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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > 2 Macs fighting icon, non-boot

2 Macs fighting icon, non-boot
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Seneca
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May 8, 2006, 11:03 PM
 
My Mother is a teacher, and they have an iMac in her classroom. She told me the other day that it's not working, it won't boot, and upon bootup there's an icon of 2 macs fighting. I've never seen such a thing and I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what it could be. I apologize for the lack of information, but due to the stupid school/administration rules, but unfortunately, I, (as a computer technician for over 10 years) am not allowed to touch it (!) only their "people" (who I might add never come around on a regular basis) and I have not seen this first-hand. Thank you.
     
Detrius
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May 9, 2006, 12:24 AM
 
Yeah, can't help you. If it won't boot, how can it do something on bootup?

Does it chime?
Is it running OS X?
Is there either a happy Mac or an Apple logo on the screen?
Is there either a spinning gear under the apple logo, or a spinning beachball in the upper left hand corner?
Does anything else come up on the screen?



Anyway, if you can't touch it, why would you want your mother attempting to fix it? You'd be better off fixing it yourself or waiting for their tech to show up.
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Seneca  (op)
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May 9, 2006, 01:02 AM
 
Couldn't tell you, that's all the info I have.
     
Big Mac
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May 9, 2006, 03:03 AM
 
There is no startup icon of Macs fighting, but it's most likely that the system software on that Mac has become damaged. The person fixing it should have an OS installation disc available (either OS 9 or OS X). It's a really simple procedure to get the system running as long it's just a software issue - just perform a clean install (OS 9) or an Archive and Install (OS X).

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Amorya
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May 9, 2006, 05:35 AM
 
Could be something related to netboot?
What the nerd community most often fail to realize is that all features aren't equal. A well implemented and well integrated feature in a convenient interface is worth way more than the same feature implemented crappy, or accessed through a annoying interface.
     
Big Mac
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May 9, 2006, 03:32 PM
 
It's possible, but the globe icon does not look like two Macs fighting, right?

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Chuckit
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May 9, 2006, 03:46 PM
 
Nothing I've seen looks like two Macs fighting.
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May 9, 2006, 03:58 PM
 
Does Not Compute
     
Seneca  (op)
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May 9, 2006, 06:25 PM
 
Ok let me clarify, I asked again and she said it's a picture of 2 angry faces with some sort of rectangle in the middle and it blinks a few times and that's it. Hope that helps.
     
CharlesS
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May 9, 2006, 06:32 PM
 
I think you're going to need to post a digital photo.

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jasong
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May 9, 2006, 07:57 PM
 
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Chuckit
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May 9, 2006, 08:06 PM
 
I think the problem is that the original poster can't actually look at the computer himself, so he only has a (seemingly inaccurate) description of the problem to go on.
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CharlesS
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May 9, 2006, 08:13 PM
 
Yeah, but there's no reason that he couldn't get his mom to take a digital photo. Even if all she has is a cell phone camera, it would probably be good enough.

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TETENAL
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May 9, 2006, 09:18 PM
 
I don't think I could have gotten my mom to take a picture with a cell phone.
     
CharlesS
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May 9, 2006, 09:25 PM
 
Oh come on. It's just two button presses (at least on my phone).

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ntsc
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May 10, 2006, 05:30 AM
 
it almost sounds like a description of the split Mac face (as in the Finder icon) but i can't think of any situation that it might appear at boot time
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kick52
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May 10, 2006, 04:17 PM
 
sounds like the finder icon.

tell her to hold down the two buttons to the right of the space bar and the p and r buttons on the keyboard while switching it on. that resets the pram.
     
JKT
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May 10, 2006, 06:20 PM
 
It sounds like the sad mac face to me - isn't that usually a hardware issue?
     
Chuckit
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May 10, 2006, 06:54 PM
 
I wouldn't describe the Sad Mac as two faces separated by a rectangle. It's one face on a computer screen. And does it even appear on New World computers? (Or is that the New World version?)
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Seneca  (op)
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May 10, 2006, 07:17 PM
 
Ok now she says it's a split mac face, with 2 faces looking at each other smiling, with some sort of rectangle in the middle. She tried to take a picture but it totally did not come out so she's going to try again tomorrow.
     
Detrius
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May 10, 2006, 10:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by glassvial
Ok now she says it's a split mac face, with 2 faces looking at each other smiling, with some sort of rectangle in the middle. She tried to take a picture but it totally did not come out so she's going to try again tomorrow.


The old Mac logo looked like two faces looking at each other: http://somebodystopme.net/photos6/MacLogo.jpg


There may be a blank error message that has popped up.
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icruise
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May 11, 2006, 01:08 AM
 
Originally Posted by Detrius
The old Mac logo looked like two faces looking at each other: http://somebodystopme.net/photos6/MacLogo.jpg
This guy apparently doesn't like people hotlinking to his site.
     
Apfhex
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May 11, 2006, 06:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by glassvial
Ok now she says it's a split mac face, with 2 faces looking at each other smiling, with some sort of rectangle in the middle. She tried to take a picture but it totally did not come out so she's going to try again tomorrow.
That's the Finder icon, also used as the "Mac" logo on product packaging and such, like Detrius's linked image.



What version of OS X is this iMac running I wonder? How old is it? I can't think of why this would show up on boot. Don't know what part of the boot process this is, either, or if it appears to be part of an error dialog or something.
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JKT
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May 11, 2006, 06:50 PM
 
I think I know what she is describing.

It'll be the Mac Face alternating with a folder icon (the rectangle she is describing) - IOW, it can't find a system to boot from. It is presumably running Mac OS 9 or earlier (or does this still happen in OS X - it's so long since I had that type of issue, I wouldn't know anymore).
( Last edited by JKT; May 11, 2006 at 07:09 PM. )
     
Seneca  (op)
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May 11, 2006, 06:57 PM
 
Yeah she drew a picture of it, now I know what it is. It's the split mac face alternating with the ? over a folder...pretty obvious what that means. Unfortunately I don't know what MacOS is on there or what steps to try next to solve the problem (again seeing as I can't touch it).
     
Detrius
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May 11, 2006, 10:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by glassvial
Yeah she drew a picture of it, now I know what it is. It's the split mac face alternating with the ? over a folder...pretty obvious what that means. Unfortunately I don't know what MacOS is on there or what steps to try next to solve the problem (again seeing as I can't touch it).

Well, the first thing you need is an OS to boot from. Did you recommend she do a PRAM reset? If that doesn't work, she'll need an OS CD to boot from.

And FYI: since it means that no OS can be found, don't you think it's independent of OS 9 vs. OS X?
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FireWire
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May 12, 2006, 02:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by glassvial
she said it's a picture of 2 angry faces with some sort of rectangle in the middle
Originally Posted by glassvial
Ok now she says it's a split mac face, with 2 faces looking at each other smiling, with some sort of rectangle in the middle.
I think her Mac could have a conflict of personality, get at appointment with a psychiatrist
     
Seneca  (op)
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May 13, 2006, 10:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by Detrius
Well, the first thing you need is an OS to boot from. Did you recommend she do a PRAM reset? If that doesn't work, she'll need an OS CD to boot from.

And FYI: since it means that no OS can be found, don't you think it's independent of OS 9 vs. OS X?
Yes I told her to do a PRAM reset, she said it didn't fix anything. And, I figured if we knew what version of the OS was on it we could attempt to run a repair (or something) with that version.
     
jasong
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May 14, 2006, 06:55 PM
 
( Last edited by jasong; May 14, 2006 at 07:12 PM. )
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