OS X freezes on start up

M

Megadeth_fan

Registered
i got 10.1.5 installed in my G3 500 imac. It has been working fine for years until now.


whenever i try to start my computer up in 10.1.5, it freezes.

i turn my computer on and once the gray screen finishes loading up, the blue background appears along with the "white box with gray horizontal lines across it" that says "Mac OS X".

and it freezes there.

usually a "blue shiny" status bar is suppose to appear in that white box to show that it's loading.

but nothing happens.

My harddrive is partitioned. 1 for OS X and the other is for OS Classic.

I'm in the Classic OS right now (9.2). Is there any way where i can fix this problem without nuking (initializing) my harddisk?

There anyway that i can get access to my OS X parition and burn precious files that i need?

So precious.

:(
 
There are a couple of things that you should have done before installing OS X.
Depending on your exact model - you might have needed firmware. If you did not do this check for your firmware here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58174#iMac17fp

What is the size of your partitions? OS X needs to be installed on the first 8GB(or larger) of the drive. If you have a hard drive that does not allow this (i.e. a 10GB drive), you can not have the partitions. You can have OS 9 and OS X installed on the same drive.

You can boot using the OS X CD and when the installer screen comes up go to the Installer menu and select Disk Utility. From there you can have Disk Utility can the drive and fix all problems. Do not use Norton utilities on the OS X drive. This will create more problems. If you need a third party utility use Drive 10 or Disk Warrior.
 
Definitely boot with an OS X cd (hold down the "C" key with the cd in the drive on start up) and use the Disk Utility (don't reinstall X just yet!) Try to repair permissions and the disk and then reboot while holding the option key. Then choose your Drive with X on it (using the mouse to pick the icon) and try to restart (using the button at the bottom right, the "arrow" looking thing!) and see if X works.

Let us know what happens.
 
You could try with another harddrive. I'd first replace the one you've got installed with a new one and install Mac OS X on that. Then I'd add the older one and get the important files off it. Then trash the old one or reformat it. New harddrives aren't that expensive, and you might find a used one that still 'upgrades' your system by being larger and faster.
 
i have a 30 gig HD.

"OS X" is installed on the first 20 gigs and "OS 9" is installed on the other 10 gigs.

i dont remember having to update my firmware before installing OS X. maybe i didnt need to because it was working perfectly for such a long time.

i tried starting up in verbose mode, by holding down command+V, but that aint work either.

if i put in my install CD and choose the disk utility, will it initialize my disk?

or

While my computer is running OS Classic, is there anyway that i can get access to the files on my OS X partition and burn them?

--im just really timid about putting in my install CD and using the disk first aid, because im afraid that it will initialize my disk--

im using 10.1.5
 
It won't just initialize your disk (you'd have to choose that). Just start up from your CD, choose Disk Utility from the Apple menu and 'repair' the volume. (Checking does the same, only doesn't try and repair anything, so it's rather useless.) Do the repair twice or three times even, if there are things cropping up.
 
I thought that if your Mac didn't have the right firmware it would give you a warning and wouldn't let you install the new OS.

Anyway, 10.1 is nothing but problems. I'm sure someone here could send you a decommissioned CD of 10.2 if you can't swing for Panther. ;)
 
so far it sounds like i need to nuke my HD.

i put in my upgrade cd (10.1.5) and did a disk verify. it said the OS X partition was damaged, so i did a repair.

i thought it worked, it said it was fixed. but as soon as i restarted my computer, it started doing the same thing.

OS X stopped starting up at the same spot.


i dont want to initialize my HD, but...

if i put in my 10.1.5 CD and reinstall 10.1.5 would it fix the problem without initializing my disk?
 
Not necessarily. I don't know what the install options are with 10.1, so I can't give you an answer on that part. But the first thing you should do is go to Apple's support site and download the latest version of your computer's firmware (I believe it's 4.1.7 for the gumdrop slot-loading iMacs). Then you should have less trouble booting into OS X.

Can you not mount your OS X partition when you're booted in OS 9? If not, I doubt you have the proper drivers installed on said partition. Your best bet would probably be to buy 10.2 or 10.3 and do an Archive and Install (after updating your firmware)... not only will it leave your hard drive intact, it will perform much better than 10.1.X.
 
If your computer has been running 10.1.5 fine for years I really doubt its a firmware issue. You could try resetting your firmware by holding down the apple-option-o-f keys at startup. You will then boot into the open firmware console. At the prompt type "reset-nvram" enter then "reset-all" enter. If Disk Utility is not able to fix the issues with your hard-drive you may want to try a 3rd party disk utility, prefereably either DiskWarrior or Tech Tool Pro 4. You could also try re-formatting your hard drive and this may also get rid of the problem. Before you do any of these steps make sure you back-up all your important files. Lastly, if none of these things work your hard-drive may be at the end of its days.
 
Everything i tried didnt help fix the problem. so i had to initialize and repartition my disk.

i managed to get ahold and burn all my important files though. a lot of hassle, but the good thing is...

it's like a whole new Mac

:D

thx for the help.
 
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