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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Mac G4 Frozen Screen

Welton - Jun 6, 2005 - 10:15 pm

Hello,

I'm having a problem with my Mac G4. I had it on sleep mode and wanted to start using it. I moved the mouse to get to the regular screen and a error code came up telling me that I needed to restart my computer. So I did, and now it's frozen on the all white startup screen with the grey apple in the middle. The little "thinking circle" is spinning like it's trying to load, but nothing happens. It just keeps spinning.
I've tried unplugging it to reboot, but after it tries to boot up I get the same screen.

Please help!

Thanks!

-Welton

Cheryl - Jun 7, 2005 - 8:22 am

Welton,

My name is Cheryl and I will be assisting you.

You need to locate your OS X CD and start up the computer using the CD.

Just insert the CD, restart the computer and immediately hold down the C key.

When the computer starts up, do not click on the installer screen. Instead to go the Installer Menu and select Disk utility.

When that opens, click on the second icon at the top left, the one with your hard drive name on it, then click on Repair Drive.

Watch the activity screen. You want to make sure it finds all the problems and repairs them. If the first run through shows repairs made, click on the Repair Disk again.
You want to see Appears Okay so you may need to hit that Repair Disk button three times.

Once done, quit Disk Utility and restart the computer.

Does it start up properly?

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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl

Welton - Jun 7, 2005 - 11:43 pm

Cheryl,

Thanks for the info, but I can't use the CD because I can't get the CD tray to open. When I press the eject key on the keyboard, nothing happens. Also, there's no button on the tower to open the CD tray.

Please help!

Welton

Cheryl - Jun 8, 2005 - 8:20 am

Welton,

Try forcing the CD tray to open by restarting the computer and holding down the mouse button. Continue to hold down the mouse button during the start up. The CD tray should open.

If it does not, you have a serious hardware problem that needs to be taken care of by an authorized Apple Tech.
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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl

Welton - Jun 8, 2005 - 11:22 pm

Cheryl,

Thanks for the tip on how to get the CD tray open. Holding the mouse down did the trick. I put in the OS X CD and got to the Disk Utility menu/screen. I clicked on the second icon (Macintosh HD), clicked on First Aid and then clicked on Repair Disk. I did this MANY times. It went through the cycle and kept showing "overlapped extent allocation" many times over in red lettering. Then at the end of the list it said Repair Complete." It never said Appears Okay. So, then I clicked on Verify Disk and at the end of the list it said "Macintosh HD disk needs to be repaired." What do I do now???

Thanks for your help!

Welton

Cheryl - Jun 9, 2005 - 8:15 am

Welton,

The repairs that need to be done are too extensive for Disk Utility. You will need to get Disk Warrior.
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html

You will need the CD to make these repairs. The CD is bootable, so you can start up the computer with it, and allow it to make all the repairs.

Once done, you can quit Disk Warrior and restart the computer.

Things should be back to normal.

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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl

Welton - Jun 9, 2005 - 10:56 pm

Cheryl,

I bought Disk Warrior and ran the program. Then replaced the orig HD with the newly rebuilt HD. I still have the same problem. I went to reboot the computer and it still stops at the grey apple and the "spinning loading circle" screen. What do I do now?

Thanks!

Welton

Welton - Jun 9, 2005 - 11:34 pm

Cheryl,

One more thing. I do have an external HD hooked up too. Could the be the source of the problem? Should I run Disk Warrior on it? Wanted to let you know.

Thanks!

Welton

Cheryl - Jun 10, 2005 - 8:18 am

Welton,

Disconnect the external drive, and try starting up the computer again.

If it still does not start up, use Disk Warrior again on the newly installed drive - this time with the external drive disconnected.

Check the packet of CDs that came with your G4. Locate the Hardware Test CD. Use that CD to test the computer. Let me know what the report states.
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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl

Welton - Jun 10, 2005 - 9:50 pm

Cheryl,

I disconnected the external HD and ran Disk Warrior again. No luck. I ran a hardware test and the results are as follows:

Air Port: No device found
Logic board: Passed
Mass Storage: Passed
Memory: Passed
Modem: Device found
Video RAM: Passed

In the comments section it read; "No hardward problems have been detected."

What do I do now??

Thanks for all your help!

-Welton

BTW. Do you have any theories as to how this could have happened? Have you had to troubleshoot this kind of problem a lot? If so, what were the main causes? Was it something I did? Thanks.

Cheryl - Jun 11, 2005 - 8:09 am

Welton,

The next step is to reset the PRAM. Disconnect all devices except the keyboard and mouse before doing this.

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

The second hard drive that you installed - did it have OS X installed? What version of OS X (10.0, 10.2, 10.3?)

Exactly what model G4 do you have?

It is hard to know exactly what caused this problem. OS X is sensitive to some third party software and hardware. It could also be a corrupt file within the system folder. Each problem similar to this has been resolved at different stages of repair steps. What makes troubleshooting even harder is not sitting in front of your computer when all this happens.

Depending on what OS X version you have, the next step will be to reinstall the OS X.
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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl

Welton - Jun 11, 2005 - 11:32 am

Cheryl,

I don't have a "command" key on my keybord. Did you mean the "control" key? Well, I restarted the computer holding down the control, option, P & R keys and the only change is that I got that big piano chord sound as it started up. I let it continue to load for a while, but it stopped and that familiar white screen w/ gray apple. I then shut it down and rebooted, got the piano chord sound again and then nothing. Still have the same problem.

I'm not sure what you mean by the second drive. Do you mean the external Lacie HD? If so, I'm not sure. I didn't install it. It is still disconnected though.

To be honest, I'm helping out a friend and it's his comp, so I'm not sure what version he's got. I can tell you that the Hardware Test CD has "SW version 1.2.6" on it, the install CD's have "Mac OS version 10.2.1" on them and the softward CD's have "Mac OS version 9.2.2" on them. I hope that helps.

Let me know what do to from here.

Thanks a lot!

Welton

Cheryl - Jun 11, 2005 - 2:19 pm

Welton,

The Command key is the key with the Apple on it. Try to reset the PRAM again.

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (Apple), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

You had stated that you replaced the original HD with a newly rebuilt HD. That was what I was referring to.

Is the computer a tower with a separate monitor or an all in one iMac?

If resetting the PRAM does not work in getting the machine to start up, you may need to reinstall the OS.

Start up from your Mac OS X 10.2 Install Disc 1.
Select your language. The Welcome to the Mac OS X Installer window appears.
Click Continue. The Important Information window appears.
After reading or printing the information, click Continue. The Software License Agreement window appears.
After reading or printing the information, click Continue.
An agreement sheet appears. If you agree with the license agreement, click Agree. The Select a Destination window appears.
Click the volume that you wish to install to.
Click Options. The installation options sheet appears.
Select Archive and Install.
Select the volume which already has Mac OS X installed.
You should also select Preserve Users and Network Settings, to preserve network and Home directory settings.
Click OK.
Click Continue to begin the installation.

Let me know if this corrects the problem.

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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl

Welton - Jun 12, 2005 - 12:50 pm

Cheryl,

That did the trick! I had to finish up with Install Disc 2 and then everything booted up fine. All the files were there, downloads, etc. Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver!

I did have an additional question regarding checking email. I'll write you a bit later when I have all my thoughts together and can word it correctly.

Thanks again!!!

Welton

PS. The Mac G4 we're using has a separate tower and flat pannel monitor

Cheryl - Jun 12, 2005 - 10:44 pm

Welton,

I am glad all is well. You can open a new question for your email question.
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Let me know if you need further assistance and thank you for using MacOSX.com !

Cheryl