Can't boot computer with 10.5 install CD or Single User Mode, or Safe Mode.

Ive written a couple times about this and responded to people who have similiar queeries but i just havent gotten any answers.
I cannot log onto my computer, I boot up and get a blue screen, with a nice black arrow. Thats as far as i can get. Obviously happening to lots of people..So, ive tried rebooting holding the C key and with 10.5 install CD, ive tried Unix (command-S), Ive tried resetting PR Ram, ive tried mantra recitation and cooing to my laptop; ive tried all the shortcuts in Oreilly's book and the only thing that DOES work is holding the OPTION key while rebooting. This brings up a nice icon of a padlock and a place to type letters or words and then there is another arrow in a box. Is this Open Firmware? I dont have an open firmware password...Ive tried entering my user password but it doenst accept it. ( I did change my password last week, did that create these problems???) how do i by pass that password????? Is it open firmware? (the date reads 1904 when i do the command option-O F command, and i cant get beyond that either...HELP!!

Hello,
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Utilities from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access the Menubar at top.
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Reset Password from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Reset Password.
Space between mount & -uw, space between -uw & the /
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
Space after rm, before the 1st /

Similar Messages

I have iTunes (11.1.4) and OSX (10.9.1). itunes becomes unresponsive immediately upon booting up with the pinwheel. If I open the app in safe mode it appears to be working normally for about 60 secs. and then the pinwheel shows up again.

I have restart all devices.

Hey Von2,
Thanks for the question, and great troubleshooting so far. Usually with issues like this, I would recommend starting iTunes in Safe mode - but you have already done that! Great job.
The next step is to isolate the issue further by using another user account:
Isolating an issue by using another user account
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4053
Thanks,
Matt M.

Can't boot to any OS X Install Disk

I have a strange problem and this is going to be long. I just added a 2007 MacPro to our Apple family and am having an issue that I can not get past. First, I bought it used and the gentleman that sold it to me described what he did to prep it for me. He wanted to make sure that his data was completely gone so he performed a secure erase on all three HD. One 150GB WD Raptor 10000 and two 700 GB Segates 7500. I should mention here that this system has two DVD drives, one an Apple Super Drive, the other an LG BlueRay read write DVD. Once he did the erase, he said he was not able to reinstall because he kept getting a "can not install a lesser OS" type message. So he removed the WD Raptor and cloned it externally then replaced it.
Initially I was getting the ?folder icon on boot for a few seconds then it would seem to find the HD and boot up fine. However, any attempt to boot to any OS X install DVD results in the gray panic screen to reboot. I have the original disks to this system, which are OS X Tiger and I have a retail OS X 10.5 Leopard and neither will boot to do a fresh install.
I have done a PRAM reset and that has gotten rid of the ?folder screen. I have also booted to a Super Duper Boot Backup and performed a restore to the WD Hard Drive, repaired permissions and it boots great! Even reformated the two larger drives with disk utility and all runs extremely well. One other note... I have even been able to run Boot Camp, set up a partition on one of the large Hard Drives and successfully install Windows 7 64 bit Beta. So it does read DVDs.
But, I can not boot of any OS X install disk???? Below is a copy paste of the problem report that is generated after each failed attempt.
Any ideas????
Thu Feb 5 23:35:49 2009
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x001A407F): Unresolved kernel trap (CPU 0, Type 14=page fault), registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000098, CR3: 0x01236000, CR4: 0x000006e0
EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x0f21f004, EDX: 0x0f20fa24
CR2: 0x00000098, EBP: 0x50133a18, ESI: 0xffffffff, EDI: 0x50133a74
EFL: 0x00210206, EIP: 0x7c644bda, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x02b50010
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x501337c8 : 0x128cdb (0x3c9a14 0x501337ec 0x131cdf 0x0)
0x50133808 : 0x1a407f (0x3cf788 0x0 0xe 0x3cefb8)
0x50133918 : 0x19ae94 (0x50133930 0xf20f804 0x50133948 0x7c6447a7)
0x50133a18 : 0x7c631bd8 (0xf21f004 0x7c7c3320 0x0 0x50133aac)
0x50133a58 : 0x7c60168c (0x0 0x50133a74 0x0 0x3c3ed4)
0x50133ab8 : 0x7c603765 (0x7c7c3320 0x0 0x68eed000 0x7bf40000)
0x50133b38 : 0x7c5fbbb3 (0x0 0x4ad9b0 0xf3000001 0x79f14000)
0x50133b88 : 0x7c5fcd1e (0xeb00800 0xedb4f80 0x0 0x0)
0x50133bd8 : 0x7c5fce30 (0xeb00800 0xef08500 0x6062213c 0x0)
0x50133c18 : 0x60627155 (0xeb00800 0x1 0x0 0x0)
0x50133c78 : 0x60621065 (0xeb00800 0x5 0x5 0xeb00800)
0x50133c98 : 0x38a1a9 (0xeb00800 0xe998a08 0xe998a08 0x0)
0x50133ce8 : 0x3b032a (0xeb00800 0xe998a08 0xe998a08 0x0)
0x50133d48 : 0x18d624 (0xeb00800 0xe998a08 0x0 0x0)
0x50133db8 : 0x12b498 (0xf223680 0xf196498 0x50133df8 0x11e03b)
0x50133df8 : 0x124af1 (0xf223600 0xe965340 0xf1fa480 0x0) Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.NVDAResman(4.3.8)@0x7c5fa000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x6042e000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.4)@0x68b33000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.4)@0x60619000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.4)@0x60619000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x6042e000
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.7.3: Wed Aug 16 18:54:06 PDT 2006; root:xnu-792.11.5.obj~1/RELEASE_I386

jravin wrote:
I have a strange problem and this is going to be long. I just added a 2007 MacPro to our Apple family and am having an issue that I can not get past. First, I bought it used and the gentleman that sold it to me described what he did to prep it for me. He wanted to make sure that his data was completely gone so he performed a secure erase on all three HD. One 150GB WD Raptor 10000 and two 700 GB Segates 7500. I should mention here that this system has two DVD drives, one an Apple Super Drive, the other an LG BlueRay read write DVD. Once he did the erase, he said he was not able to reinstall because he kept getting a "can not install a lesser OS" type message. So he removed the WD Raptor and cloned it externally then replaced it.
Initially I was getting the ?folder icon on boot for a few seconds then it would seem to find the HD and boot up fine. However, any attempt to boot to any OS X install DVD results in the gray panic screen to reboot. I have the original disks to this system, which are OS X Tiger and I have a retail OS X 10.5 Leopard and neither will boot to do a fresh install.
I have done a PRAM reset and that has gotten rid of the ?folder screen. I have also booted to a Super Duper Boot Backup and performed a restore to the WD Hard Drive, repaired permissions and it boots great! Even reformated the two larger drives with disk utility and all runs extremely well. One other note... I have even been able to run Boot Camp, set up a partition on one of the large Hard Drives and successfully install Windows 7 64 bit Beta. So it does read DVDs.
But, I can not boot of any OS X install disk???? Below is a copy paste of the problem report that is generated after each failed attempt.
Any ideas????
Thu Feb 5 23:35:49 2009
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x001A407F): Unresolved kernel trap (CPU 0, Type 14=page fault), registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000098, CR3: 0x01236000, CR4: 0x000006e0
EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x0f21f004, EDX: 0x0f20fa24
CR2: 0x00000098, EBP: 0x50133a18, ESI: 0xffffffff, EDI: 0x50133a74
EFL: 0x00210206, EIP: 0x7c644bda, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x02b50010
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x501337c8 : 0x128cdb (0x3c9a14 0x501337ec 0x131cdf 0x0)
0x50133808 : 0x1a407f (0x3cf788 0x0 0xe 0x3cefb8)
0x50133918 : 0x19ae94 (0x50133930 0xf20f804 0x50133948 0x7c6447a7)
0x50133a18 : 0x7c631bd8 (0xf21f004 0x7c7c3320 0x0 0x50133aac)
0x50133a58 : 0x7c60168c (0x0 0x50133a74 0x0 0x3c3ed4)
0x50133ab8 : 0x7c603765 (0x7c7c3320 0x0 0x68eed000 0x7bf40000)
0x50133b38 : 0x7c5fbbb3 (0x0 0x4ad9b0 0xf3000001 0x79f14000)
0x50133b88 : 0x7c5fcd1e (0xeb00800 0xedb4f80 0x0 0x0)
0x50133bd8 : 0x7c5fce30 (0xeb00800 0xef08500 0x6062213c 0x0)
0x50133c18 : 0x60627155 (0xeb00800 0x1 0x0 0x0)
0x50133c78 : 0x60621065 (0xeb00800 0x5 0x5 0xeb00800)
0x50133c98 : 0x38a1a9 (0xeb00800 0xe998a08 0xe998a08 0x0)
0x50133ce8 : 0x3b032a (0xeb00800 0xe998a08 0xe998a08 0x0)
0x50133d48 : 0x18d624 (0xeb00800 0xe998a08 0x0 0x0)
0x50133db8 : 0x12b498 (0xf223680 0xf196498 0x50133df8 0x11e03b)
0x50133df8 : 0x124af1 (0xf223600 0xe965340 0xf1fa480 0x0) Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.NVDAResman(4.3.8)@0x7c5fa000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x6042e000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.4)@0x68b33000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.4)@0x60619000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.4)@0x60619000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x6042e000
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.7.3: Wed Aug 16 18:54:06 PDT 2006; root:xnu-792.11.5.obj~1/RELEASE_I386
I just did a check as you where smart & put what your problem was telling you
You had shown your Mac is Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.NVDAResman(4.3.8)@0x7c5fa000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x6042e000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.4)@0x68b33000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.4)@0x60619000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.4)@0x60619000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x6042e000
That Tell's me 100% you do have the same card the
_*(PCI Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, display, Slot-1)*_
that needs OS X 10.5.2 or newer to boot from the install DVD. I went though this man, by myself is was not fun call 800-69-2773 (800-MY-Apple) ask for costumer care tell them it is the Old OS & newer GPU not the Mac Pro, So they can't try to say you need Apple Care for what in truth they never told people. I know you will get a replacement Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD 10.5.2 or newer it is white & has Replacement DVD Not For Resale on it.
I am give you my Email if needed at all in this (I know what a mess it is)
hess2 at mac dot com
Hope I helped you,
Thomas
*PCI Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, display, Slot-1*
<Edited by Moderator>

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Can't boot iBook with install disc

Hi All,
I've inherited an old clamshell iBook that freezes every time I try to boot from the install disc.
The iBook came with 0S9.2 installed and everything seemed to be working OK. I then tried to upgrade it using a retail Jaguar disc and it froze on booting up. Now it won't even load OS9 but instead gives me a blinking folder with a question mark.
When I try to install from the Jaguar boot disc, I get the Apple logo and then it freezes right there. I tried zapping the P-Ram a few times and that didn't fix it. I tried holding Option key when loading and got to the screen where it lists boot options. I chose OS X and it after the logo comes up, it freezes.
Have also tried re-seating and completely removing the RAM. No difference.
When I go into verbose mode I get some kind of kernel panic error freeze and the keyboard won't let me input anything.
I reached the open firmware screen and it says Powerbook2,1 4.1.7f4 so I think that means my firmware is fine for OS X.
I unfortunately don't have access to an OS 9.2 disc so can't boot into that from disc. I think my 9.2 system folder needs to be re-blessed or something like that but have no way to reach it.
Any suggestions?

Ok, well, I believe that in order to re-bless the OS 9 system folder, you need the OS 9 CD. (I'm not an OS 9 expert, but that's what I've seen online).
However, if you install 10.2 (or 10.3) on the computer, it should boot right into it and you don't even "need" OS 9 any more.
I'm starting to think you have a hardware problem of some kind, and the first place to check is the RAM. OS X is more finicky than OS 9 was with RAM, so do you have another memory module you could install to check? Or perhaps another clamshell (like was suggested) to try your RAM in?
Do you have an Apple Hardware test disk? My next suggestion would be to get one and to run the test and see what (if any) hardware is having problems.
And one more thought: if you can boot using the 10.3 disk, try running Disk Utility and repairing your disk a couple of times. Maybe there's a problem in your hard drive.
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Messed up bootloader, can no longer boot computer with CD in drive

I'm trying to dual boot Arch Linux and Windows 8.1, on a Lenovo Y580 that already has Windows on it. I went through the whole installation mostly following the Beginner's Guide, picked the Syslinux bootloader and tried to set it to chainload Windows, everything seemed to go smoothly. When I restarted the computer, it just skipped straight to Windows. I figured I must have messed up the bootloader so I put the live CD back in to try to fix it, but now nothing will boot while a CD is in the drive. It hangs at the Lenovo splash screen; I can't get to the boot menu, I can't get to the BIOS, I can't do anything. When I take the CD out and restart it boots into Windows.
Presumably I messed up setting the boot flag, or something? I have absolutely no idea how to diagnose this problem, I don't even know how to investigate it because I can't boot anything besides Windows. Please let me know if you need more information, I wasn't really sure what details would be relevant to this issue.

What is odd is that the system reacts to a CD being in the device (i.e. it doesn't boot Windows while it does if there is no CD in the device). This is why I think that the boot order is probably fine. Nevertheless, I don't see why it wouldn't boot the Arch CD. I could imaging some potential reasons none of which is either likely or common or easy to resolve.
(So for now, the interesting questions about that would be:
1. How did you get the Computer to boot from the Arch CD when you tried to install Arch? Did you just reboot with the CD in the drive or did you do anything specific with your Windows and/or BIOS first; if so, what?
2. If you put another CD (say, your favorite audio CD) into the drive, does it still hang at the Lenovo splash screen? Normal behavior would be that it just boots Windows.
3. Following henk's advise and checking the boot sequence in the BIOS, what exactly do you see, what is the exact boot sequence?)
burkaman wrote:Is there any other way to get to my stranded Arch installation
Sure. Just none that would be easier than from the Arch CD. You could for instance write the Arch ISO to a USB flash memory and boot from USB, like so: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/US … In_Windows
If your problems booting from CD persist, this might be worth a try. (However, you will still have to make sure that your boot order lists USB before the hard drive.)
burkaman wrote:maybe change the boot flags some other way?
Sure. But it is
(1) overwhelmingly unlikely that your problem with Arch has anything to do with boot flags and
(2) without a deeper understanding of how partition tables are designed and how disk partitioning utilities work, you are much more likely to seriously damage your other (Windows) partition(s) than to fix your Arch Linux partition(s).
If you feel compelled to try nevertheless, have a look at wikipedia's list of disk partitioning software: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_d … g_software
One more thought on your Arch installation and its non-working bootloader: If you by any chance set the default boot option to Windows and the timeout to 0 the behavior you describe (booting Windows instead of showing the bootloader) would be the expected one. If not, the bootloader has not been installed to the harddisk since the bootsector is obviously still occupied by Windows' own bootloader. (Otherwise, there would be no way for Windows to boot.)
Last edited by gay (2014-06-02 15:47:18)

Can't boot G5 even from OS install disk. Help?

I've trolled the message boards 25 pages deep and searched all the "Can't boot my G5" threads and still haven't found anyone describing what my machine is doing so thought I'd start a new thread in the hopes someone can help me out.
Ok I have a G5 dual processor machine. (Power PC chip, not Intel) Things went bad when I tried to do an Archive and Install of Leopard (OS 10.5) The install looked as normal until I got to one minute left on the install. At that point the install never progressed. I thought maybe it was doing some behind the scenes processing and decided to leave it over night. The next day my machine was still hung on that One minute left. So obviously it was a failure. Of course now the problem is I have an install that never completed of the OS and so that partition is, I assume, unbootable. Wiped away the Tiger OS and did a 99% install of Leopard. So I had to shut down by holding the power button.
I think to myself, "No worries I can just boot from my 2nd partition holding down the Option key to select it on the boot up screen". I always keep a partition with an OS on it for times like these. So I reboot, hold option key, select my other partition, things look OK. I get the grey screen with the Apple logo and I get the wheel animation turning. (Not beachball of death but the typical circular, almost sun ray configuration thing) At this point, usually the screen will go black for a moment before the desktop loads. However, in my case once the screen goes black after the load screen, it stays black. Now let me say the monitor does NOT turn off. There is a definite difference when I manually turn the monitor off. When off it's truly black. But this is like a power on black, not true black. (If you need me to explain this better feel free to ask me to clarify)
So the untouched, pristine Tiger partition boot is a No Go. I figured I'd then give up on trying to put Leopard on my desktop machine (I use it on my laptop) and reinstall the original OS and system software from the system disk that came with my G5. I boot machine holding down eject button, place the disk in, close the drive door and shut down again by holding power button. Reboot holding C key and the same routine happens with booting from the disk. Gray Apple logo screen, sun ray circle moving, screen goes black on the attempted transition to desktop .. but stays black. I also tried booting with my Disk Warrior disk to no avail. Same thing happens. (Also tried booting from disks by selecting them manually from booting with Option key down) At first I wondered if it was a monitor issue. That maybe my desktop was up but there was an issue with the signal being passed to the monitor on the resolution jump. Thought perhaps hitting the Eject key on the keyboard when I had attempted to boot from the partition (not from disk on this test) would tell me if it was a monitor issue. If it was a monitor issue, the disk tray should open. But alas, no.
So since I cannot boot normally from any partition or disk I decided to boot into single-user mode.
I did the fsck -fy thing and it told me everything was ok. I had also previously installed applejack and I ran that and short of correcting a few permissions and dumping some unneeded caches it came back with a system OK.
At my wits end I booted into target disk mode and ran Disk Warrior on both the original half installed OS partition and the back up emergency boot up partition from my laptop. Again, everything OK. Hoped against hope that I could actually install an OS onto my G5 from my laptop but I was only given the option of being able to do it from my laptop with the Leopard disk and it would only allow me to do it if I used Disk Utility to completely format that drive first. No, thanks.
Re-attempt to boot G5. Failure. So now I turn to hardware. Disconnected everything beside the keyboard and mouse. Try again. Fail. Pulled a couple sticks of Crucial memory out of the machine and left the stock RAM. No dice. Pressed the small power unit reset button under the RAM slots. No change. Zapped the PRAM. Still nothing. Try to boot in Safe mode holding down shift key. Doesn't work.
It seems to me if I can't even get the machine to boot from the Install disk that there is something going on that is much more major than software issues.
Bad motherboard? Any ideas? Because I'm all out of ideas.

Brother, Sound74, I thought I was the only one pulling the hair out of my chest one by one the past two days. Your situation is very similar to mine, and I'm just as clueless as you are. I started getting kernel panic screens, then nothing on boot, until finally I brought it to the local genius bar. They ran all the usual software/hardware tests, updated Tiger to 10.4.11, recommended I buy Leopard and do an erase-install. My computer, of course, was working absolutely fine by this point. I bought Leopard, came home, backed everything up, then tried to install the new OS. Like in your case, it just up and quit half-way through. Screen went black and a "No DVI Signal" message came on my display (it does this when I turn it on without first turning on the computer).
So I thought, well, maybe it takes a really long time to erase-install, and the monitor is just waiting for things to kick back in. I've always upgrade-installed before, so I couldn't tell if this was normal or not. But about half an hour later, my fans kicked in so fast I thought I had a P-51 Mustang taking off in my studio. I waited a bit more and finally force-shut-down my system. Not knowing what to expect, I nervously tried to re-boot.
Nothing. Zip. I can't safe boot, I can't boot from the installer disc, etc. The only thing I can do is the option-key thing whereby you choose the startup disc. And of course, it only gives the Leopard install disc as an option, because now the entire HD has been erased! But when I choose the Leopard disc, of course it doesn't work.
So I have a nice $3000 paperweight sitting in my studio. I guess I'll have to bring it back to the Mac store, where if it costs more than $300 to fix, I'm going to say screw it and put that dough toward a new iMac.
Sorry I couldn't provide any helpful info, but I just wanted you to know you're not alone in suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous technology.
Keep me posted on any solutions you discover, and I'll do the same.
Noochy1
PS My applecare expired a month ago! AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!! **** Murphy and his stupid laws.

Can not boot from Mac OS X Install Disc 1, G5, Snow Leopard

I have version 10.6.8 installed. Compter is a 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon. 6GB memory
I want to run Disk Utility and startup from the install CD that came with the computer (the grey one, disc 1, or even the retail disc Mac OS X Snow leopard, the whit one) but I CAN NOT DO IT. So frustrating.
I restart, hold down the "C" key, before the chime, after the chime, every which way, and my Mac always acts as if I am simply restarting, goes right to the login screen everytime. I tried holding down OPTION on restart to choose which to startup from, but only saw the hard drive as an option. I open System Preferences, Startup Disk and the install CD does not even show up as a choice to start from, yet the install CD shows up in the finder.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks

OK.
According to the knowledge base that model should have shipped with Tiger, 10.4.7.
Going to need some thought here, though. I was going to suggest a possible problem with the optical drive, but you say the DVD mounts on the desktop as a normal DVD would?
Nevertheless, do you have access to another Mac or an external HD with a bootable OS X on it (later than the Tiger version your Mac Pro shipped with)?
If so, try booting from the external, or from the other Mac using Firewire Target Disk mode, and using DU from one of those sources to repair the MP's internal HD, then try the disc(s) again.

Can't boot computer with 10.5 install CD or Single User Mode, or Safe Mode.

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