sh-2.05b# on screen

[pemart]

After doing a successfull Disk Warrior repair on my 2003 G5 I restarted the G5 and got a short brief grey screen with the apple log then the screen went completly black and it only displays this on the top left corner: -sh-2.05b#


Whats Next?

[Woodgie2]

What's happening is that the Mac is now booting into single user mode.
(http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106388)
This is a mode usually associated with troubleshooting where your Mac boots directly into a 'terminal window' without loading all the GUI windows you're used to.

The immediate thing to try is to type '/sbin/fsck -fy' (minus the quotes) at the # prompt, if it says it performed any repairs run it again when it finishes. When it reports your disk is OK, type 'exit' (again, without the quotes). This should then load the GUI as you're used to.

Open the Startup Disk System Preference pane and choose your hard disk's system folder as the boot folder. If after a re-start it still boots into single user mode type '/sbin/shutdown -r' which should shut your Mac down. Then reboot and zap the PRAM or reboot into Open Firmware and 'reset-nvram' or 'reset-all'.

Otherwise you're looking at an OS re-install. Sorry.

[pemart]

OK I tried what you recommended and after all its checking, it says the volume appears to be OK, but the next line below that says....sh-2.05b#

And what does GUI mean ?

Thanks

[Woodgie2]

It's all the windows and menus you normally have when you use your Mac.

Did you type 'exit' (without the quotes, of course). What happened then?

[pemart]

after typing exit, it did not do anything, just went back to the same sh-2.05b# line

[gemillam]

Hmmm. This same thing happened to me after a coworker ran an old copy of Norton Utilities on a G4 under OS9, then tried to boot back into OS X.

Do this. Get out your gray set of disks that came with the computer. Do whatever it takes to open up the cd/dvd drive up, and put in the system install disk. (No gray disks? Do you have a copy of Panther or Tiger in a box? They will do too.) Push it in, reboot the computer, and hold down the c key to make the Mac look at that disk.

What you are trying to do is re-install OS X without reformatting the drive or losing any of your data. Whatever caused your initial problem that made you need DiskWarrior, that problem hosed important stuff in your system that DiskWarrior can't fix because it is Apple's.

When the disk finally boots up (you can let go of the c key after you see it starting to boot), the installer should appear. Read the instructions and look for the button that lets you configure your installation. You are looking for "Archive and Install", or something close to that. Choose that option. That option will pick up your preferences, user settings, and all the stuff that applications install into the system, so that you don't have to start from the beginning like you would if you did a clean install. It will, however, completely replace all the Apple-made parts of your operation system with fresh, unbroken parts.

After the installation is finished, reboot off the hard drive, and immediately go to Software Update under the Apple menu. Run it, and be patient, as you may have to download, install, and reboot your Mac a few times to get everything updated to the latest stuff.

Hope this helps.

[gemillam]

After the process is complete, you will notice a new folder on your hard drive, called "Previous Systems" (or something like that). It contains your old, hosed system. If after you reinstall and update the new system, and you find that your fonts are missing, or other important stuff is gone, you can find it in that Previous Systems folder. Apple doesn't chuck things unless it absolutely has to. Just dig around for what you are missing, and don't throw that folder away until you are sure your computer is doing all for you that it should.

[Satcomer]

Originally Posted by gemillam

Hmmm. This same thing happened to me after a coworker ran an old copy of Norton Utilities on a G4 under OS9, then tried to boot back into OS X.

Note to all Mac users: Let this statement about Norton sink into your brain (sorry to use you gemillam). "Symantec discontinues Mac Norton Utilities, SystemWorks" (look at the date) was done for a reason, it will destroy any OS X machine. So please do not use it on ANY Mac.