Can't boot from CD!! - My Powerbook G4 17 inch is very, very sick

solrac

solrac

Mac Ninja
This all started a few weeks ago...

The Finder would randomly crash, and stop responding. All other apps would work fine. But attempting to save would crash any app since the Finder was dead. (Same with File... open, or anything that needs the finder.)

It crashed so bad I couldn't even restart my computer without manually restarting it.

This happened about 5 times. Finally, the finder started acting normal again.

But my PB 17 inch was still sick. My 200 GB Firewire 2 drive stopped being read. On a fresh restart, the drive would work fine, but eventually disappear. Now the drive doesn't mount at all. (As if the firewire card is dead.) But other firewire devices work fine. My Firewire burner works fine, as well as my 30 GB iPod. (But the iPod didn't work for a couple days, now it does.)

Very screwy...

So I finally said screw it I'll reinstall the system. But now I can't start up from CD!

I've tried EVERYTHING, including:
- Holding "C" at restart. (Ignores this and boots from internal HD.)

- Holding ctrl-opt-shift-delete at restart (with internal HD as boot device, to force skip it. It flashes the ? until I let go and just boots from the internal HD.)

- reset-nvram at open firmware. (Supposed to reset settings and maybe help with this, but it did not.)

- reset power manager with shift-ctrl-opt-delete while power is off. (Supposed to reset all hardware settings but didn't fix the CD-ROM boot problem.)

- Tried booting from the CD from the external firewire CD-ROM drive, holding "C" key at startup (no luck either.)

- Tried doing everything above with everything unplugged from my powerbook.

No luck. Just no, absolutely no way to boot from CD. I'm completely at a loss. The CD-ROM drive works fine after I log in to Mac OS X. But it just simply doesn't work... REFUSES to work on startup.

My mac is very, very sick. I need it fixed.

Thanks for you help!
 
several things to try that I don't see in your list:

This kind of problem sounds like suspicious RAM. Does the PB17 come with a hardware test CD? try running that (all tests) Do you have additonal RAM installed, try removing that addtional RAM?

Restart in single user mode (Apple-S) and at the prompt, run /sbin/fsck -y
If any modifications are reported, run that again, until you get an 'OK'

At the Open firmware prompt: also do a reset-all, after a reset-nvram

Download the 10.2.6 combo-updater and run that (you can be booted normally to your admin account for this)

Try all these first, if still nogo, disconnect all external devices, then let the the OS X install cd mount, and run the install from that mounted CD. It's first step will be to attempt to reboot, starting from the CD. If this works now, you should be OK.
If STILL nogo (no boot from the CD), you're rapidly running out of choices, but you still have your warranty, time to take advantage of that :( Good Luck, let us know how it goes!
 
Yes I did add 512 MB of RAM, to get a full 1 GB. But it is premium hyperspeed memory from coast memory... they have great RAM. And everything is fine after installing it... you think the RAM can ruin the cd booting? I'll try fsck, and reset-all, but the 10.2.6 combo.. i already am on 10.2.6!
 
I would try without the added 512 MB of memory. A bad ram can do a lot of tricks.
 
You say everything's fine after installing the memory? What about the 'Finder would randomly crash, (and) crashed so bad I couldn't even restart, (and) now I can't start up from CD."
Look through some of the logs here. (as well as any other Mac support site) Download and run the 10.2.6 combo updater, It's known to correct a large variety of problems. It's also painless, compared to a complete reinstall from the OS X install CD (which you can't do right now, anyway). As the old saying goes, cain't hurt! Might help!

I'm glad you bought 'premium RAM', but that does not prevent that RAM from causing your problems. Try removing it temporarily, see if your major problem (CD booting) is fixed. Problems with Apple's supplied RAM is not unknown, why should what you purchased, regardless of the source, be any better? Just try it.
 
Of course I tried everything.

I just removed the RAM I bought. The CD still won't boot. When I try to force boot the CD (cmd-opt-shift-delete), I just get the flashing question mark folder icon and the computer won't boot. When I let go of the key combo the computer gives up and boots from the hard drive.

With the RAM removed, my Firewire HD still doesn't work. It gets loaded on the desktop but within a couple minutes it stops responding, and trying to view it crashes the finder.

The Finder crashing I spoke of earlier fixed itself. I think it stopped crashing when I gave up trying to use the HD.

I also ran the 10.2.6 update combo. Nothing was fixed.

So it's not the RAM... it must be corrupt OS files or something. I need to reinstall 10.2 but... I can't boot from the CD! Arrghhh!!!!
 
You said that the CD WILL mount when you're logged in. If you run the installer (original CD or DVD that came with system) from the mounted install CD, what happens? (no external devices attached)(Should reboot to the CD) .
Last question: Have you tried a different bootable CD that you KNOW will boot your PB17.
If that's nogo, then use your warranty :)
 
I had similar issues when I first got my 12 inch Powerbook. It seemed to have been caused by me using a program to copy VCDs onto my computer. I got the files, but my computer started messing up with similar symptoms. I eventually had it sent into Apple, and they replaced the whole thing with a brand new 12 inch Powerbook.
 
I'm with DeltaMac on this one. Insert the disk while you're logged in, and double click the installer. Then click "restart." How's about that?
 
Wow, the same exact problem happend to me too. None of the CDs worked except the bootlegged Panther. =\
So I installed that and even with that installed, the computer freezes up a lot of times. The only way to get it back is to tilt it in some way. Try that way.
 
Do you have any other media drives attached to your Powerbook, like a Zip drive? If so, you can try installing a small boot system on that and try to boot from it.

Another thought is to remove or disable your internal hard drive and then try booting from a CD. Make sure the 200 GB drive is attached so you can install OS X onto it, if possible. Then you can transfer all your data from the other drive and wipe it clean.
 
Originally posted by adambyte
I'm with DeltaMac on this one. Insert the disk while you're logged in, and double click the installer. Then click "restart." How's about that?
Click to expand...

LOL that's the first thing I did, before I even knew there was a problem.
 
Originally posted by i am yujin
Wow, the same exact problem happend to me too. None of the CDs worked except the bootlegged Panther. =\
So I installed that and even with that installed, the computer freezes up a lot of times. The only way to get it back is to tilt it in some way. Try that way.
Click to expand...

TILT? What do you mean tilt it in some way? You mean tilt the computer? Like a pinball machine?
 
Originally posted by arden
Do you have any other media drives attached to your Powerbook, like a Zip drive? If so, you can try installing a small boot system on that and try to boot from it.

Another thought is to remove or disable your internal hard drive and then try booting from a CD. Make sure the 200 GB drive is attached so you can install OS X onto it, if possible. Then you can transfer all your data from the other drive and wipe it clean.
Click to expand...

That's a really good idea for a last resort solution. But I would just use my warranty before I do that. (I also got the 3 year apple care thing.)
 
Yes, yujin meant physically tilt the computer, as he stated in another post. I think he has something loose inside.

Be sure to back up any important data before you do anything, if you can.
 
how would i tilt it? As in, during startup, tilt the computer so it would read the CD, during startup? Would I tilt it back, left, forward?

It's hard to grasp this concept lol
 
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