Key combos to get it to boot up

Having trouble booting up my old G5. If I'm lucky, I can hold down the 'C' while pushing the power button and it may or may not boot after several tries. Using tiger 10.5 (?) Can't remember the exact version because it isn't booting up anymore. Last time it did there was no keyboard/mouse recognition. Is there any key combo to try other than the 'C'?

Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
We might get clues with verbose mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492

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Various results of using CMD-I key combo for get info

I just updated to Snow Leopard from Leopard and I'm pretty baffled by some new behavior.
I'm used to using the key combo CMD-I to pull up the get info dialog so I can change the default app to open the files with.
Every once in a while, when I select a bunch of files and do CMD-I key combo, it opens up many many individual windows. I can't figure out when or why it does this and how to get the get info window so I can change them all to open with Quicktime.
Other times, it does what I expect. It opens up one get info window for all the items so I can change the open with app.
Can anyone explain what's going on and how to get the usual CMD-I back? Thanks,

Thanks Malcolm.
CMD-Opt-I key combo helps when CMD-I fails, but, I still don't understand what the problem is with CMD-I being inconsistent.
I just did an experiment with some files that I have in iTunes because these are the ones I often need to Get Info to change them to open with Quicktime player.
Example.
Folder 1 has 19 files. CMD-A followed by CMD-I opens up one dialog box "Multiple Item Info". I can change the open with default.
Folder 2 has 4 files. CMD-A followed by CMD-I spawns 4 windows with each files name followed by info, e.g. "Filename1.mp3 Info"
This doesn't make sense.

Can't boot using key combos

Hi folks,
a few months ago, my wife's Macbook (model 5,2, Mid 2009) suffered a minor fall.
a few days after this little fall, a keyboard problem appeared: the left arrow key acts as if I almost always pressed. I activated the keyboard viewer and it's confirmed that.
I've tried to reinstall osX (10.6) and recovered backup from Time Machine. Maybe because of it (or not!), the problem decreased considerably, but reappeared days later. I've phisically removed the key, took a look and all looks normal.
So today, after she almost had a breakdown trying to write an email, I've decided to try to solve the problem again. Tried PRAM reset, Applejack, but it didn't work. Tried Verbose mode, but also didn't work. So I realized that none of the startup key combos are working. There's no Firmware Password activated. Tried using my old Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard (first gen.), didn't work.
I searched and reasearched a lot and find no answer or even a clue. Then I realized something: apparently, the keyboard is not loading until the Apple logo/loading spinning appears. I noticied that by hitting the caps lock key wheen booting, and the light doesn't turn on until that grey screen.
So iIm asking for some help like:
Is there another way to enter Single-User mode or run Applejack?
Why the keyboard is not loading until the grey screen appears? How to solve this?
Any other suggestions or help would be great!
Thanks in advance,
baga

Quote
The BIOS is set to resume using any keyboard key.
That means that "Specific Ley PowerOn" is no activated, or what? The BIOS Section "Wake Up Event Setup" contains the following options:
- Resume From S3 By USB Device
- Resume From S3 By PS/2 Keyboard
- Specific Key PowerOn
- Resume From S3 By PS/2 Mouse
- Resume By PCI Device (PME#)
- Resume By PCI-E Device
- Resume By RTC Alarm
Which one did you enable/disable?

What key do I press so I can get a basic boot, like safe boot in windows?

What key press do I make, booting Lion, to get a basic boot up? Like "safe mode" in windows.

Read Safe Mode .

Can't get ibook to boot from external harddrive when hitting option key

Hello,
After owning a Pismo Powerbook that had it's hardrive replaced --twice--, i'm all about backing my shtuff up for my ibook.
I picked up a Lacie d2 external harddrive today, and used Disk Utility's Restore function to copy everything from the ibook to the drive. I can boot off the Lacie without a problem when I select it as the startup disk from sys preferences.
But I can't get it to boot from the Lacie when I depress the Option key while rebooting or starting.
any suggestions?
ibook g4 933 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Let's be sure you are doing it correctly:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the desired boot drive (you will have to wait about 20 seconds before you can make the selection) then click on the large right arrow button. If this is what you are doing and it does not work, then you may need to re-prep the external drive and re-clone.
1. Boot from your Tiger DVD. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button, then select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
After the above re-clone as follows:
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the startup volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Drag the startup volume to the Source entry field.
5. Select the backup volume from the leftside list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Check the box to Erase Destination. Skip this step if you've already formatted the drive.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Key combo to boot to user login list?

We have a Mac running 10.6 with 3 user accounts. All users are admins.
User1 does not want to have to login when the machine boots, so we've set that user's login option to Automatic. User2 and user 3 are set to require a password for login.
When the machine boots it obviously boots to the user account set to auto-login. If User2 boots the machine, this requires the extra step of having to logout User1 before logging into his account.
Is there a key combo on bootup that will in that specific instance bypass the Automatic login process and instead present the user login selection list?
Thanks.

I'm not aware of any such key combo. Personally, I'd tell User 1 to suck it up and log in normally like everyone else. At a minimum, since having an admin account log in automatically is a significant security risk on any multi-user machine, I would take away the admin privileges from User 1 if he/she insists on inconveniencing all other users of the machine just so he/she doesn't have to be bothered to type a password.

Black Bar on Screen with Text (accidental key combo, can't get rid of it)

In a mad typing dash 2 days ago, I accidentally hit a key combo that placed a black bar in the middle of my screen with the words "Gmail - friday - my email address" (I was in Gmail composing a message at the time). It's visible at all times, using all apps, and on my desktop. I've tried rebooting, quitting all apps, checking my system prefs, looking for answers online, all to no avail. I can't click on it, highlight it or drag it to the trash and I'm at a loss...any suggestions? Many thanks!

Were you able to fix this? I have it too..

I have installed a new HD my G will R/W ok but I cannot get it to boot to this so I can remove old HD which is becoming unreliable intermittedly

I have installed a new HD. my G5 will R/W ok but I cannot get it to boot from this HD so I can remove old HD which is becoming unreliable intermittedly
I have installed system , and tried preferences but new disc does not show.

What Format is it, & how did you put the OS on it? Cloned the other one, or used the Install Disc?
Does it show as a boot choice if you hold the Option/alt key down at power up?

Key combo for Greater Than or Equal To?

Hi all,
The key combination for the Greater Than or Equal To sign is option+>, and for Less Than or Equal To is option+>. When I use these combos I get ligatures, ffl and ffi respectively. I need the mathematical symbols. How do I make the symbols and not the ligatures appear?
Thanks--feeling kinda dumb these days, with the new CS4 and all...
--d

Never mind. If I use the EXPERT set of my font, I get exactly what I need. DOH!

How can i refresh the mail, to see the latest email received from my hotmail account. If i close Mail, the program, and re-open, then I can see the latest mail received. Is there a key combo-short-cut to do this.

how can i refresh the mail, to see the latest email received from my hotmail account. If i close Mail, the program, and re-open, then I can see the latest mail received. Is there a key combo-short-cut to do this.

isaackito wrote:
how can i refresh the mail, to see the latest email received from my hotmail account. If i close Mail, the program, and re-open, then I can see the latest mail received. Is there a key combo-short-cut to do this.
Mailbox menu>Get New Mail:

Text won't stop deleting, delete key appears to get "stuck"

Sorry if this is in the wrong topic, I have never used the support forums for any of the multitude of problems I have had with my Mac, but this one is severe and odd enough that I couldn't even find anyone else discussing it (although I'm sure someone is, but I tried many search key combinations on Google and only found unrelated things), so I decided to at least get it documented.
I have had an issue that has happened at least 3 times I can remember (I am fairly certain it has happened more, closer to 7-8, those are just the times I am 100% confident about), although very spaced apart and infrequent, where my delete/backspace key seems to get "stuck". However, at least one time I can verify that I never even hit the key. Whatever text I currently have open immediately starts deleting at lightspeed, and I can do nothing to stop it. None of the other keys on my keyboard work, and though my mouse works, if I click somewhere else, it starts deleting the text there. When I force it to go to another window where there isn't an open text box, I get the general Mac error sound, and it repeats non-stop, and faster than I've ever heard it. I have to do a hard shut-down, although once it led to a kernal panic. When I have stopped whatever is happening before it panics though, when I restart, I don't receive any kind of error message, nor the message about OS X not having been shut down properly.
Every single time it has happened when I was typing something that couldn't be saved, like a message on a forum, a private message on a site or an IM chat window. Sometimes I lost a half hour's worth of work or more.
The first time it happened, I honestly thought someone had managed to hack into my computer, but another time I was using a physical modem and Airport was turned off, and when I ripped out the cord, it didn't stop.
I have a MacBook Pro from 2007, running the most recent version of Tiger. I haven't had the money to upgrade. All security updates are up-to-date, with one exception: I have not upgraded to the most recent version of iTunes.
Honestly, I currently am having and have been having a bunch of other severe issues with my Mac, so troubleshooting will be quite difficult as it's not at all impossible it's a result of one of my other problems. I also currently am dealing with some health problems that make me unable to try to find the root of the problem, specifically I have a problem with my hand and wrist that makes typing very difficult.
If someone does recognize this issue and already knows why it might be happening, I'd appreciate the help. I'd also appreciate anyone letting me know how I can prevent it OR what to do when it begins and how to stop it. But I probably will be unable to go through a typical troubleshooting rundown.
As I said, I just wanted this documented, and I also would like to know if anyone else has had this problem. I have never experienced an issue like this with any of my past computers, including Macs and PCs. I do know however that the key is NOT physically getting stuck - as in getting lodged down and continuing to be pressed. There is at least 1 time I can verify I never even hit the key (I wasn't typing anything at the time). I am fairly sure the problem is entirely unrelated to the actual delete key itself.
I'll describe the symptoms one more time:
At a random time, with no discernible warning, text contained in whatever text box I have open begins deleting itself. Several paragraphs disappear in a matter of seconds.
Pressing escape or any other key on the keyboard does nothing. If I click to another area in the text, it will immediately begin deleting wherever I have placed the cursor. If I go to another window with text that can be edited, it begins deleting there. It does not delete in more than one place simultaneously.
If I bring another window without any kind of "deletable" text to the front, one of the general Mac error sounds (I'm not sure which one it is) starts happening and repeats without stopping at a rate that could induce a seizure. To stop it all, the only thing I have found can be done is a hard shut-down. Another time it continued to end in a kernal panic. I wish I had the details of the error, but it was so long ago and I have no idea which panic is the right one in the logs.
I have no way of knowing what programs were running at the time, as obviously that's not something I'm able to pay attention to when it happens, and it has happened so randomly and infrequently it's nothing I've been able to document. Since I have to restart to make it stop, I've then lost that info and I have no time to try to write it down or something beforehand.
I have not had any similar issues that I know of (for instance, for the "g" key keeps repeating and won't stop typing "g's") and I've never experienced this on any past computer.
Thanks for anyone who can help!
If you aren't able to offer advice but have had this issue yourself, PLEASE let me know. I can't seem to find anyone who has experienced this particular problem.

"Cleaning the keyboard is the first step in troubleshooting sticky/stuck keys."
Okay, I guess I misunderstood, although I am still confused. You're saying that since the other user did an extensive clean of their keyboard and this did not solve the problem, it is "most likely" a hardware problem, correct? Wouldn't a thorough cleaning without any results show that it's probably not physically related to the keyboard?
"The "delete" key may be defective or the cover you are using somehow is making the key stick. If you have ruled out the latter and everything else, your only other alternative is to take the MBP to your local Apple Store or AASP. The staff will check out your keyboard (free) to confirm if you are having a hardware problem. If you have AppleCare or ProCare, the repairs will be free. If not.................."
Well, I had just said in my most recent post that it has now happened with other keys, and in my initial post that it happened at times when my hands were nowhere near the keyboard. It is not a defective delete key and the cover is not making the keys stick - it doesn't adhere to them and does not have any sticky substance on it of any kind. I am an experienced computer user, and I know my computer very well. While I am not a psychic that can always know what is causing a problem, I am able to discern with much accuracy what is NOT causing it.
Also, I have significant health issues so getting to an Apple store would be a huge challenge for me. And although I have AppleCare any repairs won't be free. Due to some small physical damage my laptop obtained a few years ago, I have been completely refused almost all service that I paid over $300 for, even though the damage is completely superficial. After fighting this, I was told they WOULD repair my computer, however, they would also repair the physical damage despite my insisting NOT to; I had no choice in the matter and the cost would be a minimum of $1,500 (I also would not be informed the exact price until after and my credit card would be charged without my knowledge - I had to give them my credit card number and sign away their right to make any charges and when I requested being contacted before they charged me for the repairs I didn't want done, I was told they did not do that). My family is struggling to pay for my $5 medications.
When my logic board died (that same issue that affected thousands of computer users), I had to print out Apple's report from their site, which stated that they would replace and repair them free of charge to ANY Mac owner with a computer that met certain qualifications (which mine did). When it happened, completely out of nowhere, I knew immediately that was the problem, yet still had to go through the insulting and idiotic "Is your computer plugged in?" list of things and a customer WITH AppleCare was being refused a service they'd offered to people WITHOUT AppleCare, for a known manufacturing defect that has occurred widely in nearly every brand of computer made.

IMac mid 2007, 2.4 Ghz, 800 MHz... Grey screen only, running OS 10.5.8. Tried reinstalling, restoring, and resetting but to no avail. Possible to install OS 10.6 and get it to boot?

Try to boot and only getGrey screen, sometimes with the globe f
Asking, sometimes not.
I am running OS 10.5.8. Tried reinstalling, restoring, and resetting both with installation disc and without, but to no avail.
I recently upgraded from 1GB memory to 4 GB. It ran great for a couple of weeks, when I eventually powered it off, it would not come back. With installation disc, I did get to the utilities and tried repair and even reinstall original OS (several updates down from 10.5.8). At one point, I was able to restore a previous session, but it only lasted for about 3 days until I powered it off again, then back to square 1. I have verified the Macintosh HD disc and repaired it, I have reset everything I can find that might need resetting... Still nothing.
SO, is it toast, or is it possible to install OS 10.6 and get it to boot?

Erase the drive then install OS X:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
If this doesn't work then the drive is probably bad or some of the new RAM you installed is marginally defective.

I use an Apple bluetooth keyboard with my iPad. In messages I can't find a way to "send" a message without tapping on Send on the iPad's screen. I've tried every key and key combo that I can think of. Am I missing something?

I use an Apple bluetooth keyboard with my iPad. In messages I can't find a way to "send" a message without tapping on Send on the iPad's screen. I've tried every key and key combo that I can think of. Am I missing something?

I already have multiple devices and by far I like my iPad the most over laptops and the iPad. That including checking out my friends MacBook Air.
The difference for me is the touch interface on the screen itself for things that do not require a lot of typing. For me, the iPad is more "magical" than anything else I've used.
Again, I do appreciate your answers but you don't know my situation. Not everything is as it is perceived without knowing me and what I have to go through.

Last week I've install Mac OS X Mountain Lion and then after the installation finish my IMAC start up in verbose mode. How can I turn off this mode and start my IMAC normally. I've try to key in the code "sudo nvram boot-args=" in terminal also.

Last week I've install Mac OS X Mountain Lion and then after the installation finish my IMAC start up in verbose mode. How can I turn off this mode and start my IMAC normally. I've try to key in the code "sudo nvram boot-args=" in terminal also.
Thank you for all of your answer.

I've seen it mentioned on here that a PRAM reset may solve it:
Reset PRAM
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P and R.
You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

Cannot get rEFInd to boot new Linux install

I am trying to setup a fresh install of Arch on a new SSD on my 2007 MacBook 2.1. This particular MacBook has a 32 bit EFI system, but everything else is 64 bit. The wiki article has some information for installing on this particular MacBook, but the instructions aren't super thorough.
This MacBook is already running Arch on an old HDD and is booting with grub. I remember that setting this up originally was a huge pain and I ended up installing arch onto the drive through another laptop (a Dell) with similar architecture and transferring the drive over once done. Unfortunately, I no longer have access to this other machine.
In order to get started with installing to the new drive, I decided to use the arch-install-scripts from within my working installation to install Arch to the SSD connected through a SATA-USB adapter. The installation of Arch went fine and I can chroot to it no problem.
Installing the bootloader has been the hard part. I have managed to get the computer to load rEFInd off the SSD if I set it up just right (installed as EFI/BOOT/bootia32.efi), and rEFInd can even detect and boot my old grub install from the HDD (as long as the HDD is internal and the SSD is attached over USB). Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me get rEFInd to boot into the new Arch install on the SSD. I have tried placing the vmlinuz and init images in various locations to help with auto detection, and I have tried various combinations of manual configuration in refind.conf, but nothing seems to get me anywhere. The manual configurations just get me "Error: Not Found While Loading vmllinuz-linux" and the auto configuration only ever finds my old install.
I'm happy to post any configuration files here that are useful, but I'm not sure what people would want to see.
The SSD is setup as gpt with a fat32 ESP set to mount to /boot/efi, an ext4 partition set to mount to /, and a swap partition at the end.

So, refind basically works/is started by the mb's firmware?
Please post your refind.conf (without all the comments, no manual stanzas!)
Also, to simplify things, I'm now assuming the ssd is the only internal drive installed, your old install/hdd is disconneted.
Use the arch-install cd , refind should detect it and allow you to boot, once the installer-system is up and running, please provide ouptut from lsblk.
Also, mount both partitons , and show what files are where ls -l YOURROOTPART/boot and ls -l YOURESPPART/ just to get a better overview.

Key combos to get it to boot up

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