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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / June 2006HELP!
Before I begin, let me say that I'm not knowledgeable about the macintosh paradigm. I bought the powerbook about 4 years ago because OSX is based upon Mach and freeBSD. Knowing that will help you to comment in ways that I can understand. About a week ago, my powerbook G4 Titanium running OSX 10.2.8 decided that all black would be a nice screen color. I.e. it acted as though it was shut down. Power cycling didn't do anything. So I held down the power button long enough to be sure that it was really off and left it for, hell, I don't know 12? 24? hours. When I turned it on at that time, it came up as normal. For what it may be worth, the powerbook is normally run 24x7 just like my normal freeBSD box. Yesterday, the same thing happened but after a good 18- to 24- hour rest, when I powered it on, it began to come up but before ever getting to the point of permitting log in, a tiny (between 0.25" and 0.375") image appeared in the middle of the screen and no pointing device cursor appeared. The image is a rectangle with an alternating question mark and what looks a lot like the finder icon image (i.e. a little face) within. Well, thinking that something had died, I ran the "Apple Hardware Test" that came with the powerbook. According to the extended test, everything passed. Well, thought I, the OS must have gotten hosed somehow. So I got out the 10.2 CDs (it had updated to 10.2.8 off the net some time ago) and jumped through the hoops to get it to boot from the installation CD #1 and proceeded to work through the successive screens until I got to the one that wanted me to select a destination for the installation -- but it gave me no choices. OK, thinking that I'd missed a failed hard disk indication in the hardware test, I reran that and, sure enough, it said passed for mass storage. (I think that was the term used.) So then I dug out the original 10.1 distribution that came with the machine and tried first the restore CD #1. when I got to the select destination point, again it gave me no usable choice. It showed something like "Restore Image" and the CD. Both of which it told me I couldn't use. Nothing else. Jumping through more hoops, I ejected that CD and booted the install CD. Again, I got as far as selection of the destination. This time all it showed was the CD and again, instructed me (DUH!) that I couldn't install to that. I'm totally at a loss. Where do I go from here? Any help will be sincerely appreciated.  SignatureCharlie Sorsby crs@swcp.com Edgewood, NM 87015 USA > Any help will be sincerely appreciated. I'd take it to an Apple technician. Sounds like something is flakey to me. SignatureIs this the right room for an argument? <snip> > The image is a rectangle with an alternating question mark and what > looks a lot like the finder icon image (i.e. a little face) within. I'm afraid I can't help much, but what you describe is what happens when the Mac can't find any bootable volume containing an OS. It could mean the catalogue on your HD is corrupt or damaged--the data in the files themselves may well be OK. Can you run Disk Utility from your system CD? If that can't repair the volume, maybe TechTool or DiskWarrior can. SignatureOdysseus = In article <e6a4iv$br6$1@iruka.swcp.com>, = crs@sorsby.org (Charlie Sorsby) wrote: = = <snip> = > = > The image is a rectangle with an alternating question mark and what = > looks a lot like the finder icon image (i.e. a little face) within. = = I'm afraid I can't help much, but what you describe is what happens when = the Mac can't find any bootable volume containing an OS. It could mean = the catalogue on your HD is corrupt or damaged--the data in the files = themselves may well be OK. Can you run Disk Utility from your system CD? = If that can't repair the volume, maybe TechTool or DiskWarrior can. Here are the CDs that I have: Came with machine: Apple Hardware Test PowerBook G4 Mac OS X Install PowerBook G4 Mac OS 9 Install PowerBook G4 Applications Mac OS X Developer Tools PowerBook G4 Software Restore 1 of 3 PowerBook G4 Software Restore 2 of 3 PowerBook G4 Software Restore 3 of 3 Bought almost immediately after buying the laptop: Mac OS X v10.2 Upgrade (disks 1 and 2) As described, I tried both restore and reinstall from the appropriate CDs but never got beyond the page to select the destination (I assume the hard drive :) for installation at which point it apparently couldn't find the drive. As mentioned, I'm not very familiar with be mac paradigm; I'm more of a command-line person. Would the utilities you mention above be on one of those CDs? Which? Thanks for any help. SignatureCharlie Sorsby crs@swcp.com Edgewood, NM 87015 USA > As described, I tried both restore and reinstall from the > appropriate CDs but never got beyond the page to select the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Would the utilities you mention above be on one of those CDs? > Which? The Apple Hardware Test (obviously) has a test for the hard disk, and will be more complete than anything else you have. For a basic test to see of the Mac even thinks the hard disk is there, boot from an X install disc and find the Disk Utility in the menus. Note what the screens say about "SMART status", along the bottom of the screen. > Note what the screens say about "SMART > status", along the bottom of the screen. >> powerbook G4 Titanium most probably didn't sell with a drive capable this feature.... and not sure his version of Disk Utility will offer it as well (remember: he starts from 10.2.x) Greetings Frank > The image is a rectangle with an alternating question mark and what > looks a lot like the finder icon image (i.e. a little face) within. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Any help will be sincerely appreciated. Charlie - i'm no expert, and despite info (above) to the contrary, i'd say that your hard drive is banjaxed! I would borrow (or buy from eBay) a cheap small laptop drive - a Fujitsu or IBM Travelstar - 6GB version - would do the job, swap it in and try to load the OS on there from the discs and boot up. If it works, problem solved, just buy a better HD to replace the one you have. if it doesn't, well at least you have ruled out a HD problem. -- JohnB > > The image is a rectangle with an alternating question mark and what > > looks a lot like the finder icon image (i.e. a little face) within. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > hardware test, I reran that and, sure enough, it said passed for > > mass storage. (I think that was the term used.) Ok, I'm coming into this late, but: You have to take these test results with a grain of salt. If the test reports a failed component, then you've definitely got a problem. If it reports that everything is fine, then you _may still_ have a problem. Obviously you've got a problem, but you haven't completely ruled out a hardware problem yet. > > So then I dug out the original 10.1 distribution that came with the > > machine and tried first the restore CD #1. when I got to the > > select destination point, again it gave me no usable choice. It > > showed something like "Restore Image" and the CD. Both of which it > > told me I couldn't use. Nothing else. Stay away from 10.1. It's buggy enough that it will only complicate your troubleshooting efforts. 10.2 is quite stable, and if you can get your hands on 10.3 (should be cheap used or on eBay or something), it's both faster, more capable (Expose!), and more stable than 10.2. > > Jumping through more hoops, I ejected that CD and booted the > > install CD. Again, I got as far as selection of the destination. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Fujitsu or IBM Travelstar - 6GB version - would do the job, swap it in > and try to load the OS on there from the discs and boot up. This is a good approach. If you can borrow an external (IIRC, the OP has a Titanium, so Firewire is preferred) drive that's bootable, that can tell you if it's an HD problem. Or you can purchase an external notebook drive; they're useful no matter what computer you have, and so are a good investment. Another possibility is a bad/failing PRAM battery (though the symptoms don't really match up _really_ well). If you're still on the original PRAM battery, look for (or try to remember if you saw) signs of failure such as constant date/time resets, system settings mysteriously reverting to defaults, etc. A failing PRAM battery can cause general system instability and strange crashes/other behavior. SignatureLater, John johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu 'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk. > Another possibility is a bad/failing PRAM battery my first thought when I read it, but: if the installation process doesn't find a drive it points to a hard disk failure /inconsistency rather... What I would do is: find someone with a Disk Warrior CD and give it a try. If there are no data the OP is in need of at once or in case he has a proper backup somewhere I would just go the "change hard disk"-path without hesitation. And I would not give to much work in trying a smaller one, the time you invest changing is higher than just changing to a disk that can be used for new setup*). Once a new system installed there is still a chance to get to the data from the old disk using an external cage (USB or better firewire connected) and have a look for the data left there using rescue tools like Disk Warrior (3.0.3 and up would do, had probs with 3.0) or maybe even Drive 10, beware of Norton BTW. *) if installing 10.3 don't miss to upgrade to 10.3.9, otherwise could run into new problems... Greetings Frank > About a week ago, my powerbook G4 Titanium running OSX 10.2.8 decided > that all black would be a nice screen color. I.e. it acted as though [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > For what it may be worth, the powerbook is normally run 24x7 just > like my normal freeBSD box. ... > Well, thinking that something had died, I ran the "Apple Hardware > Test" that came with the powerbook. According to the extended > test, everything passed. ... > OK, thinking that I'd missed a failed hard disk indication in the > hardware test, I reran that and, sure enough, it said passed for > mass storage. (I think that was the term used.) ... How about a dead battery and/or power supply ? I assume you are doing all tests with the wallplug adapter connected, but you could still have too low supply voltage. This could explain the erratic behaviour. Check the supply voltage using the System Profiler (that's the name under X.4) or the equivalent for X.2 . Under "Hardware" - "Power" you should see ~15000 mV. CAB > Before I begin, let me say that I'm not knowledgeable about the > macintosh paradigm. I bought the powerbook about 4 years ago > because OSX is based upon Mach and freeBSD. Knowing that will help > you to comment in ways that I can understand. That hard disk is probably fried. Apple's system utilities are lacking, to say the least. Get a copy of Disk Warrior and try it. Disk Warrior is available at most stores who sell Mac software. |
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