[vibroking5]

Hey everyone, here's whats going on with my computer. It powers up, and goes to the screen with the apple, and gear turning...then when it should go to where you can type in your password, it just goes to a blue screen and the only thing you can do is move the mouse around. Is there anything I can do to get OSX to start? Will I loose all my computer files? If anyone can help me that would be excellent! Thanks

[Turnpike]

Start up with the CD that came with your computer or the CD from the latest version of the OS you purchased. Put the CD in the drive and hold "C" as you start up. From there, go to the menu bar, open up disk utility, and repair permissions. Sounds like an issue with the login window.

Restart without holding C. If the problem persists, start up with "C" again, and this time do an archive and install. This will keep all your documents, pictures, music, movies, settings, et cetera, but will reinstall a clean version of the OS. Just a matter of moving your stuff back.

If you can't get the drive to open, I believe holding the mouse button on boot is supposed to eject it. Failing that, you can hold the door down with your finger (assuming a desktop mac) and push the end of a paper clip in the tiny hole you see. This is a bit scary. Might take a bit of a push. The end of the tray should pop out enough for you to pull it open. Insert the CD and push it back in. If you have some sort of slot-loading Mac, this will be unnecessary, and you can simply insert your CD.

If you are scared of the paper clip procedure, you can also eject the drive tray by starting up holding "cmd-opt-o-f". You will be given a command prompt. Type "eject" and hit return. Insert/swap CDs as necessary, then type "reboot" followed by return.


Good luck... if I was unclear on anything I said, tell me and I'll try to explain a little better (or maybe somebody else will come along with a better solution)

[sparker]

Originally posted by vibroking5:
Hey everyone, here's whats going on with my computer. It powers up, and goes to the screen with the apple, and gear turning...then when it should go to where you can type in your password, it just goes to a blue screen and the only thing you can do is move the mouse around. Is there anything I can do to get OSX to start? Will I loose all my computer files? If anyone can help me that would be excellent! Thanks

I ran into something similar after applying the September security upgrade (on top of a perfectly running version of 10.3.5), and did the following (this suggestion came from the discussion board at Apple)

- Power down the machine by holding the power button for about 5-10 seconds.

- Press the HARDWARE reset button (various places on various machines)

- Start the machine, when you hear the chime, hold down CMD-OPT, O, F (all four at once)

- Type "reset-nvram"

- type "reset-all" (your machine will reboot)

- At the next chime, hold down CMD OPT P R until your machine reboots, and let this occur 4 times (about 10 seconds for each reboot)

Steve

[Turnpike]

Cool beans. Way easier than running from the boot disk and trying to recover/reinstall.


Did they give any indication (on the Apple Discussion Boards) which of these was most likely responsible?



WARNING: hitting the PMU reset should be done carefully. Hit it once and exactly once. Press it firmly, so you don't jitter off of it or wonder if you hit it and try again. Hitting it twice can cause it to crash.

The button should be somewhere near your RAM. If you tell us what computer you are using, we might be able to direct you closer to it.


Good luck!

[lisas3575]

Argh! I'm having the same problem, I had a kernel panic in the middle of installing the security upgrade.

Steve, I tried your work-around with no result (still getting the blue screen with the arrow, but nothing else). I ran 'repair permissions' from the Panther install disk/disk utilities and that didn't help either.

Any other suggestions for me to try? I'm not exactly proficient at Mac repair... I'm desperate.

Many thanks!