Aluminium PowerBook G4 15" Booting issues - Doesn't start without AC power

Hi all,
This is my first post. I have recently had the laptop having start-up issues.It is running Leopard 10.5.something and whenever I try to boot it up it starts brefily, very breifly, making half of the startup chime, and the disk begins to spin, then it stops, and will not be booted up unless plugged into the wall. It is disastrous!
It only starts when plugged into the wall, and shuts off completely (until I shut down from the wall) and then it wont work. I attempted resetting the PRAM and it made a heap of noise for a couple of minutes, then I decided it was taking too long and pulled it out!
Any Help is great,
Thanks

Hi, Sorry for TMI...No, I am not saying the best thing to do would to send it out for repair. That would be expensive.
The first thing is to find out if you have a good battery. Easiest thing would be find someone/someplace with a battery you can try. If it works with a known good battery, then you know you just have a dead battery. Try an Apple store in Melbourne. They can check it for you free.
So the stuff about checking your system profiler for battery info is a way to check the status of the battery. In addition, you can download free an application called coconut battery (freeware) that will tell you ALOT of info about the state of your battery and whether it's charging. http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
If a GOOD battery works with your computer, then the problem is you have a dead battery. If a good battery STILL doesn't work to boot your system, then odds are an item called the DC In & Sound card is bad. You can get the part for about $50 USand can install it yourself if you're handy. Try this site: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Browse/Mac They will sell you the tools. If you have someone else repair it, you're probably looking at about $150 to $200 US.
The noise issue on your hard drive. Sounds like a hard drive issue. First thing, back up all the data before it dies. The try to boot up with a MAC OS X system disk. If you can do that and no noise, then:
1) Your hardware ( Ie the drive may be failing)
2) The startup system might be bad and require repair with the programs I mentioned or a NEW system install with your MAC OS X System disk ( You could do a clean install, ie erase everything, or an "archive install" which you can read about if you like.
3) Disk Warrior is very good at repairing the startup systems if there is a software problem, ie a system issue.
4) If there is a hardware problem (bad drive) you MIGHT and I say MIGHT be able to repair it with the other program I mentioned. That program could write out bad sectors, but I'd be careful about relyingtoo much on the drive since "NOISE" coming from a drive is never a good thing. The good thing is that they are NOT that hard to replace on your own.
To summarize, first address the battery issue. Then figure out if the noise stops when you boot from a CD/DVD. Then try a disk repair utility program and/or a new system install to see if it is just a system software problem. If it persists after these efforts, you could try mapping out sectors to see if that helps, but may end up needing a new hard drive.
Hope this helps.

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Hallo folks!
I have a problem with my new Gigabyte J1800N-D2H motherboard: the computer doesn't start if there is no screens at the startup.
I can't find any log about this fact...
I can't connect with ssh, ping doesn't pong and there aren't R/ARP packages on the lan.
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Last edited by the9ull (2014-10-08 08:03:37)

jasonwryan wrote:
Can you more accurately describe the problem? You have sshd running, but when you boot if a monitor is not connected, you cannot ssh in?
What does "computer doesn't start" mean? Doesn't boot at all? Boots but chokes at some point?
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compat-gcc-34-g77-3.4.6-4
compat-libgcc-296-2.96-138
compat-glibc-headers-2.3.4-2.26
compat-gcc-34-3.4.6-4
compat-libf2c-34-3.4.6-4
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compat-libstdc++-296-2.96-138
compat-glibc-2.3.4-2.26
compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-61
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compat-libstdc++-296-2.96-138
libstdc++-4.1.2-44.el5
compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-61
libstdc++-devel-4.1.2-44.el5
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nspr-devel-4.7.3-2.el5
nspr-4.7.3-2.el5
Would appreciate any help guys!!
I also googled my error and there is one post with no answer here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/105674#105674
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tmp/ is (/opt/adobe/fms/tmp) 777 and owned by root, I even tried chown'ing to the user that runs fms, no luck.
tmp gets created when i run it the FIRST time:
[root@vid10 fms]# ls -al tmp/
total 8
drwxrwxrwx 2 admin admin 4096 Apr 8 21:15 .
drwxr-xr-x 11 admin admin 4096 Apr 8 21:09 ..
-rwxrwxrwx 1 admin admin 0 Apr 8 21:09 __FCS__serverstats__shm_mem
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Could it be something with the shm setting, maybe sysctl?
I have 4GB of ram in this machine. Same exact machine works perfect on rhel 4
I appreciate your quick reply.

Classic doesn't start without problems !

I installed 10.4.4 on a G4 450 Cube which had already 9.2.2 with many OS 9 applications on it. Everything runs fine there is just a little problem...
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I did not get any comments as my question was not clearly expressed. I have posted a new, clearer question.

G1X sometimes doesn't start

I have a G1X that usually works fine, but every once in a while it doesn't start when the power button is pushed. The battery is fully charged. I notice that if I take the battery out and leave it for several hours, when I put the battery back in, it usually starts.
Sometimes when I have been using it, the screen flashed random lines, then the camera turned off with the lens extended. After several hours, it turned on retracted the lens on its own. After that, it seems to be working again.

Well the least expensive thing to try is a new battery and then either you will have fixed it or you will have a spare battery. It is not that uncommonfor batteries to fail in that time period you mentioned.They can also work intermittently as you described, Turning the camera on creates a large demand on the battery. If it is shorting out under load it will happen at those times.
A few other things that can do that that are dirty contacts on the battery or in the battery compartment or the battery door is not closing properly or statying closed. Anything else would be internal and would need to be $erviced.
SHould you suspect dirty contacts use a good electrical cleaner like DeOxit that will not hurt any plastic or rubber.
200% proof denatured alcohol on a Q-tip will work but you dont want to get to much of that on the plastic parts.
The key in what you first said is it shuts down with the lens still extended too. That means and instant loss of power before it can shut down properly....like a computer.
You can also try doing a reset all through the settings menu in hopes it's just a glitch.

Serious boot issues with Powerbook G3 (Wallstreet II, OS 9.2.2)

Hello,
I have major issues with a Powerbook Wallstreet II I got recently. When it's finally running, it works just as well as Wallstreet Powerbooks usually do, no errors, no crashing, smooth performance, everything fine.
But booting it up is, to put it mildy, a bloody pain. First off, it does not power up, when it's only connected to batteries. I have two of them, both working fine for several hours when put in after bootup, but no matter if I place one or both of them in any bays, nothing happens when pressing or holding the power button (apart from screen flickering and speaker crackling). I'm always forced to connect the power adapter, which immediatly (without pressing the power button) causes the power LED to light and the cooling fan insanely spins up for a mere couple of split seconds until everything wents silent again.
Having reached this point, I can disconnect the power supply (if at least one battery is in) and usually hear a nice "BONG" when pressing the power button once again. Thereafter, nothing happens for a oppressive 30 seconds, then, the screen finally lits and shows the Mac OS 9.2.x splash screen on monochrome background. Sadly, this is already the end of most of my first boot up tries, because at this point, I usually get told by a dialogbox that a bus error has just happened. The box also has a nice "Reboot" button, which I cannot click as the trackpad hangs as well.
Pressing ShiftFn+CrtlPower works here in about one out of three time, so in most cases, I have to go through the same procedure. Pull out power sources, give a shot via PSU, have it iddling for 30 secs. In most cases, this second try lets me pass splash screen, loader, yes, it even lets me see the desktop, the taskbar, the HDD icon and... pouf. Success is so close but no, it has to suddenly drop into sleep mode and
a short press on power proves the apprehension true, that it won't be easy to wake it up again. Hrmph. But I don't give that easily. So pulling everthing out for the second time, connect PSU for the third time and look there, it fully boots.
Three tries to successfully boot is about average at first try series. Afterwards, it seems to be "warmed up" and things get easier. I made a log recently with 5 test series, made at very frequent intervals:
Series 1:
1. Bootup: Bus Failure (Hard reboot fails) (bays empty)
2. Bootup: Sleep Mode (bays empty)
3. Bootup: Sleep Mode (bays empty)
4. Bootup: Sleep Mode (both batteries)
5. Bootup: Bus Failure (Hard reboot successful)(both batteries)
6. Bootup: Success (left battery, right bay empty)
Series 2:
1. Bootup: Success(left battery, right bay empty)
Series 3:
1. Bootup: Bus Failure (!!!) (left battery, right bay empty)
2. Bootup: Success (bays empty)
Series 4:
1. Bootup Success (left bay empty, right battery)
Series 5:
1. Bootup Success (both batteries)
Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

jpl,
Thank you for continuative support.
If you plan on buying a 256MB memory module, the Wallstreet requires
a 256 specifically made for it (and the early iMac
and Lombard). Modules 128MB and smaller can be
generic if they meet the Wallstreet's specs.
Thanks for this information.
You might find it useful to disassemble the 'book to the PMU, carefully remove/reseat the PMU card, then test.
Well, to be honest, I don't have the time to perform this very labour-intensive work. However, I pulled out the large PMU connector (the one that can be reached by lifting the keyboard) and reseated it, without any results. Shouldn't that suffice? Or is there another connection that could need maintenance?
Regarding sleep: There is no display position sensor, only a simple magnet in the right display bezel approximately 4" from the bottom...you can stick a paperclip to it. When the display closes, it triggers a sleep switch located next to the delete key in the side rail.
Ah, okay.
According to Apple, if the powerbook will not run on battery, it could be the charge card or PMU board or power supply card or logic board. However, your 'book apparently runs on battery once started via power adapter.
Actually, it does not allow me to power up, if I attach the adapter right after an unsuccessful try to operate from battery. Even if I remove the batteries (after adapter connection).
It's like it is "crashed" before it's even running. Which means, I have to pull all power sources to be able to perform the resuscitating power up via adaptor.
A normal power manager reset on the Wallstreet is this:
1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Simultaneously press Shift-Fn (function)-Ctrl >(control)-Power.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the Power button to restart the PowerBook >computer.
A successful reset will briefly flash the sleep light plus >spin up the fan for a second. If a reset does not solve the >startup and sleep issues, then you will have to look >elsewhere.
I can see the sleep LED and I do hear the fan, however, this didn't help in most cases. After perfoming this action (in a freeze situation), I usually only got rattling noises out of the speakers or screen flashes when trying to power up.
Be sure the powerbook only freezes when closing the display to sleep it.
Well, I noticed it sometimes also freezes when left idle directly after start up (and power save is activated). Later, it comes right back again.
- Is the sleep light blinking before you open the display?
Yes.
- When the display is opened, does the sleep light continue to blink? (It should.)
Yes.
- When you press the power button, do you hear a 'buzz' or some similar noise? If you do, you may have another issue to explore.
No. I usually only hear speaker noise when trying to power up from battery. But oddly enough, the lenght of the sleep light blinks changes when power button is hold down in "frozen sleep".
I would also go to the System Folder > Preferences folder and drag the Energy Saver Preferences to the Trash, close all windows, then restart...a new preference file will be created on restart. You can reset the Energy Saver to your like, then test sleep.
Done.
-Does sleep/wake always work when NOT closing the display? Try this after resetting the power manager and trashing the pref file mentioned below.
If I initiate sleep, yes. If it suspends automatically, well, usually. But not always (see above).

The Mac HD has booting issues - how do I make a clone that is free of these?

I spilled water on my MacBook Air (10.6.8) and now it has booting issues.
When I shut it down, the power button doesn't work to boot it. But when I close the lid, it powers up. However even when I shut it down AND close the lid, it keeps booting up and staying on.
So I have to send it for repairs.
I cloned the Mac HD using Carbon Copy Cloner and put the clone using Migration Assistant onto the new machine (MacBook Pro - 10.7.2). Now the MacBook Pro won't boot at all. Before this, it was working fine.
So I want to know how to make a clone of the Mac HD of the MacBook Air that won't have booting issues when I migrate the clone to another machine.
I have to make a clone of the MacBook Air before I send it off for repairs as the last back up is quite old and out of date.
Also the fact that the Mac HD of the MBA has booting issues affects the ability to access the Boot Camp (Windows 7 partition) as now I can't even boot the new machine. (But I am asking about Boot Camp in another section.)
It seems like a catch-22 situation. I can't fix the booting problem until I send it off to the repair center to get the computer fixed. And yet the booting problem is preventing me from making a usable clone of the Mac HD.
I think the booting problem is a software problem because the MacBook Pro was working perfectly before I migrated the Mac HD of the MBA onto it, The MBP is only two days old. I migrated another Mac HD backup (one I made before the booting issues came up) onto the MBP on the first day I bought it and the MBP worked fine.
Do you think I will just have to clone things separately manually? I mean should I format an external hard drive, plug it in the USB port, and transfer the files I need to save? What files/folders should I save? Can I move folders or do I have to move files? I have many files in Desktop, Downloads, Documents. I also want to save my applications. I want to save the BookMarks of Opera, Firefox.
Will this take a long time? I have used about 200 GB of the MBA's hard drive.
Any advice? Thanks.
I don't use Time Machine and am not confident about using it. Will it be substantially different to CCC in the way it clones files? Will a Time Machine clone after migration contaminate the second computer with booting issues?
I am not so worried about the booting issues on the second computer. I know it's from the faulty clone and nothing to do with the machine itself. I can take it to Apple Genius Bar and they will probably be able to reinstall a new operating system on the machine and I can start from scratch, I think. I am more worried about how to save and restore my data from the old machine. Thanks for any advice.

applecore_eater wrote:
I cloned the Mac HD using Carbon Copy Cloner and put the clone using Migration Assistant onto the new machine (MacBook Pro - 10.7.2). Now the MacBook Pro won't boot at all. Before this, it was working fine.
Ok, you used Migraine Assistant to try to transfer the account from the clone drive to the MBP and it didn't work, that's ok, it can be fixed by command r booting into Lion Recovery and simply erasing and reinstalling Lion from Apple's servers. (AppleID)
I suggest you transfer the account data manually because the clone is a copy of a failing drive/corruption, use the same name in System Preferences >Accounts, drag and drop files transfer and hold option key, click on Purchases in crapStore to redownload to the new machine, install other programs from fresh sources. Cleaner machine that way. So that shoudl fix the MBP.
in the future, try to avoid Apple's "answers" like Migraine Assistant as much as possible, it's really not reliable in any sense in actuality.
So I want to know how to make a clone of the Mac HD of the MacBook Air that won't have booting issues when I migrate the clone to another machine.
You can't boot a clone of OS X from another type Mac on another type Mac, only the same exact machine model.
In your case the Migraine Assistant didn't work, so you'll have to manually install.
Also the fact that the Mac HD of the MBA has booting issues affects the ability to access the Boot Camp (Windows 7 partition) as now I can't even boot the new machine. (But I am asking about Boot Camp in another section.)
Well it's possible that Windows or something messed up the GUID partition map of the Mac, why it has booting issues. Likely why Migraine Assistant didn't work.
You'll have to set up BootCamp again on the new MBP machine, talk to Microsoft about validation on the new machine and return your Windows files, programs from fresh sources.
Likely you got malware and it was trying to write to the boot sector of the Mac, mistaking the MBR portion of the GPT for a full Windows one. This also happens when Mac users try to install Linux on their Mac's.
Unless you need full hardware performance, you really should look at virtualization software like VMFusion, Parallels Desktop or even VirtuaBox (might be outdated) and run Windows in a window on OS X instead. Much easier to recover from malware that way.
It seems like a catch-22 situation. I can't fix the booting problem until I send it off to the repair center to get the computer fixed. And yet the booting problem is preventing me from making a usable clone of the Mac HD.
Well if you make a clone, it's going to be junk any.
What you need to do is fix the new MBP machine first then use Firewire Target Disk Mode (firewire 800/400 cable and adpater if needed) and grab a copy of your files off the sick Mac or off the sick clone.
The drive is likely fine, it's just not booting and that could mean some sort of malware/drive/data corruption.
You'll have to install third party software on the new fixed MacBook Pro to read the NTFS drive format of the Windows 7 bootcamp parittion when the sick MacAir is in Firewire Target Disk Mode.
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

Boot issues

When I boot my computer (MacBook Pro, 15", Early 2010, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD, 2.4GHz Intel Core i5), it does nothing for quite awhile, and eventually gives me the folder with the question mark on it, signifying it can't find a startup volume. I think I know why, but this has not helped me fix the problem.
I used Disk Utility to partition the internal hard drive so I could install Linux (Ubuntu 10.10) and dual-boot. I used Linux to reformat the partition and used one of the 134MB spaces between partitions (the one at the end of the drive) as Swap space for Linux. I installed Ubuntu, and it worked fine. I could use the built in boot manager (holing down the option key at startup) to boot into either operating system.
That was last night. This afternoon, I booted up the computer, and it gave me the flashing question mark folder and wouldn't boot. I connected it to my iMac (20", Early 2009, 2GB RAM, 320GB HD, 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) via a FireWire 800 cable and started the laptop up in Target Disk Mode. I started my iMac up holding down the option key to get it to look for the (possibly) bootable hard drive of the laptop. It did not find it, but displayed only the boot volumes normally available to it (Mac OS X 10.6.7, Windows 7 Ultimate, Mac OS X 10.5.8). I then shut down the laptop and proceeded to start it back up. Miraculously, it booted of its own accord into Mac OS X (10.6.7). I later booted the machine into Linux and began dinking around with some settings to get the illuminated keyboard to work. I did not entirely succeed, but the laptop was still working fine. I shut the clamshell to put it to sleep (while in Linux), and about an hour later, upon opening the clamshell, all I got was a black screen and the mouse pointer (as if it was stuck trying to get me to enter a password to unlock the screen). On rare occasions, this happens to me under Mac OS X as well, and I have usually been able to resolve it by shutting and opening the clamshell. After waiting a few minutes, I tried this, and when it failed, I decided to force shut down the machine, as I have had to do sometimes when this has happened under Mac OS X. Upon restarting the computer, I got the flashing question mark once again. I tried holding down the option key on startup, but only got a mouse pointer against a blank grey screen (like the boot loader screen, but without any icons). I tried zapping the PRAM, starting up in Safe Mode, starting in Verbose mode, holding down the x key, then Command-Option-O-F (then realized that wouldn't work since Apple doesn't use Open Firmware anymore), and also tried Command-Option-V-R, but that also appeared to do nothing. I just got the question mark folder each time (except for resetting the PRAM: that worked, but then I got the question mark folder).
I repeated the same steps as before (Target Disk Mode, etc) to see if they would miraculously fix the problem a second time (I still don't know how they did the first time), but to no avail. I fully booted my iMac with the laptop connected as a FireWire disk to attempt to use Disk Utility on it. Disk Utility did not recognize the drive. I checked System Profiler. It recognized that there was a Target Disk device attached to my iMac, but it did not list any hard drives under it. I proceeded to boot my laptop from its install DVD, which worked. However, Disk Utility on the pseudo-OS that is on the install DVD failed to recognize the internal hard drive. I checked under the Serial-ATA section of System Profiler. It showed two connections, one for the DVD drive, and I presume the other for the hard drive, but the hard drive one showed nothing connected to it. It simply listed a few specs on the SATA port.
I decided to boot my laptop from my iMac's internal drive. I reversed the roles of the machines, my iMac now being in Target Disk Mode, and the laptop trying to boot from its hard drive. I held down the option key at startup so I could choose what to boot from. I choose Mac OS X 10.6.7, and the machine started to boot. Just before it should have gotten to the brief blue screen before the login screen, it had a kernel panic, and the grey came down the screen and told me to restart the computer. I did, tried again, got the same kernel panic, so I decided to try Windows 7. When I selected Windows from the boot manager, it seemed to try to start up in Mac OS X (10.6.7, because 10.5.8 wasn't connected), but never got past the grey Apple icon. After a while, it started occasionally flashing a circle with a line through it, and sometimes the question mark folder, but always switched back to the Apple icon quickly. After at least 10 minutes, I decided to shut down the computer. I then tried booting Mac OS X 10.6.7 in Safe Mode. After showing the progress bar (it only got about half completed before it vanished, but it took a long time to get halfway) for awhile, it eventually successfully booted to the login screen. I signed in, and opened Disk Utility. Nothing. I checked System Profiler and got the same result I had from the install DVD. I shut down the computer, and tried to boot it normally one last time. Nothing.
Does anyone have a clue what's going on? I can understand why the computer would be having boot issues, with my shaky installation of Linux, and all, but I can't understand why nothing will recognize that the computer's internal hard drive exists.
I do have AppleCare for the laptop, unless I've voided the warranty by installing Linux. Should I send the computer in? (I'm over 250 miles from the nearest Apple Store). Is there anything I could do by opening up the computer (I know that would void the warranty if I haven't already). I do have a backup of most of the data, but the backup excludes some video files because of their size. Luckily, I do still have them on MiniDV tape if I have to reimport them.
I feel like I've tried everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if I've missed something obvious…
Thanks in advance for any ideas, suggestions or answers!

Update 2: That successful boot seems to have been one of about four flukes. For some strange reason, my computer will successfully boot into Mac OS X and Ubuntu, but only on rare occasions. There seems to be no pattern, but every once in a while, the computer will decide to recognize it has a hard drive.
Any thoughts?

IMac 24" Aluminium - No way to boot from DVD

Dear all:
Thank you for having this forum fully working.
My iMac 24" Aluminium (november 2008) can't boot, completely frozen, although all HW are perfectly working.
I'll try to explain the issue best I can.
SYMPTOMS
- Grey screen of death without Apple's logo.
- No bootable devices detected (either HDD or DVD) by EFI, when you hold ALT (Option) while booting.
- No way to force boot from DVD.
CAUSE OF PROBLEMS
a) HDD has 3 partitions created by DiskUtils:
/dev/disk0s2= Mac OS(HFS+)
/dev/disk0s3= Linux DVD Installer (FAT32)
/dev/disk0s4= User Data(HFS+).
b) rEFIt installed and fully working on the system ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/ )
c) Linux DVD installer partition was filled this way:
dd if=/path/to/linux.iso of=/dev/disk0s3
As you can see, there are no HW errors at all, everything was perfectly working before dumping the Linux iso into FAT partition.
TRIALS FOLLOWED (and all its combinations).
TRIAL 1 - Erasing EFI values on memory.
Leave the iMac disconnected from power cord a whole night for memories to loose their values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JId524890zc.
TRIAL 2 - Force empty memories during boot.
CMD+ALT+P+R -> Result OK (reboot)
CMD+ALT+N+V -> No effect
CMD+ALT+O+F -> No effect
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
TRIAL 3 - Force boot from DVD.
C while boot -> Read DVD first, but can't boot.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
TRIAL 4 - From Startup Manager, try to boot from DVD.
ALT (Option) while boot -> See cursor arrow on screen, can't see DVD as boot option.
a) Try with DVD already inside the unit.
b) Try to insert DVD once I see the cursor arrow on screen.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1383424?start=0&tstart=0
TRIAL 5 - Remove RAM memories to reset EFI to factory defaults.
- Remove all RAM from unit.
- Boot from DVD (C key hold) -> Unit beeps.
- Shutdown and fill one bank with memory.
- Wait 15 minutes for EFI memories values to be deleted.
- Boot from DVD (C key hold) -> Access DVD first, but no boot.
TRIAL 6 - Boot from external Mac (Firewire + PC fully working).
This is the only trial missing before replacing the HDD of the unit... finger crossed.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=271975
IDEAS AND CONCLUSIONS
- Any more ideas?
- How is it possible that a SW problem affects the HW in a way that can't be booted from DVD? Somethings is terribly wrong on iMac EFI design... terribly poor stability.

Dear all:
Thank you for having this forum fully working.
My iMac 24" Aluminium (november 2008) can't boot, completely frozen, although all HW are perfectly working.
I'll try to explain the issue best I can.
SYMPTOMS
- After a chime... grey screen of death without Apple's logo.
- No bootable devices detected (either HDD or DVD), when you hold ALT (Option) while booting.
- No way to force boot from DVD.
CAUSE OF PROBLEMS
a) HDD has 3 partitions created by DiskUtils:
/dev/disk0s2= Mac OS(HFS+)
/dev/disk0s3= Linux DVD Installer (FAT32)
/dev/disk0s4= User Data(HFS+).
b) rEFIt installed and fully working on the system ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/ )
c) Linux DVD installer partition was filled this way:
dd if=/path/to/linux.iso of=/dev/disk0s3
As you can see, there are no HW errors at all, everything was perfectly working before dumping the Linux iso into FAT partition.
TEST BED
In the process of dealing with iMac booting problems I organized a test bed which allow to detect where the booting is failing:
STAGE 0 - Setting initial boot memory conditions.
STAGE 1 - Reset NVRAM memory to factory defaults.
STAGE 2 - Booting from external device.
STAGE 3 - Reinstall iMac firmware.
STAGE 4 - Hardware intervention.
Before running the test bed:
a) Unplug all devices except USB keyboard (no wireless keyboard, no mouse... you can plug an USB mouse once you see the graphical user interface up and running).
b) Combination of keys available on booting:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
STAGE 0 - Setting initial boot memory conditions
This bundle of tests must be executed before any test of next stages.
TEST 0.1 - Erasing booting memory values.
Leave the iMac disconnected from all wires (especially power cord) for 15 minutes for memories to loose their values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JId524890....
TEST 0.2- Resetting PRAM memory.
a) Press Power button
b) Press CMD+ALT+P+R keys while black screen, before you hear the chime.
c) Hold these keys until you hear 3 chimes (3 reboots).
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379.
STAGE 1 - Reset NVRAM memories to factory defaults.
TEST 1.1 - Validate machine with Apple's Hardware Test.
=> Detect Hardware errors with Apple's Hardware Test
a) Original Apple's Installation DVD on the machine
Installation DVD should show something like this
DISC 1
Mac OS version 10.5.4
AHT version 3A152
Disc version 1.1
2Z691-6304-A
To use Apple Hardware Test, hold down the D key as the computer starts up.
b) Holding Down D key as the computer starts up
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509.
=> Hardware OK: continue with Stages 1, 2 and 3
=> Hardware Failure: jump to Stage 4 (skip Stages 1, 2 and 3)
=> Unable to run Apple's Hardware Test: jump to Stage 3, firmware restoration
TEST 1.2 - Change RAM Configuration: amount or disposition.
a) Open RAM Slot
b) Extract RAM stick from Slot.
c) If you only have one RAM stick, reintroduce it in the unused empty slot of memory.
TEST 1.3 - Resetting PRAM memory.
Please check TEST 0.2
STAGE 2 - Booting from external device
TEST 2.1 - Boot from DVD.
a) Introduce Apple's Mac OS original DVD on the unit.
b) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
=> Force DVD as Booting Device.
c) Press power button.
d) Press C key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the C key until you see the MacOS installer window.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
=> If still no boot from DVD: StartUp Manager with DVD inside the machine.
c) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
d) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
f) From StartUp Manager, choose DVD as booting option.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/138...
=> If still no boot from DVD: StartUp Manager without DVD inside the machine.
c) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
d) Press F12 key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the F12 key until DVD is spelled from the iMac.
f) Run StartUp Manager again (see steps above) .
g) Insert Apple's Mac OS DVD on machine while StarUp Manager is running.
h) From StartUp Manager, choose DVD as booting option.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/138...
TEST 2.2 - Firewire cable and Target Mode: run installer from external Mac.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.p...
TEST 2.3 - Remote Installation.
You can run this test twice: remote installation from PC and MAC.
=> Remote Installation Server on PC/MAC:
a) Mac OS DVD on PC/MAC optical drive
b) Install Network Client (just run setup.exe from DVD and follow the steps until everything is installed).
c) Keep open a window saying... machine is ready for Remote Install.
=> Physical Direct Network Connection between Remote Installation Server and iMac
a) Unplug power cord from iMac for 15 minutes.
b) Connect to the Server Machine this way:
Option 1.- Crossover Ethernet wire direct connection,
Option 2.- Using an Ethernet switch with no additional devices plugged to the switch.
=> StartUp Manager on Client
a) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
b) Press power button.
c) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
d) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
e) From StartUp Manager, choose NetInstall as booting option.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH6450
TEST 2.4 - NetInstall.
=> Prepare NetInstall Mac OS NetBoot Server
Option 1 - Using Mac OS X Server
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4178
Option 2 - Using Linux Server
https://docs.math.osu.edu/linux/how-tos/...
=> Force Boot from the Network
a) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
b) Press Power Button.
c) Press N key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
d) Keep hold the N key until you see the Mac OS X Installation screen.
=> If no NetBoot after 15 minutes: NetBoot from StartUp Manager
a) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
b) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
c) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
d) From StartUp Manager, choose NetInstall as booting option.
TEST 2.5 - Apple's Mac OS Installer/Reparation from External USB HardDrive.
Very unlikely to work.
=> Create Bootable OS X USB device
a) Format HDD with GUID partition.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH7247
b) Fill the partition with the Mac OS X installer (only the version your iMac came with, no newer, no older).
=> Boot iMac from USB device
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1948
STAGE 3 - Reinstall/Repair iMac Firmware
TEST 3.1 - Using Firmware Reinstallation CD.
a) Download and burn Firmware Restoration CD for your iMac
iMac 8,1: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24012
b) From power off state, press the power button and continue to hold it down until the "Sleep" LED blinks rapidly three times, then slowly three times, then rapidly three more times... this could be chimes, instead of LED blinks! Keep the power button pressed down.
c) Insert the Firmware Restoration CD you have burned into the iMac's CD drive, then release the power button.
d) Monitor the "Progress Bar" beneath the Apple logo as the restoration process updates your iMac's firmware, taking care not to disconnect the power, shut down your computer or restart your computer (otherwise, you will have to start over). The iMac will restart automatically once the firmware restoration is complete.
TEST 3.2 - Using Apple's Propietary Software.
Contact Apple's Technical Support to know the price.
STAGE 4 - Hardware Intervention
TEST 4.1 - Replace the faulty Hardware on your own.
a) To detect faulty Hardware, please run Test 1.1
b) Replace the Hardware following those instructions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w6E2_Xqa...
TEST 4.2 - Contact Apple's Technical Support.

Booting issue on a new installation on Acer Aspire 4752 laptop.

Hi All,
     I have done a new installation of OS on a Acer laptop stated above. However, due to some reason, during the booting up process, it will always stuck at screen right before it enter into the logon screen. I will have to press
Enter in order to move it, as if there is a "press Enter to continue...".
     After this "enter" key, everything else works normally. However, this is pretty annoying and I could not sent this laptop back to my enduser because of this trivial issue.
     Some other information as below:
This is a new OS and no other apps is installed. Though now it is patched (with Microsoft patches). But it happens since the first boot after install.
In according to Device Manager, all drivers are in place. No exclamation mark and error.
Event Viewer shows no error for the boot up.
Safemode (command prompt) shows that it is stuck at loading "classpnp.sys".
     My questions:
It will be good if there is already a resolution. :)
How to diagnose, or identify which apps actually waiting for that "enter" to move on?
     Thanks!
wsn

Hi,
For the boot issue, first I suggest you use startup repair if you have an installation disk, check if it can detect and fix some certain problems.
Or run sfc/scannow in command prompt in recovery console, check if it can make any difference.
If doesn’t work, then try “Enable boot logging”, then check the log called ntbtlog.txt, usually located in system drive\Windows.
Advanced startup options (including safe mode)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows/advanced-startup-options-including-safe-mode#1TC=windows-7
You can also share a screen image with us about the “stuck” screen.
Regards
Yolanda
TechNet Community Support

I have an Apple Powerbook G4, and my monitor doesn't function. I have an external display Monitor, however it's stuck in extended screen mode. How do I get it to mirror or duplicate the display without use of the on-board?

As i had said, I have an Apple Powerbook G4, and my monitor doesn't function. I have an external display Monitor, however it's stuck in extended screen mode. How do I get it to mirror or duplicate the display without use of the on-board? Is there a Fn key combo i'm missing or is the issue more serious then i realize? any and all help and hints would be greatly apprichiated, thanks in advance.
-Powerbook User

The PowerBooks have an F-key that toggles mirrored and extended mode. My PB is loaned out right now but I think it was f7. The keycap has an icon on two overlapping rectangles, as I recall.
EDIT: Yes! Found a pdf of the PB manual it shows F7 is the toggle:

[SOLVED] systemd/cron as user: timer doesn't start after boot

Hello,
I've tried to follow the wiki's systemd/cron functionality article to have a systemd service to run hourly.
Everything seems to be working ok, except that the hourly timer doesn't start automatically : I have to issue a
systemctl --user timer-hourly.timer start
command every time I start the machine to get the timer running.
Can you help me understand what I'm missing to get the (user) timer to start automatically after boot?
Thanks!
My setup consists of the following files:
/home/myuser/.config/systemd/user:
drwxr-xr-x 2 myuser users 4096 Jun 25 17:30 basic.target.wants/
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser users 217 Jun 25 10:08 db_backup.service
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser users 232 Jun 25 10:08 test.service
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser users 61 Jun 19 12:14 timer-hourly.target
drwxr-xr-x 2 myuser users 4096 Jun 25 10:10 timer-hourly.target.wants/
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser users 134 Jun 19 12:14 timer-hourly.timer
/home/myuser/.config/systemd/user/basic.target.wants/:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 myuser users 50 Jun 25 10:08 timer-hourly.timer -> /home/myuser/.config/systemd/user/timer-hourly.timer
/home/myuser/.config/systemd/user/timer-hourly.target.wants/:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 myuser users 49 Jun 13 15:51 db_backup.service -> /home/myuser/.config/systemd/user/db_backup.service
lrwxrwxrwx 1 myuser users 44 Jun 25 10:10 test.service -> /home/myuser/.config/systemd/user/test.service
timer-hourly.timer:
[Unit]
Description=Hourly Timer
[Timer]
OnBootSec=5min
OnCalendar=hourly
Unit=timer-hourly.target
[Install]
WantedBy=basic.target
timer-hourly.target:
[Unit]
Description=Hourly Timer Target
StopWhenUnneeded=yes
test.service:
[Unit]
Description=Run a test (echo) job every hour
Wants=timer-hourly.timer
[Service]
Nice=19
IOSchedulingClass=2
IOSchedulingPriority=7
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python /home/myuser/test_service.py
[Install]
WantedBy=timer-hourly.target
db_backup.service:
[Unit]
Description=Backups databases
Wants=timer-hourly.timer
[Service]
Nice=19
IOSchedulingClass=2
IOSchedulingPriority=7
ExecStart=/home/myuser/source/db_backups/db_backup.sh
[Install]
WantedBy=timer-hourly.target
test_service.py is a simple python script that appends the current time to a file, to check if the service is being run by the timer. (it is after I start the timer after boot, and runs correctly every hour)
db_backup.sh is a script that dumps a database into a text file in a mercurial repository, commits the change and pushes it to backup locations.
Last edited by fede (2014-06-25 21:06:09)

Have you tried this:
systemctl --user enable timer-hourly.timer

Help in remote diagnosis this X60! (Overheating, USB boot issues)

I just got it back from (a well respected aftermarket, not Lenovo) service, stress tested but nothing found, a hard disk just died in it with "sector 0" error.
Symptoms, still:
- When uploading to Box.com with Java multiuploader it overheats and - I guess as a protection - shuts down or resets.
- When formatting an encrypted partition - the same.
- When handling a very big Word document in LibeOffice - the same. Though, it opens the same document in MS Word 2007 flawlessly.
Other issues:
- Hiren's Boot [USB] doesn't work when there is no physical hard drive in it. (It works perfectly on another machine.)
- FreeDOS says an "Invalid Opcode [code]"error when starting. (It also works perfectly on another machine.)
Have latest [2.19] BIOS.
What to do with it?

I just got it back from (a well respected aftermarket, not Lenovo) service, stress tested but nothing found, a hard disk just died in it with "sector 0" error.
Symptoms, still:
- When uploading to Box.com with Java multiuploader it overheats and - I guess as a protection - shuts down or resets.
- When formatting an encrypted partition - the same.
- When handling a very big Word document in LibeOffice - the same. Though, it opens the same document in MS Word 2007 flawlessly.
Other issues:
- Hiren's Boot [USB] doesn't work when there is no physical hard drive in it. (It works perfectly on another machine.)
- FreeDOS says an "Invalid Opcode [code]"error when starting. (It also works perfectly on another machine.)
Have latest [2.19] BIOS.
What to do with it?

Mac Mini (mid 2010) 4GB + Windows 7 boot issue

Afternoon,
In februari I've asked the same question, and I still haven't figured out what the issue is.
Figured it wouldn't be bad to fire up de discussion again; perhaps there are some new suggestions.
Hi folks,
I have the following issue with my 2010 Mac Mini;
Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit) refuses to load past the flickering underscore, when i have 4GB of ram installed. When i f.e. put back the original 2GB of ram, Windows 7 loads fine. The following details are important:
- I've tried Windows XP Professional SP3: boots and runs fine on 4GB
- I've tried several brands of 2 x 2GB 1067Mhz DDR3 ram; the issue doesn't seem brand or hardware-incompatibility related.
- Mac OS also runs flawlessly on the all of the 4GB ram
- And again; Windows 7 does load fine on 2GB ram
- (whether it's the original 2x 1GB, or 1x 2GB)
- Current memory: Kingston; SKU: KTA-MB1066K2/4G, EAN: 0740617145755
Any idea what the issue could be?
Thanks in advance!

Yes, I know, but with these instructions http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=5266108&postcount=144 the fan speed can be controlled; the warranty is gone, I suppose, and so could the CPU be, soon, but like I said, there seems to be no temp sensor present, and with full speed fan the mini is unusable anyway.

Aluminium PowerBook G4 15" Booting issues - Doesn't start without AC power

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