Troubleshooting wierd problem...

Burneedog · #1 August 14th, 2005, 10:58 AM

Hoping one of the experts out here can help me out. I'm having problems at startup with my iMac G5. I'm currently running OSX 10.4.2, and am having extremely long startup times at boot-up. The grey apple screen comes up for several minutes, the fans inside the case roar to life for a couple minutes, and then once the fans shut down, the OS starts. Once started, any time I perform an action (open an app, change a system preference), the system "colorwheels" for several minutes.

I assumed I had a disk problem, so I booted from the install CD and ran Repair Disk on the Macintosh HD volume. At the 3rd step (checking catalog), Repair Disk errored out indicating "invalid key length".

I then tried to boot in single user mode, but before the command prompt comes up, the mac locks up and the fans kick into high gear.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for your help in advance.

Burneedog

bobw · #2 August 14th, 2005, 01:17 PM

You need to get and use DiskWarrior to repair an "invalid key length"

Or reformat the drive.

oldkid · #3 September 8th, 2005, 03:35 AM

I'm having the same problem. I ran disk permissions and it gave me the "invalid key length" error.

I then ran DiskWarrior which was able to rebuild the directory but it told me that it could not replace the directory because the disk was too severely damaged.

I backed up all the files that I needed but now I am at a loss as to what I should do. Any help would be appreciated.

I am running osx 10.2.8. The problems I have been experiencing are: computer won't start when I have my internet plugged in it just goes to a completely blue screen and stays there. I have also lost my drag and drop function.

bobw · #4 September 8th, 2005, 09:53 AM

You'll need to reformat your drive and reinstall the system and your software.

Boot from the OS CD. Go to the Installer Menu (at top) and use Disk Utility to reformat, (Extended) when it's done, quit, then continue with the OS installer.

After you reboot, use Software Update to bring the system up to date. Then install your software. When all done, Repair Permissions.

oldkid · #5 September 8th, 2005, 10:00 PM

Problem fixed. Thanks.