Re: Serious problem
Hi Pat, Yes, you are probably best waiting for someone with more experience to work through this on your computer. It is unfortunate that you do not have any back-ups! As Ronni has said many times this is most important. There are only two kinds of computer user – those who have had hard drives fail and those who have not YET had hard drives fail (I’ve had more than one fail over the years) – the better your backup regime, the less precious data you should lose. However, if the diagnostics ran OK and did not report any problems then you may be OK in that your hardware and hard drive are OK and so you SHOULD be able to re-install your OS without losing all your data. This article gives the basics on re-installing Mojave using Recovery mode http://osxdaily.com/2018/10/10/how-reinstall-macos-mojave/ If Recovery mode (cmd+ R) just gave a grey screen, it is possible you did not wait long enough to let it get to the “macOS Utilities” screen or for some reason the Recovery partition is missing? This could be checked by booting whilst holding down OPTION during boot which should display any bootable partitions – I would expect two to show – your normal boot partition and the recovery boot partition. However, given that you are obviously less used to this sort of thing you are probably best waiting for someone with more experience to work through this on your computer. One thing I would suggest is getting an external drive before you start. If someone like Daniel is going to help you they will probably have a portable drive with a bare OS and tools on it that they can boot your computer from. They could then copy your existing drive to your new drive, as a backup while they are sorting your machine. If anything goes wrong you will still have the data on this drive (even thought the copied system is probably unusable). Assuming that you get your computer sorted OK with no loss of data, you could then erase this new drive and then use it as your new backup drive. Anyway, just my thoughts – good luck! Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: n...@possumology.com From: on behalf of Patricia Scott Reply-To: WAMUG Date: Friday, 16 August 2019 at 18:31 To: WAMUG Subject: Re: Serious problem Hi,Neil, I just spent several hours running through the various tests, especially the ones found in “How to use Mac recovery mode” in Macworld UK. Most of the procedures did not change anything. The exception was Recovery mode (cmd+ R) which caused the monitor to go pale grey. Diagnostics did not report anything. Unfortunately, I don’t have any backup. There may be a few items that are in 2 small external disks. I did have a 4GB disk used for backup, but it got knocked off the desk and won’t work now. I will leave it there and hand it over to the experts. I don’t want to be driving around tomorrow as it sounds like the weather is going to be dreadful, so more waiting. Many thanks for your advice. It has been much appreciated. Cheers, Pat On 16 Aug 2019, at 2:59 pm, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi Pat, Could you clarify what you mean by “had no effect? As I see it there are 3 possible outcomes here: 1. The diagnostics do not run. 2. The diagnostics run and report a problem or problems. 3. The diagnostics run and report no hardware problems. Each of these outcomes point to very different problems and therefore different approaches to resolve them. If you are correct in your assumption that the problem is the botched changes to the security panel then I would probably expect outcome 3) above. To help us identify your problem(s) and to suggest ways to fix it/them - could you: 1. Confirm exactly what happened when you ran the diagnostics – ie which of the 3 outcomes above (or something else that I didn’t imagine) 2. If outcome 2) – what were the diagnostic results reported. 3. What kind of backups do you have – Time Machine, bootable clone, both – and how recent are these. Also, you said that you tried starting in safe mode but that did not work – which is perhaps not unexpected if something is messed up at the basic OS level – but did you try booting in Recovery mode? This special mode boots from a separate recovery partition on your boot drive, which macOS creates at the time of installation. If you are correct in your assumption that the problem is the botched changes to the security panel then booting into recovery mode should let you re-install MacOS without having to wipe the disk completely and start over from scratch. In fact, macOS can make an effort to reinstall only the system files, replacing any corrupted or damaged system files and, hopefully, returning your system to a working state. If you give us the info requested above then it will help guide us as to whether
Re: Serious problem
Hi,Neil, I just spent several hours running through the various tests, especially the ones found in “How to use Mac recovery mode” in Macworld UK. Most of the procedures did not change anything. The exception was Recovery mode (cmd+ R) which caused the monitor to go pale grey. Diagnostics did not report anything. Unfortunately, I don’t have any backup. There may be a few items that are in 2 small external disks. I did have a 4GB disk used for backup, but it got knocked off the desk and won’t work now. I will leave it there and hand it over to the experts. I don’t want to be driving around tomorrow as it sounds like the weather is going to be dreadful, so more waiting. Many thanks for your advice. It has been much appreciated. Cheers, Pat > On 16 Aug 2019, at 2:59 pm, Neil Houghton wrote: > > Hi Pat, > > Could you clarify what you mean by “had no effect? > > As I see it there are 3 possible outcomes here: > > The diagnostics do not run. > The diagnostics run and report a problem or problems. > The diagnostics run and report no hardware problems. > > Each of these outcomes point to very different problems and therefore > different approaches to resolve them. > > If you are correct in your assumption that the problem is the botched changes > to the security panel then I would probably expect outcome 3) above. > > To help us identify your problem(s) and to suggest ways to fix it/them - > could you: > Confirm exactly what happened when you ran the diagnostics – ie which of the > 3 outcomes above (or something else that I didn’t imagine) > If outcome 2) – what were the diagnostic results reported. > What kind of backups do you have – Time Machine, bootable clone, both – and > how recent are these. > > > Also, you said that you tried starting in safe mode but that did not work – > which is perhaps not unexpected if something is messed up at the basic OS > level – but did you try booting in Recovery mode? This special mode boots > from a separate recovery partition on your boot drive, which macOS creates at > the time of installation. > > If you are correct in your assumption that the problem is the botched changes > to the security panel then booting into recovery mode should let you > re-install MacOS without having to wipe the disk completely and start over > from scratch. In fact, macOS can make an effort to reinstall only the system > files, replacing any corrupted or damaged system files and, hopefully, > returning your system to a working state. If you give us the info requested > above then it will help guide us as to whether this approach will work and I > can point you to more detailed articles/instructions about the process. > > > Like many others on this list, I am quite happy to work with others on their > problems – we have all been helped by the list ourselves and, at least for > me, my ageing brain probably needs the challenge ;o) > > > Cheers > > > Neil > -- > Neil R. Houghton > Albany, Western Australia > Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 > Email: n...@possumology.com > > > From: on behalf of Patricia > Scott > Reply-To: WAMUG > Date: Friday, 16 August 2019 at 12:27 > To: WAMUG > Subject: Re: Serious problem > > Hi, Neil, > > I have now tried the diagnostics test as you suggested, but sadly, that also > had no effect. (My ‘puter is a late 2013 Mac Pro.) > > I do appreciate your time and effort to help, and I thank you very much. > > Cheers, > Pat > > > > > On 15 Aug 2019, at 6:26 pm, Neil Houghton wrote: > > Hi Pat, > > OK maybe I hadn’t explained the hardware test/diagnostics properly - the > Apple and the progress bar should not come into it. > > The first step is to switch the computer completely OFF – preferably using > the power button or, if all else fails, by turning off at the power socket. > > Then, following the instructions on the relevant Apple support articles, the > hardware test/diagnostics is invoked BEFORE the computer can get to the Apple > and the progress bar stage. > > However, I guess I am probably more comfortable with all this – so I quite > understand that you may be more comfortable just leaving it to an expert like > Daniel. > > Cheers > > > Neil > -- > Neil R. Houghton > Albany, Western Australia > Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 > Email: n...@possumology.com > > > From: on behalf of Patricia > Scott > Reply-To: WAMUG > Date: Thursday, 15 August 2019 at 15:47 > To: WAMUG > Subject: Re: Serious problem > > Hi, Neil, > > The simple constraint is that the only items showing on the monitor are the > Apple and the progress bar — absolutely nothing to click or see. At least, > it is rigorously protecting the computer. > > I just now have written to Daniel. > > Again, thanks — WAMUG rocks! > > Cheers, > Pat > > On 15 Aug 2019, at 3:12 pm, Neil Houghton wrote: > > Hi Pat, > > When you say “it didn’t work” are you saying that following the instructions >
Re: Serious problem
Hi Pat, Could you clarify what you mean by “had no effect? As I see it there are 3 possible outcomes here: The diagnostics do not run. The diagnostics run and report a problem or problems. The diagnostics run and report no hardware problems. Each of these outcomes point to very different problems and therefore different approaches to resolve them. If you are correct in your assumption that the problem is the botched changes to the security panel then I would probably expect outcome 3) above. To help us identify your problem(s) and to suggest ways to fix it/them - could you: Confirm exactly what happened when you ran the diagnostics – ie which of the 3 outcomes above (or something else that I didn’t imagine) If outcome 2) – what were the diagnostic results reported. What kind of backups do you have – Time Machine, bootable clone, both – and how recent are these. Also, you said that you tried starting in safe mode but that did not work – which is perhaps not unexpected if something is messed up at the basic OS level – but did you try booting in Recovery mode? This special mode boots from a separate recovery partition on your boot drive, which macOS creates at the time of installation. If you are correct in your assumption that the problem is the botched changes to the security panel then booting into recovery mode should let you re-install MacOS without having to wipe the disk completely and start over from scratch. In fact, macOS can make an effort to reinstall only the system files, replacing any corrupted or damaged system files and, hopefully, returning your system to a working state. If you give us the info requested above then it will help guide us as to whether this approach will work and I can point you to more detailed articles/instructions about the process. Like many others on this list, I am quite happy to work with others on their problems – we have all been helped by the list ourselves and, at least for me, my ageing brain probably needs the challenge ;o) Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: n...@possumology.com From: on behalf of Patricia Scott Reply-To: WAMUG Date: Friday, 16 August 2019 at 12:27 To: WAMUG Subject: Re: Serious problem Hi, Neil, I have now tried the diagnostics test as you suggested, but sadly, that also had no effect. (My ‘puter is a late 2013 Mac Pro.) I do appreciate your time and effort to help, and I thank you very much. Cheers, Pat On 15 Aug 2019, at 6:26 pm, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi Pat, OK maybe I hadn’t explained the hardware test/diagnostics properly - the Apple and the progress bar should not come into it. The first step is to switch the computer completely OFF – preferably using the power button or, if all else fails, by turning off at the power socket. Then, following the instructions on the relevant Apple support articles, the hardware test/diagnostics is invoked BEFORE the computer can get to the Apple and the progress bar stage. However, I guess I am probably more comfortable with all this – so I quite understand that you may be more comfortable just leaving it to an expert like Daniel. Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: n...@possumology.com From: on behalf of Patricia Scott Reply-To: WAMUG Date: Thursday, 15 August 2019 at 15:47 To: WAMUG Subject: Re: Serious problem Hi, Neil, The simple constraint is that the only items showing on the monitor are the Apple and the progress bar — absolutely nothing to click or see. At least, it is rigorously protecting the computer. I just now have written to Daniel. Again, thanks — WAMUG rocks! Cheers, Pat On 15 Aug 2019, at 3:12 pm, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi Pat, When you say “it didn’t work” are you saying that following the instructions for the hardware test/diagnostics failed to initiate the hardware tests (ie the hardware tests did not run) – or are you saying that they ran OK but did not indicate any problem? You may be right when you say the problem is the botched changes to the security panel – but in that case I would expect that, while the problem might prevent the computer from booting up, the hardware test should run OK. If the hardware test does not even run I would have thought it suggests other problems. But maybe you do need someone with more experience to look at it – maybe try Daniel? Just my thoughts. Please let us know how it all turns out. Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: n...@possumology.com From: on behalf of Patricia Scott Reply-To: WAMUG Date: Thursday, 15 August 2019 at 13:58 To: WAMUG Subject: Re: Serious problem Hi, Neil, Thank you for this information, it’s a good thing to
