Boot from 2nd partition on mini

I have a new mac mini with os x server on it. It has two partitions and I tried to install mac os x onto the other partition so I could boot from that. I have an apple external dvd drive attached to the mini.
Everything went well, it allowed me to install to the partition I wanted. Then when it does a reboot it will not boot with the mac os x disk in the dvd drive and if I take it out it boots back to mac os x server partition. If I hold down the Option Key at the start it does not show me the partition with the os x on it.
Using finder I can see a bunch of pkg files in a folder called Mac OS X install Data on the partition I want to use. Is there a way of getting these to install?
Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am fairly new to macs.
Thanks.

rchealey wrote:
Curiously when you boot from this partition, you get virtually the exact same experience as you do when booting from the recovery partition except that the recovery partition tends to suggest that it will download and install Lion, whereas booting from the partition containing the install doesn't mention download.
That's normal behavior. The Recovery HD only has enough code to go to Apple's servers and DL the installer; whereas, the InstallESD contains everything. Do note, however, that running either will check Apple's servers for additional components, whatever those might be. Thus, Internet access is required to do either.

Similar Messages

Booting from a partitioned drive

I have 1,5 TB drive and want to create 2 partitions. One for cloning using Super Duper and second back up by data files. Is this possible? Because I read that Apple doesn't officially support booting from Apple partition map on Intel Macs and doesn't allow to install the OS X.
Thanks,

Well, after using disc utility, I had a bad luck... kernel panic during the partition. And the computer panics anytime the drive is plugged in. Firewire and USB. I tried my other computer .... the same thing. That means the drive is dead!
Oh Well...
Here is the error:
Wed May 13 09:40:58 2009
panic(cpu 2 caller 0x001F9445): "jnl: mod block start: bufsize 512 not a multiple of block size 4096\n"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228.9.59/bsd/vfs/vfs_journal.c:2282
Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x8d8af2a8 : 0x12b4f3 (0x45b13c 0x8d8af2dc 0x1335e4 0x0)
0x8d8af2f8 : 0x1f9445 (0x46c6e4 0x200 0x1000 0x0)
0x8d8af348 : 0x332a34 (0x9e55d10 0x7ccc7a80 0x0 0x200)
0x8d8af3e8 : 0x33be77 (0xc140004 0x1 0x0 0x8d8af778)
0x8d8af7a8 : 0x33443e (0xc140004 0xa151804 0x0 0x0)
0x8d8af8b8 : 0x335ea6 (0x0 0xb6b0364 0x0 0x0)
0x8d8af9a8 : 0x1f5d9f (0xa97a258 0x1049d8c0 0xbffffdc4 0x0)
0x8d8af9f8 : 0x1df47f (0xa97a258 0x1049d8c0 0xbffffdc4 0x0)
0x8d8aff28 : 0x1dfb40 (0xadb7ba4 0x8d8aff48 0xb6b02a4 0x1)
0x8d8aff78 : 0x3df460 (0xadb7ba4 0xb6b0260 0xb6b02a4 0x0)
0x8d8affc8 : 0x1a0887 (0xb3d97a0 0x0 0x1a30b5 0xa25e640)
No mapping exists for frame pointer
Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0xbffffe18
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: mount_hfs
Mac OS version:
9G55
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.6.0: Mon Nov 24 17:37:00 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.9.59~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacPro3,1 (Mac-F42C88C8)
Message was edited by: Girshon Rutstein

Can't boot from Ubuntu partition after upgrading to Yosemite

When i go to Disk Utility the Ubuntu partition appears as it always have, i had installed since Mavericks refind to boot from any partition. Now refind doesn't work and the alt/option key doesn't work either. Does anyone know a way to fix this?

A extensive report already written is in the Ubuntu stacks as
Dual boot Linux and Yosemite
Basically you need to follow http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/yosemite.html
wherein it explains that Yosemite is using a new LVM bootup from within the Recovery Partitions 10.10.
This messes up REFIT/REFIND tools which have previously installed Partition 1.S
See my current Table below , wherein << are my comments
Current GPT partition table:
#      Start LBA      End LBA Type
1             40       409639 EFI System (FAT)    << old preferred site for REFIT/REFIND tools
2         409640    154061023 Mac OS X HFS+ << main Mac partition
3      154061024    155330559 Mac OS X Boot << Recovery 10.10 , installed by Yosemite update, used to start MAC boot. BUT is not shown by Disk Utility, to prevent its naive deletion which would kill the MAC boot.
4      155330560    156598271 Mac OS X HFS+ << old Recovery 10.9, simply retained
5      157869786    228772129 Unknown << My Ubuntu partition
6      228772130    236765969 Linux Swap << which was shortened by 200 MB to make room for 7)
7      236765970    236974814 Mac OS X HFS+ << installation site of REFIND. Though 4) could have been used, there is a possibility that Apple might have future plans for this small 4) partition.
With 7) created (see detail below), my REFIND install command under MAC, within Downloads/refind-bin-0.8.3/ was:
sudo ./install.sh --alldrivers --ownhfs /dev/disk0s7
There was still required the edit if refind.conf.sample specified in Yosemite.html, which I named refind.conf.edit1
This was copied with:
sudo cp refind.conf.edit1 /Volumes/macefi/System/Library/CoreServices/refind.conf
macefi is my name for the MAC /dev/disk0s7 mount point, equivalent to /dev/sda7 under Linux
CAREFULLY do read Yosemite.html, as the instructions here are too terse by themselves!!!!
There are 2 routes to boot Ubuntu, and then creat 7) with GPARTED
a) If you can access the GRUB shell under an old REFIT/REFIND installation, partitions will be shown by:
grub> ls
Presence of a Linux file system can be confirmed by a command like:
grub> ls (hd0,gpt5)/
Output of
grub > ls (hd0,gpt5)/boot/grub/
should include a grub.cfg file. Then you can boot as usual with
grub > configfile (hd0,gpt5)/boot/grub/grub.cfg
After boot up, start GPARTED
b) Alternatively boot with the Ubuntu install disk, and choose the Demo option
Open a text console, and get admin proviledge with:
$ sudo su
# gparted
Using GPARTED, unmount if necessary any terminal SWAP partition, such as my 6) above
Then shrink the SWAP partition end by a trivial 200 MB,
Create a HFS+ partition in like my 7) for a coming REFIND installation
Note, that a file /etc/fstab contains a SWAP partition specification, which should be edited for automated SWAP start.
# sudo blkid /dev/sda7
will report the SWAP space specs LONG uuid code. This can be copied into memory by dragging the mouse over the uuid
Then SHIFT-CONTROL-C will copy it into memory.   Start an edit with:
$ sudo nano /etc/fstab
delete the old swap uuid, and paste in the replacement with
SHIFT-CONTROl-V
and swap should mount upon reboot, or with:
$ sudo swapon -a
Check with:
$ free
which should report none-zero swap space.

[SOLVED] UEFI system booting from MBR partition table and GRUB legacy

I'm trying to understand once and for all the process by which Arch can be booted from a system with UEFI firmware and an MBR partition table. Some of the information on the wiki seems conflictual / non-nonsensical at times. Apologies in advance if this has been answered time and time again, but I did search around and all I found was fixes to get Arch to boot rather than comprehensive explanations of the boot process.
Now, the way I would imagine it works is that it's just completely identical to the way it would work with a BIOS firmware. The UEFI firmware detects an MBR partitioning scheme (or is configured to know it's an MBR partitioning scheme), activates some "legacy" mode and executes the MBR boot code, just like a BIOS firmware would.
The wiki however, says different. From the Macbook article: "Do not install GRUB onto /dev/sda !!! Doing so is likely to lead to an unstable post-environment."?
So what is there in the MBR boot sector? Nothing?
How does the firmware know what to boot if there's no 0xEF BIOS boot partition and no Grub stage 1 in the MBR boot sector?
Also, how does installing Grub stage 1 to a partition work? Does it have to be at the beginning of the partition? Wouldn't that overwrite some existing data?
I'm especially puzzled since many guides to installing Vista on a macbook recommend simply formatting as MBR, and installing as normal, which I suppose entails having the Windows installation process write its boot code to the MBR, ie the equivalent of installing grub stage 1 to /dev/sda rather than to the /boot partition, as the Macbook article suggests.
Any input is appreciated.
P.S. I realize it's probably simpler, if I just want to dual boot Windows and Arch, to install Windows 7 in UEFI-GPT mode, let it create the EFI System Partition, and then install GRUB 2 to that partition, but I'm still curious about the UEFI-MBR boot process.
Last edited by padavoine (2012-06-06 09:35:10)

padavoine wrote:
CSM in UEFI firmwares do the exact same job as normal BIOS firmware.
So it's something specific to the Mac that it's able to boot from a partition's VBR while ignoring the MBR?
The reason that warning is given is because grub-legacy modifies more than just the MBR boot code region. It can overwrite some parts of GPT header.
Not true, the instruction is given in the context of an MBR format, not in the context of a GPT format, so there's nothing to overwrite and Stage 1.5 should be safely embeddable in the post-MBR gap.
In BIOS boot (normal case in non-UEFI firmwares or CSM in UEFI firmwares) does not read the partitition table (atleast it is supposed to be dumb in this regard), it simply launches whatever boot code exists in the 1st 440-byte of the MBR region.
So again, you're saying it's specific to the Mac UEFI that it lets you choose a partition whose VBR to load, regardless of what's in the MBR?
I haven't used Macs so I can't comment on Mac firmware behaviour. But normal BIOS firmwares (legacy and CSM) launch only the MBR boot code and not the partition boot code. We need some chainload capable boot manager in the MBR to launch the partition VBR.
grub-legacy does not know anything about GPT. So when you install grub-legacy to /dev/sda, it install the MBR boot code (stage1) and stage 1.5 code to the (supposed) post MBR gap. Since there is no actual post MBR gap in GPT (which has been taken over by the header and partition table), grub-legacy does not check for GPT and it assumes the post MBR gap actually exists which is invalid in case of GPT. grub-legacy embeds the stage 1.5 code in GPT header and table region (which grub assumes to be unused post MBR gap) and thus corrupts it.
0xEF is the MBR type code for UEFISYS partition. grub stage 1 (used in grub-legacy, not in grub2) is the 440-byte boot code stored in MBR for use in BIOS boot.
That's precisely my point: with neither proper executable code in the MBR (since grub was installed to a partition, not to the MBR) nor a UEFI system partition, what does the firmware default to, and how does it know what partition to boot from?
In that case it might fallback to UEFI Shell (if it exists) or give an error similar to the case where BIOS does not find any bootable code in 440-byte MBR region.
So even with bootcamp/CSM, the disk also needs to be MBR partitioned. So Macs use something called "Hybrid GPT/MBR" ( http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html ) where the MBR table is synced to match the first 3 partitions in the GPT table.
I know what Bootcamp does, and that's not what I was referring to. I was referring to standalone Vista installs. I wasn't puzzled at the fact that they were using MBR, I was puzzled at the fact that contrary to the recommendations for the standalone Arch install on the wiki (with MBR partitioning, not GPT), they didn't do anything to try and prevent Windows from writing to the MBR.
You can't prevent Windows from overwriting the MBR region. You have to re-install the bootloader (grub2/syslinux etc.) after installing Windows. That is the reason why it is recommended to install Windows first and linux later.
Thats not true. I actually find it is much easier to install Windows UEFI-GPT using USB rather than a DVD.
I haven't done it since the only UEFI system I own has no DVD drive, but I was under the impression that it was simply a matter of choosing DVD UEFI boot in the firmware's boot menu.
format the USB as FAT32 and extract the iso to it. That it.
No, thats not it, precisely, it doesn't work out of the box with a standard Windows install USB, you need to fiddle around:
2.3 Extract bootmgfw.efi from [WINDOWS_x86_64_ISO]/sources/install.wim => [INSTALL.WIM]/1/Windows/Boot/EFI/bootmgfw.efi (using 7-zip aka p7zip for both the files), or copy it from C:\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi from a working Windows x86_64 installation.
2.4 Copy the extracted bootmgfw.efi file to [MOUNTPOINT]/efi/microsoft/boot/bootmgfw.efi .
Most of the Windows isos already have /EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI file, so no need to extract the bootmgfw.efi file.
There is no difference between in BIOS booting in UEFI firmwares and BIOS booting with legacy firmware.
There has to be a difference, at least in the Mac firmware (sorry, I keep switching), since legacy firmware, AFAIK, cannot chainload a bootloader in a partition's VBR without there being some sort of "stage1" code in the MBR.
No idea about Mac EFI. Apple made a spagetti out of UEFI Spec. To actually understand how Mac firmwares work, read the blog posts by Matthew Garrett of Redhat, about his efforts in getting Fedora to boot in Macs.

Boot from second partition on usb hard drive

I have a time machine external usb drive. I have created a second partition of 8GB on this drive and restored OS X Install ESD 10.7.5 to this second partition so that I can easily rebuild if necessary. I would like to be able to boot from this second partition. When I hold down Option key at startup, I see the external drive as an option, but the iMac wants to boot from the Time Machine Backup partition, rather than the Lion Partition. It doesn't give me the choice of the second, bootable partition on this drive. Is it possible to do this?
[Mac 24" early 2009, running 10.7.5 Lion]

rchealey wrote:
Curiously when you boot from this partition, you get virtually the exact same experience as you do when booting from the recovery partition except that the recovery partition tends to suggest that it will download and install Lion, whereas booting from the partition containing the install doesn't mention download.
That's normal behavior. The Recovery HD only has enough code to go to Apple's servers and DL the installer; whereas, the InstallESD contains everything. Do note, however, that running either will check Apple's servers for additional components, whatever those might be. Thus, Internet access is required to do either.

Can't boot from recovery partition in Mountain Lion

I've installed Mountain Lion on two different boxes so far: a 20" iMac at home and a Mac Mini at work. Both had up to date Lion installations prior to the upgrade. After installing Mountain Lion I am not able to boot in to the recovery partition on either one. Whether I hold down Command-R to go directly to the recovery parittion, or simply hold down Option to get a choice of boot devices, I am taken directly to the login screen.
The recovery partition is there on both boxes, and I can mount it and examine it using 'diskutil' from the command line. I created a USB image of the recovery partition on the iMac, and the Startup Disk control panel allowed be to select it as a boot device, but the box (both boxes, actually; I also tried it on the Mini) booted directly to the login screen.
I honestly don't know whether I could boot to the recovery partition prior to upgrading to Mountatin Lion or not. When I first installed Lion on the iMac I did not get a recovery paritition, but Apple sent me a USB drive and after cleaning up the disk (getting rid of an unused Boot Camp partition) I was able to get a clean install with a functioning recovery paritition. However I never booted from it after confirming that it worked.
Anyone else see anything like this? Or have an idea how to fix it?
- Larry

Ok but you can get the Option key to work.
There is a utility to Rebuild the recovery HD partition.
Look here first.
Removing and rebuilding a malfunctioning Recovery HD partition « Der Flounder
Then in that article a link to download or find the Recovery HD utility on the Apple website.
But that was originally for Lion. So you may have to rebuild the Lion R-HD then Reinstall Mt Lion over the top of your current install of Mt Lion for it to make the Mt Lion R-HD.
Depending on the age of your Mac's you may also be able to use the Online (Internet) Recovery HD system. To get to that with a R-HD partition on the system, even if that R-HD partition sin't working, you hold down Command+Option+r keys when starting the system (And yes with the USB keyboard attached).

Bootcamp Win7 - won't boot from Windows partition or even from the Win7 install DVD

Late 2011 Mac Mini / Lion / Win 7 64-bit Home Premium.
Incumbent Windows partition has happily run for heavy gaming (World of Warcraft) for some eight months. Now it stops on boot-up before the Windows logo is displayed, with a very dark blue blank screen. Attempts to boot from the Windows Install DVD yield the same result, portending that there is more than a corrupt MBR at work here. I have reset PRAM and SMC, just for good measure. There have been no recent changes to hardware / peripherals.
Rebuilding the Windows partition with Bootcamp stops at same Dark Blue Screen of Death. Will start Windows sometimes from first switch-on / dead cold Mini, but then not again in the same day. OS X Lion mode runs perfectly, booting up as usual with no quirks or delays.
Hardware? Seems unlikely, except for that suspicion of starting from the dead-cold start.

Do not use a USB3 flash drive. Only USB2 flash drives are supported by Windows installers. Depending on whether your Mac came with a built-in Optical drive or not, you may also need a physical DVD.
Please see How to install Windows using Boot Camp - Apple Support and Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently asked questions - Apple Support.

How to recover windows from 2nd partition

I have a problem, recovery process crashed almost at the end and when i restart computer i cannot get to the windows (missing files). I installed windows but i didn't have any toshiba utilities for recovery (only those files on 2nd partitions: hdd recovery). And here is my question, how can i recover my system from that files without any toshiba utilities? Can i download them or something? What can i do to restore it, because toshiba recovery media is, i think not available. And if it's not so how can i do? My warranty for laptop expired.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Satellite A350-110 (PSAL6E-006009G3)
how can i recover my system from that files without any toshiba utilities?
You should order the recovery discs from Toshiba.
Toshiba Europe Backup Media Online Shop
After you have restored the hard disk to its original out-of-the-box contents, you should have the recovery utilities and partitions. See the A350 User's Manual (attached) for how to recover after that.
-Jerry
Attachments:
SA350_EN.pdf ‏5918 KB

Set Bios to Boot from 2nd Hard Drive

Hello HP forum!
I have a situation that I am afraid may be hardware related, so this is my last attempt for help before I let it go.
In this laptop, I have two hard drive slots with two hard drives. The second hard drive was used as an HP backup/restore drive as shipped from the factory.
I would like to format and install an OS onto the 2nd drive for easy-peesy dual booting. (This is a work computer, so easy + time-efficient + low-risk is optimal). I have actually done this already, but the BIOS does not seem to detect two bootable hard drives. In the BIOS (pretty sure not EFI) boot list, it simply shows the option to boot from "Notebook Hard Drive", which boots from the 1st drive.
In my 1st Drive's Windows 7, I can read the contents of the 2nd disk, so it is definitely functional. Also, replacing the 1st drive with the 2nd drive, I can successfully boot from it, so it is bootable. This seems to imply that my hardware understands that there are two drives, but the BIOS does not recognize that port to be a bootable option, but only a storage option... I guess?
My question is, then, how can I set up my computer to give me the option to boot from either drive? Is it even possible on this hardware?
Thanks
Rex

Did you make sure to update your bios as that could be something that might require a bios update? Also if you can't see or locate that second drive in the BIOS you might not have the option to boot from the second drive? Does the bios also give you the option to boot from the cd drive? Your asking us to see a boot bios screen and unless some has your same make/model no everyone will be able to confirm or see what your asking so unless you can do more looking at all your bios options you might not have the option to boot from the second drive port.
I am a Volunteer to help others on here-not a HP employee.
Replies aren't online 24/7 because of Time Zone differences.
Remember in this Day and Age of Computing the Internet is Knowledge at your fingertips if you choose understand it. -2015-

Can't boot from Windows partition or any external drives...?

My iMac just stopped booting from both my boot camp partition, and any external drives. I tried booting from a bootable flashdrive with drive genius installed, but it just booted OS X. Despite holding TAB, it just boots normally, as if I wasnt even holding it. I also tried installing rEFit, but OS X still ignores it and just boots normally. What's going on?!

...wow....nevermind, i just realized that i was hitting tab not option...good lord...ive been running boot camp for a long time too...alright well...thanks anyway lol

Macbook Pro won't boot from any partition, at all

I tried updating an Early 2008 Intel-based Macbook pro to a clean install of Mavericks with a bootable USB drive, once in the startup manager, it would show the USB as an "EFI BOOT". and trying to access the EFI BOOT just gives me a prohibited sign
The boot copy of Mavericks was installed with Disk Utility, so it shouldn't have had any problems.
So I thought, "I'll completely erase the HD and try again". Did that, and still, "EFI BOOT".
Next thing I did was ditch the USB method, and go for brute force, booted the Mac in Target Disk Mode, and through firewire I was able to install Mavericks into the HD of that Mac, using my brother's Early 2008 intel-based Macbook pro. The clean install worked, it made the recovery partition with no problem. Next thing I know, upon booting the laptop, after restarting it from Target Disk Mode, the darn computer decides to give me the "no boot device found" dreaded Question-Mark-on-a-folder sign. So I restarted the thing to the Startup Manager, and both partitions showed up, I tried both partitions, and no luck, same Question Mark Sign-Thing, not even the recovery booted.
So on target disk mode again, I made 2 partitions, one with a bootable mavericks EDM, and the other one, free space, Mac OS Journaled, ready for the OS installation. So that it would install it by itself, to itself. Upon restarting and accessing the Startup Manager, the bootable partition I had created, was seen, but clicking on it would just give me the question mark.
I shrank the partition on the other macbook to make a bootable firewire device on the other mac, and that partition also said "EFI BOOT" when clicked on.
I burned a recovery DVD to boot from it, and it won't boot from it. Every time I try to boot from something, all I get is the question-mark-on-a-folder-sign.
I disassembled the laptop, got the HD out, tried installing straight into it via USB, and was not able to access it using an external HD case, the power light comes on, and right back off.
PRAM and SMC have been Reset.
any ideas?

When I removed it, it was to install mavericks into it, via usb, with the other macbook, through disk utility, but disk utility was unable to read it then.
And yes, I am able to boot from that HD, on the other macbook, either through firewire or USB... I've verified that it is working fine, no sounds, no clicks, no scratching noises.

BE6000 Boot from SCU Partition on Flexfalsh to run server diagnostics.

Hey,
I notice that the BE6000s have the "Onboard SCU Storage Support" BIOS option is set to "Disabled" making it impossible to boot from the Flexflash SCU partition to run diagnostics before deployment. If I set this to "Enabled", run my diagnostics, and then set it back to "Disabled" am I breaking some special "BE Rule"? Or is it recommended that I download the latest version of the SCU ISO and boot using the KVM virtual media?
Thanks,
Joey

Always good to state on the latest FW and no you not breaking any it is good to make sure all is 100%
Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

Help: Boot from Tiger partition

Some odd issues on PowerMac Quad running 10.5.1. Any help/advice gratefully received.
Two partitions on the primary drive: Alpha and Tiger-Boot. Alpha is the first partition and is the Leopard boot partition. Tiger-Boot is the second partition - 90Gb - and was cloned from the original Tiger 10.4.11 boot partition before Leopard.
1. SysPref. Startup drives listed as Alpha 10.5.1 and Tiger-Boot 10.4.11.
Choosing Tiger-Boot and restarting doesn't boot from Tiger-Boot but reverts to Alpha. ???
2. Startup holding down <Option> key. Internal Alpha and Tiger-Boot listed but Tiger-Boot cannot be chosen.
3. Startup holding down <Option> key. Internal Alpha and Tiger-Boot listed but not the external drive .... PowerMac refuses to recognize drive as a boot drive but an Intel Mac does. Test was using so this may be the issue here.
4. Decided to reboot from the Tiger Install DVD. Kernel Panic on the gray Apple logo screen just before the rotating spokes logo appears. Completely reproducible even after reseting PRAM (have to go into open Firmware to eject the DVD).
Any thoughts before I spend time on telephone w/Apple?
Thank you.

"...PowerMac refuses to recognize drive as a boot drive but an Intel Mac does..."
USB drive? PPC Macs cannot boot from USB drives regardless of the OS. Also, if the partition "scheme" is not correct, you might not be able to boot any Mac. A PPC Mac needs an "APM" partition and an Intel Mac needs a "GUID" partition. AFAIK, you cannot have both on the same drive.

Hard drive crash in G4 - won't boot from 2nd hard drive

Hi,
My G4 has 3 internal hard drives: 2 on the ATA bus and one on a SCSI card. The main drive crashed yesterday. At least I assume it crashed: the first error was not being able to store a CD imported into iTunes, followed by a system crash and a request to restart. On restart it failed to boot, showing a floppy icon with a ? and repeatedly beeps twice. In an attempt to fix this I booted from my OS X software install CD and installed OS X on other ATA hard drive, however it refuses to boot from the second drive and shows a broken folder icon and is still doing the double beep thing. All suggestions gratefully received!
Thanks,
Andy

I do indeed. Here's what happened when I ran the extended test:
No Airport present. Logic board, mass storage and RAM all passed. I couldn't see if the modem test completed, but somewhere between the end of that and the video RAM test the screen was filled with a multi-coloured grid. Eventually there was a default catch:
code=300, %SRR0: 00000020, %SRR1:00081010
with the option of mac-boot or shut-down.
mac-boot also caused a default catch:
code=900, %SRR0: 01c10ffc, %SRR1:00003030
mac-boot then brought an alternate happy mac / folder with a ?
A reboot from there finally brings up the broken folder. All of these icons are very small OS9 style icons in the centre of the screen.
Phew!
Bearing in mind your suggestion about a blown stick, I have tried a swapping out each stick (1x512, 1x256) and rebooting with the same results. I also tried them in different slots and that made no difference either.
Blown video RAM perhaps?

How do i get a dvd with osx snow leopard to boot from since i lost mine?

Having trouble with my early 2009 intel iMac. I have reset PRAM and SRC, used disk utility in safe mode to repair disk permissions (several were found/repaired) and tried to verify disk. System said it could not verify disk because it needed to be repaired while booted from another source. I could not find my OSX Snow Leopard disk, tried to start from Leopard disk. Now the system wont go through boot process at all. the gray screen with logo and progress bar appears, but after a minute the computer shuts down. I did run the apple hardware test (start up while holding D key) and no hardware issues were found. This must be a software issue.
Is there a way I can download a copy of OSX Snow Leopard on my laptop so I can burn a disk to boot my iMac from so I can repair the disk?

You will need the Mac OS X DVD later, because it's clear that there's a problem with the hard disk. Your Mac turns off because fsck couldn't repair the hard drive, so Mac OS X can't start up. Your only option is to format the hard drive, because it's not possible to repair it.
As you have the Leopard DVD, insert it and hold the C key while your Mac is starting. Then, choose your language and go to Utilities menu (on the menu bar) > Disk Utility, choose your hard drive at the top of the sidebar, go to Erase tab and erase the drive. If it's working properly, close Disk Utility and reinstall OS X.
If it couldn't be erased, the hard drive is damaged and you need a different one

Boot from 2nd partition on mini

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