Is booting into update mode possible?

Okay...here's the deal. Installed "enhanced kernel (titan) for power users" from my install list in application manager, as part of trying to get the Mobile Hotspot app to work. I was advised to do so by some very knowledgeable N900 users on this forum. Well...long story short(er)...loading the kernel did not make mobile hotspot work, so I decided to uninstall and revert back to the factory kernel. I did so using the "uninstall" app that came with the titan kernel....the screen went blank about half way through the process,...gave me a message that "kernel couldn't be removed". Thereafter, upon rebooting the phone, the N900 just sits there and reboots, reboots, reboots now...never completing a reboot before rebooting again. Sever has informed me that someone might be able to tell me how to reboot into update mode instead of Maemo for flashing....perhaps being able to just flash the kernel instead of the whole OS,...which I'll do if necessary. Anyone want to take this one on? Sure appreciate the assistance ! Thanks in advance.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Here's the line before I hit enter:
flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin
flasher v2.5.2 (Nov 25 2009)
Here's what came up after I hit enter
SW version in image: RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1_PR_MR0
Image 'kernel', size 1705 kB
Version 2.6.28-20101501+0m5
Image 'rootfs', size 173568 kB
Version RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1_PR_MR0
Image 'cmt-2nd', size 81408 bytes
Version BB5_09.36
Image 'cmt-algo', size 519808 bytes
Version BB5_09.36
Image 'cmt-mcusw', size 5826 kB
Version rx51_ICPR82_10w08
Image '2nd', size 14720 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2217, 2218, 2219, 2220, 2120
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2217, 2218, 2219, 2220, 2120
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2217, 2218, 2219, 2220, 2120
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14720 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2101, 2102, 2103
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2101, 2102, 2103
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2101, 2102, 2103
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2307, 2308, 2309, 2310
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2307, 2308, 2309, 2310
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2307, 2308, 2309, 2310
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2407, 2408, 2409, 2410
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2407, 2408, 2409, 2410
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2407, 2408, 2409, 2410
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2301, 2302, 2303, 2304, 2305, 2306
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2301, 2302, 2303, 2304, 2305, 2306
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2301, 2302, 2303, 2304, 2305, 2306
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2401, 2402, 2403, 2404, 2405, 2406
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2401, 2402, 2403, 2404, 2405, 2406
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2401, 2402, 2403, 2404, 2405, 2406
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14720 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2108, 2109, 2110, 2111, 2112, 2113, 2114, 2115, 2116, 2117, 2118, 2119
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2108, 2109, 2110, 2111, 2112, 2113, 2114, 2115, 2116, 2117, 2118, 2119
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2108, 2109, 2110, 2111, 2112, 2113, 2114, 2115, 2116, 2117, 2118, 2119
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2501, 2502, 2503, 2504, 2505, 2506
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2501, 2502, 2503, 2504, 2505, 2506
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2501, 2502, 2503, 2504, 2505, 2506
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2607, 2608, 2609, 2610
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2607, 2608, 2609, 2610
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2607, 2608, 2609, 2610
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2507, 2508, 2509, 2510
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2507, 2508, 2509, 2510
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2507, 2508, 2509, 2510
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14720 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2201, 2202, 2203, 2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2209, 2210, 2211, 2212, 2213, 2214, 2215, 2216
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2201, 2202, 2203, 2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2209, 2210, 2211, 2212, 2213, 2214, 2215, 2216
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2201, 2202, 2203, 2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2209, 2210, 2211, 2212, 2213, 2214, 2215, 2216
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image '2nd', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2601, 2602, 2603, 2604, 2605, 2606
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'xloader', size 14848 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2601, 2602, 2603, 2604, 2605, 2606
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Image 'secondary', size 109440 bytes
Valid for RX-51: 2601, 2602, 2603, 2604, 2605, 2606
Version 1.4.14.8+0m5
Nothing to do!
Usage: flasher [OPTIONS]
Options:
  -F, --fiasco=ARG Location of a FIASCO image
  -k, --kernel=ARG Location of kernel image
  -n, --initfs=ARG Location of initfs image
  -r, --rootfs=ARG Location of root JFFS2 image
   --cmt-2nd=ARG Location of CMT FIASCO 2nd image
   --cmt-algo=ARG Location of CMT FIASCO algorithm image
   --cmt-mcusw=ARG Location of CMT FIASCO MCUSW image
   --cmt-no-verify Disable verification of CMT programming
  -x, --xloader=ARG Location of X-Loader image
  -s, --secondary=ARG Location of NOLO secondary bootloader image
  -2, --2nd=ARG Location of NOLO cold flasher ("2nd") image
  -u, --unpack[=ARG] Unpack a FIASCO image
  -f, --flash Load and flash all supplied images
  -l, --load Only load all supplied images
  -b, --boot[=ARG] Boot the kernel with optional cmdline
  -R, --reboot Reboot the board (e.g. after flashing NOLO)
  -i, --read-device-id Print out the device type
  -S, --serial-port=ARG Serial port used for cold flashing or "usb"
  -I, --init-port Only initialize the serial port
  -c, --cold-flash "Cold flash" the device
  -h, --hw-revision=ARG Specify product code and HW revision
   --enable-rd-mode Enable R&D mode on the device
   --disable-rd-mode Disable R&D mode on the device
   --set-rd-flags[=ARG] Set R&D mode flags on the device
   --clear-rd-flags[=ARG] Clear R&D mode flags on the device
   --query-rd-mode Query the device R&D mode status and flags
   --set-hw-revision[=ARG] Set HW revision override on device
   --flash-only=ARG Flash only certain components
  -U, --usb-device=ARG Specify USB device to use (bus:device address)
bash-3.2#
As you can see....nothing about waiting for a suitable device.

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Won't boot into safe mode

My 2012 iMac 27" was randomly rebooting itself, while in Sleep. I assumed this was due to the cheap 32 GB memory I bought, but before I could change it back to the original memory, to test, the Mac booted into Safe Mode (I assume - a progress bar showing at the bottom of the boot screen, below the Apple logo), and did not get further than a half the way, and then shut down. I swapped the memory to the original 8GB. I tried booting again, no buttons held down, as then it wouldn't get further than a quarter of the way. Further attempts to boot do not work, even when holding down Option to choose the boot disk, pressing Shift for Safe Mode, or Option-S for Single User Mode. I assume it's trying to boot in Safe Mode, but failing?
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Booting into the Recovery HD should allow you to effect repairs - that's the point of it, so it's a bit concerning that it won't allow you to. The Recovery HD is a partition on the internal drive that should allow you to effect repairs to the Macintosh HD, albeit part of the same physical disk.
I'm no expert, but I'd be concerned that the hard disk is on the way out. Do you have backup of everything - Time Machine or a bootable clone, perhaps?
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One of the options of the Recovery HD is to allow you to re-install the OS, which won't delete your data.
The more extreme step would be Internet Recovery which would involve erasing everything and re-installing via the internet.
Worth reading this carefully before proceeding: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
Disk Warrior from Alsoft (not cheap) is another possibility for recovering damaged disks, although it's not a guaranteed solution.

Intel Mini will only boot into safe mode - hangs on ANY Mac OS volume

I have an Intel Mac Mini... the core2duo 1.83GHz or whatever.
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Message was edited by: maxtechsystems

Very strange, and getting stranger !
Ok... so, from safe boot mode, I installed Windows XP Pro using the boot camp assistant.
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Went back into OS X (safe boot mode). Installed reEFIt (a bootloader utility), to see if maybe I can bypass the Mac OS/Boot Camp bootloader. No luck. Install worked, but still had the same issues.
For the heck of it, I try installing Linux Mint 8. The live CD starts up OK, but only as far as the boot menu. I tried the installer first - after the splash screen, it hangs on a plain gray screen (w/o the normal linux installer language selection menu - just solid grey).
I tried running the live CD w/o the installer - the actual OS. Same thing - after the splash screen, it hangs, only it's a black screen this time. If I use verbose mode, it still seems to hang on the WiFi card.
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Message was edited by: maxtechsystems

10.9.4 Boots Into Safe Mode

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Did booting into Safe Mode "fix" hang-on-startup?

Yesterday my Mac Pro would hang on a blue screen every time tried to start. After booting into Safe Mode and repairing permissions (as suggested on this forum) everything seems fine. I'm wondering if Safe Mode has fixed this problem or if this was an early warning to drive failure or some other OS corruption. Is there anything else I can/should do to insure this does not happen again or to check the drive's stability?
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Great! According to the info on that page, this issue was likely fixed by booting into Safe Mode. It says:
Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later: A Safe Boot deletes the dynamic loader shared cache at (/var/db/dyld/). A cache with issues may cause a blue screen on startup, particularly after a Software Update. Restarting normally recreates this cache.
Thanks so much!

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Really sorry if this has been covered before but I spent a good time searching and couldn't find any existing posts with symptoms to the same extent.
I've got a 2008 iMac 27" and have the latest version of Yosemite installed (10.10.1 I guess). I upgraded to Yosemite probably 2-3 weeks ago and everything has been fine. Then yesterday when I woke it up from sleep it effectively froze - no mouse or keyboard input. So I did a reset by holding down the power button, and when I turned it back on it went to the apple logo boot screen with a progress bar that gets to just below 50% and stuck there. I've restarted quite a few times and left it running up to six hours and still it doesn't boot.
Now this is similar to the issue here - OSX Yosemite won't boot after install on mid 2010 iMac - except I am unable to boot into any mode, and the only startup keys accepted are the P-RAM reset. It won't boot into recovery mode (command+R), safe mode (Shift), startup drive select mode (Option), diagnostics mode (D)... nothing
I've booked into a Genius Bar appointment when the Apple stores reopen after Christmas, but I'm hoping that is a last resort and to be honest I'm unsure what they can do for me except to say it's a lost cause.
Are there any suggestions on what could be happening and why it's ignoring the startup modes? I would have suggested the keyboard not being recognised except the P-RAM command works perfectly, so it's obviously seeing it. I'm a little scared that because it won't let me into a boot device menu (which must operate independent of any HDD) then there's an issue ahead of that in the boot sequence, so possibly the motherboard is shot...
Sorry if I seem a little desperate. I had a HDD crash two years ago to the day (great Christmas present Apple) and it kind of puts a dampener on things.
Happy holidays and I'm grateful for any help that anyone can offer

Hello there, semerton.
Great job on troubleshooting the issue on your own so far. The following Knowledge Base aritcle offers some additional steps to try for resolving your issue:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup - Apple Support
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

Do I need to boot into 64bit mode to take advantage of 64bit apps?

The DAW I use just announced 64bit support. My machine is an early 8-core that will not boot into 64bit mode. Is this even necessary though? Will I still be able to access RAM beyond the 4gb cap while booted into 32bit mode?
Thanks!

2008 Mac Pro can, it is supported on server OS.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3770
Method 1: Startup key combination (for current startup only)
If your Mac uses the 32-bit kernel by default, but supports the 64-bit kernel, you can start up using the 64-bit kernel by holding the 6 and 4 keys during startup.
If your Mac uses the 64-bit kernel by default, you can start up with the 32-bit kernel by holding the 3 and 2 keys during startup.
Your Mac will revert to the default kernel the next time you reboot it.
Method 2: On-disk setting (persistent)
To select the 64-bit kernel for the current startup disk, use the following command in Terminal:
sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture x86_64
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3773
Early 2008 implemented Unified EFI which is 64-bit but you need to run 10.6.x and even then... so much for "64-bit" hardware and OS talk we heard for years.
http://macperformanceguide.com/SnowLeopard-Compatibility-software.html
Even if you cannot or do not boot the Mac OS X Snow Leopard kernel into 64-bit mode, you can run your 64-bit apps as 64-bit, and they can take advantage of all the memory in the machine. This was/is possible even with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The main problem being that there are only a handful of 64-bit applications available as of September 2009.
http://macperformanceguide.com/SnowLeopard-64bit.html
Somewhere in your "default product" in your profile is where I think the forum pulls that sig

OS X Lion 10.8.2 won't boot into recovery mode

Help! OS X Lion 10.8.2 won't boot into recovery mode, I get a grey screen, the apple icon and the spinning symbol...Does anyone have any suggestions?
Have a MacBook Pro (2009) and had no problems until upgrading to LIon from Snow Leopard... thanks!

Hi there - thanks very much for your suggestion, it did reboot eventually but took a long time to get there.
I've have run Disk Utility. After Verifying the disk it said it needed Repairing - so tried doing that and got the message " Error: Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files" I have got Time Machine but haven't backed-up since Dec 12...Can I use "Restore" to copy the MBP HD to an external HD and then re-install Lion?

How do I boot into recovery mode with wireless keyboard

I am unable to boot into recovery mode using either cmd-R or holding down the alt key. How is it supposed to work?
Message was edited by: Niklas Brunberg (better title)

I understand your concerns - I'm glad both of my machines are dual bootable (just in case) and I have my Snow Leopard install disks..... However, this is what Apple has decided, so we need to find the best way to deal with it. Personally, I've tested the recovery mode several times and, at least on my machine, it was not reliable (i.e. it wouldn't work - I tried it again and it did, but it spent more than an hour downloading the entire 4 GB installer again and then another 30 minutes installing it), and on a third try, I found that it had vanished because I had cloned by drive. When you clone, only your system is cloned, not the extra partition.
So, I've decided to rely on a) my bootable clones and b) a copy of the installer (.dmg) in case my clones fail. I don't feel comfortable relying on something that requires an internet connection and a full download to work. But, that works for me; you may want to take a different approach.

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My mid 2010 Macbook Pro has suddenly decided to not boot up after installing BitDefender and running a scan.
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15 inch mid 2010 Macbook Pro running OS X Mavericks, how dead in the water am I and how much would this cost me to "fix"?

Use the original Snow Leopard installation disk and start the MBP as if you were going to reinstall the OSX. Early in the process you should see a menu bar on the top of the display. Click on UTILITIES and from the dropdown menu select Disk Utility. Run Disk Utility>First Aid, Verify and Repair. If it is not successful, the HDD will have to be replaced.
Ciao.

OS hangs at grey startup screen, won't boot into safe mode

I rebooted my G5 this morning and when it came back up, it hung on the grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning 'gear' progress bar. I tried rebooting several times, but that didn't help. I tried booting from the install DVD (which it did) and ran disk utility (both verify & repair on the start up drive and on permissions. It claims to have found permission errors and fixed them.) I hunted for answers online and tried to boot into safe mode, which did not work.
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Hi Yosarian,
Minor permissions repairs are no concern: The good news is that your data is probably OK.
Three things can be happening: Some of the machines boot settings are corrupted, or the OS files or settings are damaged, or there's a hardware problem.
Resetting the machines power management chip, called a PMU or SMU, depending on your computer, and the PRAM will resolve machine boot settings problems. Run a google search for your model of Mac plus reset pmu OR smu for instructions. After that, reboot your computer and hold Option-Apple-P-R down as you power on. Hold all 4 keys until you hear the startup chime a second time.
You can test your hardware with the grey disk that came with it that ays AHT in little letters. Boot from the CD and run the extended test. Be patient: AHT can take a long time to boot and run.
If you reset your PMU and PRAM and pass a hardware diagnostic but still can't boot normally, in safe mode, or in single-user mode, the problem is system software. Reinstall from your latest installer, checking off Archive and Install and Preserve Users and Settings from the Options screen available at the screen where you choose which disk to install to.
Good luck,
John

Can I ssh to a Mac that's booted into Safe Mode?

I'm needing to ssh to a Mac that's been booted into Safe Mode (I'm already able to ssh to it in normal boot mode, and I know how to boot it into Safe Mode from the command line, i.e. sudo nvram boot-args="-x", then sudo reboot).
I can't just test this for myself, as it has to work first time, otherwise I'll be locked out of the remote Mac. If ssh would still work in Safe Mode, the plan is to then ssh to it and issue the command to set it back to normal boot mode (with sudo nvram boot-args="") and then reboot... job done.
Ideally, but not too important, I could VNC to it in Safe Mode instead, but ssh would do fine.
Does anyone know (for sure!) please?
In case anyone wondered, I'm wanting to do the Safe Boot because I'm told it can cure an issue with Adobe CS apps freaking out and locking up, crashing etc. I want to try this over the w/e, and have no physical access to the Mac. I've already set it to power on later (via pmset) - something I do routinely.
I thought an answer to this would be easy to find, but after Googling I've drawn a blank. Can't find it in any Apple docs either.
Thanks in advance!

If this was already covered somewhere else, I
apologize. I did some browsing for this topic but had
no luck finding anything...
Anyhoo, I'm trying to log in to my wife's B&W G3
(running Jaguar) from my G4 (running 10.4.2) using
secure shell but she doesn't have a password set up
on her computer. When I enter the ssh command in
Terminal, it asks for a password — I don't enter
anything and just hit the Return key. It returns with
a massage saying "Permission denied, please try
again." What can I do to log in w/o setting up her
machine with a password first?
If you want to use SSH securily I would suggest you disable password authenticaiton altogher. If you setup public key authentication it is more secure and better than using passwords anyway.
see how to setup ssh with public keys

Booting into 64bit mode with Mac Pro 2009

I am trying to boot into 64bit mode with a 2009 Mac Pro 2.93 Quad core machine. I tried holding down 6 and 4 when restarting but no luck, it staill says no in the profiler. Any ideas why?

If you'd like your Mac to always start up in 64 bit mode without having to hold down any keys, do this:
Here's the configuration file approach for always booting into 64-bit. This is the best way to make your Mac always start up 64 bit as the only thing necessary is to alter one line of a configuration file. You can do that by opening the Terminal and entering:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot 'Kernel Flags' 'arch=x86_64'
To return to 32 bit mode, you would repeat the command but enter an empty string, which would just be the single quotes (where arch=x86_64 is) with nothing in between.
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot 'Kernel Flags' ''
These commands are all one line, they're just wrapping here.
If at any point you find you need to start up in 32 bit mode for a single use, just as you held down the 6 and 4 keys for 64 bit, you can hold down the 3 and 2 keys for a temporary change. No need to keep changing the config file over and over.

Is booting into update mode possible?

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