Click 'Gift Certificate '*NEW*' (Left-hand column, 5th link under 'Choose Genre')
Click 'Redeem Now'
Enter the code found in the bottom right-hand corner of the certificate
Click 'Redeem'
If you are logged in: Start downloading music
If you are not logged in, but have registered: When this screen comes up, enter your information (Like I have)
If you are completely new to iTunes, but have AOL: When you sign in using your AOL screenname, and have not used iTunes before, this box will appear. Agree to the terms, fill out the info on the second screen. At the third screen, enter the credit card information (if you don't have an AOL Wallet). If you don't want to use a credit card, click none, and then fill out Name, Street, City, etc.
If you do not have AOL or an Apple Account: Make sure that the Apple Logo is selected, and click 'Make New Account' at the top of the screen. Agree to the terms, give them your e-mail information and password, and then fill out credit card information OR just name, address, etc.
Safari has gotten really slow-optimizing cached safari files: by Paul
Safari stores its cache in a folder in your library at ~/Library/Safari/ . Inside this folder should be four files and one folder.
The Bookmarks.plist file is where your bookmarks are stored and should be backed up.
The Downloads.plist file is where a history of your recent downloads is stored. You can easily purge this file by using the "clear" button in the downloads window of Safari.
The Form Values file is where autofill values are stored. This file can get very large after filling out a lot of forms online and can lead to slowdowns when selecting forms on webpages. This file can be periodically trimmed by going to the autofill prefpane within safari and editing "Usernames and passwords" or "Other forms". The former is listed by the webpage and user name while the latter is grouped by domain. Be sure to only delete items that you are sure you will not need.
The History.plist file is where your browsing history is kept. This file can easily be purged by using the clear history command in the history menu.
The Icons folder is where a cache of every website favicon (the little picture at the beginning of a web address) that you have ever loaded on your computer. This folder gets extremely large and can cause slowdowns while browsing. It is recommended to try and keep this folder under control as it can easily balloon to thousands of files and 10-20 megs in size (each file is tiny, a few k). One option would be to periodically delete the folder (just move it to the trash). But a better one is to delete all of the subfolders and then make the Icons folder read only.
To do this open the empty folder in the finder and "GetInfo" on it (command-I) and go to the "Details:" tab in "Ownership & Permissions:"
click the lock to authenticate and change the Owner's Access to "Read only". From now on this folder should stay empty and you shouldn't have to worry about keeping it clean.
This is only a temporary fix and could be modified in future updates of Safari but as of 10.3.4 this tweak will work perfectly.
Your Mac will not initialize its video output or the VNC server unless there is a monitor connected at boot. This can be a big problem when a mac is relegated to server duty in a closet or other place where a monitor isnt practical. To solve this you need to make your mac think it has a monitor connected; the only product Ive been able to find to do this is the gHead by Dr. Bott. It will unlock all the resolutions supported by an ATI card (it may be the same for Nvidia but im not sure) so you can select whatever resolution suits you in your VNC program of choice.
There are a few DIVX codecs available for Mac OS X. I think the best is Perian. Read the read-me that comes with it. In order to avoid conflict issues, make sure you only install one DivX codec.
The Flip4Mac wmv component will allow you to play most WMV files in QuickTime.
A good stand-alone open-source video player, which should play just about anything is: VLC
Hello everyone, I realized there's a million threads around the net with people wanting help with various startup problems. I've decided to write a mini-guide on first logical steps to try if you're having startup issues. Some things listed are obvious to some, and will be available all over the web, including Apple's own documentation, but I figured if everything was in one easy to find location, it might make life happier. For now this is just grey screen troubleshooting, and no power / black screen. In the future, you can be SURE i will add blue screen and kernel panics. If anyone has recommendations on what to change, or info they would like to add that has worked for them in the past, i'll certainly add it. This was written from the top of my head, for the most part without revision, so by all means if it doesn't make sense or is choppy also let me know
Computer doesn't turn on
This can be a scary event for anyone. If you attempt to turn on your computer, and it won't turn on at all (not to be confused with start up, I mean no video, no sounds coming from the computer, no LED's coming on).
First thing you want to do with a portable computer, is if you're using the computer off the battery, make sure the battery has a charge. There's usually a button on the battery itself, if you press it, it will have indicator LED's telling you how much juice is in the battery. One flashing LED normally means the battery is empty. Use the adapter.
If the adapter won't start the computer, but the LED comes on indicating it knows its plugged in, reset your computer's PMU or SMC. (Search www.apple.com/support for your computer + PMU. e.g.. "ibook g4 pmu" without the quotes. For newer PPC processors and all intel processors, enter your computer + SMC, or SMU). If you've recently added any RAM to your computer, i've also seen this prevent the computer from turning on, take out the added ram.
Another valid step to try is unplug everything from your computer (USB hubs, printers, keyboards, mice, etc) and try to turn it on.
If your adapter has a flashing LED when plugged in, unplug it and let it rest for 60 seconds while plugged into anything. This will reset the internal breaker for the adapter.
If the adapter light doesn't come on at all, try another power outlet, straight in the wall if you're using a surge protector.
If using a desktop computer such as iMac or PowerMac, or Mac Pro, checking the diagnostic LED's is a good step as well. If you're unsure how, search the KBase for your computer + diagnostic LED.
Computer starts up, No video, no startup chime
For this one, the article on the Apple page is pretty spot on. I'll just link it.
Basically it boils down to this, for external and built in displays. Reset the PRAM (soon as you turn on your computer, hold down Command {which is the apple} + option + P + R)., reset the PMU, attempt to start up to the first install disk for your computer, (Put it in the drive, hold down "C" immediately after turning the computer on.) This will verify whether or not it is hardware or software. If you can boot to the cd, attempt an Archive + install, if that doesn't work, Erase + install it is. If startup disk doesn't happen, shine a light on the display, if you can see an image, its a backlight failure. In any case you will most likely need to set it up for a repair.
Grey Screen Troubleshooting
Computer starts to grey screen, either with or without Apple and spinning gear
First make sure nothing is connected to your computer. Next, I would try resetting your computer's PRAM. Next I would try and start to the first Install disk for your computer (If you are using Tiger after upgrading, use the Tiger disks!), Run a Disk first aid, by selecting your Mac HD from the left, then clicking repair disk on the right. If the repair disk option is not available, Erase + install. If the Hard-drive is not available at all to select (you may only see the 4.7 GB Optical drive listed) You may need to run the erase feature of disk utility, zero off your drive and try the installation. Otherwise it will need to be set up for repair (make sure you've tried resetting the PRAM.) If you don't have an install disk, see the Note 1 at the very end of this article.
Next thing to try if repairing the disk didn't help, or find anything is run the Apple Hardware Test. This is located on the Install dvd on Intel macs, available by holding down "D" after the startup chime. On most PPC machines, it will likely be on the second install disk. If you find any error codes, I would search Apple's KBase for "AHT error codes" without the quotes, then select the appropriate computer.
If you've recently added any RAM, reseat it. If that doesn't solve the problem, try changing the order of the ram, or even take it out completely. This step is normally useless, but I have seen it work on rare occasions.
Computer starts up to grey screen, with globe
This means the computer is trying to boot to a network volume, for a variety of reasons from not so terrible, to fairly bad. First thing to try is boot the computer holding down "X". If for some reason your startup disk was changed to boot to a network volume, this will force your computer to attempt to boot mac os x. If it is successful, open your system preferences, open up startup disk, and select mac os x. If that didn't work, try resetting your PRAM and try again. Boot to the Startup Manager by holding down "Option" on startup, and see if your drive is listed. If it is, select it and click the continue arrow on the bottom right. If not, attempt the Disk First Aid instructions listed above under "computer starts to grey screen". If repair disk doesn't come up with any errors, try an Archive + install.
Computer starts up to a prohibitory sign / broken folder
This is not usually good news unfortunately. It typically means the hard drive is failing, or the OS install has become corrupt. The first valid step is to reset your computer's PRAM to make sure we can look for and find a boot volume. This will also reset your Startup Disk, in case it was incorrect. Next you'll want to boot to a known good installation cd, and repair the disk in Disk First Aid, if this finds a problem and corrects it, run the repair 2 more times for good measure. Then you will want to proceed to Archive + Install. If it finds something that cannot be fixed, attempt to Erase + install.
Computer starts up to a flashing question mark
For the most part, follow the same steps as above. Also try disconnecting ALL devices from the computer, including ethernet cable. The steps to try are Disk First Aid, Startup Manager, PRAM, and reinstallation of the OS.
Note 1 : If you don't have an install disk to perform Disk First Aid, another option is FSCK from Single-User mode. First boot to Single User mode, by holding down Apple + S on startup. When you get to a # prompt, type in "/sbin/fsck -fy" without the quotes. If you are using 10.3 or later and are using a journaled File system, you may see some errors that you can safely ignore.
Stay tuned for kernel panics, and post grey screen issues on startup.
This is something that looks like it should be easy - after all, it's only a CD!
But if the CD contains audiobook tracks, you don't want these appearing in your random play list! So how to get audiobooks into the Audiobooks library?
Hello everyone, I realized there's a million threads around the net with people wanting help with various startup problems. I've decided to write a mini-guide on first logical steps to try if you're having startup issues. Some things listed are obvious to some, and will be available all over the web, including Apple's own documentation, but I figured if everything was in one easy to find location, it might make life happier. For now this is just grey screen troubleshooting, and no power / black screen. In the future, you can be SURE i will add blue screen and kernel panics. If anyone has recommendations on what to change, or info they would like to add that has worked for them in the past, i'll certainly add it. This was written from the top of my head, for the most part without revision, so by all means if it doesn't make sense or is choppy also let me know
Computer doesn't turn on
This can be a scary event for anyone. If you attempt to turn on your computer, and it won't turn on at all (not to be confused with start up, I mean no video, no sounds coming from the computer, no LED's coming on).
First thing you want to do with a portable computer, is if you're using the computer off the battery, make sure the battery has a charge. There's usually a button on the battery itself, if you press it, it will have indicator LED's telling you how much juice is in the battery. One flashing LED normally means the battery is empty. Use the adapter.
If the adapter won't start the computer, but the LED comes on indicating it knows its plugged in, reset your computer's PMU or SMC. (Search www.apple.com/support for your computer + PMU. e.g.. "ibook g4 pmu" without the quotes. For newer PPC processors and all intel processors, enter your computer + SMC, or SMU). If you've recently added any RAM to your computer, i've also seen this prevent the computer from turning on, take out the added ram.
Another valid step to try is unplug everything from your computer (USB hubs, printers, keyboards, mice, etc) and try to turn it on.
If your adapter has a flashing LED when plugged in, unplug it and let it rest for 60 seconds while plugged into anything. This will reset the internal breaker for the adapter.
If the adapter light doesn't come on at all, try another power outlet, straight in the wall if you're using a surge protector.
If using a desktop computer such as iMac or PowerMac, or Mac Pro, checking the diagnostic LED's is a good step as well. If you're unsure how, search the KBase for your computer + diagnostic LED.
Computer starts up, No video, no startup chime
For this one, the article on the Apple page is pretty spot on. I'll just link it.
Basically it boils down to this, for external and built in displays. Reset the PRAM (soon as you turn on your computer, hold down Command {which is the apple} + option + P + R)., reset the PMU, attempt to start up to the first install disk for your computer, (Put it in the drive, hold down "C" immediately after turning the computer on.) This will verify whether or not it is hardware or software. If you can boot to the cd, attempt an Archive + install, if that doesn't work, Erase + install it is. If startup disk doesn't happen, shine a light on the display, if you can see an image, its a backlight failure. In any case you will most likely need to set it up for a repair.
Grey Screen Troubleshooting
Computer starts to grey screen, either with or without Apple and spinning gear
First make sure nothing is connected to your computer. Next, I would try resetting your computer's PRAM. Next I would try and start to the first Install disk for your computer (If you are using Tiger after upgrading, use the Tiger disks!), Run a Disk first aid, by selecting your Mac HD from the left, then clicking repair disk on the right. If the repair disk option is not available, Erase + install. If the Hard-drive is not available at all to select (you may only see the 4.7 GB Optical drive listed) You may need to run the erase feature of disk utility, zero off your drive and try the installation. Otherwise it will need to be set up for repair (make sure you've tried resetting the PRAM.) If you don't have an install disk, see the Note 1 at the very end of this article.
Next thing to try if repairing the disk didn't help, or find anything is run the Apple Hardware Test. This is located on the Install dvd on Intel macs, available by holding down "D" after the startup chime. On most PPC machines, it will likely be on the second install disk. If you find any error codes, I would search Apple's KBase for "AHT error codes" without the quotes, then select the appropriate computer.
If you've recently added any RAM, reseat it. If that doesn't solve the problem, try changing the order of the ram, or even take it out completely. This step is normally useless, but I have seen it work on rare occasions.
Computer starts up to grey screen, with globe
This means the computer is trying to boot to a network volume, for a variety of reasons from not so terrible, to fairly bad. First thing to try is boot the computer holding down "X". If for some reason your startup disk was changed to boot to a network volume, this will force your computer to attempt to boot mac os x. If it is successful, open your system preferences, open up startup disk, and select mac os x. If that didn't work, try resetting your PRAM and try again. Boot to the Startup Manager by holding down "Option" on startup, and see if your drive is listed. If it is, select it and click the continue arrow on the bottom right. If not, attempt the Disk First Aid instructions listed above under "computer starts to grey screen". If repair disk doesn't come up with any errors, try an Archive + install.
Computer starts up to a prohibitory sign / broken folder
This is not usually good news unfortunately. It typically means the hard drive is failing, or the OS install has become corrupt. The first valid step is to reset your computer's PRAM to make sure we can look for and find a boot volume. This will also reset your Startup Disk, in case it was incorrect. Next you'll want to boot to a known good installation cd, and repair the disk in Disk First Aid, if this finds a problem and corrects it, run the repair 2 more times for good measure. Then you will want to proceed to Archive + Install. If it finds something that cannot be fixed, attempt to Erase + install.
Computer starts up to a flashing question mark
For the most part, follow the same steps as above. Also try disconnecting ALL devices from the computer, including ethernet cable. The steps to try are Disk First Aid, Startup Manager, PRAM, and reinstallation of the OS.
Note 1 : If you don't have an install disk to perform Disk First Aid, another option is FSCK from Single-User mode. First boot to Single User mode, by holding down Apple + S on startup. When you get to a # prompt, type in "/sbin/fsck -fy" without the quotes. If you are using 10.3 or later and are using a journaled File system, you may see some errors that you can safely ignore.
Stay tuned for kernel panics, and post grey screen issues on startup.
Problem: Users running Internet Explorer 8.0 who click on the "Register/Watch" button and instead of seeing a form or thank you page embedded into the page beneath the button, they get 1-2 pop-up messages and when they click on the pushbuttons on those to advance, they see "Navigation to the webpage was canceled" message on a grey background embedded into the page.
Comments
If you bought a large HD, and are only seeing approximately 128GB of that space, here's the deal.
Older computers can't address drive space over 128GB, so that big drive you bought is capped at 128GB instead.
An external Firewire drive case that's designed to support drives over 128GB will work, as long as you're the latest version of OSX.
Safari stores its cache in a folder in your library at ~/Library/Safari/ . Inside this folder should be four files and one folder.
The Bookmarks.plist file is where your bookmarks are stored and should be backed up.
The Downloads.plist file is where a history of your recent downloads is stored. You can easily purge this file by using the "clear" button in the downloads window of Safari.
The Form Values file is where autofill values are stored. This file can get very large after filling out a lot of forms online and can lead to slowdowns when selecting forms on webpages. This file can be periodically trimmed by going to the autofill prefpane within safari and editing "Usernames and passwords" or "Other forms". The former is listed by the webpage and user name while the latter is grouped by domain. Be sure to only delete items that you are sure you will not need.
The History.plist file is where your browsing history is kept. This file can easily be purged by using the clear history command in the history menu.
The Icons folder is where a cache of every website favicon (the little picture at the beginning of a web address) that you have ever loaded on your computer. This folder gets extremely large and can cause slowdowns while browsing. It is recommended to try and keep this folder under control as it can easily balloon to thousands of files and 10-20 megs in size (each file is tiny, a few k). One option would be to periodically delete the folder (just move it to the trash). But a better one is to delete all of the subfolders and then make the Icons folder read only.
To do this open the empty folder in the finder and "GetInfo" on it (command-I) and go to the "Details:" tab in "Ownership & Permissions:"
click the lock to authenticate and change the Owner's Access to "Read only". From now on this folder should stay empty and you shouldn't have to worry about keeping it clean.
This is only a temporary fix and could be modified in future updates of Safari but as of 10.3.4 this tweak will work perfectly.
Your Mac will not initialize its video output or the VNC server unless there is a monitor connected at boot. This can be a big problem when a mac is relegated to server duty in a closet or other place where a monitor isnt practical. To solve this you need to make your mac think it has a monitor connected; the only product Ive been able to find to do this is the gHead by Dr. Bott. It will unlock all the resolutions supported by an ATI card (it may be the same for Nvidia but im not sure) so you can select whatever resolution suits you in your VNC program of choice.
The fastest, easiest, and best way to get PHP running for beginners.
http://www.phpmac.com/articles.php?view=225
There are a few DIVX codecs available for Mac OS X. I think the best is Perian. Read the read-me that comes with it. In order to avoid conflict issues, make sure you only install one DivX codec.
The Flip4Mac wmv component will allow you to play most WMV files in QuickTime.
A good stand-alone open-source video player, which should play just about anything is: VLC
You see, the way they calculate space on the box:
1 GB = 1000 MB = 1,000,000 KB = 1,000,000,0000 Bytes
So in order to convert the "ad" capacity to true capacity:
true (GB) = (1000/1024)^3 * ad(GB) or
total (GB) = (~0.931) * ad (GB)
This would give you around 111+ GB on a 120 GB drive.
By Skatman 7-17-2006
FireWire Target Mode: by curiousuburb
Press and hold T just after you pressed the power button on your Mac and wait until you see the FireWire logo on the screen.
Now connect your Target Mode machine with a FireWire cable to any other Mac.
And voilÃ*, your Target Mode machine appears as a drive on the other machine, with full access.
Throw the 'targeted' drive to the trash to eject it. To finish, press the power button on your machine in Target Mode once.
We did this and got the message to the effect that Firewire says
Mac OS X Not Seen on Old Computer
and nothing more can be done. Yet the old computer (about 8 years old, a blue G3 iMac) does hhave OS X.
???
Dr. Ledgard
Computer doesn't turn on
This can be a scary event for anyone. If you attempt to turn on your computer, and it won't turn on at all (not to be confused with start up, I mean no video, no sounds coming from the computer, no LED's coming on).
First thing you want to do with a portable computer, is if you're using the computer off the battery, make sure the battery has a charge. There's usually a button on the battery itself, if you press it, it will have indicator LED's telling you how much juice is in the battery. One flashing LED normally means the battery is empty. Use the adapter.
If the adapter won't start the computer, but the LED comes on indicating it knows its plugged in, reset your computer's PMU or SMC. (Search www.apple.com/support for your computer + PMU. e.g.. "ibook g4 pmu" without the quotes. For newer PPC processors and all intel processors, enter your computer + SMC, or SMU). If you've recently added any RAM to your computer, i've also seen this prevent the computer from turning on, take out the added ram.
Another valid step to try is unplug everything from your computer (USB hubs, printers, keyboards, mice, etc) and try to turn it on.
If your adapter has a flashing LED when plugged in, unplug it and let it rest for 60 seconds while plugged into anything. This will reset the internal breaker for the adapter.
If the adapter light doesn't come on at all, try another power outlet, straight in the wall if you're using a surge protector.
If using a desktop computer such as iMac or PowerMac, or Mac Pro, checking the diagnostic LED's is a good step as well. If you're unsure how, search the KBase for your computer + diagnostic LED.
Computer starts up, No video, no startup chime
For this one, the article on the Apple page is pretty spot on. I'll just link it.
My Computer displays no video
Basically it boils down to this, for external and built in displays. Reset the PRAM (soon as you turn on your computer, hold down Command {which is the apple} + option + P + R)., reset the PMU, attempt to start up to the first install disk for your computer, (Put it in the drive, hold down "C" immediately after turning the computer on.) This will verify whether or not it is hardware or software. If you can boot to the cd, attempt an Archive + install, if that doesn't work, Erase + install it is. If startup disk doesn't happen, shine a light on the display, if you can see an image, its a backlight failure. In any case you will most likely need to set it up for a repair.
Grey Screen Troubleshooting
Computer starts to grey screen, either with or without Apple and spinning gear
First make sure nothing is connected to your computer. Next, I would try resetting your computer's PRAM. Next I would try and start to the first Install disk for your computer (If you are using Tiger after upgrading, use the Tiger disks!), Run a Disk first aid, by selecting your Mac HD from the left, then clicking repair disk on the right. If the repair disk option is not available, Erase + install. If the Hard-drive is not available at all to select (you may only see the 4.7 GB Optical drive listed) You may need to run the erase feature of disk utility, zero off your drive and try the installation. Otherwise it will need to be set up for repair (make sure you've tried resetting the PRAM.) If you don't have an install disk, see the Note 1 at the very end of this article.
Next thing to try if repairing the disk didn't help, or find anything is run the Apple Hardware Test. This is located on the Install dvd on Intel macs, available by holding down "D" after the startup chime. On most PPC machines, it will likely be on the second install disk. If you find any error codes, I would search Apple's KBase for "AHT error codes" without the quotes, then select the appropriate computer.
If you've recently added any RAM, reseat it. If that doesn't solve the problem, try changing the order of the ram, or even take it out completely. This step is normally useless, but I have seen it work on rare occasions.
Computer starts up to grey screen, with globe
This means the computer is trying to boot to a network volume, for a variety of reasons from not so terrible, to fairly bad. First thing to try is boot the computer holding down "X". If for some reason your startup disk was changed to boot to a network volume, this will force your computer to attempt to boot mac os x. If it is successful, open your system preferences, open up startup disk, and select mac os x. If that didn't work, try resetting your PRAM and try again. Boot to the Startup Manager by holding down "Option" on startup, and see if your drive is listed. If it is, select it and click the continue arrow on the bottom right. If not, attempt the Disk First Aid instructions listed above under "computer starts to grey screen". If repair disk doesn't come up with any errors, try an Archive + install.
Computer starts up to a prohibitory sign / broken folder
This is not usually good news unfortunately. It typically means the hard drive is failing, or the OS install has become corrupt. The first valid step is to reset your computer's PRAM to make sure we can look for and find a boot volume. This will also reset your Startup Disk, in case it was incorrect. Next you'll want to boot to a known good installation cd, and repair the disk in Disk First Aid, if this finds a problem and corrects it, run the repair 2 more times for good measure. Then you will want to proceed to Archive + Install. If it finds something that cannot be fixed, attempt to Erase + install.
Computer starts up to a flashing question mark
For the most part, follow the same steps as above. Also try disconnecting ALL devices from the computer, including ethernet cable. The steps to try are Disk First Aid, Startup Manager, PRAM, and reinstallation of the OS.
Note 1 : If you don't have an install disk to perform Disk First Aid, another option is FSCK from Single-User mode. First boot to Single User mode, by holding down Apple + S on startup. When you get to a # prompt, type in "/sbin/fsck -fy" without the quotes. If you are using 10.3 or later and are using a journaled File system, you may see some errors that you can safely ignore.
Stay tuned for kernel panics, and post grey screen issues on startup.
But if the CD contains audiobook tracks, you don't want these appearing in your random play list! So how to get audiobooks into the Audiobooks library?
This page explains: http://www.podcaststingers.com/audiobooks.htm
Hello everyone, I realized there's a million threads around the net with people wanting help with various startup problems. I've decided to write a mini-guide on first logical steps to try if you're having startup issues. Some things listed are obvious to some, and will be available all over the web, including Apple's own documentation, but I figured if everything was in one easy to find location, it might make life happier. For now this is just grey screen troubleshooting, and no power / black screen. In the future, you can be SURE i will add blue screen and kernel panics. If anyone has recommendations on what to change, or info they would like to add that has worked for them in the past, i'll certainly add it. This was written from the top of my head, for the most part without revision, so by all means if it doesn't make sense or is choppy also let me know
Computer doesn't turn on
This can be a scary event for anyone. If you attempt to turn on your computer, and it won't turn on at all (not to be confused with start up, I mean no video, no sounds coming from the computer, no LED's coming on).
First thing you want to do with a portable computer, is if you're using the computer off the battery, make sure the battery has a charge. There's usually a button on the battery itself, if you press it, it will have indicator LED's telling you how much juice is in the battery. One flashing LED normally means the battery is empty. Use the adapter.
If the adapter won't start the computer, but the LED comes on indicating it knows its plugged in, reset your computer's PMU or SMC. (Search www.apple.com/support for your computer + PMU. e.g.. "ibook g4 pmu" without the quotes. For newer PPC processors and all intel processors, enter your computer + SMC, or SMU). If you've recently added any RAM to your computer, i've also seen this prevent the computer from turning on, take out the added ram.
Another valid step to try is unplug everything from your computer (USB hubs, printers, keyboards, mice, etc) and try to turn it on.
If your adapter has a flashing LED when plugged in, unplug it and let it rest for 60 seconds while plugged into anything. This will reset the internal breaker for the adapter.
If the adapter light doesn't come on at all, try another power outlet, straight in the wall if you're using a surge protector.
If using a desktop computer such as iMac or PowerMac, or Mac Pro, checking the diagnostic LED's is a good step as well. If you're unsure how, search the KBase for your computer + diagnostic LED.
Computer starts up, No video, no startup chime
For this one, the article on the Apple page is pretty spot on. I'll just link it.
My Computer displays no video
Basically it boils down to this, for external and built in displays. Reset the PRAM (soon as you turn on your computer, hold down Command {which is the apple} + option + P + R)., reset the PMU, attempt to start up to the first install disk for your computer, (Put it in the drive, hold down "C" immediately after turning the computer on.) This will verify whether or not it is hardware or software. If you can boot to the cd, attempt an Archive + install, if that doesn't work, Erase + install it is. If startup disk doesn't happen, shine a light on the display, if you can see an image, its a backlight failure. In any case you will most likely need to set it up for a repair.
Grey Screen Troubleshooting
Computer starts to grey screen, either with or without Apple and spinning gear
First make sure nothing is connected to your computer. Next, I would try resetting your computer's PRAM. Next I would try and start to the first Install disk for your computer (If you are using Tiger after upgrading, use the Tiger disks!), Run a Disk first aid, by selecting your Mac HD from the left, then clicking repair disk on the right. If the repair disk option is not available, Erase + install. If the Hard-drive is not available at all to select (you may only see the 4.7 GB Optical drive listed) You may need to run the erase feature of disk utility, zero off your drive and try the installation. Otherwise it will need to be set up for repair (make sure you've tried resetting the PRAM.) If you don't have an install disk, see the Note 1 at the very end of this article.
Next thing to try if repairing the disk didn't help, or find anything is run the Apple Hardware Test. This is located on the Install dvd on Intel macs, available by holding down "D" after the startup chime. On most PPC machines, it will likely be on the second install disk. If you find any error codes, I would search Apple's KBase for "AHT error codes" without the quotes, then select the appropriate computer.
If you've recently added any RAM, reseat it. If that doesn't solve the problem, try changing the order of the ram, or even take it out completely. This step is normally useless, but I have seen it work on rare occasions.
Computer starts up to grey screen, with globe
This means the computer is trying to boot to a network volume, for a variety of reasons from not so terrible, to fairly bad. First thing to try is boot the computer holding down "X". If for some reason your startup disk was changed to boot to a network volume, this will force your computer to attempt to boot mac os x. If it is successful, open your system preferences, open up startup disk, and select mac os x. If that didn't work, try resetting your PRAM and try again. Boot to the Startup Manager by holding down "Option" on startup, and see if your drive is listed. If it is, select it and click the continue arrow on the bottom right. If not, attempt the Disk First Aid instructions listed above under "computer starts to grey screen". If repair disk doesn't come up with any errors, try an Archive + install.
Computer starts up to a prohibitory sign / broken folder
This is not usually good news unfortunately. It typically means the hard drive is failing, or the OS install has become corrupt. The first valid step is to reset your computer's PRAM to make sure we can look for and find a boot volume. This will also reset your Startup Disk, in case it was incorrect. Next you'll want to boot to a known good installation cd, and repair the disk in Disk First Aid, if this finds a problem and corrects it, run the repair 2 more times for good measure. Then you will want to proceed to Archive + Install. If it finds something that cannot be fixed, attempt to Erase + install.
Computer starts up to a flashing question mark
For the most part, follow the same steps as above. Also try disconnecting ALL devices from the computer, including ethernet cable. The steps to try are Disk First Aid, Startup Manager, PRAM, and reinstallation of the OS.
Note 1 : If you don't have an install disk to perform Disk First Aid, another option is FSCK from Single-User mode. First boot to Single User mode, by holding down Apple + S on startup. When you get to a # prompt, type in "/sbin/fsck -fy" without the quotes. If you are using 10.3 or later and are using a journaled File system, you may see some errors that you can safely ignore.
Stay tuned for kernel panics, and post grey screen issues on startup.
Problem: Users running Internet Explorer 8.0 who click on the "Register/Watch" button and instead of seeing a form or thank you page embedded into the page beneath the button, they get 1-2 pop-up messages and when they click on the pushbuttons on those to advance, they see "Navigation to the webpage was canceled" message on a grey background embedded into the page.
Solution: There are several options:
1) Try another browser besides IE 8.
2) Clear your cache in IE 8 and then close all browser windows. Go to http://www.cisco.com/go/virtualexperience and register again.