Pam says: 8600 still a problem CONTINUED! >Hi, >Ok, I stuck in an old Norton Utilities Cd >and finally got to to sort of boot. First I >got Sorry System Error...... Bus Error.... >hold down shift key to turn off extentions, >so I pressed restart and held down the >shift key., then I get System Error.... >Illegal Instruction.... ------------- so let's think this thru. system error. something is wrong in the systm folder. there is code in there that doesn't belong there, or code that should be there that isn't when the machine looks for it.
did you add anything to the system folder, move anything from it, or install something in the wrong place recently? save something to the wrong place? put it away yourself, instead of letting the finder put it away for you, like the good librarian it is? then it says 'bus error' wouldn't that have to mean that somewhere on your bus, a circuit is not completing? electrons can't get around where they're supposed to? a traffic conflict? could it be a bad chip? bad RAM? a wrong ID designation for a peripheral? the 8600 has a SCSI chain, doesn't it? could it be termination not right somewhere? internal or external? system error is coding. bus error is physical electron flow. can you network the two macs together, so they can use each other's hard drives and cd's as external 'crutches?. you know that if one is crippled, the working one can offer it's hard drive and system folder for the sick one to use, to diagnose or change things around. is the 9600 healthy enough to lend it's ability to the other one? how about if you try Norton in the cd of one or the other, and the system disc in one or the other, and if that's not working, swap them and try again?. I'm just using thinking-out- loud logic here. It sounds like at some point you gave the machine an instruction to put something somewhere that it didn't belong, shouldn't have gone, and it's affected both your system folder and your physical bus traffic. and the flag 'illegal instruction' seems to name it. maybe with two healthy system folders and a diagnostic to refer to- one on the 9600, and one in the 8600's cd tray, and norton, you can get enough healthy 'doctors' looking at the patient to find the offending part, that doesn't belong wherever it is, get it out, and either discard it, or put it where it ought have gone. how many add-ons have you got inside the 8600? can you 'field strip' it back down to virginity, as it was in its youth, and try out each addition by itself, and then with others? use norton or something else, at each tryout, and see if there are any conflicts? maybe it has gotten too complicated as you've added bells and whistles over time, and it's gonna take dropping back to original simplicity, and begin again, to spot where the trouble entered the picture. can you use the 9600, networked, to draw files over, to preserve and back them up, to return them later, if you have to wipe or trash parts of the 8600's drive to start from the beginning? this might be a chance to start over and clean things out, simplify, and make it better than the first time. these are just my meandering thoughts, based on what messages norton told you. -janet in venice- -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.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/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
