Weird Mac OS X Startup Problem

ptzwonptzwon
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Skip the next two paragraphs if you want to get straight to the problem...



Ok, I'll give you some background before I dive in. A few weeks ago there was a power outage that skrewed up my Rev. B iMac. The only way to fix the problem and get it to work again was to reinitialize the disk and start from scratch.



I figured that while the thing was getting cleaned our anyway it was a good time to upgrade to 384MB of RAM and upgrade to Mac OS X.



THE PROBLEM



The problem lies in the OS X update process. After booting up from the Mac OS CD (using the C key) I installed the operating system and everything proceeded as planned and I didn't see anything that would lead me to believe something was wrong. However, when I attempted to restart the computer it comes up to a white screen with black lettering (UNIX) that says something about it not understanding the bootr command. It also mentions some firmware problem and a firmware date of 12/02/98. I thought that the error was due to the fact that I hadn't installed OS 9 first, so I tried to start the system in 9 from the CD. But it won't and comes up to the same screen no matter what trick keys I press. Is there anyway I can get it to boot off of a CD, reinitialize the drive, and restart the installation this time with the Mac OS 9 CD first.



ANY SUGGESTIONS!?!?!?!?

Thanks for any help you can give...



Peter



P.S. RAM installation went without flaw and I was and my Mac OS 8.5 CD recognized it all before I started the whole Mac OS X process. (The RAM probably is not the problem).

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,179member
    when I put OS X on my imac 266mHz (rev a,b ???? i dunno), they were quite adamant that the firmware needed to be updated BEFORE installing OS X.

    The firmware update was available from apple.com .

    I was already using OS9, so I couldn't say if that could be a problem for you.



    Otherwise OSX runs as good as OS 9 on this old iMac .... but then, I dont do photoshop or intense games.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,179member
    PS ... try starting from your OS 8 CD ?



    Can you get ahold of an external drive (USB ?) with a System folder and try to start from that ?
  • Reply 3 of 5
    graphitemangraphiteman Posts: 428member
    The white screen is not UNIX, but a lower level interface called Open Firmware.



    To solve:

    1. Download all firmware upates from Apple and install.

    2. Then try OS X.

    3. If the problem persists, visit your local Apple Store or authorized service center, as you can realy muck up your system if you enter the wrong command.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Origi
  • Reply 5 of 5
    ptzwonptzwon Posts: 18member
    Ok, Weird problem, weird solution. Well, I got it working but not by any of the methods mentioned here (mostly by luck). the message said something about the bootr command not being known, so I tried a bootc command think c for C key, still nothing. Then I just typed boot and hit return and she booted. Who would have guessed. From there I reformatted the drive again, installed 8.5 (original system), installed firmware update, installed OS 9.2.1, and finally reinstalled Mac OS X. What an adventure.



    Thanks for your input!!!!!!



    Peter
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