OS 9.2.1 totally vegtablized my iMac Rev. A

[imacman11]

OK...this is a repeat (Posted it to both Macnn and Apple's Discussion Boards), but I wanted to post it here to see if anyone here had fresh ideas. The link to the Apple discussion is:
DISCUSS
(Whether or not that addy will take you there is another story.)
and Macnn
Macnn

Anyway, anything and everything that people have suggested I have already done and tried again. NOTHING has changed. Here is the original text in its entirety:
-----------------

OK, so yesterday I downloaded and burned to a cd the 9.2.1 update. Went home and ran it on my Rev. A iMac (that had 9.1) and restarted. Now when I restarted, all that happens is a grey screen...no mouse...no mac.... no nothing... not even a whirring sound of the hard drive...or CD for that matter... I haven't tried booting up from the 9.1 CD that I have yet (mostly due to lack of time), but I wanted to know if there was another workaround that someone knew of.
I also have totally shut it down for hours and started it back up, only to recieve the same problem.

For some reason, I seem to remember the same thing happening the OSX beta...
Anyway, your help would be greatly appreciated....
-----------------


Thanks....imacman11

[anerki]

Hyo

Mac OS 9.2.1 is in its hart not a bad upgrade ... You do have to be a power user to use it correctly. I was doubting myself wether I would or would not install the update on my rev a iMac. After all, it ran prefectly smooth and lots faster on my G4 ... The problem with 9.2.1 is that it eats RAM ... Although 35 Mb might seem normal (with Virtual Memory on), I made some changes to the system. What you might want to do is turn off some stuff before using the system. Stuff like:

1) Multiple users, if you don't use it, don't leave it on
2) Automatic Software Update, if you want to update something you'll know when you want to update ... If it ain't broken, don't fix it
3) Speech, it seems like a wonderful option but it's pretty useless except it slows down the computer
4) Authoring support, I personally think it's to slow to burn CDs so I use Toast, you should too if you burn CDs, it's faster for audio CD too, so turn the iTunes burning support off too
5) Support for USB Devices you don't have, if you don't have them, you don't need to recognize them ... It's as simple as that
6) FireWire support? If your Mac doesn't have FireWire, you don't need the extensions, FireWire is a standard install option and is always installed
7) Control Panels like Infrared, Launcher, Keychain Access, USB Printer Sharing, if you don't have a network (for USBPS) and don't use Keychain, Launcher or your IrDA port, you don't need the control panels, they just slow stuff down ...
8) Remote Access, if you did a standard install, Remote Access will be installed, if you're a cable or DSL user, you don't need it, turn everything it has OFF (Remote Access, Modem, Dial (or sth like that) in Control Panels, iMac Modem Extension and loads more in Extensions folder
9) Personal Web Sharing, you probably won't use it, turn it off
10) Don't clog your Mac with funny noises and appearances you like, unless you really want or need them, they just slow your computer, try to keeps things simple ... Like Apple Stores :-) Simple, Big, Fast, Effective (at least in Belgium they're like that : ITPro)
11) Last, but not least: Networking ... If you don't have a Network or Laser Printer at home, turn everything that's Network OFF, Appleshare, just turn it all off, it should dramatically increase your Mac's speed :-)

Anywayz, I run this config (sorta) on my rev a iMac with 256 Mb RAM and everything goes a LOT faster than 9.1 ... I hope it works out for you.

About the install problems, I had a similar problem also with Mac OS X Beta like you said and I fear your only option to be definitively rid off the problem is to backup, erase your HD and install your OS' again (9.2.1 preferably, I've gotten to like it :-)

Hope this helps, sorry 'bout your crash ...

Greetz
.anerki

[imacman11]

Thanks for the great post...I think I'll take it into my work this weekend and take out the HD and put it in a G4, reformat, and start over. Anyway....thanks again!

[anerki]

I just got a msg from a friend with a G4/450 (Sawtooth) and it doesn't work on his machine either ... It freezes at startup. You might want to mail Apple about the problem or check that you have ALL the latest Firmware updates ... There were some new ones released together with 9.2.1

Download page for updates: http://www.info.apple.com/support/downloads.html Make sure you have the right language when downloading/updating sth.

Ciao
.anerki

[imacman11]

freezing isnt the problem...its not starting up...

when you boot up a Mac...there is a grey screen at first, right before you get the happy/sad/pissed Mac. All I get is the grey screen with no sounds from the computer...nothing...no HD spinup...etc.

SO, all I can think of is that 9.2.1 changed my firmware and something has pissed it off.

[MacCheetah3]

Hi
Normally a Mac OS will tell you what it changed especially firmware. So if it didn't say firmware updated ............You have to restart and hold in the programmers button when to do a firmware update. So I highly doubt it did anything with your firmware unless did you update your firmware prior to installation? Have you tried the normal like PRAM reset, Extensions off, or starting from a cD? If all else fails find the CUDA Reset for your model and reset the logic board and power supply board with it.

[imacman11]

I cant disable extensions (like I previously mentioned) becuase I can't get that far.

I already tried the cuda...several times...even left the pram battery out for a long time and hit the cuda...

anyway...i know what you mean about the firmware, but I really can't explain why it wouldn't even *try* to start up without reading any type of information from the HD...

[anerki]

Try plugging in the HD to another Mac (G3 or G4) and install the OS from there, you won't need to boot up. Then, after that, remove the extensions I mentioned manually ... If that doesn't work, revert to Mac OS 9.1 ...

Anywayz, I hope it all works out

Greetz,
.anerki