i'm an idiot, can't boot or dvd or cd

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
i can't find the link on apple's forum to post a topic!



so i'll ask here i guess:

i can't boot off a cd holding down the "c" key. i've tried botting off the 10.4 dvd as well as the intel version of diskwarrior. i need to do HD maintenance



i tried resetting the PRAM as well as the SMC (via unplugging the computer)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burningwheel View Post


    i can't find the link on apple's forum to post a topic!



    so i'll ask here i guess:

    i can't boot off a cd holding down the "c" key. i've tried botting off the 10.4 dvd as well as the intel version of diskwarrior. i need to do HD maintenance



    i tried resetting the PRAM as well as the SMC (via unplugging the computer)



    Did you try holding the alt key?



    Also, for HD maintainence, you can go into single user mode (hold commnd-s at boot) then type fsck -f and hit return. When it's done, type reboot. No need for the system disc.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    burningwheelburningwheel Posts: 1,827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Did you try holding the alt key?



    Also, for HD maintainence, you can go into single user mode (hold commnd-s at boot) then type fsck -f and hit return. When it's done, type reboot. No need for the system disc.



    yep. i just tried this it doesn't work either



    do you think my bluetooth keyboard is shot? i guess i'll try to borrow my parents usb keyboard
  • Reply 3 of 10
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burningwheel View Post


    i can't find the link on apple's forum to post a topic!



    so i'll ask here i guess:

    i can't boot off a cd holding down the "c" key. i've tried botting off the 10.4 dvd as well as the intel version of diskwarrior. i need to do HD maintenance



    i tried resetting the PRAM as well as the SMC (via unplugging the computer)



    Is it possible that someone set the firmware to not allow CD booting (e.g. is this a school computer or a newly-acquired used computer)?
  • Reply 4 of 10
    burningwheelburningwheel Posts: 1,827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lundy View Post


    Is it possible that someone set the firmware to not allow CD booting (e.g. is this a school computer or a newly-acquired used computer)?



    i bought it last september or so. it's a home computer.



    it didn't seem to start booting up when i first tried using diskwarrior, but it was taking forever, so i shut the computer down. now diskwarrior tech sup. tell me it may take 5-10 minutes to start from the disc!
  • Reply 5 of 10
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burningwheel View Post


    do you think my bluetooth keyboard is shot? i guess i'll try to borrow my parents usb keyboard



    Yes, I would definitely try a USB keyboard.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    burningwheelburningwheel Posts: 1,827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Yes, I would definitely try a USB keyboard.



    usb keyboard doesn't work either
  • Reply 7 of 10
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burningwheel View Post


    usb keyboard doesn't work either



    Is the system disc you have the right version for your machine?

    Have you had any problems with your CD/DVD drive?

    What model of Mac do you?

    Are you sure it has a DVD drive and not just a CD drive?

    Are the discs the ones that came with your machine?

    Can you boot the system normally?

    Do you have an external drive? If so and you can boot the system, you can try cloning your system to it and booting from the external, then run a disk repair program like DiskWarrior.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    burningwheelburningwheel Posts: 1,827member
    [QUOTE=Marvin;1074071]Is the system disc you have the right version for your machine?

    Have you had any problems with your CD/DVD drive?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    What model of Mac do you?



    2x3 Ghz Dual Core Intel



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Are you sure it has a DVD drive and not just a CD drive?



    yep



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Are the discs the ones that came with your machine?



    i believe so. Tiger 10.4 includes Xcode 2

    Install DVD



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Can you boot the system normally?



    yep



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Do you have an external drive? If so and you can boot the system, you can try cloning your system to it and booting from the external, then run a disk repair program like DiskWarrior.



    yep. i could try that i guess. how do i do that exactly?
  • Reply 9 of 10
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burningwheel View Post


    i believe so. Tiger 10.4 includes Xcode 2

    Install DVD



    If you put the install disc in while booted and double-click on the install OS X option, does it tell you to reboot and if so what does it do after you reboot? Don't worry, this just starts the disc up, it doesn't install anything.



    I wonder if it's possible they shipped PPC discs with the system. Have you booted off the discs before?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burningwheel View Post


    yep. i could try that i guess. how do i do that exactly?



    The external drive should be empty. If it's not and you have enough space on your internal to hold the stuff, copy it over. Then format your external and get a program called superduper ( http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDup...scription.html ). The unregistered version will only do an erase then clone, which is why you need to copy your stuff off the drive. Do the clone, which should take about 1 minuter per gigabyte of drive space. Make sure your external is big enough to hold all your internal drive contents.



    The finished clone will make a bootable external drive with all your data. You just reboot with it plugged in and hold the alt key. Then you should see two drives, your Mac Pro drive and the external one. Double-click the external and it should boot from that. I highly recommend having a bootable external drive over a CD because you can copy stuff to it and run any application and also keep working.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    dage007dage007 Posts: 320member
    I am having hte same problem. If you read my post you will see that no matter what I press on the keyboard I can't boot from any disk etc.. Any keyboard combination does nothing "reset pram-safe boot-etc.." I tried a logitech wireless keyboard that has a usb connection and also tried an older apple usb black keyboard that came with my g4. None of this works.
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