imac hangs on startup - safeboot doesn't work
mr. lafemi's imac has been acting up and tonight it won't boot, not even safeboot, it hangs on the startup gray apple icon screen. I did a verbose mode start up and the last two lines read as follows:
Macintosh mDNSResponder: Couldn't read user-specified computer Name; using default bMacintosh-0017F2CDA4C1b instead
Macintosh automount[175]: Failed request for Finder notification; result = -1
anyone have any ideas before we haul it in?
We do have Disk Warrior, but he claims it won't start on that disk (i'm going to try that now) or the original install disc either. not sure what the problem is......seems bad though.
Macintosh mDNSResponder: Couldn't read user-specified computer Name; using default bMacintosh-0017F2CDA4C1b instead
Macintosh automount[175]: Failed request for Finder notification; result = -1
anyone have any ideas before we haul it in?
We do have Disk Warrior, but he claims it won't start on that disk (i'm going to try that now) or the original install disc either. not sure what the problem is......seems bad though.
Comments
Do you have another Mac handy? If it's the same type (PowerPC or Intel), then boot the good Mac into target disk mode (hold the T key when booting up) and then connect the good Mac to the iMac. Reboot the iMac, hold down the Option key, then select the FireWire drive and see if it boots from that.
Or, you could boot the iMac into target disk mode, and plug it into the good Mac - and run utilities as if the iMac were an external hard drive.
Good catch on verbose mode, that can be really handy sometimes. You don't see anything about I/O errors, do you? That usually indicates a failing hard drive.
There's more, but I'd start there.
ok imac is intel as is the macbook laptop. I started the imac in Target disk mode and plugged it in to the laptop, good news, the laptop recognizes it, i opened disk utility and am running "verify disk" from the laptop on the "imac" currently, we'll see what comes up. please stand by.
Also, you can boot your friend's MacBook from the DiskWarrior CD and repair the iMac as an external drive (still in target disk mode), or install DiskWarrior on the MacBook's HD and repair while booted from OS X.
Is your Dad running 10.4 or 10.5? If he's running 10.4, you'll need to reinstall using his original discs. If he's running 10.5, you'll need his original discs (if it came with 10.5) or a retail copy of 10.5. When you go through the motions of installing, select "Archive & Install" - in fact, I'd even keep the checkbox "Preserve users and network settings" checked, unless you have problems booting after it reinstalls. If you do, run another archive and install, but uncheck that box. You'll need to recreate his user account and move his stuff into the new account, but it's essentially a completely clean install (but instead of erasing, it just moves his stuff out of the way).
i'm currently booting the laptop from the disk warrior cd, with the imac connected in target mode.
mr. lafemi is my husband and he was planning on a reinstall tomorrow - murphy's law or something.
booting from disk warrior takes a bit, going to the kitchen for some ice cream, be back in a few with an update - you're awesome Flak, thanks.
Good timing, then. I'd rebuild with DiskWarrior and then reinstall (provided the HD is really good). Doesn't sound like anything more serious than a messed up OS.
Is he keeping backups? Once he's got things running again, it might be a good time to start doing that, if he isn't already.
Happy to help!
Erase and install sounds like a good idea, though. Try holding down the Option key when trying to boot from the OS disc - any luck?
It'll be diagnosed as a motherboard replacement, likely. The normal Apple warranty is one year- extended to three if you've got applecare. If you purchased on a credit card you may have some manner of warranty extension.
Interesting stuff about the boot process.
bad logic board
and bad video card
repair cost total: $915
having AppleCare: $0
Loving the AppleCare plan!!!!!
do have a question though. I know that on a mac you don't have to defrag, but I have heard if you work with a lot of large video files, that you do need to. Mr. Lafemi is pretty rough on his mac: he bit torrents, plays WoW (which has many large files and patches to those files) PLUS he's a filmmaker and even those "short" films are GBs and GBs worth of data that get added to and deleted, is there any good maintenance we should be doing?
Also, are you running 10.5.7? Seems Apple/ATI updated some drivers with 10.5.7, that could cause some issues, too (it broke 3D acceleration in VMWare).