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Mac OS X forum: What do I do now?

by: johnjewkes October 3, 2006 11:32 PM PDT

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What do I do now?

by johnjewkes - 10/3/06 11:32 PM

The Mac Power PC had a drive error, and now won't boot. I have the Original 8.0 CD, the Upgrade 8.5 9.2.2 and 10.2.1 CDs. NONE will run and boot the machine using either the 'c' or the 'OPT-CMD-SHIFT-DEL' tricks, and I do not have a 'install' floppy. The unit has two 4.3 Gig HDDs. HALLLLP. Only other machine is a PC.

Thanks Much, John Jewkes


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Indeed that is a problem

by mrmacfixit Moderator - 10/4/06 4:44 AM

In Reply to: What do I do now? by johnjewkes

The only two CD's in that collection that "might" boot that machine is the 8.0 and 10.2.1 Cd's.
Given that you have the original 8.0 disks, this machine must be pushing retirement age. You did not mention what PowerMac it was nor what OS you were running at the time of the crash.

First, try this. Disconnect BOTH HD's. Put in the 8.0 disk and try to boot from the CD.
If it boots, add ONE HD back. Try again.
If successful, add the second, if not, change out and use the other disk.

If that fails, repeat with the 10.2 disk.

These drives could be SCSI, depending on the age of the machine, but that should not present a problem.

P


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Very likely SCSI

by m0kume - 10/6/06 3:59 AM

In Reply to: Indeed that is a problem by mrmacfixit Moderator

I have owned Macs since the mid 90s, that small a drive is almost certainly SCSI.


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Sound's familiar

by Tom Lee - 10/6/06 2:23 PM

In Reply to: Indeed that is a problem by mrmacfixit Moderator

A few years back, I had a problem with my PowerPC 450 with two internal hard drives (no master-slave set-up). I got a "kernal panic" warning on my screen and eventually got a circle with a line thhrough it. I took it down to an Apple store where a very patient "genius" spent two hours trying to troubleshoot it using diagnostic software. It wasn't until he started to disconnect the hard drives and reconnected them one at a time and discovered one of the drives was dead. By leaving the dead drive disconnected, I was able to boot up normally.


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Just an idea.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 10/4/06 4:53 AM

In Reply to: What do I do now? by johnjewkes

Look up the UBUNTU Linux for powerpc and see if they have an install routine for your machine. I remember reading the firmware had to be at some version to boot the CD on really old units. I'm not a good historian on old macs but would look over the UBUNTU notes for clues on alternate installs.

Bob


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silly it save me once...

by FabRio - 10/5/06 9:08 PM

In Reply to: What do I do now? by johnjewkes

put your 2 HD in 2 very tight thick plastic bags and chuck them in the freezer for few hours.let them deefrost at ambiant temp for a while,If they start again, save your data and chuck them in the bin.with the commang you have been using without success, its very probably a mecanical problem.
seeya


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Just some suggestions

by gmm421 - 10/9/06 8:32 AM

In Reply to: What do I do now? by johnjewkes

What is the model of the computer? I'm surprised that a machine that was shipped with the original 8.0 CD was also able to run 10.2.1. If you have made any modifications to the computer over the years (e.g., upgraded CPU, RAM, etc.), consider removing them and seeing if you can start the machine as it was first built with the original system disks. it seems kind of odd that both the hard drives and the CD drive are not able to boot your machine.

I have a Power Mac that has a hard reset button inside of it (a red CUDA switch?). If you re-create the machine as it was shipped and press that button, everything may go back to the default position and work; or, you would at least be able to start from the CD drive if there are no other hardware failures.

Regarding zapping the PRAM, I think you have to hold down those keys a couple of times (3?) in order for it to work. Also, do you get a sad Mac screen with a code underneath the icon? when you listen to the computer, does it make any normal sounds or abnormal ones?

If your machine is trying to boot off the bad hard drive, press the letter C (or is it option?) to force the system to boot from your CD drive instead of the hard drive which is in question.

Greg


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