[generationfourt]

OSX was doing something weird/quirky (i'd click on mail prog. in the dock, it would bounce and not open).

Decided to restart, and upon restart it goes from silver screen with apple logo for a bit to blue screen with loading animation, then just to blue screen. The mouse shows up but it just stays at the blue screen

Is this a hardware problem?

[Big Mac]

Perhaps, but probably not. Have you tried booting in Safe Mode (hold down shift key at startup)? Have you run a disk utility (such as single user mode fsck)?

[generationfourt]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Perhaps, but probably not. Have you tried booting in Safe Mode (hold down shift key at startup)? Have you run a disk utility (such as single user mode fsck)?

I tried safe mode and didn't do anything differently. I'm not 100% sure on what you mean on the second question... Is there anything I can do now? I was going to run disk utility before it crapped out because it was acting weird...



It's at the grey screen for a good few minutes, blue with loading animation for a few, and then eventually stops at all blue...

[generationfourt]

alright, I couldn't get into safe mode. Booted with install disk and tried to repair the volume. Disk utility could not repair after 3 tries. Tried again and finally was able to repair the hard drive.

I verified the hard disk and restarted; this time I got the grey screen with "you need to restart your comp. hold down the power button..." in multiple languages. Tried restarting with the same result.

Then I booted the install disk again, and it's the same deal... saying I need to repair the disk. It'll repair but willnot show up as a start up disk.

where can I go from here?

[GarrettStewie]

Since you can boot from the CD, I would say

1. Perform an Archive and Install
2. Save your data
3. Get a new Hard Drive, as it sounds like your current one is dying

[Big Mac]

No, I say DiskWarrior. Your drive's directory is probably just mangled. Give Disk Utility a try before you go to the expense of getting a new drive.

[generationfourt]

well I had the IT guy look at it today. He looked at what was happening in disk utility when I tried to verify/repair and he said that my master boot record is basically screwed and the only thing I can do is format and reinstall. I have no idea if he's right or not and highly doubt it...

the disk can't be mounted, I can't choose it as a startup, or even as a install location for osx- The installer can't find it anymore. So I think that rules out an archive and install.

could diskwarrior help me out in this situation?

[Big Mac]

An errant OS 9 installer once corrupted my iBook's drive to the point where it would not even mount. Disk Warrior fixed everything, and years later the same disk is running fine. Definitely give Disk Warrior a chance.

[generationfourt]

Okay, ran down to the apple store earlier and picked up diskwarrior.

booted with the CD, and chose to rebuild the volume. A few minutes later diskwarrior rebuilt the directory but couldn't replace the old directory because of "disk malfunction". It also says that original directory is "Too severely damaged." I'm guessing it's more than soft damage to the drive?

anyway diskwarrior preview opens up and bam, all of osx, my directories, all my files are there and I throw them onto an external. And then throw some more onto my ipod for good measure.

Overall I'm completely satisfied with the program. It saved my ass big time. The next time I'm at a apple store I'm buying a copy for home. It's not only a great recovery program but it will be a good utility to check on my directories and prevent the same from happening again.

Looks like I get to work at home until my work replaces the drive in the imac

Thanks for the help big mac and everyone else.

[Big Mac]

You're welcome; I am delighted to read that Disk Warrior saved your data. As for the drive, that does sound like a serious error. You could reformat it, but I don't think I would trust it after that experience. At most I'd use it for torrent space or as a third backup drive.

[generationfourt]

The installer doesn't even find the drive so I don't even think I can even reformat it.

Also, I just ran the diskwarrior hardware test on the drive and it says something along the lines of "The hard drive's built in temp sensor is giving an abnormal high temp. reading of 159 f (71 C) this might indicate a failure or pending failure which will result in loss of data"

very interesting!

[Eug]

Interesting. This just happened to my iMac G5 2.0 20" yesterday.

I was just surfing and doing basic stuff and suddenly my iMac froze, and a reboot would just get stuck at the grey screen with the spinning disc.

The install boot DVD says no functional drives are present. (The first time it couldn't even see it, but the second time it saw it but hung on the drive-select screen.) Disk Utility hangs too, even when I use the iMac in target mode, using my MacBook.

Disk Warrior says the drive is borked, as does TechTool. Interestingly, the Hardware Test CD app says the drive is fine, but it could just be that it's reading the SMART status (which doesn't seem to be all that smart).

I'll run TechTool's surface scan too. I suspect that's gonna fail too so I'm calling AppleCare tomorrow I guess. Thank <insert diety here> for on-site AppleCare service. 20" iMacs are a pain to lug around.