Bizarre: No Dock, Hot Corners, etc...

A

Aubrey Foard

Registered
Hi-

I am running a G4 PPC 500 MHz dual processor desktop. Latest version of OS X 10.4

Problem started this morning: First an error message occurred telling me I needed to reboot (this is a frequent problem coming out of sleep mode).

After rebooting, the trash window was (for some reason) open and there were the following problems:

- No dock
- No hot corners
- Pull down menu commands (restart, shut down, force quit etc.) don't work
- No Dashboard

Attempted remedies:

Restart (nothing)
Restart in Safe Mode (nothing)
New User (no)
Checked Dock preferences (no change)
No Upgrades available to reset preferences.

Also, when I selected "Mac OS X Software" from the apple pull-down menu, the following message appeared: "Your system settings are being updated. Unable to open your preferred Web browser. Try again in a few minutes." A clue?

After some research, I found a person with a similar problem here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1139604&tstart=0

...but that person never solved the problem; it just randomly disappeared.

Any ideas? Getting frustrated...

I'm also entirely new to Macs (and love them!) so if you could please put advice into layman's terms, it would really help me out.

Thank you!

Aubrey Foard
 
Unfortunately, the message about rebooting your machine often indicates a hardware problem; that is, that there is something wrong with your machine. For ex., faulty RAM. •• Edit: This is especially true if you see the message to restart (called a kernel panic) multiple times.•• It could also be a faulty kernel extension (.kext). More than one possible cause.

Since I don't use extra .kexts, I would start by troubleshooting the RAM. Good luck. Please let us know what you discover. If you have more ??s, please ask again.

(I typed this on my iPod Touch! Not too bad.)

Doug
 
More ideas: Have you tried doing an archive and install? You'll need your system disc(s). Restart and hold down the "c" key to start from the system disc. First use Disk Utility. Then re-install. Look for an Options button. I recommend using the "Archive and Install" option. •• There is a risk of data loss with any install. ••
 
Thanks for the info so far. How would I troubleshoot the RAM or a kernel panic? Again, I'm entirely new to this, so if you know of any walk-through, that would be very helpful to me.

Archive and install is an idea I've considered, but unfortunately I bought this computer used from my brother... and it's not likely that he has the system discs. I'll check anyway.

Thanks again!

Best,
Aubrey
 
If you don't have system disks your options are a bit more limited. If you can get hold of them, try booting up from the "Hardware Test" disk and running a diagnostic. That should tell you if there's a problem with your RAM or something like that.

It doesn't sound to me like a hardware problem, though. Kernel panics often ARE related to hardware problems, but that just happened at the start of this new problem. It's not happening repeatedly, right? (If you don't know, a "kernel panic" is when you get a dialog telling you that you need to restart in a dozen or so different languages.)

You say you don't get the Dock and some other things. Does the Finder still work? What about other apps? If you can, try loading Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilites) and repair permissions on your startup disk.
 
Aubrey,

Welcome to MacOSX.com! (I forgot to say that before.) Without system discs your problem becomes trickier.

First off, when I first read your post, I thought you were experiencing multiple kernel panics. If you only saw one, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. If they show up multiple times, that's a clue it may be the RAM or something else. Unfortunately, the key word is "may be" (well, key words). I don't know if I would mess with the RAM unless you're seeing multiple kernel panics.

The next step would then be to "Archive and Install" from the system discs, which you don't have. You could try starting the machine by holding the Apple key and the "s" key to enter "single user mode." It's a UNIX thing. When the machine finishes booting, type the following and then press the RETURN key on the keyboard:

fsck -fy

Fsck is the filesystem check program. If the failure to boot properly is caused by a filesystem problem, fsck may be able to solve it. Not likely, I think. Type "reboot" and press RETURN to, well, reboot.

---

If you ARE seeing multiple kernel panics (again, the "Reboot your machine" message), here's a quick how-to on troubleshooting RAM. Troubleshooting RAM can be as easy as removing one of the DIMMS (the RAM modules). If that fixes the panics, you're all set. Or you can swap DIMMS. Or you may need to buy a new one (which is where it could get expensive). Unfortunately, it can get complicated because some machines have specific configurations for RAM, for example, some require that DIMMS be installed in pairs.

I have upgraded several computers with RAM, but there are risks. ** WARNING: You can destroy an expensive RAM module with static electricity, so you have to find a way of grounding yourself.** For example, after you open the machine, you can touch the outside of the power supply (the box where the power cord goes into the machine). THEN UNPLUG the machine from the wall before you go any further. After that, look for a lever that "unlocks" the RAM modules. You can then pull them out gently. Don't touch the little black chips or the gold connector. Yes, it's real gold. I wonder if that's why these things are so expensive :).

ANOTHER WARNING: I don't guarantee touching the power supply will ground you. I also wrote this at almost 3 in the morning. There are better, more detailed explanations for installing RAM DIMMS elsewhere on the net, I'm sure. Try searching for "install DIMM" or something similar in Google.

Other options: 1.) Maybe your brother can find that disc (or discs). 2) Maybe you'll decide to buy the newest version of the operating system, 10.5 "Leopard". Perhaps that install will solve your problem.

I hope that helps you in the right direction. Finally, Mikuro posted just before I finished this novel. He has some good ideas.

Doug
 
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