[blackbird_1.0]

i'm having this problem w/ panther hanging at startup on my ibook

i was browsing these forums when my computer froze up, so i used a key combo to power it down, so now when i restart it just sits there at the logo, spinning, doing who knows what, should i just let it sit there for 30 + minutes or is there something i should do?

[ccsccs7]

Is the hard drive clicking? It might be doing a disk repair (or possibly can't find a file). You could try booting from the Mac OS X CD and running Disk Repair from there.

[blackbird_1.0]

yeah it sounds like its making noise, should i let it sit for an hour , and the do a cd boor as last resort?

see, its just sits at the apple gray screen with the spinning wheel underneath it

[DeathToWindows]

cd boot.

archive & install... just had this with my tower...

[ginoledesma]

If you want to look at the arcane process of Mac OS X booting, hold down the Command and V keys upon startup. See where its stalling (the last line of text you get).

[Detrius]

Originally posted by ginoledesma:
If you want to look at the arcane process of Mac OS X booting, hold down the Command and V keys upon startup. See where its stalling (the last line of text you get).

Agreed. This can point you to a corrupt preference file that can be deleted by hand using single-user mode. You don't HAVE to reinstall.

[DeathToWindows]

Originally posted by Detrius:
Agreed. This can point you to a corrupt preference file that can be deleted by hand using single-user mode. You don't HAVE to reinstall.

wish i knew that last sunday.

[gigglebyte]

something else to try is boot to single user mode (apple + S at boot)and run FSCK -yf to see if there is any directory corruption and another option is to try a safe boot by holding down the shift key at boot until you see the apple and the gear as that will shut down any non essential kernels, runs FSCK and reloads the cache...if it still doesn't work then boot to CD and archive install presevering user and network preferences

[blackbird_1.0]

i haven't tried single user mode yet, but i did try the verbose mode, and this is whats up

watching the text scroll by, i noticed one thing mentioned every few lines, my ibooks still booting up in the other room, now the last four or five current lines are sorta like this:

diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).

before i did boot into verbose i did a repair on the drive by booting off the install cd, it "repaired" it, and said te drive appleared to be OK.

UPDATE: rebooted in single-user mode, ran fsck -yf, it said the drive appears to be OK.

UPDATE 2: rebooted it normally, it actually got to the status screen, but hangs at login window starting up...

Trying the SHIFT thing now.

hmm.

[Cowz]

Originally posted by blackbird_1.0:
i haven't tried single user mode yet, but i did try the verbose mode, and this is whats up

watching the text scroll by, i noticed one thing mentioned every few lines, my ibooks still booting up in the other room, now the last four or five current lines are sorta like this:

diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).
diskOs5 0x8 (UNDEFINED).

before i did boot into verbose i did a repair on the drive by booting off the install cd, it "repaired" it, and said te drive appleared to be OK.

UPDATE: rebooted in single-user mode, ran fsck -yf, it said the drive appears to be OK.

UPDATE 2: rebooted it normally, it actually got to the status screen, but hangs at login window starting up...

Trying the SHIFT thing now.

hmm.

Right. Did you have a disk connected of some sort before the failure? What it looks like is that the kernel is looking for a drive and not finding it. Did you have an odd partition scheme or anything out of the ordinary?

And have you tried rebooting with the install disc in and done a "Fix Permissions" of the drive in "Disk Utility"? That might help, though I am dubious.

[blackbird_1.0]

yes, i did the disk util stuff first,

maybe i got that disk thing because before i rebooted in verbose i took the install disk out?

[Cowz]

...your best option might be to simply perform a "Archive and Install" of Mac OS X on your machine. If there's nothing physically wrong with your hard drive and you don't want to lose your data, this might be the simplest option. You haven't really given a lot of other details about what exactly is wrong, what the condition of your iBook is, etc. so it's difficult to make any guesses beyond that.

[blackbird_1.0]

what info do you need and i'll see if i can provide it

[blackbird_1.0]

i only have 1.5 gb of hd left, is that enough to do an archive and install?

if not, I have a 65 gb external hd, either there a way i could transfer my files to that off my iBook, so I can do a full install?

[blackbird_1.0]

Well whadduya know? disc warrior ain't worth sh-- to me.

I used it to rebuild my directory, and viola, it STILL hangs at the startup status window with
LOADING LOGIN WINDOW.

as soon as i figure out how how to get this os off here, i'm thinking about going back to 10.2. !0.2 ran fine on my iBook, and does so currently on my G5.

10.3 has been an utter nightmare.

Can someone help me figure out how to get my pesonal files off there before I wipe the thing?

I have a firewire drive.

[David Lee]

Shut down, hook up by Firewire cable to another MAC, start up holdimg the "T" key down - should appear as a firewire drive on the other mac. Copy all your personal data to the other mac - the whole user folder etc - or to an external disk (Known to be in good condition) and then shut down - a single touch of the power button should do that. Then start up from the Cd and re-initialize the HD and install again. Copy your stuff back and you should be OK.
Yah, I know, this really is the hard way, or even the longest way.
Good Luck

[blackbird_1.0]

so like this?

mac----firewire--ext hd--firewire---mac

[Detrius]

Originally posted by blackbird_1.0:
so like this?

mac----firewire--ext hd--firewire---mac

Yes. That should work just fine.