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Please Help with start up issue!

post #1 of 23
11/8/05 at 12:18pm
Thread Starter 
Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Dual G5 2 Ghz, 1.5 GB DDR, ATI x800 OS 10.4.3 home mac, 2 user accounts. I'm at work right now so I will tinker later tonight.

System hangs when starting up with Grey Apple icon and the status wheel spinning. Fans will kick on to full blast or almost full blast and system doesn't progress to the login screen. I have let it run for over 30 minutes like this thinking it may boot, then I will hard shut down from the main power key.

Something weird happened probably stemming from a perceived hang when running Yazu a utility that runs maintenance chores as well as repair permissions, pre-binding etc. I had to shutdown in the middle of a prolonged repairing of permissions. Yazu warns about other users logged off before using which I am 99% sure was the case and that it is better not to quit out of the App until it's done, even if it is taking a long time...... uhhh woops.

Never had issues with Yasu and this system has been rock solid until now, 2 days after 10.4.3 OS update.

System will start up in Target Disc Mode fine and quick and everything seems to be there. I pulled files off to my laptop to backup.

I've run Disk Utilities from the Tiger start up DVD and laptop. First run found issues it could not fix and which quit out of trying to fix them. System was looking in the lost and found folders for something, maybe a bologna sandwich?

After that, running Disk Utilities form Tiger DVD found no errors.
Rebuilt Directory with Alsoft - DiskWarrior 3.03. Which found some errors and replaced the directory. Everything comes out OK now when I rerun those two utilities -No problems found.

Repaired Permissions from Tiger startup DVD to see if that helped, I usually only repair permissions when booted in and from the Hard Drive.

Can't boot into Safe Boot Mode.

Haven't run a hardware test yet, but nothings been Wonky or unstable until this.

I'm considering running the full standalone 10.4.3 installer from Target boot mode from my laptop but I am worried about loosing my wife's 10 GB of iTunes music- 5 GB ipod, no room left on my cd burning tibook, (read not all backed up yet).

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #2 of 23
11/8/05 at 3:30pm
Thread Starter 
Common you guys!

Throw me a bone!

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #3 of 23
11/8/05 at 3:48pm
  • Ebby
  • RIAA's Most Wanted
it is crashing on bootup. My guess is that the update was pooched and took a few days to die. Your data should be fine, just back it up and reformat/reinstall. You could also do a archive and install and try to re-update your computer if you don't have a lot of time..
horrid misuse of cool technology
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horrid misuse of cool technology
SSBA.COM
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post #4 of 23
11/8/05 at 6:24pm
Quote:
Originally posted by tink
Common you guys!

Throw me a bone!

You need to delete the file com.apple.loginwindow.plist.

Can you boot into single-user mode (hold down command-s during boot?)

Then navigate to /Library/Preferences and use the rm command to remove the file I noted above:

cd /Library/Preferences
rm com.apple.loginwindow.plist

reboot
--Johnny
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--Johnny
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post #5 of 23
11/9/05 at 9:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by lundy
You need to delete the file com.apple.loginwindow.plist.

Can you boot into single-user mode (hold down command-s during boot?)

Then navigate to /Library/Preferences and use the rm command to remove the file I noted above:

cd /Library/Preferences
rm com.apple.loginwindow.plist

reboot

Thanks Lundy!
I have not tried single user mode yet, but will tonight after work.
If I can't boot into single user mode, can't I navigate to the same file via Target disc mode from my laptop through the Finder?

Ebby- This will be my last resort. No DVD-R on the laptop and I haven't worked out how to move the many, many GB of data at the moment. (30 CD'S or so of stuff I'd like to keep as well not reinstalling all my apps). I may network my old Blue and White thats in the garage, but before all that yadda yadda................... bye bye com.apple.loginwindow.plist

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #6 of 23
11/9/05 at 11:34am
Quote:
If I can't boot into single user mode, can't I navigate to the same file via Target disc mode from my laptop through the Finder?

Yep, that would be even better, if it will boot into Target mode. I have several partitions on my main HD so when this happened to me I just booted to the other partition to delete the file.

Hopefully your problem is the same as mine was and this will fix it.
--Johnny
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--Johnny
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post #7 of 23
11/9/05 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by lundy
Yep, that would be even better, if it will boot into Target mode. I have several partitions on my main HD so when this happened to me I just booted to the other partition to delete the file.

Hopefully your problem is the same as mine was and this will fix it.

I'll give it a go in a few hours.

My work Dually has 2 Hard drives with a couple partitions in one which defiantly helps if situations like this arise...

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #8 of 23
11/9/05 at 10:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by tink
I'll give it a go in a few hours.

My work Dually has 2 Hard drives with a couple partitions in one which defiantly helps if situations like this arise...

Well deleting com.apple.loginwindow.plist didn't work.

I think its with disk utlilities or what ever it's running prior to boot up. Thats my guess.


All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #9 of 23
11/10/05 at 6:05am
Boot in to single-user mode and run fsck.
NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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post #10 of 23
11/10/05 at 7:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by fahlman
Boot in to single-user mode and run fsck.

"System appears to be okay"

\

I ran "fsck -yf" and the fans came up etc.

Reboot and same spinning - like my head,

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #11 of 23
11/10/05 at 8:56am
Quote:
Originally posted by tink
Well deleting com.apple.loginwindow.plist didn't work.

I think its with disk utlilities or what ever it's running prior to boot up. Thats my guess.


Well, hell. I think there might have been another file I deleted when I had this problem. Lemme check.

EDIT: how about windowserver.plist or preferences.plist - try moving those out of the /Library/Preferences.
--Johnny
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--Johnny
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post #12 of 23
11/10/05 at 10:17am
This sounds like it could be a netinfo database problem. Repairing this is beyond my knowledge.

Have you tried repairing permissions in single-user mode? Here's the command:
Code:

diskutil repairPermissions /
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NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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post #13 of 23
11/10/05 at 10:23am
Going out on a limb, but maybe a incomplete prebinding is causing your problem. I don't even know if this can be a problem. I bet it wouldn't hurt to update prebinding in single-user mode.

Code:

update_prebinding -force / -root
NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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post #14 of 23
11/10/05 at 10:53am
Thread Starter 
Once again I will try these suggestions this evening, after work.

Thank you one and all.

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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post #15 of 23
11/10/05 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by lundy
Well, hell. I think there might have been another file I deleted when I had this problem. Lemme check.

EDIT: how about windowserver.plist or preferences.plist - try moving those out of the /Library/Preferences.

windowserver.plist is a no go.
No preferences.plist file just com.apple.preferences.accounts.plist which I assume is the right pref. ( I live by assumption )... is a no go.


Next on to diskutil repairPermissions /

and my favorite (which I think will do the trick)

update_prebinding -force / -root

Yalla, wee hooo!

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply
post #16 of 23
11/10/05 at 8:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by fahlman
This sounds like it could be a netinfo database problem. Repairing this is beyond my knowledge.

Have you tried repairing permissions in single-user mode? Here's the command:
Code:

diskutil repairPermissions /


Code:

dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MediaKit.framework/Versions?A?MediaKit
Reason: image not found
Trace/BPI trap
localhost:/ root#


Trapped

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply
post #17 of 23
11/10/05 at 8:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by fahlman
Going out on a limb, but maybe a incomplete prebinding is causing your problem. I don't even know if this can be a problem. I bet it wouldn't hurt to update prebinding in single-user mode.
Code:

update_prebinding -force / -root


Code:

update_prebinding: warning: unknown option /
resolveUndefined(___CFConstantStringClassReference  ) in /System/Library/Frameworks?IOKit.framework/Versions?A?IOKit
resolveUndefined(___CFConstantStringClassReference  ) in /System/Library/Frameworks?IOKit.framework/Versions?A?IOKit
update_prebinding" error; Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/SystemConfiguration.framework/Versions/A/SystemConfiguration
Reason: image not found
localhost;/ root#


in other words.....grumble grumble

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply
post #18 of 23
11/10/05 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
ahhhhh
CD #4 burned

12 more to go................

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply
post #19 of 23
11/11/05 at 2:05pm
Thread Starter 
Any more suggestions out there?

Thanks!

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply
post #20 of 23
11/12/05 at 7:51pm
Thread Starter 
Well I ended up reinstalling the download update via Target disc mode.
Now I get to the Mac OS X progress bar page.

Wee hooo progress.

Now I'm hanging at the point where the progress bar is full and should pop the screen into the login window....

The HD crunches along for about 10 minutes (sounds like it's indexing) and then stops...

(I've run all my utilities again and all's comin up roses)

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiet

I should of grabbed a HD at work.

I think I'll install the stand alone one more time and then buy another HD to load a fresh OS on and try and do a migration of the 2 user files.

Does anyone know if the migration tool works with more then one user?

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply
post #21 of 23
11/13/05 at 5:25am
Quote:
Originally posted by tink
Code:

update_prebinding: warning: unknown option /
resolveUndefined(___CFConstantStringClassReference  ) in /System/Library/Frameworks?IOKit.framework/Versions?A?IOKit
resolveUndefined(___CFConstantStringClassReference  ) in /System/Library/Frameworks?IOKit.framework/Versions?A?IOKit
update_prebinding" error; Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/SystemConfiguration.framework/Versions/A/SystemConfiguration
Reason: image not found
localhost;/ root#


in other words.....grumble grumble

Maybe it doesn't like the -force / -root. Try it without those options. While I used to know what -force and -root was for I've always done it that way and have forgotten the reason. Do a
Code:

man update_prebinding

. I think -force forces the prebinding of files that can don't necessary need their prebinding redone?
NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated,...
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post #22 of 23
11/13/05 at 3:28pm
Okay you do seem to be computer savvy enough
to maintain your mac quite good.

btw, did you trashed PR-RAM?
If i run into weird trouble, i try this first.
no 1 trouble killer, imho.

next i'd try, is to boot into Open Firmware.
Attention please, this is not a standard
procedere to maintain macs, but in your case
it is worth a shot, do you agree?

cheers
" I will not commit anything to memory that I can get from another source . . . "
ALBERT EINSTEIN
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" I will not commit anything to memory that I can get from another source . . . "
ALBERT EINSTEIN
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post #23 of 23
11/16/05 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 


I backed up as much as possible and did an archive and install 10.4 and then updated everything.
Systems working preaty good now but I'm getting intermitted system pauses similar to what I've read about on Macintouch (troubleshooting 10.4.3).

I need a better back up plan. I think it's time to save some $$ for that 2nd drive and an external firewire..

Thanks for all the help out there. I was really scratching my head when Discwarrior shrugged it's shoulders.

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
Reply

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin
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