Thanks Geno. My OS-X install disk, which I bought from OWC, is for 10.2 and it doesn't have any Disk Utilities on it. It has a Utilities Folder, but the only thing in it is Disk First Aid. So I tried running Disk First Aid on the drive that has OS-X on it, and it kept finding problems, but not fixing them. Every time it says the disk is repaired, if I run it again it reports the same problems.
I don't see any way to reset prefs on the boot drive either with this install CD. Is my install disk a weird one, then, since it doesn't offer these things? It says eMac on it, but OWC assured me that it would work with any OS-X-capable Mac. I thought I was buying typical OS-X install disks, but it sounds like I got shorted. Tom At 12:27 PM -0600 4/06/2005, Geno wrote: >Man you wrote a book! > >Try putting in your install cd and open disk utilities. Reset the >preferences on your boot drive. > >That's worked for me in the past. > >Good luck. > >Geno > > >on 04/06/2005 11:22 AM, Thomas Baker at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> I've been running X (10.3.8 now) trouble-free for months, but today I >> decided to change the cables on my video converter box (which I use to feed >> analog video into Final Cut), and I thought it would be safer to shut down >> the computer before switching FireWire or video cables on the box (I >> especially worry about switching FW cables hot). So I chose Shut Down and >> waited for the Mac to shut down. The monitor screen turned blank-blue as it >> usually does during shutdown, but then it just hung there, frozen. No >> shut-down. >> >> After waiting awhile, I decided to go ahead and shut the Mac down the rest >> of the way by just hitting the Off button on my APS power backup, which >> cuts off the power to the Mac. Dumb! Doing that apparently broke OS-X! >> (Unless it was already broken when the shutdown screen froze). >> >> Now when I try to start up the Mac, instead of going to the OS-X desktop, >> it goes to a login box with my name on it, but only for a couple of >> seconds. Then that box vanishes and I get a blue screen with a terminal >> command line in the upper left corner: a login prompt asking for name and >> password. So I give it those, and I get "Welcome to Darwin!" Who's Darwin? >> Charles Darwin the naturalist? Anyway there sits the prompter or whatever >> it is waiting for commands, and I don't know any commands to give. The only >> command I know is "exit," which starts the whole broken startup thing over >> again: the glimpse of a login box followed by the terminal command lines >> asking for name and password again. >> >> I looked into Pogue's OS-X book for help, and he says to boot into single >> user mode in such a situation and type in fsck -y to get a repair routine >> running. So I did that, and I get >> >> "Checking HFS Plus Volume >> Invalid number of allocation blocks (-1,0) >> **volume check failed" >> >> Hitting exit from there takes me right back to "Welcome to Darwin" again. A >> vicious circle! No way out! >> >> Pogue suggests that when everything else fails like this, reinstall OS-X. >> So I put my OS-X CD in the superdrive (Pioneer 107) and restart while >> holding down the C key, but it hangs at the gray screen with the apple on >> it. I have to force a restart. >> >> Fortunately this is a dual-boot G4 (733 DA), so I can drop back into OS >> 9.2.2 by re-starting and holding down the D key. That gives me the OS-9 >> desktop (and I am sending this cry for help to the G-list from it) and I >> can see all my drive icons, and open them up to see that everything on them >> is present and accounted for (three internal and IDE three external >> FireWire drives), and the OS-X System folder is sitting there on one of the >> drives as normal. >> >> While on the OS-9 desktop, if I choose the OS-X Install disk as the startup >> disk, and restart, all it does is hang again at the gray screenfd, and I >> have to force a restart. >> >> So, I'm stuck! I can't get my OS-X desktop back, and I can't reinstall OS-X >> either! What do I do now? Art website at http://www.ThomasBakerPaintings.com Archaeology website at http://www.nmia.com/~jaybird/AANewsletter/ -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
