Major MAC problem

M

mikeintokyo

Registered
Sorry, I am new to the MAC world and having a problem with a MAC (G4 desktop) I have inherited.

All of a sudden one day, I had problem reading any external drives. MO, CD-ROMs and the additional hard disk that is in the machine. Otherwise, it seems to work ok.

When I put in a disk I get an error saying that the "Volume is unreadable, to use the disk you will need to format it". I know the disks are ok, because I can read them in a PC with mac software installed.

I did hunt around the web and I found the exact error message which suggested I need to change some file permissions at the UNIX level. I managed to change the permissions, but still have the same problem.

Ok, so I thought I would try to upgrade the system and when I try booting from the CD-ROM (holding down the C key) the machine just boots up normally. I also tried Command-Option-Control-Delete.

I have taken out the additional memory, SCSI card but to no avail. I would really appreciate it if anyone had any tips to fix this.

Thanks.
 
what version of OS X is installed?

Try to run Disk Untilites and repair volumns-

USually, if a drive doens't mount there is corruption on the disk.
 
Thanks for the reply. It is 10 something. I will check the exact details tomorrow. I opened the Disk Utilities but it only showed the main disk which is working fine.

I have tried the MO drive on a Windows PC and it works fine. The CDs and DVDs that I am checking work fine on another machine, so I don't think that is the problem.

I just can't understand what the problem is. I have never seen something like this on a windows PC which I am more familiar with.

I have tried booting with the internal and external CD drive, but still no luck.
 
You can check the exact version if you head to the Apple menu (top left) and select "About This Mac."

As for the key command other than C to boot up from another device other than the system drive, it's actually Command-Option-Shift-Delete.

Also, what kind of media are you using to burn your data? It's possible that maybe you're using media that might not be compatible with the older optical drive on the G4.
 
I think that was the option I tried; Command-Option-Shift-Delete. I am not in front of the MAC now, so I can't check the version.

I thought it could be a compatibility issue, which I why I am trying to do the upgrade.

The problem is, that it was working one day and then stopped working the next. It is a shared machine, so someone could have done something, but just don't know what or how to check.

Anything else I can try/look for?
 
Nixgeek, that is probably likely. Do I have to boot from a CD to run the update, or can I just download it and execute it on the fly?
 
Depending on the G4, you might have to do it from OS 9. It won't install through Classic mode.
 
'G4 desktop' - do you have a PowerMac G4 - which is a 'tower' model? I can only presume this by the added statement of - 'and the additional hard disk that is in the machine'.
Use 'MacTracker' to specifically identify your model Mac.

'It is 10 something.' - no such version exists. To determine the actual version - select the 'Apple (icon), About This Mac' menu item. In the 'About This Mac's window, under 'Mac OS X' will be the version number. Reporting what is displayed next to 'Processor' may also be helpful.

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'Depending on the version of the OS you have, you might need a firmware upgrade.' - why?, in the original post it was stated - 'All of a sudden one day, I had problem reading any external drives.'. This implies that with the current MacOS X version, etc. the Mac did indeed access internal, external, Read-only, and writable media.

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Just in case - did you select 'Finder's 'Finder, Preferences...' menu item, click on the 'General' tab, and confirm that 'Show these items on the Desktop' - 'Hard disks' and 'CDs, DVDs, and iPods' check boxes are with a check mark?
The above settings however, would not be the cause of the inserted discs from presenting the 'Volume is unreadable ...' message.

Did you ever press the CUDA button (if a PowerMac model)? Do a 'Google', or from within 'macosx.com', 'CUDA' search for additional information.
 
REason I mentioned the firmware is that I've seen people actually install OS X <insert-version-here> without installing the firmware and sometimes it works, but then later on it doesn't. Usually it just won't install at all though.
 
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