Leopard spotlight problem

ok ever since i upgraded my macbook (bought it last may) to leopard when i turn on my macbook spotlight indexes my hard drive for about 3 minutes then stops and it does this every time i turn it on how do i fix this

Mine does the exact same thing - I've read some other advice that indicates it might be related to Boot Camp volumes. If you "hide" them from Spotlight, the problem might desist. Mine, on the other hand, did not - and occasionally, Spotlight loses half of its index and I have to rebuild it. So far, this has been an entirely disappointing upgrade. One computer got hosed (a mac mini) and one was left with a crippled Spotlight.

Similar Messages

Spotlight problem after Tiger to Leopard Upgrade

Since I upgraded my Macbook Pro 15" from Tiger to Leopard, Spotlight never worked. Initially I didn't mind too much but now I want to get it work.
I tried all suggestions I found in this forum (see list below) to no avail.
It seems Mac OS cannot index the system disk.
Any Terminal command like mdutil or mdimport have no effect and return no info. As a check, I ran the same utilities on my iMac (same Leopard version, but native) and they do in fact work as expected, as well as Spotlight. Another example: mdfind works on my iMac but return nothing on my MBP.
If I try the regular way, when I write my search string in the Spotlight window I just get nothing on my MBP.
I tried the OnyX features for Spotlight:
- Maintenance/Rebuild/Spotlight Index seems to do something, but in fact it does nothing useful
- Parameters/Spotlight/Options: Enable Indexing the Startup-Disk makes an attempt to enable it and switches immediately back to disabled. No way to keep the option checked. Also removed the Font cache from OnyX as suggested in some post - null.
Some attempts I made:
- used Disk Utility to check the disk (no repair needed)
- used Disk Utility to repair permissions: there are many that are always repaired... this makes me feel the problem might in fact be in the permission area. But after many repair the result is always null.
- added the start-up disk to the Privacy area in Spotlight Prefs, and later on removed - null
- trashed com.apple.spotlight.plist pref user prefs - a new one was created but no effect
- removed /.Spotlight-V100 from terminal - a new one was created but no effect
- used mdutil -E and -i on and off - I always get the message "/: Indexing and searching disabled"
- mdimport -L or -A or -X return nothing (on my iMac they return the list of plugins, schema etc.)
- rebooted many times also in safe mode - null
- the problem exists also for the other user on the same MBP
- tried OnyX as described above.
No effect!!
Now my question is: what can I try next ?
I'm sure there is some parameter somewhere (some .plist ?) that can re-enable Spotlight. But which one and where ?
Thanks in advance
Piero

Take a look at Spotless
http://www.fixamac.net/software/spot2/index.php
It deals mainly with Spotlight indexes, but it also contains some diagnostics - its description includes the following:
Spotless will automatically find and delete the "mds-crash-state" file from selected volumes. The file may be created if the Metadata Server crashed or was unexpectedly closed during the indexing process. The presence of this file can prevent Spotlight from indexing the volume in the future.
Spotless allows you to see exact size of the index directory on each volume.
Spotless also includes an on/off switch for Spotlight.
------------------

JAN 4, 2012 As of the Upgrade to   Lion,. and the Email portion, ..   DOES NOT allow a Video Clip to be sent via the Email as the I-Photo is not supported by Video Clips ( Previous Leopard No problem clip and drag via Quick Time Pro to the email

JAN 4, 2012
As of the Upgrade to   Lion,.   2007 I-Mac -   the Email portion, ..   DOES NOT    allow a Video Clips to be sent via the Email
as the I-Photo is not supported by Video Clips ( Previous Leopard )
No problem clip and drag via Quick Time Pro to the email and select the Attchment size to send. . Depending on the
Size of the Video Clip ..      Now Lion only Export's   1 size, .   only and as a result . . teh File is TOO Large and
Will NOT send via E-Mail    ???
Between the   Issue of   the   Lion, and Email issues ,   and the   Upgrade of   I-Touch to 5.1 from 4.2.1
as my Photo Size is Huge ..    70,000 + photos in the Computer. .   and was   40,000 in the   I - Touch .. .
The New I-Touch too will not Load the same as Previously used on either my 16 GB   or 32 GB   Unit . .
          No Help . ..   so far, .. as a Apple user   since   1996 ..    I have Never experieanced such frustration    ???
               ( any one have some help if similar experiances    ?     thank you     )

JAN 4, 2012
As of the Upgrade to   Lion,.   2007 I-Mac -   the Email portion, ..   DOES NOT    allow a Video Clips to be sent via the Email
as the I-Photo is not supported by Video Clips ( Previous Leopard )
No problem clip and drag via Quick Time Pro to the email and select the Attchment size to send. . Depending on the
Size of the Video Clip ..      Now Lion only Export's   1 size, .   only and as a result . . teh File is TOO Large and
Will NOT send via E-Mail    ???
Between the   Issue of   the   Lion, and Email issues ,   and the   Upgrade of   I-Touch to 5.1 from 4.2.1
as my Photo Size is Huge ..    70,000 + photos in the Computer. .   and was   40,000 in the   I - Touch .. .
The New I-Touch too will not Load the same as Previously used on either my 16 GB   or 32 GB   Unit . .
          No Help . ..   so far, .. as a Apple user   since   1996 ..    I have Never experieanced such frustration    ???
               ( any one have some help if similar experiances    ?     thank you     )

Troubleshooting Leopard printing problems

Leopard printing problems fall into several categories
a) Faulty or missing Leopard print driver
b) Faulty implementation of the print command from the active application
c) Faulty equipment, eg printer, cables, etc
d) Faulty networking/sharing
e) Faulty or incomplete software installation
The fact that a driver is included with Leopard is no guarantee that it will work. I have heard it from HP's tech staff that several of their drivers installed with Leopard are malfunctioning and I expect that many other printer manufacturers rushed out some poorly tested drivers in order to meet Leopard's shipping deadline.
Equally, some non-Apple applications have not yet properly tested their print command under Leopard so they cannot be used to reliably test whether a print driver is working or not. To get a more reliable indicator, save a print job as a PDF and then open the PDF in Preview and print it from there - or print a simple text page from TextEdit.
Also be sure to check cable connections carefully and if possible, try a different cable to make sure that this isn't the cause of printing problems.
Networking/sharing is fraught with pitfalls especially if the network is wireless. If possible, check printer sharing over a wired Ethernet network. There may also be issues when the print driver is not the same version on all computers in the network. To ensure that there are no remnants of a previous driver it's a good idea to completely uninstall previous drivers and then reinstall the most recent driver. To do this (for example on a 10.4 system):
1. Delete the printer by opening Printer Setup Utility, highlighting the printer if it is listed and clicking on the Delete button.
2. Clear the printer folder by navigating to Hard Drive/Library/Printers and dragging the offending printer-specific folder to the Trash.
3. Clear the Printer Preferences by searching in the System for "com.apple.print" and dragging all files so named to the Trash.
4. Empty the Trash
5. Repair Disk Permissions
6. Download the latest drivers for your printer and install.
7. Open Printer Setup Utility and if the printer is listed, highlight it and press the Delete button at the top of the window. Then click the Add icon, single-click the name of the printer and click Add so that the printer appears in the printer list.
8. To check that it works, create a test page in TextEdit, configure the print job in the Print window and print.
Simon

When you post unmark as a question in the header. If you missed your opportunity, just hit solved.

I have a mac os x snow leopard. my problem is that when i go to the ethernet settings it shows 'not connected'. i called the internet person even he couldn't fix it PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a mac os x snow leopard. my problem is that when i go to the ethernet settings it shows 'not connected'. i called the internet person even he couldn't fix it PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

System Preferences > Network > Ethernet? If that shows "not connected" that is all your Mac knows. As far as it is concerned there is no cable connected to the port on your Mac, or the other end of the cable is either disconnected or connected to something that is broken.
Try another cable. If the cable is broken you will also get that status message. If you have exhausted all of these possibilities, the only remaining cause is an inoperative port on your Mac.

Leopard Spotlight Finder window... still problematic

I am amazed that there has been no improvement to the Leopard Spotlight window. It still doesn't remember the size or format... It always opens up as a small finder window, no matter the number of items it contains. For me, this is still the best reason to go back to Tiger. I find Spotlight almost unusable this way. I felt certain this would have been addressed in the Leopard update.
David

Report such things here. Complaining about bugs or desired enhancements on the forums is a waste of time unless all you want is sympathy.

Leopard spotlight finds always the same false positives

leopard spotlight finds always the same false positives, with any keyword. How fix this if I don't want to exclude the folders from search?

never mind-the files/folders were dated Jan 1, 1970. saved them new and erased the old ones.
Message was edited by: schmunzelmonster

I have macbook 5,2 mac osx 10.5 leopard, my problem is every 60 sec. there is pop up on desktop ,restart, sleep, cancel, and shut down and desktop dim also like sleep mood or hibernate mood, i try already to adjust the screen saver to longer minute but

i have macbook 5,2 mac osx 10.5 leopard, my problem is every 60 sec. a pop up on desktop restart, sleep, cancel, and shut down and the desktop dim also i already adjust the sleep time to longer time but nothing happen, and every time i shut down my laptop he go restart again i canot of my laptop, i shut down and before he restart again i push the power botton the laptop is off and if i start my laptop not start 2 to 5 time i remove the battery again fix then laptop start. any body can help me about this problem may only the setting but i dont have idea..... please help thanks

i think i find solution.
after instal baytrail driver, without restart i instal gpu driver direct from intel
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/search?keyword=Intel%C2%AE+HD+Graphics+for+Intel%C2%AE+Atom%E2%84%A...
work fine for now...

I use Firefox 16.0.2 on Leopard. Problem: after using succesfully an url on a site, original site(with url) has disappeared.

I use Firefox 16.0.2 on Apple Leopard. Problem: when I use an url on a site, I am correctly transfered to the site of the url. But I can't go back again to the original site, on which the url was mentioned. the site has disappeared. Thanks in advance for your help!

You can also open the links in a new tab with a middle click on the link.<br />
That way you do not need to use the Back button, but can simply close a tab or otherwise return to the previous tab.<br />
Also make sure that you have the cache enabled and that the cache is working.<br />
Check the current cache usage on the about:cache page.
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Creating a profile":
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

Spotlight problem in Lion (Tags gone AWOL!)

My friend, Pierre Bernard of Houdah Software, figured out what was going on. I'm curious if anyone else has yet encountered this problem.
I noticed the problem with sound files - you search for a specific piece of information (a tag) and it just can't find it. I noticed this both in Spotlight itself, and in Houdah Spot, which is a very advanced front end for Spotlight.
According to Pierre:
The problem is that the CoreMedia.importer does not forward this information to Spotlight.
Whenever you modify a file on the system, Spotlight searches for an importer plug-in to process the file. The role of the importer is to process the file into a list of metadata attributes and values. Those are stored by Spotlight and thus searchable.
The Lion version of CoreMedia.importer provides only basic information: just file attributes and a bogus audio bit rate.
The older version of CoreMedia.importer provided title, album, track number, author, composer, …
Pierre submitted this information to Apple
Here are his more specialized technical reports:
Attached below is the output for:
mdimport -d4 "/Volumes/Media/iTunes Music/Compilations/Jagged Little Pill/12 Wake Up.m4a"
CoreMedia.mdimporter reports a audio bit rate of 128 bit/s. The correct value would be 128kbits/s
Thus CoreMedia.mdimporter should return a value of 128000.
Conversely /System/Library/Spotlight/Audio.mdimporter reports correct values for MP3 files it imports.
Thus the Spotlight database has kbit/s values for M4A files, but bit/s value for MP3 files.
(Debug) Import: Attributes for file /Users/pierre/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Music/Compilations/Jagged Little Pill/12 Wake Up.m4a: {
   "_kMDItemFinderLabel" = 0;
   "com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 259498596;
   kMDItemAudioBitRate = 128;
   kMDItemAudioChannelCount = 2;
   kMDItemCodecs =     (
       AAC
   kMDItemContentCreationDate = "2004-06-09 18:33:12 +0000";
   kMDItemContentModificationDate = "2009-03-23 10:56:36 +0000";
   kMDItemContentType = "com.apple.m4a-audio";
   kMDItemContentTypeTree =     (
       "com.apple.m4a-audio",
       "public.mpeg-4-audio",
       "public.audio",
       "public.audiovisual-content",
       "public.data",
       "public.item",
       "public.content"
   kMDItemDisplayName =     {
       "" = "12 Wake Up.m4a";
   kMDItemDurationSeconds = "293.4766666666667";
   kMDItemKind =     {
       "" = "Audio-MPEG4";
       da = "MPEG-4-lyd";
       de = "MPEG-4-Audio";
       en = "MPEG-4 Audio";
       es = "Audio MPEG-4";
       fi = "MPEG-4-\U00e4\U00e4ni";
       fr = "Audio MPEG-4";
       it = "Audio MPEG-4";
       ja = "MPEG-4 \U30aa\U30fc\U30c7\U30a3\U30aa";
       ko = "MPEG-4 \Uc624\Ub514\Uc624";
       nb = "MPEG-4-lyd";
       nl = "MPEG-4-audio";
       pl = "audio MPEG-4";
       pt = "\U00c1udio MPEG-4";
       "pt-PT" = "\U00c1udio MPEG-4";
       ru = "\U0410\U0443\U0434\U0438\U043e MPEG-4";
       sv = "MPEG-4-ljud";
       "zh-Hans" = "MPEG-4 \U97f3\U9891";
       "zh-Hant" = "MPEG-4 \U97f3\U8a0a";
   kMDItemLogicalSize = 4909487;
   kMDItemMediaTypes =     (
       Sound
   kMDItemPhysicalSize = 4911104;
   kMDItemStreamable = 0;
   kMDItemTotalBitRate = 128;
The CoreMedia.mdimporter version 705.35 installed with Mac OS X Lion extracts much less metadata from AAC files than version 484.52 on Snow Leopard did.
Attached below is the output of
mdimport -d4 "/Volumes/Media/iTunes Music/Compilations/Jagged Little Pill/12 Wake Up.m4a"
First from Snow Leopard. The from Lion. Output on Lion lacks:
kMDItemAlbum
kMDItemAudioEncodingApplication
kMDItemAudioTrackNumber
kMDItemAuthors
kMDItemComposer
kMDItemMusicalGenre
kMDItemRecordingYear
kMDItemStreamable
kMDItemTempo
kMDItemTitle
Thus AAC music titles, including those purchased from the iTunes store, can no longer be found with Spotlight searching for author, composer, genre, …
Attributes for file /Volumes/Media/iTunes Music/Compilations/Jagged Little Pill/12 Wake Up.m4a: {
   ":MD:kMDItemSeedLastUsedDate" = 1;
   "_kMDItemFinderLabel" = "<null>";
   "com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 284396150;
   kMDItemAlbum = "Jagged Little Pill";
   kMDItemAudioBitRate = 128;
   kMDItemAudioChannelCount = 2;
   kMDItemAudioEncodingApplication = "iTunes v4.5, QuickTime 6.5.1";
   kMDItemAudioTrackNumber = 12;
   kMDItemAuthors =     (
       "Alanis Morissette"
   kMDItemCodecs =     (
       AAC
   kMDItemComposer = "Alanis Morissette & Glen Ballard";
   kMDItemContentCreationDate = "2010-01-05 15:55:49 +0100";
   kMDItemContentModificationDate = "2010-01-05 15:55:50 +0100";
   kMDItemContentType = "public.mpeg-4-audio";
   kMDItemContentTypeTree =     (
       "public.mpeg-4-audio",
       "public.audio",
       "public.audiovisual-content",
       "public.data",
       "public.item",
       "public.content"
   kMDItemDisplayName =     {
       "" = "12 Wake Up.m4a";
   kMDItemDurationSeconds = "293.4766666666667";
   kMDItemKind =     {
       "" = "MPEG-4 audio";
       da = "MPEG-4-lyd";
       de = "MPEG-4-Audio";
       en = "MPEG-4 audio";
       es = "Audio MPEG-4";
       fi = "MPEG-4-\U00e4\U00e4ni";
       fr = "audio MPEG-4";
       it = "Audio MPEG-4";
       ja = "MPEG-4 \U30aa\U30fc\U30c7\U30a3\U30aa";
       ko = "MPEG-4 \Uc624\Ub514\Uc624";
       nb = "MPEG-4-lyd";
       nl = "MPEG-4-audio";
       pl = "audio MPEG-4";
       pt = "\U00c1udio MPEG-4";
       "pt-PT" = "\U00c1udio MPEG-4";
       ru = "\U0410\U0443\U0434\U0438\U043e MPEG-4";
       sv = "MPEG-4-ljud";
       "zh-Hans" = "MPEG-4 \U97f3\U9891";
       "zh-Hant" = "MPEG-4 \U97f3\U8a0a\U6a94";
   kMDItemMediaTypes =     (
       Sound
   kMDItemMusicalGenre = "Adult Alternative Rock";
   kMDItemRecordingYear = 1995;
   kMDItemStreamable = 0;
   kMDItemTempo = 0;
   kMDItemTitle = "Wake Up";
   kMDItemTotalBitRate = 128;
Attributes: {
   "_kMDItemFinderLabel" = 0;
   "_kMDItemStaticInterestScore" = "1.111111";
   "com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 259498596;
   kMDItemAudioBitRate = 128;
   kMDItemAudioChannelCount = 2;
   kMDItemCodecs =     (
       AAC
   kMDItemContentCreationDate = "2004-06-09 18:33:12 +0000";
   kMDItemContentModificationDate = "2009-03-23 10:56:36 +0000";
   kMDItemContentType = "com.apple.m4a-audio";
   kMDItemContentTypeTree =     (
       "com.apple.m4a-audio",
       "public.mpeg-4-audio",
       "public.audio",
       "public.audiovisual-content",
       "public.data",
       "public.item",
       "public.content"
   kMDItemDisplayName =     {
       "" = "12 Wake Up.m4a";
   kMDItemDurationSeconds = "293.4766666666667";
   kMDItemKind =     {
       "" = "Audio-MPEG4";
       da = "MPEG-4-lyd";
       de = "MPEG-4-Audio";
       en = "MPEG-4 Audio";
       es = "Audio MPEG-4";
       fi = "MPEG-4-\U00e4\U00e4ni";
       fr = "Audio MPEG-4";
       it = "Audio MPEG-4";
       ja = "MPEG-4 \U30aa\U30fc\U30c7\U30a3\U30aa";
       ko = "MPEG-4 \Uc624\Ub514\Uc624";
       nb = "MPEG-4-lyd";
       nl = "MPEG-4-audio";
       pl = "audio MPEG-4";
       pt = "\U00c1udio MPEG-4";
       "pt-PT" = "\U00c1udio MPEG-4";
       ru = "\U0410\U0443\U0434\U0438\U043e MPEG-4";
       sv = "MPEG-4-ljud";
       "zh-Hans" = "MPEG-4 \U97f3\U9891";
       "zh-Hant" = "MPEG-4 \U97f3\U8a0a";
   kMDItemLogicalSize = 4909487;
   kMDItemMediaTypes =     (
       Sound
   kMDItemPhysicalSize = 4911104;
   kMDItemStreamable = 0;
   kMDItemTotalBitRate = 128;

Just FYI, I tried this and CoreMedia.mdimporter is still snagging my files.
However, if you do something like:
$ mdimport -g $to_the_snowleopard/Audio.mdimporter $files_to_index
This should work, at least until the system decides to reindex with the default. However, neither appear to be importing M4a files and when I run this command with either the Snow Leopard Audio.mdimporter or CoreMedia.mdimporter I get:
"2011-10-01 11:03:14.235 mdimport[1386:707] Imported '/Volumes/Work/Sound Library/Sound Ideas/SI9000 M4A/SI9012/901299 Swinging Wood Door 6.m4a' of type 'com.apple.m4a-audio' with no plugIn"
Ugh: "no plugin."   When I don't use -g and let the machine use it druthers to decide which importer to use, it uses the /System/Library/Spotlight/ one. If I remove the CoreMedia importer from /System/Library and leave the Audio and CoreMedia importer in /Library/Spotlight, it imports m4as with no plugin. If I COPY the old Snow Leopard CoreMedia importer into /System/Library/Spotlight, it imports m4as with no plugin. Something keeps the system from using the old importer, you suppose the new one is signed and the old one is just untrusted?
I for one use the kMDItemComment and kMDItemDescription extensively for a sound effects library and not having them in my Apple Lossless M4a files really screws me up.

Macbook slow to boot, slow to work - Spotlight Problem? (External HD)

Hi everyone,
I have a Macbook from 2008 (The first aluminum model I believe, before they got rebranded as Pro). Recently I wanted to backup my pictures from iPhoto and I had an external HD formatted as exFAT. The moment I plugged my external HD in, my macbook started lagging real badly with the color wheel not going away. So I just held the power button until it restarted.
When it rebooted, it was first of all EXTREMELY slow to boot, and then once I logged in to my admin account, I could barely do anything. I tried my one other account on the computer and it was the same story. I noticed that Spotlight was not working, and when I clicked it ( and after 5 minutes it finally popped up), it said indexing, and it would never stop. I restarted a few times and it never stops indexing. From what I gather in Google searches, my macbook tried to index the hard drive when it was plugged in and somehow got stuck in this loop.
I read a few sites on how to disable spotlight completely, but the problem is that the computer is way too slow and unresponsive to do anything of the sort. Terminal can be opened but the commands won't execute. I tried holding shift to start the Mac in safe mode, but the bar moves half an inch and then I just get the little lines around the circle going forever with no bar progress.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. I cannot afford to lose these photos, that is my number one concern. There are MANY documents that I need on the HD too, but the pictures are more important. Please give me some advice, while keeping in mind that my data is my primary concern, a reformat is out of the question.
Thanks kindly,
Z
PS: Not sure what Mac version I am, but I was updated to Snow Leopard and I always let the auto-updater do its thing. Don't even bother asking for activity monitor, way too laggy to open that (I tried, it opens but you can't click anything).

Here's a terminal command: sudo mdutil -i on /
This works well =) This will help spotlight
http://osxdaily.com/2007/02/15/spotlight-wont-work-fix-a-broken-spotlight-menu-w ith-these-troubleshooting-tips/

Random Beach-balling, Spotlight Problems and KPing

Hi. K. So. My MacBook Pro seems to be encountering some problems. I've had two seemingly random Kernel Panics in the last week or so. One was while I was attempting to restart (I had clicked the "Yes I do want to restart" thing, it hung, then KP) and then one yesterday seemingly completely random. I was using a few programs, but nothing too strenuous.
Now today I've gotten some fairly large hang ups. Firefox would beachball just loading a new web page (and since I'm on another computer next to this with little to no problems on the same net connection, it seems to be unrelated). For a while every program would hang up, to the point that I couldn't even open the Force Quit menu in the Finder.
Spotlight also seems to be causing some problems. The past couple times I've tried to open it's hanged like crazy, to the point that I have to restart since I can't seem to force it to quit or anything of the sort.
From what I've seen here it sounds like it would be the result of bad RAM, but I've had it as is for about 2 months now. There were no peripherals attached at any of these times, and I'm rarely running anything more exotic than Quicksilver, Firefox, MSN and xTorrent. If anyone wanted to walk me through how to access the panic.log that'd be great, maybe see if I can isolate things. I suspect if this keeps going I'm gonna have to take it in. I'm just avoiding Spotlight for now and backing up like mad. I thankfully have an "old" iMac G5 as backup. Still...I'm gonna be more than a little lost without my MBP. Any help/advice would be appreciated, or even just a sense of what I'm dealing with here and how long I can expect this to be out of commission.

Tom,
Just out of curiosity, if this is a C2D did you recently purchase and install the Pre 'N' Enabler patch? If yu didn't and your MBP isn't a C2D then using something like Onyx and cleaning upi the system as well as repairing disk permissions is the first thing I'd start with.
HTH,
Peter

Leopard Installation Problem on PPC G5

Hi there....any help on this one appreciated.
I have a Dual 2Gig PPC G5 with 4.5 gigs RAM that was running (and still is) running 10.4.11 fine. Attempting to upgrade to Leopard from a proper retail Leopard install.
Symptom: Either booting with c key down or running the upgrade from the OS results in a message saying "the installation could not be completed - if it continues to occur, the boot log may help you to diagnose the problem" - there are buttons to save and print the boot log and to shut down and restart...BUT the computer shuts itself down before I have a chance to act on any of this. Behind it I see an open boot log with a bunch of the word "crash" on it!!!!!
Things I have tried:
Resetting PRAM
Removed third party PCIe cards
Removed third party RAM
I've repaired permissions on the startup disk
I am fully backed up
I've tried it from a different user account.
I've disabled login items
What more can I do aside from a complete clean install of 10.4 which may help? Trouble is I dont want to do that as it would take a day to get all my third party stuff re-installed.
Any thoughts and help much appreciated
cheers
Tony

Thanks MacJack,
but...I didnt attempt this before as I dont think it works...
from that doc you linked to:
"Tip: FireWire Target Disk Mode works on internal ATA drives only. Target Disk Mode only connects to the master ATA drive on the Ultra ATA bus. It will not connect to Slave ATA, ATAPI or SCSI drives."
So, as far as I understand it, if I booted up my macbook pro, say, with the Leopard install disk in it in Target Disk Mode - the g5 would only see the Macbook Pro's internal ATA as opposed to both that and the DVD or am I missing something? Sorry, not at that machine at the moment so I can't try it!
Tony

Time Machine and Snow Leopard installation problem

I'm trying to install Snow Leopard, but keep getting an error saying that my hard drive is used for time machin back ups. I have unplugged my external device, turned off time machine, yet this keeps happening. What am I doing wrong? I have been able to install Leopard on the computers that I haven't used time machine.

BusyChris18 wrote:
1) Do I have to do anything special with Time Machine BEFORE I install SL? I have been doing regular backups with TM.
Do a "final" backup and turn TM off.
2) should Time machine disc be off/disconnected when I do the install?
It's safest to eject and disconnect it, "just in case."
3) After I reconnect TM disc after SL install, do I have to "migrate" stuff from TM? OR will it just do a new backup and work like normal from that point forward.
If you do the normal install, there's no migration needed. 99.9 % of everything will be fine. In some rare cases of 3rd-party apps putting things in unusual places, there may be a problem, and you may need to re-enter some 3rd-party app purchase codes.
If you erase the drive, then install SL, then yes, of course, you'll have to transfer your data. There should be no reason to do that, but some folks seem to do it out of habit. If you do that, when your Mac boots up again, you can transfer your data from the TM backups. And if you do that, I'd strongly recommend making a separate full backup on a second external drive, again "just in case," preferably a "bootable clone." CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper are the most common. (There was a post here just last week where someone did this, the restore got to 99%, then BAM! the TM disk failed.)
TM backups should just continue normally, although there will almost certainly be a long "Calculating Changes" phase (used to be called "Preparing"). And they've added a progress bar, which doesn't seem to be particularly accurate.
However, it may try a new, full backup. If it does, cancel the backup and do a Restart. That may reset whatever confused it. If not, there's nothing you can do to prevent it.
4) Will I be able to access files that were backuped when I have just Leopard?
Yes.

With conversion to Leopard, file problems with networked Windows computer

Last night I did an Archive & Install from Tiger to Leopard on my Intel MacBook Pro. Today, I had trouble finding the other computers at my office. Once I finally got them to show up, I opened a Word file found on another computer, made some changes, and when I tried to save it, I got this message: "This is not a valid file name. Try one or more of the following: *Check the path to make sure it was typed correctly. *Select a file from the list of files and folders." Since this file already existed and I wasn't changing the name, I thought this was odd, but I changed the name from "Seating Chart 3-8-08" to "SeatingChart3-8-08" in case Leopard didn't like spaces when talking to Windows, but I got the same error message. Finally I gave up, not knowing what to do, then discovered that it had in fact saved my file. Still, every time I try to save ANY Word document from the shared folder of the Windows computer, I get the same error message endlessly until I choose "Don't Save."
When I try to open an Excel file from that computer, it won't even open; it says " 'File Name.xls' cannot be accessed. This file may be Read-Only, or you may be trying to access a Read-Only location. Or, the server the document is stored on may not be responding." As with the Word file problem above, I did not have any problem accessing the files until I converted to Leopard.
The Windows machine is Windows XP using Microsoft Office 2003; I have Microsoft Office 2004 on my machine.

See if this Link, by Pondini, offers any insight to your issue...
Transfer from Old to New
http://pondini.org/OSX/Setup.html
Also, See here if you haven't already...
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/ Switching from PC

Leopard spotlight problem

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