No bootup OSX

R

richmark

Registered
Using a vintage clamshell Ibook, I commanded startup on OSX from OS 9.2

When restart, I get 3 seconds of Apple logo, then a black screen which looks like DOS and has the following print:

/etc/master.password: Not a directory
-sh:/etc/ profile:not a directory
-sh2.o5b#
--------------------------

I am on vacation in Thailand and do not have a startup disk, and there are no apple dealers here.

The mouse does not operate, and the only way to shut down is to pull the plug and battery,

Help please!!
thanks
 
Did you do the MacOSX install and have you run MacOSX before on that laptop? Because it looks like a dodgy install to me.
Do you happen to know what version of MacOSX was installed, i.e. 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, or Jaguar or Panther. etc.
 
Hi richmark and welcome to the forum.
What happenes when you hold the option (alt) key while boot? Any way to pick another os?
 
Apple should NOT use the word Alias to refer to UNIX links, they are different. example you cannot "cd" through an Apple Alias.

A UNIX alias can refer to a whole bunch of things, i.e. command lines, command shortcuts, extensions, executions or scripts etc.

A simple ls -al on an Apple Alias will illustrate this, its just a normal file.
The Apple GUI can dive through a UNIX link though.

The removal of links in / used to be a problem in the early MacOSX's, sometime they would get removed.

What I said on this board then was to boot a MacOSX CD either in single use mode (Apple and "s") and check:

Check

cd /

ls -al

and look for

etc -> private/etc
var -> private/var
mach -> /mach.sym
tmp -> private/tmp

If the are missing do the following


ln -s /private/etc etc
ln -s /private/var var
ln -s /private/tmp tmp

ln -s /mach.sym mach

You should be able to do a CTRL D and boot into multi user at this point.
 
Hi.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.
Panther is installed, but I have not used it for some time as my scanner will not work with OSX.

I tried starting with Alt, and got a mouse friendly screen with an icon of the hard drive in the centre, and clockwise curving arrow to left, neither of which opened. On the right side a right facing arrow took me to the black screem.

I tried the etc and var procedures a number of times, but without success. Many of the inputs retruned the message "command not found"

I was attempting to hook up the laptop at an internet cafe, and when as a last resort, I switched to OSX startup, the Ethernet was plugged in, which I presume is not recommended.

I guess I will have to wait until I can access a start up disk, either in Bangkok next week or at home in Vancouver. Never leave home without your disks. !!

Thanks again for the help.

Richard
 
Richard

If commands like "ls", "cd" and "ln" don't work from the command (terminal) line then it looks like the BSD subsystems is not fully or properly installed.

Unfortnately it does look as though you may need the Install Disks.
 
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