsck on a disk other than the boot drive.

Of course, you could also just run Disk Utility (DiskWarrior would also help if you have it).

TonTaub · Sep 6, 2004, 03:23 PM

Hi,

I'm pretty sure I checked "Make Bootable" - I tried the clone several times.

Originally posted by Detrius:

Have you tried running a surface scan on either of your hard drives?

No, just verify in Disk Utility if this is something different.

If this wasn't what you mean, what tool would you suggest to do the scan?

Thanks, Michael.

TonTaub · Sep 6, 2004, 03:25 PM

Originally posted by manofsteal:
You may want to re-bless the cloned OS X volume...

sudo bless -folder /Volumes/Volume_Name/System/Library/CoreServices \
-bootinfo /usr/standalone/ppc/bootx.bootinfo

I tried this - no change. Still hangs after the "BSD Root: ... "-line.

I got some other thoughts, PLS read below.

Thanks, Michael.

TonTaub · Sep 6, 2004, 03:29 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Probably doesn't make a difference, but I'd use the bootinfo file from the same disk as the CoreServices folder you're blessing. Otherwise, if you had different OS versions on the boot drive and the drive you're trying to make bootable, you could end up with a mismatch.

Good point! But since this is supposed to be an excact copy of the active system drive it shouldn't make any difference in this particular case.
But this brought to another thought:
What if the bootinfo file is messed up?
Since I got another 10.3.4 partition on this disk I took this file, but sadly it doesn't change anything.

Currently I'm digging through the docs to get an idea what bless is doing and to track down any sources of error.

Thanks, Michael.

TonTaub · 03:41 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Probably doesn't make a difference, but I'd use the bootinfo file from the same disk as the CoreServices folder you're blessing. Otherwise, if you had different OS versions on the boot drive and the drive you're trying to make bootable, you could end up with a mismatch.

Good point! But since this is supposed to be an excact copy of the active system drive it shouldn't make any difference in this particular case.
But this took me to another thought:
What if the bootinfo file is messed up?
Since I got another 10.3.4 partition on this disk I took this file, but sadly it doesn't change anything.

sudo bless -folder /Volumes/Backuptest/System/Library/CoreServices \
-bootinfo /Volumes/10.3.4-1/usr/standalone/ppc/bootx.bootinfo

Currently I'm digging through the man page to get an idea what bless is doing and to track down any possible sources of error.

It's weird ...

Thanks, Michael.

TonTaub · Sep 6, 2004, 03:39 PM

Ok, thanks for pointing me there - fsck_hfs does the job and reports no errors.

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Of course, you could also just run Disk Utility (DiskWarrior would also help if you have it).

Am I correct if I say that Disk Utility is just launching fsck* in the background?

:-) Michael.

CharlesS · Sep 6, 2004, 05:43 PM

Originally posted by TonTaub:
Am I correct if I say that Disk Utility is just launching fsck* in the background?

Yeah, Disk Utility uses fsck to do its scanning.

TonTaub · Sep 7, 2004, 07:41 AM

Current state is that I suspect the source partition (i.e. the one on the internal PowerBook drive) being messed up.

Re-blessing the clone, even with a freshly installed 10.3.4 on another partition as source for "boootinfo", doesn't help.

I tried to see and find out if the problem sits in the files of /System/Library/CoreServices, but I know too little about the boot process of Panther to be able to verify.

In the Bombich forum somebody suggested to virtually reinstall but is there really no other way to repair this?

Furthermore I really want to know what caused this messup?
I find that very disturbing.

Anyone has a hint or could me point to some good docs regarding how booting Panther works?

Thanks a lot, Michael.

CharlesS · Sep 7, 2004, 11:04 AM

Beats me. I'm not sure how CCC works; perhaps you could try it the old-fashioned way in the Terminal with ditto instead. Or, you could just do an Archive and Install of OS X on the drive you're cloning to...

TonTaub · Sep 7, 2004, 06:56 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
I'm not sure how CCC works; perhaps you could try it the old-fashioned way in the Terminal with ditto instead.

This is what CCC does, it calls ditto, bless etc.

Or, you could just do an Archive and Install of OS X on the drive you're cloning to...

Well, I saw that that is possible when installing from DVD.
What happens to the system settings like network profiles, screen calibration, security settings etc.?

Thanks, Michael.

CharlesS · Sep 7, 2004, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by TonTaub:
This is what CCC does, it calls ditto, bless etc.

That's what I used to think, but it must do something else as well, because everyone who's tried using CCC to clone one of my boot CDs to a small hard drive has reported failure; however, ditto and bless at the command line work.