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TICKET ARCHIVE -> System Malfunctions

jcouser - Jun 7, 2005 - 1:51 pm

I have a fairly new (Dec 04) imac G5. OS 10.3.9 I have some knowledge of computers, but am not an expert. Recently, I started having problems accessing udater, it would boot up, then just spin and spin and nothing happened. Then it progressed to Mac help. Now, none of the system "extras" will work. Disk utility, printer utility, system preferences, etc. I tried reloading the system, which worked until something froze, I had to use force quit, and it's back to broken again. Re-loading the system messed with some of my other programs (Quark Xpress, for one), so I don't want to do that again especially since it wasn't a permanent fix. Then today, I loaded a CD, it does not appear on the desk top and I can't get it out. I tried the single user fsck -y, and got a message that it was journaled (I think) and to use -f to force it. I did that, it ran through checking about 5 items, and it said nothing was wrong. I tried the: command/option/o/f and typing "eject cd" and it said, "cannot access eject." I tried rebooting holding the mouse button down, but it didn't eject. I don't know if these are two separate problems or are related. Before the CD got stuck, I ran the disk utility program on the cd but it said nothing was wrong and didn't correct the problem. The only thing that seems to fix it slightly, but it goes right back to having problems again, is going to Terminal in Accessories and running repair permissions.

Jeremie - Jun 7, 2005 - 4:15 pm

Well well well

So you think you know everything about Macs eh? (naaah, im just kidding ^__^)

We should probably reinstall Mac with an Archive and Install option this way it will preserve your documents etc..., but if you have already done a different reinstall and screwed up all your programs you might want to back your documents up to disc or something

Reply and let me know where you stand with what I just mentioned

Sorry you are having such a hard time...
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jun 9, 2005 - 11:20 am

Jeremie:

I like the disclaimer. So since your my friend or family member, does that mean I can call you names? And since we're so friendly, I must tell you that my name is actually Tami. Jean is my boss on whos computer I am working and in whose name the account was created.

What I did probably shows how ignorant I really am... I was looking for a disk first aid on the G5 software but put the wrong disk in and got install System so I decided to go ahead and install the system. It did a full re-install, with a back up of the previous system. I immediately tried Mac help and it worked (instead of the little color wheel spinning and spinning).

I then went to start Quark and it said I had to re-enter my authorization code. This presented a problem because I couldn't find the original box and we were one day before having to send our golfing magazine to the printers which is created soley on Quark so I was in a panic! (How do you like that for a run-on sentence, brother-oh-mine?) I finally found the box, entered the code, and Quark worked ok, but Quark is very tempermental about it's codes and authorizations, I don't want to have to re-enter the code any more than I have to.

Also, a day or two later, I tried to use disk utility and it wouldn't open, so I went to Mac help, and it spun and spun again. Then other things started goofing up as I mentioned before, and lastly that disk got stuck.

The computer was turned off Tuesday night. And I don't work on Wednesdays so I'm not sure when it was turned back on, but at any rate, when I came in this morning, the disk appeared on the desk top and I was able to eject it.

And now, just as I was typing this, I went to check the Mac help and it works! The other person who works with me (Jean, herself) knows less about computers than I do, so I know she didn't do any thing. I don't understand why it's working now. I did restart it several times when the disk was stuck but I never actually shut it down for any length of time.

Can you keep me on hold for a few days to see if it does it again?

Tami

jcouser - Jun 9, 2005 - 4:05 pm

Never mind that last paragraph. It's doing it again. I had to shut the computer down because I wanted to do some banking on Explorer and there was a problem with one of the windows. You have to shut everything off before the stupid bank will let you sign on again. After I'd re-started the computer, (yes, I shut it down correctly) I went to print on our laser printer but it wasn't showing up on the print screen. So I clicked on show print list (which pops it to print utility) and it did the spin spin spin thing, so I tried mac help and it's spinning too...

jcouser - Jun 14, 2005 - 10:10 am

I got an e-mail saying my ticket was closed, but I don't see a response to my two questions?

Tami

Jeremie - Jun 14, 2005 - 4:57 pm

No I never closed your ticket, I would suggest at this point we get out the Malox for your Mac's tommy ache

That being in this case the Operating System install discs

If you need step by step instructions I would be happy to guide you on IM or type up printable instructions

Let me know when you have time for this...

Sorry for the misunderstanding,
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jun 16, 2005 - 10:52 am

So what you're telling me is I have to re-install the system. Again. But I did that once and it didn't fix the problem. I'm pretty sure I did it right. (Is there a way to do it wrong?) As I mentioned above, I hate doing that because it screws with Quark's registration system. But if that is the only way, that is the only way. There's no way to just install the periferals?

Tami

P.S. Don't forget I'm only here on Tuesday and Thursday, so if you don't get this by early afternoon, I won't respond until next week. Just didn't want you to think I didn't love you any more.

jcouser - Jun 16, 2005 - 11:17 am

On a related, but side note... I have to ocassionally use a PC for a client of mine, and have a friend who is a PC expert and gave me this laundry list of things to do once a week or whenever the machine starts getting squirrelly. ie deleting cookies and such. Is there such a laundry list for macs? The first on the IBM list is to go to Tools in Explorer and select Internet Options, which doesn't exist in the Mac Explorer menu....

T.

Jeremie - Jun 16, 2005 - 11:33 am

Not per say

However why don't you download Mac Janitor and let me know if it helps you

http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_...anitor_1.3.dmg

Press the run all tasks button and let that run reboot and see if that helps if not well, then Ill find something else...

I always do!! ^__^

Let me know how that works out...
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Jeremie Bell

Jeremie - Jun 16, 2005 - 11:35 am

Oh and just to help buff up your Mac vocabulary, the spin spin spin thing is called a "beach ball" cursor...

Seems about right don't you think?

hehe ^__^
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jun 16, 2005 - 2:22 pm

Jeremie:

I tried Mac Janitor. It ran, I re-booted (is that a word) but nothing changed. On Mac Janitor, is the (now I'm about to learn a new word) spinning working bar supposed to stop spinning when it's all done checking? It said "Done" but I wasn't sure if it was done with that particular task or all done checking because the blue bar was still spinning.

Thanks for the beach ball lesson. I feel so empowered now!

T.

jcouser - Jun 16, 2005 - 2:38 pm

Hey, I was just looking to see if there was a Mac equivalent to Spybot Search and Destroy, and got an error message, "unable to load image because of low system memory." Could that have anything to do with our problem? How do I increase system memory? I assume they mean RAM. There should be plenty. There are two memory chips. One 256 and one 512...

Tami

Jeremie - Jun 16, 2005 - 3:11 pm

Well spybot search and destory is for Spyware, malware etc... which Macs ahve never been and will never be prone to.

Mac Janitor makes your Mac run faster by updating important system files like your log files etc... it is very easy to sue and I reccomend it highly

Also that is a strange error I think we might be looking at a very sick operating system (it happens, not very often but it will once in a great while someone will get unlucky and the Mac will hiccup and start to malfunction more than it ever should) We can do a simple reinstall with document preservation to fix you up...

If you are willing to go through with this please let me know otherwise let me know why you would not want to go through with it

Like I said we will work this out...
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jun 21, 2005 - 11:45 am

The only reason I keep hesitating to do the reinstall, is because I did it already and it didn't help and because I had to re-enter the code for my Quark which makes me nervous. But I'll do again, because maybe I did something wrong the first time.

Am I correct that I put the Mac OS install disk 1 in the computer, restart and hold down the C prompt. Then when it asks, I do a complete reinstall with the old system being put in a seperate folder...?

Tami

Jeremie - Jun 21, 2005 - 12:03 pm

Um well you could do that but I dont think that that will save your documents if you want to preserve any work you have done on the Mac...
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jun 21, 2005 - 12:20 pm

Ok, Mr. Smarty Pants, how do I do it then?

jcouser - Jun 23, 2005 - 12:12 pm

J-
It looks like you read my note from Tuesday, but I don't see a reply. Technical glitch or are you ignoring me?

I have lots of time this afternoon, if you want to go over how to do a system reinstall with a document preservation.

Tami

jcouser - Jun 23, 2005 - 3:02 pm

I'm off for today. Won't be back until Tuesday. If you can leave me some notes, I'll try to follow them and if I get stuck, I'll let you know.

Thanks. Hope you have a great weekend.

Tami

P.S. What part of this great big wide world are you in, eh?

Jeremie - Jun 24, 2005 - 8:39 am

I have not forgotten you

Here are the install instructions

Put in the install CD, when it mounts on the desktop and opens you need to click on the icon that says isntall OS X, youll need to put in your administrative password.

Your Mac will reboot, dont touch anything the Mac will boot itself into the OS X installer. Then when the installer Window loads up press continue, then press next through the ReadMe and Licensing Page, next you should have to select a disk to install to. Click on your hard drive and then click the "options" below, in the window that comes up select "archive and install", then click "ok" and press "continue" to proceed, press ocntinue on the next window and your install will begin, give it 30 minutes tops Id say and you Mac will be back to normal...

Hope this helps
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Jeremie Bell

Jeremie - Jun 27, 2005 - 10:12 am

Any progress?
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jeremie bell

jcouser - Jun 28, 2005 - 2:00 pm

I ran through your instructions no problem and then tried to access Mac help and it worked ok. But that's happened before. Can we leave this ticket open until Thursday which should be enough time for it to screw up if it's going to?

Also, as I predicted, I had to reinstall the Xerces file for Quark to even start to open, and then it said the file was corrupt and I have to reinstall Quark. Luckly it reinsalled ok.

thanks!

tami

Jeremie - Jun 28, 2005 - 2:42 pm

Yes I will leave the ticket open

Not a problem...
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jun 30, 2005 - 12:19 pm

J-

I'm back to spinning beach balls. So something must be re-corrupting it...

jcouser - Jun 30, 2005 - 3:16 pm

I finally figured out how to run disk utilitiy off the CD. It repaired Permissions and ran a disk repair, but didn't find anything wrong. I suppose now you're going to tell me I have to spend $100 and buy the latest Norton repair.....

Jeremie - Jun 30, 2005 - 5:28 pm

No I dont think that will be necessary I think that perhaps the Xerces file or something that you installed after that might have caused an error of some sort

I will do some looking and see if there is any particular reason for this...
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jul 7, 2005 - 4:20 pm

I did a little experimenting today, to see if I could see what was corrupting it. It seems to happen on re-start... don't know if that helps. None of the disk first aids or permissions helps to fix it.

Thanks!

Tami

Jeremie - Jul 7, 2005 - 9:38 pm

Ok Tami,

Lets try this, I think you should run another reinstall but, this time when you do the archive and install when you select that option look for a check box just below it that says preserve networking and settings, uncheck that box (you will need to put the settings back for your Mac but this shouldnt take too long for you...

Now complete the reinstall, also when installing Quark, please be sure to reboot before and after you install it (this way it lets the settings quark applies to set in and to help us determine if indeed there might be something wrong with Quark.

Also after you are all set and done, I will show you how to run some daily tasks that i learned about from the Terminal utility on your Mac to keep it healthy and running smoothly.

Sorry for all the trouble your having my only hope is we can resolve it for you and get you on the path to Mac happiness ^__^

Cheers
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jul 19, 2005 - 11:49 am

Bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth, didn't you?

Ok, I tried a complete reinstall like you suggested and so far it has worked. Two variables have not been added to the equation. So far, I haven't tried to use Quark, and I didn't install disk number 2 because it just has the garage band and other things on it that we never use. I will be installing Quark today, and will find out it that is the culprit or something on disk two. I really don't want to do this again. It was a royal pain to get everything working again.

I suppose I'll have to do it one more time, once we determine what is causing it...

Tami

jcouser - Jul 19, 2005 - 2:26 pm

So far so good. I re-installed Quark with little or no problems. Had to re load some fonts, but so far everything is going smoothly. Should I delete the 4 previous system folders?

I guess I'm ready for your sage advice fromthe Terminal utilitiy to keep things running smoothly.

Me

Jeremie - Jul 19, 2005 - 4:19 pm

yes please remove the OLD system folder, they are now simply a waste of hard drive space

An yes after u confirm those system folders are gone, I shall share my UNIX wisdom with you

cheers
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jul 26, 2005 - 11:43 am

ok, system folders are gone.

Jeremie - Jul 27, 2005 - 11:02 am

So everything works now?

regards,
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Jul 28, 2005 - 1:40 pm

Yup! So far so good. I'm perinoid about downloading any updates though. I still don't know if it was whatever is on disk 2 of the system reload, or something that downloads with "Software Update." Whenever the SU screen comes up I say no instead of downloading any updates.

Anyway, so what do I need to do now as "maintanance?" And how will I ever get along without you?

Jeremie - Jul 29, 2005 - 10:51 am

Well maintenance is easy.

Go to Applications>Utilites>Terminal

and now, everyday you use the Mac when you finish with it open up terminal and type
"sudo periodic daily" (youll be asked for your administrator password, type that in and press enter)

Once that is done your all set

Now, each week you need to type in

"sudo periodic weekly"

and each month you type in

"sudo periodic monthly" (requires same password)

if you remember to do these, your Mac should keep running in the best shape it can

tell me if you have any questions, and dont worry, if you ever get in a jam, just let me know at

jeremiebell@macosx.com
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Aug 2, 2005 - 1:59 pm

Jeremie:

Thank you so much for all your help. It's still running smoothly, but when I tried to sudo I got this:

Last login: Tue Aug 2 12:36:23 on console
Welcome to Darwin!
JEAN-COUSERs-Computer:~ jeancouser$ SUDO PERIODIC WEEKLY

We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these two things:

#1) Respect the privacy of others.
#2) Think before you type.

Password:
Sorry, try again.
Password:
Sorry, try again.
Password:

Tue Aug 2 14:49:30 EDT 2005

Rebuilding locate database:

Rebuilding whatis database:
find: /usr/local/man: No such file or directory
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/DHparams_print.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/DHparams_print_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/DSAparams_print.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/DSAparams_print_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_ASN1_OBJECT.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_DHparams.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_DSA_PUBKEY.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_DSA_SIG.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_DSAPrivateKey.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_DSAPublicKey.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_Netscape_RSA.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_PKCS8PrivateKey_bio.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_PKCS8PrivateKey_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_PKCS8PrivateKey_nid_bio.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_PKCS8PrivateKey_nid_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_RSA_PUBKEY.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_RSAPrivateKey.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_RSAPublicKey.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_SSL_SESSION.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_ALGOR.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_bio.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_CRL.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_CRL_bio.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_CRL_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_NAME.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_REQ.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_REQ_bio.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_REQ_fp.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/i2d_X509_SIG.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/OpenSSL_add_ssl_algorithms.3ssl
Cannot find file: /usr/share/man/man3/SSLeay_add_ssl_algorithms.3ssl

Rotating log files: ftp.log lookupd.log lpr.log mail.log netinfo.log ipfw.log

JEAN-COUSERs-Computer:~ jeancouser$

What does it mean that it can't find all those files?

Tami

Jeremie - Aug 2, 2005 - 2:57 pm

Well it could be part of the reason why your computer has malfunctioned all these times.

It looks like the Man files werent installed (these are manuals that are read from terminal)

try running it again and tell me if it happens again
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Jeremie Bell

jcouser - Aug 2, 2005 - 3:19 pm

I wonder if they are on disk 2 that I was afraid to install.... So far terminal is just sitting there not saying anything, but it's only been about 10 minutes. I tried periodic daily, and it didn't say anything so then I did periodic weekly and it's still sitting. It may be hunting for those manuals.

Last login: Tue Aug 2 14:43:43 on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
JEAN-COUSERs-Computer:~ jeancouser$ sudo periodic daily
Password:
JEAN-COUSERs-Computer:~ jeancouser$ sudo periodic weekly
Password:
JEAN-COUSERs-Computer:~ jeancouser$


What is your opinion on upgrading when Software update pops up? Should I keep saying no or will I get bugs by not updating?

Tami

jcouser - Aug 2, 2005 - 3:38 pm

It never did anything and I have to go for the day. "See" ya on Thursday.

Tami

Jeremie - Aug 2, 2005 - 6:38 pm

Well it actually looks like it did what it was supposed to do this time

i wouldnt let it bother you, if something comes up, drop me an email at jeremiebell@macosx.com

Otherwise I think we are ready to close this ticket.
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Jeremie Bell