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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Start Up freezes part way through

Nickr - Jun 9, 2006 - 10:49 am

On Start Up the Mac freezes completely at various stages, normally midway through the progress bars movement.

I press the power button to Shutdown and then starting again is almost always successful and normal.

I have also 2 or 3 times had the screen go grey and a message telling me the Mac will be restarted.

I have disconnected all peripherals and hub except Keybd and mouse.

I have run disk utility and MacJanitor several times.

Thanks in anticipation.

ishan - Jun 9, 2006 - 8:23 pm

You can try a quick fix which is to download the latest combo installer for your system version from Apple's website and run it (even though you're already running that version). For example, you can download the combo installer for 10.3.9 and run it if you're running 10.3.9.

The proper fix would be to do an archive/install using your original disks that came with your Macintosh, then as above, use the appropriate combo installer to upgrade to the OS X version you prefer. Only after that should you let Software Update update anything.

Before you do any of this, make sure you have a backup. If the disk won't boot, try to boot in "Safe" mode by holding the shift key down. If that doesn't work, connect your Macintosh to another using a FW cable in "Target" mode (start up your Macintosh with the T key held down) and you'll see your hard drive appear as an external FW drive on the host Macintosh. You can then copy your important files to another drive, flash drive, etc.

HTH and please let us know what happens. Thanks.

HTH and please let us know what happens. Thanks.

Nickr - Jun 10, 2006 - 1:36 pm

Hi Ishan,

Thanks for your quick reply, as far as I can tell there is no problem with the disk itself, I will try the installer as you suggested. What do you suspect is actually happening, from the bits of information I could find it seemed like it was a kernel panic?

Thanks,

Nick.

ishan - Jun 10, 2006 - 5:33 pm

Kernel panics (and you have had some) are usually a hardware problem, and bad RAM is the most common source. If you've installed new RAM recently, you might want to remove it and see what happens. Also, make sure the RAM is seated completely. The RAM slots in Macs have been getting tighter as the years go by, and it requires a lot of force to "snap" the RAM into the slot.

Nickr - Jun 12, 2006 - 2:01 am

Hi Ishan, I am now a little confused, if these are kernel panics is there not some way we can examine the log and get a clue as to what is causing them? Should we do this before reloading the OS or after?

The Mac is over a year old now and only has its original dealer installed RAM and airport card. i have not touched the hardware myself.

Thank you,

Nick.

ishan - Jun 12, 2006 - 4:42 am

If you're familiar with Unix, you can certainly look through the logs in your Console app (particularly the Crashreporter logs) and see if specific apps are repeatedly crashing. However, that's very time-consuming and may lead nowhere. It's easier to reinstall using a combo updater or your original install disks. If you still get kernel panics, run Apple Hardware Test which is on your original install CDs and it may find the problem-but it is not able to find many causes of kernel panics.

Nickr - Jun 26, 2006 - 1:17 pm

Hi,

When I took the back off I noticed some of the capacitors were leaking so the machine has now gone back to the retailer for logic board replacement.

Thanks for your help.