Help - My Mac has lost it's mind!

N

New Forester

Registered
Hi
I have an iMAC 700mhz PowerPC G4, With 256 MB SDRAM Running Mac OS X Version 10.3.9.
Over the last couple of weeks I have had programs like Safari and Firefox just opening then quitting for no apparent reason.
The last week my entourage program wouldn't work on line - it kept crashing. This all seemed to point to some sort of virus maybe? So I checked my Intego software made sure it was up to date, did a scan - nothing was revealed.
So I carried on using the machine and then on Sunday, I appeared to lose my iPhoto programme, I couldn't get access to the libraries - some 3000 photos.After a panic and a search I managed to locate the photos on the system - so far so good.
On Sunday, I noted that there were a couple of software updates, one for security the other for the iPod, so I downloaded them and restarted my Mac - as instructed.
On restarting the Mac it was like I had reset the machine...I have a message that said something about 'no volume of OS 10 found on the disk you have inserted do you want to initialise?' I pressed ignore. I found all of my desktop was gone, all of my files, programs like Firefox and Skype gone ... my email had defaulted to the original Mac icon etc.
Worse I can't access any of my files now although the HD shows the space is still occupied.
I have tried to download various help packages, but can't mount anything with a .dmg prefix - the system says 'no mountable file system found'.
I really need some help!
I really want to save my precious photos and then the Mac HD can be reformatted or fixed or whatever!
Can anyone help me find my files or help to fix this?
:confused:
 
Hello New Forester,

Try this:

First use the "Disk Utilities" application located in your Utilities folder and perform a "Repair Disk Permissions".

Then try the following (requires the use of the Terminal application also located in the Utilities folder)

sudo sh /etc/daily
sudo sh /etc/weekly
sudo sh /etc/monthly

These are built in maintenace routines. Type each line in separately, wait till it finishes then type in the next line.

Usually the above routines will fix most common problems encountered. If these don't work it may point to something else ... hardware, software conflicts etc.

Hope this helps :)
 
Hi Freelance
I have tried the repair function, the system just hangs...
In terms of the routines, the first seemed to work...
The second reported that there was no such file or directory for everything...
The Third seemed to run ...
I shut the machine down and rebooted.
No Change ... still got the initialisation message...
Is there anyway of retreiving my photo files from the machine?
I could then reformat?
I am very familiar with finding stuff on PCs but although I have had my Mac for 3 years - I would not know where to look for the directory... Can you help at all?
 
The other anomaly I have noticed is that the iCal date in the dock or viewed Applications is displaying the date as July 17th... when you click on it it corrects itself...wierd::sleepy::
 
The iCal thing is normal -- it will always display July 17th whenever it hasn't been launched. Logging out or restarting will always cause the iCal icon to revert to July 17th.

Once you launch iCal, the Dock icon will correctly reflect the current date, and will continue to do so until you restart or logout (or it becomes the next day and iCal isn't running).
 
Hello Forrester,

Hmmm ... sounds like your is hosed.

If you have "Disk Warrior" or "TechTools" for OS X you could try them. In the past they have helped me. But I've never had a problem as severe as yours.

One solution I can think of is to connect to the effected mac over a network from another mac/pc to retrieve the photo's.

you can find your photo's (assuming your using iPhoto) in the "Pictures" folder.

If that fails you can reinstall the OS, but choose the option that ONLY replaces the OS X system files which should leave the other folders intact. This method effectively installs a fresh "System" in cases were the OS X system files have been hosed.
 
Hi Thanks for the help ...

I tried to install Disk Warrior, but I can't mount any .dmg file on the system - it gives the message of no mountable files all the time...

I was using iphoto, but when I have re-opened it, it is like starting a fresh - with no files...

This picture file, may be the key... I have scoured the machine, but can't seem to find where the photos are...

I would give up was it not for the fact that Half the drive is still occupied with files - which must be somewhere, which could mean that my photos still exist.

The idea of re applying the OS is one I think I will have a go at. Presumably, when loading it will give me the option to just re-install the OS by a prompt?
 
Hello Forester,

Yes you will have the option to select which type of install to proceed with ...

but try the first option of logging on to your problem mac from another mac or pc as it may "see" the files your after. It seems like your OS has a corrupt directory (sort of like a road map of everything on your hard drive) so it can't locate any files but another machines may be able to see them.

hope this helps :)
 
Hi Again
excuse my incompetence, but can you talk me through logging in from a pc ?

The other thing is I have just pt in the Mac diagnostic disk to see if it could do anything and the drive is saying that there are no readable volumes of Mac os X on it - ignore or eject!
I put the Mac OS X disc in and got the same message, its like the machine has shut it self off from connections...
I have tried to sneak files on using a usb drive straight off the keyboard and it tells me taht it doesn't recognise the drive do I want to initialise, which is like the root of the whole problem...

I am gutted as I have never had any problems with my lovely Mac before now :confused:

It really feels like a virus that has shut me out of my Mac...
 
I am not the most tech person, but had a similar problem when my mac crashed after I downloaded the mac updates and rebooted. I was terrified at losing everything, as when powered up not even the startup disc could mount or be seen. A tech I know rebooted my mac through another mac, he told me that appaerntly my g4 (running OSX) has OS9 in the system as a basis, and he powered it up through that and retrieved all my data. Sorry, I have no idea of the processes involved, though... good luck.
 
Hello Forester,

to log on to your mac from a pc you need to:
I'm assuming you have Windows File Sharing switched "on" on your mac otherwise this won't work.
1. select "My Network Places " from the "Start" menu
2. select "View Network Connections"
3. select your mac from the list
4. enter your login details as you would your mac eg. username and password.
5. you should now have full access to you mac system

another solution a good friend of mine suggested is to mount your mac in Firewire mode. This requires access to another mac.

1. connect your faulty mac to another working mac with a firewire cable
2. turn on and log in with the working mac
3. start up the faulty mac holding down the "T" key on the faulty mac until you see your drive "mounted" on the working mac
4. once mounted it should act like another hard disk. just navigate to the location of the files you want and copy them to the working mac

I'm no virus guru but I doubt the problems your having would be a result of a virus since it would require you to authorise to allow the virus to install itself and infect your system.

Assuming your not getting a picture of a disk/folder with a flashing question mark when you boot up the mac (which would point to a hardware fault) I'd say your current OS X install has been seriously corrupted. The only other solution if you really want those photo's is to take your mac to a data retrieval specialist but they're not cheap and it's not guaranteed to be successful.

Otherwise its a complete reinstall of OS X
 
Hi Forester,

I had similar problems like yours, on an older G3 though.
You should try "Diskwarrior" on it, like Freelance suggests.
Solved a lot of problems here...
I think your drive is running out of memory too?
Diskwarrior does a defragmentation of your disk while rebuilding...
 
Hi
Thanks for this although I can't mount any .dmg files, I just get a no mountable files comment.
I am going to try one of Freelance's earlier suggestions...
 
Freelance, If I turn on the MAC as 'another network', my pc can see it and connect, but that appears to be all it can do ... how do I access the files on the MAC from the PC? File sharing is on.

The other thing is my Dad's got a G5 iMac, I could get him to bring it over and link via wireless. - Would this work as well as the firewire option you described earlier?
I am just working on the premise that MAC to MAC is better than PC to MAC!
If not I will get a lead!
 
New Forester said:
Freelance, If I turn on the MAC as 'another network', my pc can see it and connect, but that appears to be all it can do ... how do I access the files on the MAC from the PC? File sharing is on.

The other thing is my Dad's got a G5 iMac, I could get him to bring it over and link via wireless. - Would this work as well as the firewire option you described earlier?
I am just working on the premise that MAC to MAC is better than PC to MAC!
If not I will get a lead!
Click to expand...

When the Mac is sharing on means that objects in the Public folder are the only files that will be shared. So a third part developer developed a free/donationware program called SharePoints.
 
Hi
to everyone who has offered advice and tips on this, This afternoon I connected my MAC to my Dad's via an ethernet cable and managed to log into the files that were missing.
Interestingly on inspection there appears to be damaged files in both the iTunes and iPhoto software files.
Once the 15 gigs of my stuff was safely on my Dad's desktop, we proceeded to reinstall MAC OS X on my machine...
Apart from the million updates it is trying to download, it is working beautifully.
In terms of prevention, I have downloaded Disk Warrior and will run regular checks + I have ordered a Maxtor storage device - something I have been meaning to get around to to store my photos.
Anyway thanks to you all for your support - especially Freelance !
 
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