New iMac G5 won't boot, applecare closed, am I screwed?

aplnub · December 9, 2004 9:44PM

I was sending a fax when I noticed I didn't have the phone line plugged in. I went to plug it in but I didn't hear the phone dial and I couldn't get the fax window to close so I did a Force Quit. No luck. Couldn't reboot, restart or anything.

Now, I can't make it past the login window. It just freezes up once I enter my password.

I have tried holding the option key and then the p r and command option keys, booted from the CD and ran disk and permission repairs.

This sucks. Anyway to get a hold of a few of my current files without haveing to hose everything with a clean install?

Eric

kickaha · December 9, 2004 9:46PM

If you have another Mac about, turn the iMac off, plug them together using FireWire. Boot the iMac while holding the T key down, it will become an external drive on the other computer's desktop.

You can also boot into Safe Mode to see if that helps. Hold down Shift while booting. It will take a while - it forces a disk check. That way only the essential items are loaded.

Aaaaaaaand, you can type 'console' for the user name and hit return at the login window, then login to a raw text shell.

aplnub · December 9, 2004 10:01PM

Safe boot worked!!!!! Thanks!! I had to use a wired kb and mouse though. No biggie!!

Now that I have my data backed up, let me ask a question.

I have been having problems with my computer locking up or freezing (that spinwheel never stopping and everything not responding).

I am not sure what caused it since I have only installed MS Office Pro with VPC and pocketmacpro.

Would I be best suited to just do a clean install and start over now that I know a little about the Mac as compared to when I first started this new adventure one week ago?

Eric

kickaha · December 9, 2004 10:09PM

Which applications does it happen in? By any chance all MS apps?

I just ran Word for the first time in *months* last week, and oh my GOD I'd forgotten what a horrible app it is. Crashes, freezes, you name it. Unbelievable.

aplnub · December 9, 2004 10:13PM

Faxing causes problems. I use the print then choose fax option.

Usually, MS apps are open in the background when something happens I guess. I leave a lot of programs running and usually have a DVD cranking in the background too.

The computer is now booting up fine after the safe boot.

However, once I go into the System Preferences, and choose display, it freezes with the spinwheel of death.

I may play it safe for a day or two and see how things go and pay real close attention to what is going on. I never expected my mac to freeze up every other day.

Must be the MS programs. I am thinking about uninstalling VPC.

Eric

ipodandimac · December 9, 2004 10:49PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aplnub

Faxing causes problems. I use the print then choose fax option.

Usually, MS apps are open in the background when something happens I guess. I leave a lot of programs running and usually have a DVD cranking in the background too.

The computer is now booting up fine after the safe boot.

However, once I go into the System Preferences, and choose display, it freezes with the spinwheel of death.

I may play it safe for a day or two and see how things go and pay real close attention to what is going on. I never expected my mac to freeze up every other day.

Must be the MS programs. I am thinking about uninstalling VPC.

Eric

how much ram do you have? if you only have 256, that is severly slowing down your system.

aplnub · December 12, 2004 4:31PM

I have 1 gig of ram.

Now tat I have hosed my computer and started back over everything is a lot smoother. I am beginning to wonder if it was the Virex crap I loaded with my .mac subscription.

I like to watch my system memory usage. Currently, it is around 350 meg (I have some apps running), before the reinstall it was around 750. Ouch!!

I have not loaded VPC back on my system. I did reload office and everything seems to work fine. It is working how I imagined my mac would work.

Thanks for the help everyone!!

Eric

nomad g5 · March 18, 2005 11:48AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aplnub

Safe boot worked!!!!! Thanks!! I had to use a wired kb and mouse though. No biggie!!

Now that I have my data backed up, let me ask a question.

I have been having problems with my computer locking up or freezing (that spinwheel never stopping and everything not responding).

I am not sure what caused it since I have only installed MS Office Pro with VPC and pocketmacpro.

Would I be best suited to just do a clean install and start over now that I know a little about the Mac as compared to when I first started this new adventure one week ago?

Eric

I have the same problem with crashing system without possible reboot everytime I try to use the Print to Fax in Panther. Simply booting into safe mode and a restart gets everything back. Its a tipical Mac fix, strange, quick, and easy. Mine happened on a G5 2.5 with 1.5 gig of ram.

Thanks again guys,

Nomad

aplnub · March 18, 2005 4:22PM

Not installig Virex solved my problem. No more troubles.

Eric

nomad g5 · March 18, 2005 5:36PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aplnub

Not installig Virex solved my problem. No more troubles.

Eric

I am having strange issues with System Preference such as sound. Are you saying that I should uninstall Virex and my troubles will go away? Can you tell me how to properly uninstall it if that is the case.

Thank you,

Christian

aplnub · March 19, 2005 9:49AM

I believe there was an uninstall icon in the applications folder. I can't remember. If I wasn't out of the Country, I could give a better answer. When I get back (another week or so) I will look that up and get back with you.

Eric

And yes, I am saying uninstall Virex. That program caused havoc on my iMac both times I installed it. Once when new and once after a reinstall.

Eric

vandewaals · March 19, 2005 11:57AM

I have the latest Virex (7.5.1) from .Mac on my machine (see below) and it has never caused a problem. It sounds like the Fax functionality might be suspect. If it was more random then a bad stick of RAM might be causing problem. If it begins reoccurring at random, take out one stick (don't know how easy that is with the G5 iMac) and try running and seeing if it happens. If it does, swap sticks and repeat. This is just a stab. I just generally know that random errors and crashes are often hardware related.

denmaru · March 20, 2005 1:59PM

Would anyone mind explaining to my why you possibly would want to install Virex on your Mac...

It´s not like there are any Viruses for the Mac, you know...

mattyj · March 20, 2005 9:30PM

Peace of Mind. I just make sure i have my firewall up, that's all.

New iMac G5 won't boot, applecare closed, am I screwed?

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