Computer won't start up properly
Okay, I'm selling my external hard drive so I initialized it. To do so, I took the very bad advice of my brother to start up in OS 9 and use the OS 9 CD's Drive Setup utility to initialize it, instead of using Disk Utility in the OS X startup CD (he claimed that there was no disk initialization utility on the OS X CD, unless I wanted to go out and buy Drive 10)
Long story short, I can no longer start up from my main, internal hard drive. I have 10.1.5 installed on it and I've done nothing to it. All I did was start up from the OS 9 CD. I went into the Startup Disk control panel and chose my main hard drive as the startup disk instead of the OS 9 CD and restarted. It still started up from the OS 9 CD. So I shut down and force ejected the CD, then started up again. It gave me a "Disk Not Found" icon. So I decided to start up from the OS X CD. I opened the Disk Utility but it was no help. I chose "Quit Installer" and it told me that when I quit, it would restart the computer. It said that if I held down C, it would start up from the CD, and if I held down option, it would start up from the OS currently installed on my HD. Yay! I restarted and held down option... only to be confronted by the OS X installation dialog again. How the hell do I tell my computer to start up from OS X on my computer's built-in, internal hard drive? This is probably the stupidest problem I've ever had. OS X is supposedly so stable and good... yet something as minor as starting up from a CD trips it up.
Long story short, I can no longer start up from my main, internal hard drive. I have 10.1.5 installed on it and I've done nothing to it. All I did was start up from the OS 9 CD. I went into the Startup Disk control panel and chose my main hard drive as the startup disk instead of the OS 9 CD and restarted. It still started up from the OS 9 CD. So I shut down and force ejected the CD, then started up again. It gave me a "Disk Not Found" icon. So I decided to start up from the OS X CD. I opened the Disk Utility but it was no help. I chose "Quit Installer" and it told me that when I quit, it would restart the computer. It said that if I held down C, it would start up from the CD, and if I held down option, it would start up from the OS currently installed on my HD. Yay! I restarted and held down option... only to be confronted by the OS X installation dialog again. How the hell do I tell my computer to start up from OS X on my computer's built-in, internal hard drive? This is probably the stupidest problem I've ever had. OS X is supposedly so stable and good... yet something as minor as starting up from a CD trips it up.
Comments
<strong>Okay, I'm selling my external hard drive so I initialized it. To do so, I took the very bad advice of my brother to start up in OS 9 and use the OS 9 CD's Drive Setup utility to initialize it, instead of using Disk Utility in the OS X startup CD (he claimed that there was no disk initialization utility on the OS X CD, unless I wanted to go out and buy Drive 10)
Long story short, I can no longer start up from my main, internal hard drive. I have 10.1.5 installed on it and I've done nothing to it. All I did was start up from the OS 9 CD. I went into the Startup Disk control panel and chose my main hard drive as the startup disk instead of the OS 9 CD and restarted. It still started up from the OS 9 CD. So I shut down and force ejected the CD, then started up again. It gave me a "Disk Not Found" icon. So I decided to start up from the OS X CD. I opened the Disk Utility but it was no help. I chose "Quit Installer" and it told me that when I quit, it would restart the computer. It said that if I held down C, it would start up from the CD, and if I held down option, it would start up from the OS currently installed on my HD. Yay! I restarted and held down option... only to be confronted by the OS X installation dialog again. How the hell do I tell my computer to start up from OS X on my computer's built-in, internal hard drive? This is probably the stupidest problem I've ever had. OS X is supposedly so stable and good... yet something as minor as starting up from a CD trips it up.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Eject the OS X CD and flash your PRAM to reset the default boot drive. restart your machine and hold down the option key. This will present you with a screen showing all the possible bootable drives on your computer. If it doesn't show anything, then you have problems with your drive, and will need to seek further help here.
you should try starting from an os9 cd. when ur up, run the disk utility to fix any hd probs you might have. you may want to look (via the Finder that is) through your internal drive to make sure it has a "System" folder. Also, make sure there aren't any obvious issues (like large amounts of missing files/folders). Then, try changing the startup disk (control panels>startup disk) to your internal again. Then, pop all cds/external drives out and restart.
<strong>I tried holding down cmd-optn-P-R at startup, and it restarted the computer a few times before I realized that I only had to hold it down for a little while (not constantly). Anyway, it started up, but it still gave me the installation screen. So I quit, ejected the CD, and tried zapping PRAM again and then I restarted while holding down option. Still didn't work. Basically, whenever I've started up with a CD in the drive, it starts from the CD, and whenever I've started up without a CD in the drive, it just doesn't start up.</strong><hr></blockquote>
From what you've described, it's probably a software problem. Boot from an OS 9 CD and see if the HD mounts to the desktop. If it doesn't, go into the Drive Setup utility and see if the HD is still being seen at all. You're probably going to need to get a utility capable of repairing an OS X boot drive to fix this one.
I ran Disk First Aid and it gave me two problems: "Invalid BTree Header, 0, 0" and "MountCheck found minor errors". Then it said that it was repaired successfully.
I may be able to salvage my data by connecting my iPod to the B&W G3 upstairs, then sending data from my hard drive over the ethernet network to the B&Ws hard drive and from there to my iPod. Then, I can reinstall OS X on my hard drive and transfer all my data back from the iPod.
Edit: I accidentally posted this before I knew the results of my test. It didn't work.
[ 07-23-2002: Message edited by: Luca Rescigno ]</p>
<strong>No, there's no way I nixed the wrong drive. Whenever I'm in a drive initialization utility, I am always scared into being really careful!
I ran Disk First Aid and it gave me two problems: "Invalid BTree Header, 0, 0" and "MountCheck found minor errors". Then it said that it was repaired successfully.
I may be able to salvage my data by connecting my iPod to the B&W G3 upstairs, then sending data from my hard drive over the ethernet network to the B&Ws hard drive and from there to my iPod. Then, I can reinstall OS X on my hard drive and transfer all my data back from the iPod.
Edit: I accidentally posted this before I knew the results of my test. It didn't work.
[ 07-23-2002: Message edited by: Luca Rescigno ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Get Norton Utils for OS X, Tech Tool Pro for OS X, or Drive 10.
What a pain though. I hope this doesn't happen too often. And I don't like how when OS X flakes out like this, you have to buy an expensive drive utility to fix it. This shouldn't have happened in the first place.