On 7/24/05, Branko <kozmo3k@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> Matthew Burke wrote:
>
> >
> > Boot the mac in verbose using Command-V from the time you press the
> > power button until you see text, that might give you a bit more info. If
> > you still have the install disk you can boot with it (insert, reboot and
> > hold the C key) and use Disk Utility to run the "disk first aid" (fsck).
> >
> > Alsl, booting with Command-S will drop you in single user mode
> >
>
> Well, I tried and tried and tried. The only thing I was getting was a
> folder with alternating Mac-face and a question mark. Booting with OS X
> install Disk and running First Aid did not get far: it was not able to
> "fix" the problem, it suggested to do a clean install. Booting into
> Ubuntu (it did not recognize the mouse, but the Gnome desktop was
> running OK), but I could not mount the HD. Booting into SystemRescueCd
> /PPC ver 0.2.0, did not succeed at all.
> So a quick trip to CompUSA and $100 (ouch) later, the utility was
> checking the hardrive. It was taking a very long time, but it "rebuild
> folder structure" (partition table??).
> Lessons learned (for my sis): "don't force quit while the beach ball is
> turning" (must be Mac speak).
> But I came upon another question: do Mac's use BIOS and how do you
> access it?
> ./B
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>
We had something similar happen here at work with the boss' imac.
After a little googling, we ended up booting from the OSX cd (pressing
c key during startup). At first we tried the "first aid" option and
repairing the permissions, but when that didn't work we dropped to a
shell (mac speak=terminal) and deleted the "preferences" flolder.
Removed the disk and restarted and it booted normally. Aside from
losing your desktop and a few customizations the computer starts **
without data loss **. When the computer starts up it creates a
default preference file and you go from there. Apparently, this is a
semi-common problem with Mac's (judging by the number of hits on
google) but not too difficult to repair. As always, a **current**
backup of all your data is still the best way to go as computer
systems (software and/or hardware) will invariably fail at some point
in time.
cheers,
Mav
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