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TICKET ARCHIVE -> G5 freezes on restart
Mikem - Apr 15, 2006 - 3:35 am
I have a G5 1.8gHz single processor power mac. It crashes a lot, especially when I:
restart (including software installation restarts)
shutdown
leave the display to go to sleep.
I discovered a firmware update on the Apple support site that suggests it might be able to fix this problem. Unfortunately when I run the firmware update my computer refuses to restart.
Today I decided enough was enough and attempted to reinstal OS10.3. That's when I discovered it won't let me start up from a CD, so I couldn't reinstal the OS.
I also tried using my Norton Systemworks 2.0 CD, but not only can I not start up from that CD, I can't run any of the Norton applications.
I only have one internal hard disk.
If you don't know how to solve my freezing problems, perhaps you could suggest how to instal an OS when you can't boot from the CD?
thanks,
Michael
restart (including software installation restarts)
shutdown
leave the display to go to sleep.
I discovered a firmware update on the Apple support site that suggests it might be able to fix this problem. Unfortunately when I run the firmware update my computer refuses to restart.
Today I decided enough was enough and attempted to reinstal OS10.3. That's when I discovered it won't let me start up from a CD, so I couldn't reinstal the OS.
I also tried using my Norton Systemworks 2.0 CD, but not only can I not start up from that CD, I can't run any of the Norton applications.
I only have one internal hard disk.
If you don't know how to solve my freezing problems, perhaps you could suggest how to instal an OS when you can't boot from the CD?
thanks,
Michael
ishan - Apr 15, 2006 - 4:06 am
First, I would strongly recommend against any Norton products under OS X-they cause more problems then they solve, and it's difficult to uninstall Norton as well.
If you can't boot from the CD, and you don't have a bootable external Firewire drive, you would need access to another Macintosh with a Firewire port. Start up the second Macintosh as usual, let it finish booting, then connect your Macintosh (turned off) to the second Mac with a FW cable. Then turn your Mac on with the T key held down (it's called "Target" mode). Eventually, you will see your Macintosh's hard drive appear on the second Macintosh's desktop as a FW drive. You can then use the install CD/DVD to install Mac OS X on your Macintosh by putting the install CD/DVD into the second Macintosh's CD/DVD drive.
Just wondering, how do you back up your data without having another internal or external drive? One of the advantages of having an external FW drive (they're not expensive) is that you can "clone," i.e., make an identical copy of your boot drive using a free utility called Carbon Copy Cloner or a shareware utility called SuperDuper 2.0 (the latter is $27.95 and worth every penny, IMHO). If your boot drive fails, you would then be able to startup your Mac with the FW drive by holding down the option key at restart and choosing the FW drive as your boot drive from the screen that appears.
HTH and please let us know what happens. Thanks.
If you can't boot from the CD, and you don't have a bootable external Firewire drive, you would need access to another Macintosh with a Firewire port. Start up the second Macintosh as usual, let it finish booting, then connect your Macintosh (turned off) to the second Mac with a FW cable. Then turn your Mac on with the T key held down (it's called "Target" mode). Eventually, you will see your Macintosh's hard drive appear on the second Macintosh's desktop as a FW drive. You can then use the install CD/DVD to install Mac OS X on your Macintosh by putting the install CD/DVD into the second Macintosh's CD/DVD drive.
Just wondering, how do you back up your data without having another internal or external drive? One of the advantages of having an external FW drive (they're not expensive) is that you can "clone," i.e., make an identical copy of your boot drive using a free utility called Carbon Copy Cloner or a shareware utility called SuperDuper 2.0 (the latter is $27.95 and worth every penny, IMHO). If your boot drive fails, you would then be able to startup your Mac with the FW drive by holding down the option key at restart and choosing the FW drive as your boot drive from the screen that appears.
HTH and please let us know what happens. Thanks.
Mikem - Apr 17, 2006 - 7:42 am
Thanks Ishan,
I've given your idea a go, and it almost worked! I booted my G5 in target mode using my ibook, but my ibook wouldn't run any of the OSX disks (that's another unxeplained problem). I managed to reformat my G5 hard disk using disk utility on my ibook, after which the G5 happily ran the OSX disks (10.3.5) that were supplied with it. I then ran the OS10.3.9 update, which was successful up until the required restart, at which point I encountered the screen of death: 'You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the restart button'. Now I can't bootup at all (I just get the grey screen with a greyer apple symbol) and I can't even bootup in target mode!
I'm starting to wonder if there might be something wrong with the hardware. Because of the constant freezing-on-shutdown issue, the G5 has often been turned off by holding down the power button. Also, I'm not sure if the firmware update that I attempted just a couple of days ago was successful, or half successful, or a complete failure, as the computer failed during the required restart.
BTW, I have an external firewire drive, which I've backed up to, but I wasn't aware that it could be used as a startup disk. I'll keep that in mind for the future. Would I be able to work around my current problem by cloning my ibook OS to the FW drive, then using the FW drive to run my G5?
I've given your idea a go, and it almost worked! I booted my G5 in target mode using my ibook, but my ibook wouldn't run any of the OSX disks (that's another unxeplained problem). I managed to reformat my G5 hard disk using disk utility on my ibook, after which the G5 happily ran the OSX disks (10.3.5) that were supplied with it. I then ran the OS10.3.9 update, which was successful up until the required restart, at which point I encountered the screen of death: 'You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the restart button'. Now I can't bootup at all (I just get the grey screen with a greyer apple symbol) and I can't even bootup in target mode!
I'm starting to wonder if there might be something wrong with the hardware. Because of the constant freezing-on-shutdown issue, the G5 has often been turned off by holding down the power button. Also, I'm not sure if the firmware update that I attempted just a couple of days ago was successful, or half successful, or a complete failure, as the computer failed during the required restart.
BTW, I have an external firewire drive, which I've backed up to, but I wasn't aware that it could be used as a startup disk. I'll keep that in mind for the future. Would I be able to work around my current problem by cloning my ibook OS to the FW drive, then using the FW drive to run my G5?
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