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Thread ID: 99312 2009-04-27 06:57:00 Mac OSX Tiger 10.4.11 boot problem Geek4414 (12000) Press F1
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768857 2009-04-27 06:57:00 Any Mac OSX expert out there? A PowerMac G5 is not booting up properly . . .

It will boot to the desktop and then 'beachball', you can move the mouse but can't click on anything . Occasionally you can click on a menu or move within the dock, but only for a split second . If you leave it long enough, the screensaver will kick in (and keep working) but you can't get out of it, once again you can move the mouse around but no response to clicks .

When it first boot into the desktop, MSN Messenger and Safari icon in the dock keeps bouncing .

Tried booting into Single User Mode, and ran fsck but came up with an illegal name message after checking catalog . Also tried diskutil to repair disk or permission but it doesn't seem to do anything and the system prompt hasn't appeared after ages .

Thought about using a program call AppleJack, but I can't figure out how to install it in single user mode from a usb flash drive .

Is there any easy way to switch off all the auto-start applications and services?
Geek4414 (12000)
768858 2009-04-27 07:38:00 Can you boot it up in safe mode?
F8
-x

Surely the G5 can take the Leopard update can't it?
Bantu (52)
768859 2009-04-27 08:04:00 Geek4414 here is a link from our Mac Expert (Not me) support.apple.com Bantu (52)
768860 2009-04-27 08:23:00 discussions.apple.com rob_on_guitar (4196)
768861 2009-04-27 08:26:00 I'd check the hard drives for bad sectors (or run through the apple hardware test or Techtool - on one of the install CDs/DVDs) . Or you could test it in a PC with something like Seatools (if a seagate drive) .

Check the RAM with something like Rember ( . kelleycomputing . net/rember/" target="_blank">www . kelleycomputing . net) .

If the hardware appears good, then a reinstall of Tiger "Archive and install" may be the way to go .
gibler (49)
768862 2009-04-27 08:38:00 support.apple.com rob_on_guitar (4196)
768863 2009-04-27 11:59:00 Thank you all for your suggestions. I will check tomorrow and report back. Geek4414 (12000)
768864 2009-04-29 07:38:00 Just to report back . . .

The problem became very clear at the end . . . the hard drive died . :-(
It now makes clicking noises like all the other dead hard drives I have .

Replaced it with a new SATA drive, reloaded Tiger and updated back to 10 . 4 . 11 and its well now .
Geek4414 (12000)
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