Ticket Options
Question Profile
| DATE | May 3, 2008 |
| TICKET | #337273 |
| STATUS | Closed |
| SUBJECT | G4 733 won't boot |
| CAT | Computers, Operating Systems, Applications or Connected Devices |
| TYPE | Operating System Features, Bugs and Problems |
| DESC | Apple |
| DESC | 10.3.X (Panther) |
| PLATFORM | Apple Macintosh (PowerPC G3,G4,G5) |
| MODEL | Power PC G4 |
| PROC | 733 |
| RAM | 320 mb |
| DRIVE | don't know 80 Gb I think |
| NAME | scott |
| USERNAME | macguy5150 |
| TECHNICAL | Lots of Experience |
| ISSUE | Stumped |
Question Details
TICKET ARCHIVE -> G4 733 won't boot
macguy5150 - May 3, 2008 - 7:46 pm
Machine belongs to a friend. Here's specs:
G4 733, 320 mb RAM, 2 partitions on HD, one for OS 9.2.2, second for OS X 10.3.9.
Machine will not find a system folder--flashing question mark (don't know what friend was doing when this happened--he said it has been working fine for quite awhile, and that he hadn't changed anything to cause it).
I have done the following: Ran Disk Utility from Panther CD, repaired disks (disk utility said there were no problems to repair); repaired permissions on both partitions; started up his machine in Target Disk mode connected to my G4, both partitions are there, all files are showing; ran Apple hardware test, no problems; ran Disk Warrior twice, it said no problems, rebuilt directory twice; ran tech tool pro, all tests, minor errors repaired. CAN'T start up as single user to run fsck. Started in open firmware, reset nvram and reset all--no help. When a I hold down Option during startup, no drives show up.
If I try to reinstall OSX, I get the "You can't install OS X on this volume. You can't start up your computer from this volume" message for both partitions. I can boot from 9.2.2 install disk, but no hard drives show up.
As you can imagine, after 6 hours of pulling out what's left of my hair, I am completely stumped. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Scott
G4 733, 320 mb RAM, 2 partitions on HD, one for OS 9.2.2, second for OS X 10.3.9.
Machine will not find a system folder--flashing question mark (don't know what friend was doing when this happened--he said it has been working fine for quite awhile, and that he hadn't changed anything to cause it).
I have done the following: Ran Disk Utility from Panther CD, repaired disks (disk utility said there were no problems to repair); repaired permissions on both partitions; started up his machine in Target Disk mode connected to my G4, both partitions are there, all files are showing; ran Apple hardware test, no problems; ran Disk Warrior twice, it said no problems, rebuilt directory twice; ran tech tool pro, all tests, minor errors repaired. CAN'T start up as single user to run fsck. Started in open firmware, reset nvram and reset all--no help. When a I hold down Option during startup, no drives show up.
If I try to reinstall OSX, I get the "You can't install OS X on this volume. You can't start up your computer from this volume" message for both partitions. I can boot from 9.2.2 install disk, but no hard drives show up.
As you can imagine, after 6 hours of pulling out what's left of my hair, I am completely stumped. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Scott
Cheryl - May 4, 2008 - 7:45 am
Scott,
It could be that your friend no longer has any room on the drive. The drive has to have free space for all the logs and cache files. If he always turned off the machine at night, none of the nightly OS X jobs were done and those files are now huge.
In order to check this you will need to start up his machine in Target Mode with your machine and work from there since you can see the drives.
First go to /System/Library/Extensions/ and locate the file named BootCache.kext. Drag it to the trash.
Next, make sure he did not accidently move a folder or rename a system folder. You shouldn't remove or rename any of these Mac OS X system files or folders.
Applications (a visible folder)
automount (an invisible folder)
Library (a visible folder)
mach_kernel (an invisible file)
System (a visible folder)
Users (a visible folder)
The Mac OS 9 partition should have System Folder and the Mac OS X partition should have System. Changing these names will cause major problems.
Use Macaroni to clean up the cache and log files for the monthly, weekly and nightly jobs.
http://www.atomicbird.com/macaroni
You need version 2.08 for this machine. You should be able to install it on your machine and run it on his hard drives.
Now try starting it up on it's own. Disconnect any additional equipment and the ethernet cable keeping the keyboard and mouse.
Keep me posted on how you do.
Cheryl
It could be that your friend no longer has any room on the drive. The drive has to have free space for all the logs and cache files. If he always turned off the machine at night, none of the nightly OS X jobs were done and those files are now huge.
In order to check this you will need to start up his machine in Target Mode with your machine and work from there since you can see the drives.
First go to /System/Library/Extensions/ and locate the file named BootCache.kext. Drag it to the trash.
Next, make sure he did not accidently move a folder or rename a system folder. You shouldn't remove or rename any of these Mac OS X system files or folders.
Applications (a visible folder)
automount (an invisible folder)
Library (a visible folder)
mach_kernel (an invisible file)
System (a visible folder)
Users (a visible folder)
The Mac OS 9 partition should have System Folder and the Mac OS X partition should have System. Changing these names will cause major problems.
Use Macaroni to clean up the cache and log files for the monthly, weekly and nightly jobs.
http://www.atomicbird.com/macaroni
You need version 2.08 for this machine. You should be able to install it on your machine and run it on his hard drives.
Now try starting it up on it's own. Disconnect any additional equipment and the ethernet cable keeping the keyboard and mouse.
Keep me posted on how you do.
Cheryl
macguy5150 - May 4, 2008 - 6:38 pm
Hi Cheryl,
Both partitions have plenty of room. I deleted the BootCache.kext
file anyway. All folders you mentioned are in the correct places and named correctly. I installed Macaroni, but I am stumped on being able to configure it to clean a different drive other than what it is installed on.
I have also put in a new PRAM battery after pulling the old battery for 10 minutes, and pushing the reset button.
I have now restarted the machine after deleting BootCache file--still no go. Also checked RAM and moved to different slots. All to no avail :-(
Scott
Both partitions have plenty of room. I deleted the BootCache.kext
file anyway. All folders you mentioned are in the correct places and named correctly. I installed Macaroni, but I am stumped on being able to configure it to clean a different drive other than what it is installed on.
I have also put in a new PRAM battery after pulling the old battery for 10 minutes, and pushing the reset button.
I have now restarted the machine after deleting BootCache file--still no go. Also checked RAM and moved to different slots. All to no avail :-(
Scott
Cheryl - May 4, 2008 - 8:05 pm
Scott,
I thought that version of Macaroni was like the older version where you must select a drive. What you need to do is install it on the problem OS X drive. Then start it. I am not sure if it will work on a drive that is not running now that I checked the support pages, but give it a try.
While in Target Mode, click once on one of the partitions, then go to the File Menu and select Get Info. Under the general section, see if Locked is checked. If so, uncheck it. Do the same for the other partition.
Did you friend have File Vault turned on? If so, go to the OS X Partition>Home>Library>Preferences and trash the com.apple.filevault.plist file.
While you are there - go to hard drive (OS X)>Library>Preferences.
Trash all the com.apple files. Do the same in Directory Services folder (in Library), and System Configuration.
Empty the trash and give the system a try out.
Check to see if the OS 9 System Folder is blessed. That is it has the happy Mac face on the folder icon. If not, open it and check for the presence of two items, named "System" and "Finder."
If those two files are there, drag them to the desktop, close the System Folder Window and then drag them back to the System Folder (drop them in the folder - do not open the folder). Now see if it will at least start up in OS 9.
If that fails to work, it could very well be a drive that is failing. If you have a spare drive, install that - make it the master and the original drive slave - and see if it boots up. If this is the original drive, there is no warning sign that the drive has failed. It could be that the system folder (s) are on bad blocks that Disk Utility did not catch.
Keep me posted on how you do.
Cheryl
I thought that version of Macaroni was like the older version where you must select a drive. What you need to do is install it on the problem OS X drive. Then start it. I am not sure if it will work on a drive that is not running now that I checked the support pages, but give it a try.
While in Target Mode, click once on one of the partitions, then go to the File Menu and select Get Info. Under the general section, see if Locked is checked. If so, uncheck it. Do the same for the other partition.
Did you friend have File Vault turned on? If so, go to the OS X Partition>Home>Library>Preferences and trash the com.apple.filevault.plist file.
While you are there - go to hard drive (OS X)>Library>Preferences.
Trash all the com.apple files. Do the same in Directory Services folder (in Library), and System Configuration.
Empty the trash and give the system a try out.
Check to see if the OS 9 System Folder is blessed. That is it has the happy Mac face on the folder icon. If not, open it and check for the presence of two items, named "System" and "Finder."
If those two files are there, drag them to the desktop, close the System Folder Window and then drag them back to the System Folder (drop them in the folder - do not open the folder). Now see if it will at least start up in OS 9.
If that fails to work, it could very well be a drive that is failing. If you have a spare drive, install that - make it the master and the original drive slave - and see if it boots up. If this is the original drive, there is no warning sign that the drive has failed. It could be that the system folder (s) are on bad blocks that Disk Utility did not catch.
Keep me posted on how you do.
Cheryl
IF THIS IS YOUR QUESTION AND YOU WISH TO RESPOND, LOGIN HERE FIRST.
