Hi, Thanks for the advice. I zapped the PRAM, inserted the hardware test DVD, powered off, and powered on while holding the D key. The iMac booted from the DVD and allowed me to start the hardware test.
First, I did the short (3-minute) test and it reported all was fine. It must not test much... Then I tried the long test, which said it might take an hour. The iMac froze during the test! What does that mean? The progress bar got about 20% across and the time has been stuck on 10 minutes, 43 seconds for the last 20 minutes. Does a freeze during the hardware test suggest more than the hard drive being bad, or might it still just be the hard drive? Thanks, Gregg On Oct 30, 2011, at 7:29 PM, Macs R We wrote: > On Oct 30, 2011, at 3:16 PM, Gregg Dinse wrote: > >> Does anyone out there know the proper command for running the Apple hardware >> diagnostic DVD program from single user mode? I googled, but could not find >> anything. Thanks, > > You don't run it from single user mode. You run it from the DVD, either by > holding down D at boot, or holding down option and choosing the hardware > test. (You said iMac, so I know it's not an optical-less machine.) > > Unless you have had physical ejection problems with your optical drive > before, don't worry about getting discs stuck in it. Hold down the mouse key > or trackpad key directly after you hear the boot chime. This will eject the > disc. This is a firmware "reflex" and does not require a working OS. > > If you want to get rid of the "memory" of having a firmware update ready to > load (though I'm not sure there really is such a thing), just zap the PRAM. > > My analysis would be that your drive is roached, and things being written to > it aren't writing properly. I suspect a simple drive replacement will cure > all your problems. Hope you are well backed up. > > -- > Macs R We -- Personal Macintosh Service and Support > in the Wickenburg and far Northwest Valley Areas. > http://macsrwe.com _______________________________________________ MacOSX-talk mailing list [email protected] http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/listinfo/macosx-talk
