"Open Firmware" screen appeared on startup

Has anyone experienced this? I turned on my G5 (recently upgraded to Leopard) and instead of going straight to the login screen, the Open Firmware screen appeared. I know it can be forced to appear, but it just appeared on its own. Could this be a sign of failing circuitry? Thanks for your help.

Hi-
Not failing circuitry. A weak PRAM battery, yes, or simply the NVRAM/PRAM needs reset.
"To continue booting, type 'mac-boot' and press return" Message

Similar Messages

Need urgent help on Sawtooth stucked at Open Firmware screen

Hello.
I've got a G4 Graphite Sawtooth Powermac running a Newertech MaxPower 2.0MHZ processor upgrade for about 3 years. It is running Leopard (10.5.8) system.
I've also installed a Seritek 1S2 card with a 500GB Sata disk.
Some days ago I've started to notice that sometimes when I did Log Off or Shut down the Mac cleaned all the desktop icons but then nothing happens.
Also, it started to freeze sometimes doing some tasks like open apps or working on Photoshop.
Today the Mac refused to boot on the main system disk (I have a secondary 80GB disk with Tigger installed on it).
Then I ran TechTool Pro Disck scan and it gave me an error on scanning the main disk.
I've booted into the Tiger disk (a 80GB one) and think to myself if this could be something to do with the Seriteck card or driver, or something related to it...
I've loaded the Seritek install CD and click the install firmware of the Seriteck disk, then I've booted and... it stucked on Open Firmware forever.
It is on the welcome screen of the open firmware and I can't do anything.
It says" To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return", but I can't type anything because it looks freezed. My keyboard don't respond.
I've tryed the firmware boot (that one with the long beep pressing the programmer button) at no avail.
I'm desesperate. I'm a freelancer and I've goot importante work to deliver to clients and I can't get my Mac to to boot into the system.
At this point I just want to boot normally into Tiger, Leopard, whatever.
I just need to boot and recover my works.
See screenshot of Open Firmware screen here:
http://img19.imageshack.us/i/dscn3061q.jpg/
Can someone please help?
Thank you for your time,
Macjaime

I ran TechTool Pro Disk scan and it gave me an error on scanning the main disk.
If you did a "Surface Scan", and not a "Volume Structures Repair", it is telling you there is a Bad Block on the Hard Drive.
There are two cases: It could be temporary, or it could be permanent. There are two sub-cases of each: It could be important or it could be unimportant.
When you run the test, and it tells you the Surface Scan has detected an error, you are supposed to ask it figure out what file is involved, and write it down. Then you can decide whether to delete that file and replace it with a good copy.
Bad blocks may mean your drive will not be working properly in six months, if you continue to use it full time. It could also die this afternoon -- no one knows. If you can re-initialize with Zero all Data (one pass) the drive will substitute some of its stash of spare blocks for any that remain bad after the zeroing. But of course all your data will be lost, and it takes a few hours to complete.
Some readers suggest that a drive that has had spare blocks substituted may last a long time at light duty, such as making an occasional backup.
The only article that comes up with a search for "default catch" has to do with drives that are really wacked out. It suggests you back up everything and re-initialize the drive.

Cant Boot Past Open Firmware Screen

I have an iBook g4 14". Recently it started having problems. Every time i try to start it up, i goes to the open firmware screen.
i tried typing 'mac-boot' several times and it still would not start. after the last time i tried that it will no longer allow me to input commands, i cant type anything at all. I have tried starting in single user mode and safe mode with the same results.
I am getting the following error messages:
BAD DEPTH= -1
here= ff884f24
BAD DEPTH= -1
here= ff96c70c
Method <SetQuietEnable> not found. ihandle=0 phandle=0
Invalid memory access at %SRR0;
after that the cursor shows up but it will not allow me to type anything.
Any help would be appreciated. i would prefer not to have to wipe everything and reinstall as there is data on the drive i want to recover.

Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
Do you have the Install disc for the version of the operating system which is installed? If so, you could check out the Apple Knowledge Base article on Repairing the Hard Disk Using Disk Utility from the Install Disc.
Do you have access to another Mac with FireWire? If so, you can try using FireWire Target Disk Mode to recover your data to the hard drive of the other Mac.

Tried to install OS X on my G4 and it is now stuck on Open Firmware screen

I have a powermac g4, with dual 450 processors. Bought in 2000 - After buying a brand new G5 last year I recently tried to install my OS X Tiger I got with the G5 onto the G4. Initially it all booted up fine. However when I turned it back on instead of booting up it made a long tone and then went to an Open Firmware screen with the prompts to type ‘shut-down’ or ‘reset-all’
Neither prompt works and this happens every time I turn it on. I have tried holding ‘c’ with original CD I got with the G4 to bring it back, I have tried holding ‘c’ with the OS X cd, I have tried to re-set Pram by holding down the appropriate keys but nothing works it just always makes the long tone noise and goes to the Open Firmware screen.
I have also been informed about updating the Frimware -i now have the software on a CD but cannot get the system back to be able to do this
Can anyone help me bring the G4 back to life?
G4 Powermac Have a G5 too

Hi
You could order the Full Retail Version of OS X (Black DVD with a silver X on it). Regarding always starting up in Open Firmware, in this thread a bloke had the same problem until he disconnected his peripherals before restarting. See if the entire thread helps:
http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB13&Number=2 43591&Main=243591
Steve

Gray screen appears during startup

I have a later Mac Mini with 10.8.5. installed where the gray screen appears during startup. Have regularly backed up the disk except the last 2 days where I installed some important pictures which unfortunately were deleted on the camera.
Have now followed the following steps under support.apple.com/kb/TS2580
1) Disconnect, test peripheral devices and network cables
Didn't solve the problem
2) Perform a Safe Boot
Didn't solve the problem
3) Reset the NVRAM/PRAM
A menu showed up , I checked the disk, didn't show any problems
Then I restarted the Mac and the same problem showed up.
What's the suggestion for next step and minimizing the risk of deleting the pictures which I don't have backup on ?
Help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry - the support link should be http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

Blue screen appears on startup and at shutdown

A few months ago, I bought a macbook pro and it was doing fine. But recently, every time it starts, a blue screen appears for a split second then it goes to log- in. Then, every time I shutdown, it will also show up for a split second then shutdown. It doesn't affect the computer but I'm just wondering how to stop it.

I couldn't rember what time it started so, I shut down my computer and the blue screen appereed at 8:39:28. But went I turned it on, the blue screen did not show. So, I turnned it of and on again and no blue screen. I did it several times and now the blue screen isn't showing. But I will post the test that showed in the concel during 8:39, when it powered of blue, to the time I powed it on, when the blue screen did not show. If you need more, I will try to give it to you. I'll post again if it shows up again. Also I should edit out ethernet address too right?
Here's what its says:
8:38:07 PM kernel: I0Surface: buffer allocation size is zero
8:38:47 PM kernel: I0Surface: buffer allocation size is zero
8:39:28 PM mds: (Error) Server: ==== XPC handleXPCMessage XPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_INVALID
8:39:28 PM com.apple.launched.peruser.501: (com.apple.talagent.[236]) Exited: Killed: 9
2/19/12 8:39:28.145 PM
com.apple.launchd.peruser.501
([0x0-0x18018].com.apple.iTunesHelper[284]) Exited: Killed: 9
2/19/12 8:39:28.145 PM
com.apple.launchd.peruser.501
([0x0-0x13013].com.apple.AppleSpell[260]) Exited: Killed: 9
2/19/12 8:39:28.147 PM
com.apple.launchd.peruser.501
(com.apple.mdworker.pool.0[452]) Exited: Terminated: 15
2/19/12 8:39:28.203 PM
loginwindow
DEAD_PROCESS: 36 console
2/19/12 8:39:28.467 PM
shutdown
halt by ___________:
2/19/12 8:39:28.467 PM
shutdown
SHUTDOWN_TIME: 1329701968 466888
2/19/12 8:39:54.000 PM
bootlog
BOOT_TIME 1329701994 0
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
PMAP: PCID enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
Darwin Kernel Version 11.3.0: Thu Jan 12 18:47:41 PST 2012; root:xnu-1699.24.23~1/RELEASE_X86_64
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
vm_page_bootstrap: 986092 free pages and 54292 wired pages
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
kext submap [0xffffff7f8072f000 - 0xffffff8000000000], kernel text [0xffffff8000200000 - 0xffffff800072f000]
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
zone leak detection enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
standard timeslicing quantum is 10000 us
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
mig_table_max_displ = 73
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
TSC Deadline Timer supported and enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=1 LocalApicId=0 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=2 LocalApicId=2 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=3 LocalApicId=4 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=4 LocalApicId=6 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=5 LocalApicId=1 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=6 LocalApicId=3 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=7 LocalApicId=5 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
AppleACPICPU: ProcessorId=8 LocalApicId=7 Enabled
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
calling mpo_policy_init for TMSafetyNet
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
Security policy loaded: Safety net for Time Machine (TMSafetyNet)
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
calling mpo_policy_init for Sandbox
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
Security policy loaded: Seatbelt sandbox policy (Sandbox)
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
calling mpo_policy_init for Quarantine
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
Security policy loaded: Quarantine policy (Quarantine)
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
2/19/12 8:40:06.000 PM
kernel
MAC Framework successfully initialized

TS2570 what to do grey screen appears during startup

anyone else having trouble booting from osx install disk after replaceing hard disk?

Hello,
Open console in Applications>Utilities, check the system log for the date/time of the last problem & the Startup right after that for clues.
Have you blown the dust out lately?
Get Temperature Monitor to see if it's heat related...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor
One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive
Reboot, test again.
If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or some USB or Firewire device, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts (Users & Groups in later OSX versions)>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.
Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.
Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...
/private/var/run/StartupItems
/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/LaunchDaemons

IMac G3 won't boot - starts in Open Firmware

Hi there, I tried to install Debian PPC Linux on my iMac G3, it didn't install properly and now the machine only boots to Open Firmware. I would like to re-install Mac OS 9, I have the system software disc. Please could someone advise on how best to do? Thank you!!

Is this a tray or slot loading iMac?
I'll assume slot.
I forget what booting into open firmware signifies. :-(
It does seem like a reset situation.
Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime. Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
"The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US
How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:
eject cd
List of devices:
devalias
List of variables:
printenv
( nvram is the equivalent Mac OS X terminal command. )
Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
reset the PMU
http://mrjcd.com/junk/PMU.jpg
for slot loaders.
Try holding down the option key then power on. This brings up the startup manager. Click on your cd. Click on right arrow key.
I have ubuntu 6 .6 lts running on my iMac G3 600. there are some video setting to change.
Robert

Start-up problems, black screen or open firmware

My iBook G4 1.33GHz Dual USB, with 1 gb RAM memory has been troublesome lately. It's installed with the latest version of OS 10.4.9
When starting up the ibook, it will sometimes only show a black screen after the boot chime. Repeated force restart sometimes makes it boot up the open firmware (white screen).
Then I see the error message:
"Illegal instructions at: %SRR0:ff85e778 %SRR1:00081000"
When I continue on with "mac-boot", I get the blue screen with a question marked box. So it can't find the startup disk.
This usually only happens when I'm done working for the day and close the lid on my ibook without manually clicking on the sleep mode when I put in in my drawer,. I've seen several times that the screen is still on when I close the lid, so it will continue to burn battery time.
I've managed to get the ibook to boot properly after removing the battery and letting it "cool-down" for 15-20 min. Also, zapping pram, vram sometimes works, but I don't know how much that actually helped. It worked once when I typed in the reset-nvram in the open firmware screen too.
I'd rather not have this happen at all! Any suggestions? Is this the much-talked about RAM memory failure?
Any suggestions would be very appreciated.
Message was edited by: antony chen

HI,
*"I get the blue screen with a question marked box."*
That can mean several things. One, the drive is failing. Two, your iBook can't find a System Folder to boot from. Try booting while holding down the Option key which will prompt the Startup Manager window.
MemTest
Boot from your install disk and check the hard disk for errors.
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window where you see Capacity and Available. Make sure there is always 15% free disk space. Not enough disk space can cause directory corruption.
If you cannot boot from your install disk, try booting in Safe Mode
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Carolyn

ATI X800 Launches open firmware at startup ?!?

I've just installed my new graphics card, and whenever I boot the machine, I get an unfamiliar beep, a longish pause with a black screen, and then the open firmware screen. From here, I'm prompted to type "mac-boot," and once I do, the machine seems to start up normally.
Is it supposed to do that? I'm pretty sure I've got the most up-to-date driver (the August 2005 update from ATI) and the most recent ATI Displays utility...
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance...
PowerMac G5 Dual 2 Ghz (June 2004) Mac OS X (10.4.3) 3gb RAM, ATI x 800 XT Mac Edition

That figures (re:ATI tech support). I was surprised that I couldn't find any other posts about this problem on the web. I hadn't installed the card until after I'd already done the 10.4.4 upgrade, so I was guessing it was a new problem with 10.4.4, but I see you're still running 10.4.3. I don't hold out much hope for repair/replacement since we're seeing the exact same problem, on essentially the exact same computer (June '04 2x2 G5, 3.5 GB ram in mine, 3 in yours). I'll post back here if I learn anything new.
-Ed

PowerBook G4 boots to Open Firmware without keyboard access

Summary:
Let me provide a little backstory.
According to the [DARPA Visitor Guidelines|http://www.darpa.mil/body/visitor_guidelines.html] wireless network technology is prohibited from DARPA facilities. Laptops with a wireless card are required to be "disabled at the BIOS level".
Before an upcoming visit to DARPA I was told that I would need to make sure my laptop wireless card was disabled. I mentioned that Macs don't have BIOS but I'd look into doing it in Open Firmware. The response from DARPA was that no one has ever successfully brought an Apple laptop into the facility, and that I should procure a PC laptop for my visit. Ah, a challenge!
I booted into Open Firmware (⌘⌥OF), located the wireless card in the device tree, and removed two properties I figured the driver would be searching for: the vendor ID, and the product ID. I exited Open Firmware and continued to boot into Mac OS X v10.5.2.
Sure enough the System Profiler showed that no wireless card was installed. Success! Now I just need to make the device tree modifications persist between reboots.
It seemed the solution was to place the Open Firmware commands I issued to disable the card into nvramrc. So I set nvramrc to contain the same commands, and set use-nvramrc? to be true. I rebooted the machine but the card was still detected.
A bit [more research|http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/805-4436/6j4719c8v?a=view] revealed that the device tree is not created by Open Firmware until after the nvramrc is executed. The solution is to build the device tree in the nvramrc and tell Open Firmware not to rebuild it. The documentation states that this is accomplished with the probe-all, install-console, and banner Forth commands. I added those commands to my nvramrc and rebooted. The contents of nvramrc:
probe-all install-console banner
dev wireless
" device-id" delete-property
" vendor-id" delete-property
The outcome... well technically the laptop has wireless disabled. Almost everything is disabled. The machine now boots directly into Open Firmware with a few ominous bits of output and no response from the keyboard.
no active package
Apple PowerBook5,6 6.4.9.1f1 BootROM built on 01/21/05 at 10:51:16
Copyright 1994-2005 Apple Computer, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Welcome to Open Firmware, the system time and date is 05/06/2008 10:00:00
Command security mode
To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return.
To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return.
ok
0 > _
The first sign that something has gone wrong is no active package. The second message just throws another wrench into the works: Command security mode. Yes, the Open Firmware password was enabled. In retrospect this was a bad thing to have set when mucking about in OF. I knew of the RAM change trick (see below) so this was not an issue at the time.
Question:
So the question is: What actions do I need to take to return the laptop to a useable state. That is, booting into Mac OS X.
*Attempted solutions:*
+1. Reset nvram+
The first and most obvious solution is to reset nvram using the snag key combination ⌘⌥PR. Unfortunately do to the firmware password being set, [all snag keys have been disabled|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352]. This means no target disk mode (⌘T), boot from CD (⌘C), boot from network (⌘N), etc... In any case an attempt at resetting nvram yields an additional message being appended to the Open Firmware screen:
Release keys to continue!_
+2. Reset nvram after changing amount RAM in system+
Luckily there is a work-around to firmware password protection. Changing the amount of RAM installed in the machine should allow the nvram zap snag to function. I removed one of the two 512MB DIMMS in the laptop and started up while holding down ⌘⌥PR. This results in the same message as above:
Release keys to continue!_
Not so lucky.
+3. Reset the Power Management Unit+
[Resetting the Power Management (PMU)|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449] is accomplished by removing the battery and disconnecting the power cord, and then holding down the power button for about 5 seconds. This had no effect besides resetting the system clock to 01/01/1904 00:00:41.
Getting more desperate...
+4. Search logic board for CUDA+
I [opened the machine|http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G4-Al-15-Inch-1-5-1-67-BT-2-0 -LR/64] to search for a hidden [CUDA button|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760]. As expected, a CUDA button does not exist on this model and the PMU reset is accomplished as noted in attempted solution 3.
+5. Remove internal battery+
Well the laptop is open now, so I tried removing the internal memory backup battery and revisited each of the above solutions. No success.
+6. Remove hard drive+
Again, since the laptop was open, why not remove the hard drive and see what happens. The machine wasn't even making it to the boot-loader hand-off so I didn't expect this to produce any results. No results produced.
Thinking crazy thoughts...
+7. Attempt a firmware update+
Firmware updates have a side effect of resetting the nvram. Also firmware updates are initiated very early in the startup process by holding down the power button until a tone is heard and the power light flashes. My thought was that I would grab a previous firmware update for this laptop and force it to be reapplied. Unfortunately there have been no updates to this model's firmware.
+8. Write my own firmware update script+
While investigating solution #7 I realized that the file BootROMFirmware installed by the firmware updaters for G5s and G4s machines are just Forth programs with a binary payload attached to the end. I learned [Forth|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth(programminglanguage)]. The BootROMFirmware files are really cool, since they do everything from drawing the progress bar during the update, uncompressing and check-summing the binary payload, and generally making sure you don't brick your machine. In any case it seem entirely doable to write my own program in Forth and undo the evil I did before. I really only need to flip one bit. I needed the use-nvramrc? variable set to false. So I created this very simple Forth program:
\ debrickifier
setenv use-nvramrc? false
reset-all
The original firmware file had additional attributes set, a creator and file type of fw99. So I set those two attributes on my file as well. I ran strings on the firmware installer program and guessed that it was copying the file to /System/Library/CoreServices. So this is where I placed my Forth file. Reinstalled the drive and rebooted the laptop while holding down the power key to initiate a firmware install. No dice.
Its hard to tell why this is failing. The file may in the wrong place, have the wrong permissions. From what I've reviewed in the original files, the setenv and reset-all words should be available. Maybe the Firmware Update utilities are setting some other magic in nvram before the reboot.
I think I've covered all the different major solutions that I've attempted. Their might be a few more that I've forgotten to mention (like using an external USB keyboard). I still think that getting some Forth to execute via the firmware update mechanism could use some more exploration. My current worst case is that I'll replace the logic board, although I'd hate to do that when I know there are only a few bad bits flipped in a CMOS somewhere.
I'm hoping to snag the attention of the resident hardware/firmware guru that can shed some light upon the firmware update process, but any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Mark

For your next DARPA visit, another option might be to buy the cheapest possible third-party wireless card — it doesn't even need to work. Insert it into your Powerbook's CardBus slot before visiting DARPA, and turn Airport off in System Prefs. On arrival at DARPA, remove the card from the Powerbook and hand it to the security guard. Retrieve it from the guard as you leave, and turn Airport back on again when you get home or back to your office. Unable to comply with the letter of the dunderheaded regulation because you have no BIOS, you will be complying with the spirit of it instead, and no one will be the wiser.

Beige G3 boot from **** problem; open firmware issues; bad motherboard?

Dear all,
I'm having huge boot/startup problems with my beige G3 that had been happily running OSX 10.3.9, but for purposes of this discussion we can (mostly) revert to OS 9. Originally, the machine was a G3 @300; was upgraded more than a year ago to a ZIF G4 @500.
To make a long story short, it won't boot from any hard drives, will not boot from any OS X CD, and will only occasionally boot from a 9.x startup CD (whether Apple or Norton Utilities). I think it's an open firmware issue, possibly caused by a bad motherboard (rev. 2).
All this started happening after I used techtool pro, but I think that's coincidence (even though I acknowledge that, for cops and computer users, there are no coincidences.) Also, as discussed below, I'm having the same problems with an HD that wasn't even in the computer when all these things began.
Here are some of the things I've done.
--repeatedly reset PRAM, both with key combinations and removing battery. The only time it will boot from a 9.x CD is after resetting PRAM.
--removed all add-on PCI cards.
--removed additional VRAM
--removed all memory cards and tried replacing one at a time.
--disconnected both existing hard drives and replaced with an older OS 9.x hard drive (approx 60 mb) that I'd used before. Also tried different ribbon cables.
--unplugged floppy drive
--disconnected PCI ATA disk controller that I'd been using for running a large (1.8 gb) hard drive.
--regarding open firmware: readenv usually shows totally normal default AND installed settings. Using reset-all works fine -- at least it makes the machine reboot, but doesn't solve the problem. reset-nvram does NOT work -- says it's an "unknown word."
--using startup keys like holding down the option key, or shift key, or X key or cmd-option plus two others I can't remember, has no effect. Again, after I've tried any kind of reboot, the ONLY way to get the C-key at startup to boot the CD is by resetting the pram (key combination). Otherwise, the usual result of these experiments is a dark screen on startup -- nothing at all (and the LCD monitor tells me "no input.")
--regarding OSX: sometimes (and I emphasize sometimes) I can get the machine to start booting from an OSX 10.2 CD, but it won't complete the process. Sometimes I get a "prohibited" (as in no-parking, no-smoking) icon; sometimes it will start booting (grey screen, OS X Apple icon), then crash (horizontal grey and white jagged bars); sometimes it will show the OS 9 start icon (the tiny smiling Mac SE), but not boot at all.
--when I get the mac successfully booted with an OS 9.x CD (again, this works sometimes, but not always), the old hard drive with two partitions does show on the desktop and can be accessed. Using either disk repair or Norton Utilities shows the 9.2 system partition on the hard drive to be fine. But if I go to the startup disk control panel, confidently set the 9.2 partition as my startup disk, then reboot, there's no change. It won't boot and I'm back at square one.
--even when I do get successfully booted with 9.x, the machine will still occasionally crash for no reason -- ie when I'm moving a Window.
--the only thing I haven't done is slowed down the processor. It's a ZIF G4 bought more than a year ago from XLR8 your Mac. I'm running at the default 500 mhz, and it's never given me any trouble.
So I think it's a bad motherboard or ROM. Thoughts?
Thanks.

The beige Mac is now operating happily again. My original tentative diagnosis remains the same (although still tentative): corrupted PRAM from bad battery, compounded by bad cables that wrote corrupted data to hard drives, and also (possibly) allowing Tech Tool Pro (a utility that I now regard with deep suspicion) to create a "virtual" startup partition.
A few things I've learned along the way that hopefully may be useful:
--remember that the Ex Post Facto utility can be used to help OS X startup, not just installation. This applies to hard drives, emergency CDs, installation CDs, etc. If you can boot into any working hard drive partition (OS 9 or a backup OS 10), then run Ex Post Facto (same program runs on either OS 9 or X -- don't ask me how) and tell it what system you want to start up from. Also, the utility has sometimes told me that the startup extensions on the disc that I wanted to boot up from were bad, and offered to fix them (which works).
--at least on my Mac (beige, v. 2 motherboard), resetting the CUDA button, resetting the PRAM, resetting Open Firmware and "draining" the memory by unplugging the computer and disconnecting the battery for several hours ALL DO DIFFERENT THINGS.
Specifically, if I'm having trouble booting (from a hard drive or a CD), the FIRST thing I do is restart and resetting the PRAM on the fly -- holding down command, option, P and R at startup, and waiting for the chimes (preferably at least 3-4 times).
If I do that and DON'T hear the chimes, that's my cue for my SECOND action -- restarting into open firmware (command, option O and F keys on startup). That should bring up the black text on white background open firmware screen. View other posts or apple support for details, but if you do PRINTENV and see a bunch of weird gibberish after the default/installed lists, you know that it was messed up and you need to clear it through reset nvram and reset all commands. Be aware some of these commands do or do not work depending upon what version of Open Firmware you have.
After I've rebooted with Open Firmware, then on restart I should be able to reset the PRAM on the fly. If that works, then either let the machine run and see what happens, or hold down the C command and see if it will boot from the CD
Usually, if I've fixed everything as above, the machine will boot into whatever version of OS 9 it finds on a hard drive. That's fine with me -- at that point, use Ex Post Facto to reboot into your OS X. (Before I forget: I used the shareware startup CD creator program BootCD to make an emergency boot CD based on OS 10.2.8 (which theoretically will support a beige mac in native fashion) and Disk Warrior, the god of disk repair utilities. Even though the CD should boot just by holding down the C key on startup, it doesn't -- but if I use Ex Post Facto to boot it, no problems (although the process is very slow -- be patient). Then I can fix almost anything using Disk Warrior.)
If none of the above works, then I'll try resetting the CUDA (on my beige minitower, it's a very small black button inconveniently located between a PCI slot and the side of the computer housing). Hold it down for 15 seconds. That should REALLY clear the PRAM. I know this does something different from the previous steps because this is the only action (except the battery disconnect -- next) that clears the date and time from the memory.
If all else fails, I will unplug the computer and disconnect the battery, then push the CUDA button for 15 seconds and let the machine sit overnight.
One final finding -- I thought I'd fixed everything, but both my hard drives suddenly quit working, I discovered that during all this repeated connect/disconnect of things, one of the male pins inside one of the connectors on my Acard ATA PCI card had broken off. Not good. Fortunately, the card had a second connector, which works fine. And I did some extensive shaking of the computer to make sure (I hope) that the broken pin hadn't landed on a circuit board.
All this took more than two weeks, and the advice of this board was much appreciated. Now I'm on to my next adventure -- trying to figure out why a combo Firewire/USB PCI card won't mount an external drive on Firewire, but will on USB. I've tried two cards with same result -- but a Firewire-only card works just fine.)
Regards to all,
Graham

Only Starts Up in Open Firmware

I have a G4 400 MHz running Tiger 10.4.3 and lately it's been booting up to the Open Firmware screen. I can type mac-boot and it'll boot up to OS X. I'm not holding any keys during startup and yet is just boots to Open Firmware. What does this mean and how can I stop it?

See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42642 for details.

Imac reboots & grey screen appears with no further activity

I have a 2011 late edition iMac with 12 GB RAM, running os 10.6.8. I press the power button. The iMac chimes. Grey screen pops up and just sits there. No apple logo. Don't hear any hard drive activity from the iMac. Any suggestions? I have tried to boot up from the DVD drive, but nothing happens. Thanks in Advance!!

Hi Dr.Yoda69,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If your Mac only starts up to a gray screen, I recommend trying these steps next:
Disconnect, test peripheral devices and network cables
Note: "Peripheral devices" refers to external devices other than what came with your Mac, such as hard drives, printers, or hubs that you connect via a USB or FireWire cable.
Shut down your Mac. If necessary, hold your Mac's power button for several seconds to force it to power down.
Disconnect all peripheral devices such as external hard drives or printers (leave only the display, a keyboard, and mouse connected).
Disconnect any Ethernet cables.
Start up your Mac.
If you can start up this way, one or more of your peripheral devices (or installed software related to the device) is probably causing the gray screen issue. Connect one device, then restart your Mac to test for the issue. Repeat the process until you locate the device at issue. Make sure the device is powered if it needs to be to operate correctly. Check with the manufacturer of the device for support or possible software driver or firmware updates that may be available for the device. Try a different cable with the device if possible (such as a different USB or FireWire cable).
Note: If you have multiple peripheral devices and the issue only occurs when they are all connected, but not when each device is the only peripheral connected, see the Additional Information section below.
If you are using a desktop Mac with a third-party keyboard and/or mouse device, and the issue still occurs, try starting up with an Apple keyboard and mouse connected instead. Try starting with no keyboard and mouse connected, then connect them after start up. Also, try a different USB port on your Mac.
If the gray screen issue persists with no devices connected, go to the next section (with the peripherals still disconnected).
Perform a Safe Boot
Simply performing a Safe Boot may resolve this issue.
Shut down your Mac. If necessary, hold your Mac's power button for several seconds to force it to power down.
Start your Mac, then immediately hold the Shift key. This performs a Safe Boot. Advanced tip: If you want to see the status of a Safe Boot as it progresses, you can hold Shift-Command-V during start up (instead of just Shift).
Note: A Safe Boot takes longer than a typical start up because it includes a disk check and other operations.
If your Mac starts up as expected, immediately try restarting.
If the Safe Boot does not work, or the restart after a successful Safe Boot does not work, go to the next section.
Reset the NVRAM / PRAM
Shut down your Mac. If necessary, hold your Mac's power button for several seconds to force it to power down.
Reset the NVRAM / PRAM.
If the gray screen issue persists, go to the next section.
You can find this information and additional troubleshooting sections here:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup - Apple Support
All the best,
Jeremy

I need Help updating Open Firmware!

I'm struggling to update to MacOSX 10.2 from 9.2 however every time I try to boot up the system with the OSX CD I get the "WSOD"(White Screen of Death) that lets me do nothing. So I try accessing the Open Firmware and I still get a question marked disk icon after booting with CD. I currently have Open Firmware version 2.01f.
Where do I go from there? Can memory be an issue.

Don Archibald...
"" Open Firmware is not the same as the machine's firmware version, in spite of the similar names. Open Firmware can not be upgraded; firmware can be upgraded. ""
Unless it is me, this rather tells me it is one in the same.
(Sorry for breaking out in a story) ....
When I did my iMac V 1.2 firmware upgrade, my iMac Firmware version was 3.0.f3 then changed to verson 3.0.f2 within the Open Firmware screen.
mrjcd and myself did later discover some later iMac 333 did ship with a 3.0.f3, build date 07/16/99 of which was not like my iMac 333, 3.0.f3, build date 12/02/98.
As a result of Apple System Profiler is not able to report things properly, so using Open Firmware is rather a must in confirming the real need for the firmware update.
...Ron

"Open Firmware" screen appeared on startup

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