Can't boot 10.4,Apple support stumped!!!

R

revnkev

Registered
G'day all,
hopefully someone on here can solve my problem ?

Spec's,
12"PB, 1.5GHz G4, 768MB, 60gig HD, Combo Drive.

History,
I've had the PB about 13 months and had no prob's until about a week ago.
I was running 10.3.9 and decided to upgrade to Tiger and iLife06 a month
ago,no problemo,then the HD filled up (to much dl's ;-) about a wk ago
and it gave me the "You must restart your computer" grey box,but it
would'nt restart, while booting with the apple logo and spining ball it
would go blue screen then the "You must restart etc" ,so I decided to do
an "erase and install" of 10.4.3. When the install did it's first restart,the
same problem "You must restart etc."
So I did a erase & install of 10.3 and it worked fine,updated it to 10.3.9
and tried to upgrade to 10.4.3 as I had done previously and "no go".
I have spent about 6 hrs on the phone with Apple support and they had
me run the "apple hardware test" in loop mode all night,no problems found,
I had already run it during my many erase & install's,
I've removed the 512MB ram ,made no diff.
Removed and reinstalled the airport card (apple suggested this !),no diff.
Had nothing else attached,same result.
Tried the repair things in disc utility's,nothing.
We can safe boot in 10.4.3 but that's all.
Did a zero write and install,did a 7 pass write and install,
It will run 10.3.9 great but refuses to run 10.4.3,(even though it ran it for
about three weeks prior without any prob's!!!)
The Apple support senior tech said they have never heard of this problem
before and if the zero write did'nt fix it then all they could do is advise me
to take it in to an Apple technician.
I did the 7 pass write just to be sure ;-/
Sorry for the essay,but thought it's better to give as much info as possible
and hope the OSX guru's have some advise or ideas ?
Thanks for your time,

Kev.
 
As a last resort before you take it in to a technician, you can try resetting the PRAM first.

1.) Shut down the Mac.

2.) Locate these keys on the keyboard - Control, Command (apple key), P, R

3.) Turn on the computer, right after the chime, hold those keys and let it chime 3 more times, then let up on the keys.
 
If you're using the system disc from a non-powerbook Mac, that could explain your problems.

You might benefit from a firmware reset.

boot your machine. Right after the startup chime, hold down Apple+Option+O+F to boot into Open Firmware mode.

Once it's done, you'll have a screen with some text. type reset-all and hit enter. Your laptop will reboot. This is a "sometimes" solution, but it's relatively painless and costs no money and little time to try. Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the replies,
firstly I forgot to mention ;-/ that I have also,

Relpaced the original 10.4.3 disc (Genuine in box from Domayne,Computer
section) we at first thought it was a disc prob.

Reset the PRAM (twice),(although I was told to only let it chime once more!!!)

Reset the PMU (twice),

I will try reseting the PRAM with 3 chimes and then a firmware reset,
and let you know how it goes,

Thanks again everyone,

Kev.
 
10.4.3, are you sure this is the retail version of Tiger, and not a disc that came with another machine. Apple ships 10.4 as the retail version.
 
Actually, I thought I saw a 10.4.3 full version at the Apple Store some months ago.
 
bobw said:
Well, I could be wrong :(
Click to expand...

:p

According to the Apple page, there's a link specifying it's now 10.4.6 for purchase (I assume it's only for PPC, but I could be wrong on that).

Sorry for the use of Windows.....it's my work computer unfortunately. :rolleyes: :p
 

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Well folks I have just reset the PRAM and a firmware reset
and reinstalled 10.4.3 , still the same ;-( did another firmware reset
after the install ,no difference .
It looks like either the PB or the HDD are ellergic to 10.4.3 ;-/
Looks like I'll have to save up for a visit to the Apple shop.
Thanks everyone for your input,
Chow 4 now ,
Kev.
 
Hi revnkev

I seen something like this before, it turned out to be the battery, it seems it had something to do with the battery managment. Try removing the battery first, reset the firmware then startup and install the OS 10.4.3. It's worth giving it a try, it costs nothing.

good luck.

trooper
 
Trooper,
I have tried what you suggested and it's still the same,
I can safe boot 10.4.3 but not normal boot ;-/ Thanks anyhow.

Does 10.4.3 use any different hardware or area of the HDD when
booting compared to 10.3.9 ???

This prob is very strange and frustrating ,all I can think is it's some
kind of hardware prob,but everything shows up as ok,it's got me beat,

Kev.
 
You can boot in Safe boot???
What do you have as login items? (system preferences / users / login items)
If you disable everything you have there, can you boot then?
 
Giaguara,
there is nothing in "login items" ,it's a new install, so
that can't be the prob,
thanks anyhow,
Kev.
 
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