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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Powerbook G4 Won't Boot Into Tiger
jkirsch - Nov 13, 2005 - 3:27 pm
About a month ago, I was running into problems running 10.3 - my hard disk had irreparable errors on it and kept freezing. I'd have to go in via single user mode and delete preference files (instructions from the apple site) and then the system would work for a few days before the problem would repeat. To solve the problem, I upgraded to 10.4 and my system had been running fine.
However, yesterday, my system locked on a spinning color-wheel. I restarted, but then it hung again and I wasn't able to reboot (It stops on an empty blue screen). I booted from the install CD and ran disk utilities and everything came out fine (no errors like before). Yet, the problem persisted. I'm able to boot into single-user mode, but keep getting messages that there is something wrong with the journal and am unable to mount the drive. However, I can see all my files. I also tried to mount my HD and an external firewire drive (which works fine on other machines) through the disk utility and was unable to do so.
Is my hard drive gone? I'm happy to replace it, but want to make sure thats in fact the problem. If it is gone is there anyway to mount my firewire drive through single-user mode so I can back up a few files.
Thanks!
However, yesterday, my system locked on a spinning color-wheel. I restarted, but then it hung again and I wasn't able to reboot (It stops on an empty blue screen). I booted from the install CD and ran disk utilities and everything came out fine (no errors like before). Yet, the problem persisted. I'm able to boot into single-user mode, but keep getting messages that there is something wrong with the journal and am unable to mount the drive. However, I can see all my files. I also tried to mount my HD and an external firewire drive (which works fine on other machines) through the disk utility and was unable to do so.
Is my hard drive gone? I'm happy to replace it, but want to make sure thats in fact the problem. If it is gone is there anyway to mount my firewire drive through single-user mode so I can back up a few files.
Thanks!
lushbudget - Nov 13, 2005 - 7:37 pm
HOWDY! I'll try to help you out here. Before I can, I'll need just a little more information about your system.
Which PowerBook G4 do you own? Is the hard drive the one that shipped with it? Which version of the OS shipped with it?
When you boot into single user mode and run fsck does the system report any changes made to your hard drive?
Lastly, which version of Tiger are you currently running, and how did you get there? DId you use the Combo or the Delta updates?
One very useful troubleshooting tool that we can use here is the Console.
If you launch Console (Applications>Utilities>Console) after a boot and copy and paste the contents into a Text Edit file, and then send that file to me I can learn a great deal about what is going on with your system.
If Disk Utility isn't reporting any errors on the drive then there probably aren't any. Chances are the problem is software related. Maybe some 3rd party stuff that was installed. Anyway, the Console System Log will reveal what is happening during the boot cycle.
I would ABSOLUTELY suggest you back up your important data. I would do this no matter how well your system is running! If you want to gain access to the machine from another Mac you can start it up in FireWire Target Disc Mode. You do this by powering on your PBook while holding down the 'T' key. Now your 'Book will appear on the desktop of any FW equipped Mac you plug it into. You can then make copies of your important files. You might want to take a crack at running Disk Utility this way, too.
Get back to me with the System Log from Console and the data about your Mac and we'll get this figured out!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
Which PowerBook G4 do you own? Is the hard drive the one that shipped with it? Which version of the OS shipped with it?
When you boot into single user mode and run fsck does the system report any changes made to your hard drive?
Lastly, which version of Tiger are you currently running, and how did you get there? DId you use the Combo or the Delta updates?
One very useful troubleshooting tool that we can use here is the Console.
If you launch Console (Applications>Utilities>Console) after a boot and copy and paste the contents into a Text Edit file, and then send that file to me I can learn a great deal about what is going on with your system.
If Disk Utility isn't reporting any errors on the drive then there probably aren't any. Chances are the problem is software related. Maybe some 3rd party stuff that was installed. Anyway, the Console System Log will reveal what is happening during the boot cycle.
I would ABSOLUTELY suggest you back up your important data. I would do this no matter how well your system is running! If you want to gain access to the machine from another Mac you can start it up in FireWire Target Disc Mode. You do this by powering on your PBook while holding down the 'T' key. Now your 'Book will appear on the desktop of any FW equipped Mac you plug it into. You can then make copies of your important files. You might want to take a crack at running Disk Utility this way, too.
Get back to me with the System Log from Console and the data about your Mac and we'll get this figured out!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
jkirsch - Nov 14, 2005 - 12:30 am
Thanks so much for your quick reponse! Here's the answers to your questions.
I have a G4 Titanium (DVI I think) with the original hard drive. Its from 2002 and I think came with 10.1.
If I run fsck -fy through single-user mode, the "Disk appears to be ok" but I do get a disk0s5: I/O error
I can't book past the apple-s single user mode to run console, but here's what the system says upon loading single user mode. If I proceed booting with sh /etc/rc, I repeated messages about the disk being read only during the boot.
standard timeslicing quantum is 10000 us
vm_page_bootstrap: 125873 free pages
mig_table_max_displ = 70
Copyright .....
using 1310 buffer headers and 1310 cluster IO buffer headers
Extension "com.apple.driver.KeyLargoATA" has no kernel dependency
IOPCCard info: Intel PCIC probe: TI 1410 rev 02
FireWire (OHCI) Lucent ID 5811 built-in now active, GUID 000393ff fe98a82c; max speed s400.
enableClockSpreading returned with 0
ADB present: 8c
Security auditing service present
BSM auditing present
disabled
rooting via boot-uuid from /chosen:80F6C654-7D24-3C0E-98FA-5B865167F677
Waiting onIOProviderClass IOResources IOResourceMatch boot-uuid-media
Got boot devices = IOService:/MacRISC2PE/pci@f200000/AppleMacRiscPCI/mac-io@17/AppleKeyLargo/ata-4@1f000/KeyLargo/ATA/ATTADeviceNub@0/IOATABlockStorageDriver/IOATABlockStorageDevice/IOBlockStorageDriver/IBM-IC25N040ATCS04-0 Media/IOApplePartitionScheme/MacOS@5
BSD root: disk0s5, major 14, minor 5
jnl: replay_jnl: from: 3463168 to : 6622208 (joffset 0x41e000)
disk0s5: I/O Error.
jnl: update_fs_block: failed to update block 6026 (ret 5)
jnl: journal_open: Error replaying the journal!
hfs: early jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0).
Nov 13 22:04:12 launcd: ioctl (SIOCAIFADDR ipv6): File exists
singleuser boot -- fsck not done
Root devivce is mounted read-only.
Thanks again for your help! Please let me know if you need anything else.
I have a G4 Titanium (DVI I think) with the original hard drive. Its from 2002 and I think came with 10.1.
If I run fsck -fy through single-user mode, the "Disk appears to be ok" but I do get a disk0s5: I/O error
I can't book past the apple-s single user mode to run console, but here's what the system says upon loading single user mode. If I proceed booting with sh /etc/rc, I repeated messages about the disk being read only during the boot.
standard timeslicing quantum is 10000 us
vm_page_bootstrap: 125873 free pages
mig_table_max_displ = 70
Copyright .....
using 1310 buffer headers and 1310 cluster IO buffer headers
Extension "com.apple.driver.KeyLargoATA" has no kernel dependency
IOPCCard info: Intel PCIC probe: TI 1410 rev 02
FireWire (OHCI) Lucent ID 5811 built-in now active, GUID 000393ff fe98a82c; max speed s400.
enableClockSpreading returned with 0
ADB present: 8c
Security auditing service present
BSM auditing present
disabled
rooting via boot-uuid from /chosen:80F6C654-7D24-3C0E-98FA-5B865167F677
Waiting on
Got boot devices = IOService:/MacRISC2PE/pci@f200000/AppleMacRiscPCI/mac-io@17/AppleKeyLargo/ata-4@1f000/KeyLargo/ATA/ATTADeviceNub@0/IOATABlockStorageDriver/IOATABlockStorageDevice/IOBlockStorageDriver/IBM-IC25N040ATCS04-0 Media/IOApplePartitionScheme/MacOS@5
BSD root: disk0s5, major 14, minor 5
jnl: replay_jnl: from: 3463168 to : 6622208 (joffset 0x41e000)
disk0s5: I/O Error.
jnl: update_fs_block: failed to update block 6026 (ret 5)
jnl: journal_open: Error replaying the journal!
hfs: early jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0).
Nov 13 22:04:12 launcd: ioctl (SIOCAIFADDR ipv6): File exists
singleuser boot -- fsck not done
Root devivce is mounted read-only.
Thanks again for your help! Please let me know if you need anything else.
lushbudget - Nov 14, 2005 - 7:38 pm
Jake,
Looks like the drive is hitting a bad block during the Journal read. Not sure if this is the physical drive or the device & disc controller chip (KeyLargo). If it is the drive it can probably be phyxed.
You didn't have FileVault turned on did you?
To determine if it is the ATA controller chip you will need to run the Apple Hardware Test CD that came with your PowerBook. If you don't have it, I can provide you with the correct one using Bit Torrent from my Mac, and you can burn it from your other computer. Boot from the CD and run the extended test. If there is a problem anywhere on the logic board it will be revealed here.
If it passes then we'll need to repair the boot journal that the system is getting hung on.
This will be easiest with another Mac (with FireWire)
Boot your TiBook into target disc mode, and plug it into another Mac. If the drive doesn't appear on the desktop you will need something a little more heavy-duty than Disk Utility to work on it. I'd suggest Drive Genius or Disk Warrior. But 1st lets disable the Journaling feature: from the 2nd Mac run Disk Utility. Find your TiBook's drive. If Journaling is enabled, turn it off. You do this by selecting your drive in the Volumes list, hold down OPTION then go to the File Menu and Disable Journaling. Since you have been able to boot into Single User Mode, Journaling shouldn't be enabled. If it isn't on, turn it on, then disable it. This will reset the Journal file which (I believe) where your boot issues are occuring.
Now repair the disk and reboot in Safe Mode (Hold down SHIFT while booting)
(REMEMBER TO UNMOUNT THE DRIVE from the 2nd Mac before you hit the power button on the 'Book!)
If you get to the desktop you should be golden, just back up your data and go. If you don't get there, write me back and we'll take the next step.
GOOD LUCK!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
Looks like the drive is hitting a bad block during the Journal read. Not sure if this is the physical drive or the device & disc controller chip (KeyLargo). If it is the drive it can probably be phyxed.
You didn't have FileVault turned on did you?
To determine if it is the ATA controller chip you will need to run the Apple Hardware Test CD that came with your PowerBook. If you don't have it, I can provide you with the correct one using Bit Torrent from my Mac, and you can burn it from your other computer. Boot from the CD and run the extended test. If there is a problem anywhere on the logic board it will be revealed here.
If it passes then we'll need to repair the boot journal that the system is getting hung on.
This will be easiest with another Mac (with FireWire)
Boot your TiBook into target disc mode, and plug it into another Mac. If the drive doesn't appear on the desktop you will need something a little more heavy-duty than Disk Utility to work on it. I'd suggest Drive Genius or Disk Warrior. But 1st lets disable the Journaling feature: from the 2nd Mac run Disk Utility. Find your TiBook's drive. If Journaling is enabled, turn it off. You do this by selecting your drive in the Volumes list, hold down OPTION then go to the File Menu and Disable Journaling. Since you have been able to boot into Single User Mode, Journaling shouldn't be enabled. If it isn't on, turn it on, then disable it. This will reset the Journal file which (I believe) where your boot issues are occuring.
Now repair the disk and reboot in Safe Mode (Hold down SHIFT while booting)
(REMEMBER TO UNMOUNT THE DRIVE from the 2nd Mac before you hit the power button on the 'Book!)
If you get to the desktop you should be golden, just back up your data and go. If you don't get there, write me back and we'll take the next step.
GOOD LUCK!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
jkirsch - Nov 15, 2005 - 1:14 am
Thanks again for your response and wonderful instructions. I was able to successfully load the system in target disk mode, download the files I needed, disable the journal and run the disk utility (everything was very slow, but it worked).
The first time I tried to boot into Safe Mode, the system hung at the blue screen. I restarted into single-user mode and was able to mount the drive (getting the message that 1 orphaned file was removed). I rebooted normally and everything seems fine (except that when I booted I got a flashing globe and then the folder with a question mark - I assume it was searching for a boot device because I had run disk utility from the install CD). Anyway, I'm at my desktop, so things appear to be OK. Is there anything else I need to do, besides regularly back up my data? Should I still look into replacing my drive. Thanks so much for all your help - I wish there was something I could to to return the favor, and please let me know if there is.
Best,
Jake
The first time I tried to boot into Safe Mode, the system hung at the blue screen. I restarted into single-user mode and was able to mount the drive (getting the message that 1 orphaned file was removed). I rebooted normally and everything seems fine (except that when I booted I got a flashing globe and then the folder with a question mark - I assume it was searching for a boot device because I had run disk utility from the install CD). Anyway, I'm at my desktop, so things appear to be OK. Is there anything else I need to do, besides regularly back up my data? Should I still look into replacing my drive. Thanks so much for all your help - I wish there was something I could to to return the favor, and please let me know if there is.
Best,
Jake
lushbudget - Nov 15, 2005 - 8:18 am
Glad to hear your computer is working for you now! The best way to repay me is to let people know about this site and the help that you got here. I enjoy helping people enjoy their Macintosh.
Anyway, as far as final steps:
Repair your disk's Permissions: Use Disk Utility and run Repair Permissions, and do it about every month or so. Do it today to repair the errors that exist now on your volume.
I would strongly advise that you run a Surface Scan of your HD, using either the Apple Hardware Test CD or a 3rd party app like Drive Genius or TechTool. Just confirm that there is nothing physically wrong w/your drive. A bad sector or block of sectors on you disk can wreak havoc and cause irreparable damage to your data.
You should probably reset the PRAM and NVRAM for the 'Book as a housekeeping chore. To do this power up your Mac while holding down OPTION + the letter O+ F. When the grey Open Firmware screen appears, release the keys and type the following, pressing RETURN after each line.
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset all
Your Mac will now boot to the desktop, though it may take a little longer than usual. Remember, you can always reset the PRAM by holding down OPTION+P+R during a boot, and doing so often fixes many unusual problems.
One other thing that may benefit you since you are using an older PowerBook is to reset the PMU (power management unit). On your powerbook the button to reset the PMU should be located underneath the keyboard on the logic board - in the upper right-hand corner. It is a small, flat button. To reset the PMU shut-down your Mac, unplug it from it's power-source, leave the battery in. Then press and hold the PMU button for about 3 seconds. Now replace the keyboard, plug back in and power it up! This will reset the firmware tools that monitor and control Sleep, HD spin-down, and other power mang. settings. Sometimes these settings are corrupted when you have to force your computer to shut-down by holding the power button, especially if done during a hung boot-cycle (like you described doing earlier)
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
Anyway, as far as final steps:
Repair your disk's Permissions: Use Disk Utility and run Repair Permissions, and do it about every month or so. Do it today to repair the errors that exist now on your volume.
I would strongly advise that you run a Surface Scan of your HD, using either the Apple Hardware Test CD or a 3rd party app like Drive Genius or TechTool. Just confirm that there is nothing physically wrong w/your drive. A bad sector or block of sectors on you disk can wreak havoc and cause irreparable damage to your data.
You should probably reset the PRAM and NVRAM for the 'Book as a housekeeping chore. To do this power up your Mac while holding down OPTION + the letter O+ F. When the grey Open Firmware screen appears, release the keys and type the following, pressing RETURN after each line.
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset all
Your Mac will now boot to the desktop, though it may take a little longer than usual. Remember, you can always reset the PRAM by holding down OPTION+P+R during a boot, and doing so often fixes many unusual problems.
One other thing that may benefit you since you are using an older PowerBook is to reset the PMU (power management unit). On your powerbook the button to reset the PMU should be located underneath the keyboard on the logic board - in the upper right-hand corner. It is a small, flat button. To reset the PMU shut-down your Mac, unplug it from it's power-source, leave the battery in. Then press and hold the PMU button for about 3 seconds. Now replace the keyboard, plug back in and power it up! This will reset the firmware tools that monitor and control Sleep, HD spin-down, and other power mang. settings. Sometimes these settings are corrupted when you have to force your computer to shut-down by holding the power button, especially if done during a hung boot-cycle (like you described doing earlier)
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
jkirsch - Nov 17, 2005 - 10:08 pm
Sorry to write again. I followed all your final instructions - resetting the NVRAM and PMU and running a disk scan with drive genius. However, the problem has repeated itself - the system hung while in Safari, I rebooted and was able to use the system for several minutes before the same thing happened. On restart, the system wouldn't load past the blue screen (a pinwheel would appear every so often at the bottom). I now have all my data off the system and could replace the Hard disk (though it passed the mass storage test from the apple CD. The main reason I feel thats the problem is when the system hangs, I can hear it make the same noise repeatedly.
Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated.
Thanks again.
Jake
Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated.
Thanks again.
Jake
jkirsch - Nov 18, 2005 - 12:05 pm
Not sure if this helps, but I've realized something else. With this instance of the problem and the previous ones (including under 10.3), the issue occured when I was using internet services (dashboard, a website or streaming media). I even fixed my system last night using your previous instructions, just to have it lock again when trying to enter dashboard to check the weather.
lushbudget - Nov 18, 2005 - 12:53 pm
Well, if Disk Utility and Drive Genius both are passing the drive, there probably isn't anything wrong with the volume. There may be a networking issue, I have had them in the past and some symptoms were a hanging Finder, crashing Safari, inability to access remote volumes through the Finder, and bizzare activity from QuickTime and other internet-enabled apps. What I had to do was reset everything associated with my network. It can't hurt to try this, but it takes a few steps to do it correctly.
Depending on your setup, you will have to reset your modem (cable or dial-up), router (hard-wired or wireless), your Network System Prefs, prefs for your internet-enabled apps (including Widgets), all your Network and Internet Keychains, and your .Mac sync services (if you use them). If you want to try this and aren't sure how, I can walk you though it.
What is your network configuration? Are you wireless? Dial-up, cable, DSL? Do you use any FTP clients? What about a home network?
Do you switch between networks at home and work?
One last thing on the Drive issue - just to confirm that the drive is cool: Open Disk Utility and select your drive (the device, not your named drive). Now, down in the bottom to the right there is a group of data, and one of them is S.M.A.R.T. Status. It should read Verified. If it doesn't your drive is malfunctioning and should be replaced immediately. Take a look at this.
So, let me know if you want to continue to diagnose the performance issues. I'll be glad to help!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
Depending on your setup, you will have to reset your modem (cable or dial-up), router (hard-wired or wireless), your Network System Prefs, prefs for your internet-enabled apps (including Widgets), all your Network and Internet Keychains, and your .Mac sync services (if you use them). If you want to try this and aren't sure how, I can walk you though it.
What is your network configuration? Are you wireless? Dial-up, cable, DSL? Do you use any FTP clients? What about a home network?
Do you switch between networks at home and work?
One last thing on the Drive issue - just to confirm that the drive is cool: Open Disk Utility and select your drive (the device, not your named drive). Now, down in the bottom to the right there is a group of data, and one of them is S.M.A.R.T. Status. It should read Verified. If it doesn't your drive is malfunctioning and should be replaced immediately. Take a look at this.
So, let me know if you want to continue to diagnose the performance issues. I'll be glad to help!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
lushbudget - Nov 18, 2005 - 1:39 pm
One other thing!
Did you reset your Open Firmware?
OPTION+COMMAND(APPLE KEY)+O+F at boo to the grey screen and type:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset all
That might help! Does wonders for me!
J
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
Did you reset your Open Firmware?
OPTION+COMMAND(APPLE KEY)+O+F at boo to the grey screen and type:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset all
That might help! Does wonders for me!
J
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
jkirsch - Nov 18, 2005 - 2:14 pm
Thanks for the quick replies. I reset my firmware when I went through your instructions a few days ago. I can try resetting some of my network (I use an airport connected to a DSL modem), but the other Mac has been working fine.
I think the S.M.A.R.T. status is the problem. I don't have my system in front of me, but I specifically recall that a negative status was showing up there in disk utility when I booted from the Tiger CD or into target disk mode (I had assumed that my disk simply didn't have this functionality). Disk genius has also frozen a few times when performing the SMART check upon connecting the system through firewire.
But should the problems have appeared in the drive scans?
I think the S.M.A.R.T. status is the problem. I don't have my system in front of me, but I specifically recall that a negative status was showing up there in disk utility when I booted from the Tiger CD or into target disk mode (I had assumed that my disk simply didn't have this functionality). Disk genius has also frozen a few times when performing the SMART check upon connecting the system through firewire.
But should the problems have appeared in the drive scans?
lushbudget - Nov 18, 2005 - 3:05 pm
S.M.A.R.T. = Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology
It is built into most hard drives, amd is today an industry standard theat uses a predictive diagnostic test to foresee if a drive will fail BEFORE it does; In short: If you fail SMART, your drive is on it's way out. Back up your data and buy a new drive! There is no telling when this drive will fail; it might take a year or more, it might happem tomorrow, but it will eventually crash.
A Surface Scan in Drive Genius can pinpoint where the bad sectors are.
2.5" norenoo aren't too expensive anymore, and they are faster and more reliable than ever. I bought a Seagate 100Gb 5400Rpm drive for my tibook about 3 months ago, and it is faster and quieter. I got it for $125 at Best Buy.
Try the surface scan and see how bad the damage is.
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
It is built into most hard drives, amd is today an industry standard theat uses a predictive diagnostic test to foresee if a drive will fail BEFORE it does; In short: If you fail SMART, your drive is on it's way out. Back up your data and buy a new drive! There is no telling when this drive will fail; it might take a year or more, it might happem tomorrow, but it will eventually crash.
A Surface Scan in Drive Genius can pinpoint where the bad sectors are.
2.5" norenoo aren't too expensive anymore, and they are faster and more reliable than ever. I bought a Seagate 100Gb 5400Rpm drive for my tibook about 3 months ago, and it is faster and quieter. I got it for $125 at Best Buy.
Try the surface scan and see how bad the damage is.
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
jkirsch - Nov 18, 2005 - 3:13 pm
Thanks for the tip. If I do replace my drive, how do I make sure I pick one that is compatible?
lushbudget - Nov 18, 2005 - 11:15 pm
Most 2.5 inch ATA drives will work w/your PowerBook, but you might want to verify that the drive's thickness doesn't exceed 1/2 inch. Any thicker and it may not fit into your Ti Book housing.
But I don't think that will be a problem if you buy a new drive, since they are all now small and fast and reliable - much more than they were even 2 years ago.
Installation is relatively simple - you'll need a Torx 8 screwdriver, a soft towel, and these instructions:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/powerbook...d_upgrade.html
Good luck!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
But I don't think that will be a problem if you buy a new drive, since they are all now small and fast and reliable - much more than they were even 2 years ago.
Installation is relatively simple - you'll need a Torx 8 screwdriver, a soft towel, and these instructions:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/powerbook...d_upgrade.html
Good luck!
--------
lushbudget
One day, Apple will take over the planet. That'd be cool...
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