12" Powerbook won't boot

thomasnnthomasnn
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hello..we are having problems with a 12" powerbook running Leopard. This computer always suffered from kernel panics here and there when the computer would be moved or bumped, but has not had one in awhile. Today we did the latest update of leopard (10.5.6) and it would not install fully. We tried to do it a few times, but no luck. After that, when we would turn the computer on a folder icon with a question mark would flash. Now we are having kernel panics immediately after the computer turns on. We have tried repair disc from an install disc, but says the volume could not be repaired. We tried to boot in single user mode but it freezes. Any ideas of where to go from here? Thank you.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thomasNN View Post


    Hello..we are having problems with a 12" powerbook running Leopard. This computer always suffered from kernel panics here and there when the computer would be moved or bumped, but has not had one in awhile. Today we did the latest update of leopard (10.5.6) and it would not install fully. We tried to do it a few times, but no luck. After that, when we would turn the computer on a folder icon with a question mark would flash. Now we are having kernel panics immediately after the computer turns on. We have tried repair disc from an install disc, but says the volume could not be repaired. We tried to boot in single user mode but it freezes. Any ideas of where to go from here? Thank you.



    Check your RAM with the hardware test disc-- I think with the G4 Macs it was a separate disc that came with the install bundle. It's possible that the sticks just need to be reseated, or you could have a bum module.



    Bad ram can cause all kinds of troubles, and the kernel panics when moved or bumped sounds like a red flag on that count. Then it screws up the upgrade, which screws up your file system, and there you be.



    Odds are you'll at least have to do an archive and install to get your system back in order. If the RAM checks out, you need to know if you've got hd problems-- no point in reinstalling anything on a funky drive. If you live anywhere near an Apple Store, the easiest thing to do is take it over and let a genius run diagnostics from an external boot drive-- or, of course, you can do that yourself if you've got another Mac or hd with a bootable system on it.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    cubs23cubs23 Posts: 324member
    If you need data off the drive, get an external hard drive, and get a copy of data rescue II. run the quick scan. They let you run a test scan to see if it gets anything. It's worth a the $100, as I just ran it on my sister's macbook, and it saved close to 6,000 files, including her important lesson plans and school papers. Likewise I've only heard great things about Steve Gibson's spinrite; if you have access to a windows machine.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    big_earsbig_ears Posts: 41member
    addabox has a good point. your ram might be dying.



    if you need to get stuff out of it, you can also use "target disk mode". connect firewire cable to two macs and hold T while booting on the mac you want as a slave. try this first if your harddrive is still detectable.



    also, i've heard there's problems on the 10.5.6 upgrade install. it's best to download the combo update from apple's website and install that.
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