Option Key Anomolies

I am having a few issues with our G3. One, I can not get it to boot from a firewire drive. It mounts the drive fine when booted from internal drive, and it allows me to select the drive for the start-up disk.
The big anomoly comes when I boot and hold the option key. Nothing happens. It boots normally. I have tried two keyboards to the same result. When I try to change a library in iPhoto by holding the option key while clicking, iPhoto just opens like I had never touched the option key. However, command-option-esc works as it should. What am I missing?

>"One, I can not get it to boot from a firewire drive."The Blue & White G3 was Apple's first implementation of FireWire. It cannot boot from a FireWire Drive, nor can it serve as a FireWire Disk for anther Mac.
>"The big anomoly comes when I boot and hold the option key. Nothing happens. It boots normally."If you were expecting the Startup Manager, the Blue & White G3 does not do that either:
106178- Startup Manager: How to Select a Startup Volume
>"When I try to change a library in iPhoto..."What version of iPhoto are you using? With which version of Mac OS X?

Similar Messages

My Option key will not show me all my drives at boot up but I can see then on my desktop

I have installed a SSD in my system and can see it on my desktop but I can not get it to aper when I use the option key at startup. The drive is formatted correctly (one partition Mac OS Extended (journaled) and set the GUID Partition Table) I was able to see it last week now no way will the option key work. I even used a different key board with the same result. the purpose for the SSD I am going to install new OS on this drive.

How to choose a startup disk on your Mac - Apple Support
A "startup disk" is a volume or partition of a drive that contains a usable operating system. You can set your Mac to automatically use a specific startup volume, or you can temporarily override this choice at startup.
If you do not have usable operating system on your SSD, it won't appear on the Startup Manager window.
drivemaster wrote:
Do I need to do this?
Yes, if you want to have your SSD visible on the Startup Manager screen.
How to do it. Use Recovery Partition to install OS X on SSD drive. OS X Yosemite: Reinstall OS X

Cannot get MacPro to allow me to boot to an alternative boot disk. Can choose in control panel but will not use the disk to boot. Also won't boot using disk selected using option key

My primary boot disk is encrypted as is a secondary boot disk (backup) but I cannot boot using any other disk. System 10.8.5, MacPro 4.1.
All disks mount using primary boot disk. All disks check out as OK and I have repaired permissions.
When I choose in the control panel the Mac boots but will always use my original boot disk.
When I select the disk using the option key at startup, the boot process stalls with a grey screen and a spinning cursor.
Thanks,
Dave

Still trying to figure this out. I erased the drive, did a format using disk util and then re-installed the system but I still cannot get the disk used as a startup drive. I also tried an external firewire drive and it won't allow me to boot from it either.
I can choose it starting up with the option key but it just gives me a blue screen and the spinning cursor.
If I select it in the startup pref pane it boots into my other startup drive only.
DaveLon

Option key is not working on PS4, mac OS 10.6.8

Hi I'm having a problem with PhotoShop 4, the keyboard shortcut for a couple of tools is not working at all.
1) The Zoom in and out function that uses the Option Key + Shift or Option to change the Zoom in or out is not working.
I'm not sure if it's a conflict with the OS or an operator error of some kind.
2) The Lasso Tool that uses the Option Key for doing a straight line is not working.
3) The Clone Stamp Tool that uses the Option Key for selecting the area you want to clone is not working.
Does anyone have an idea of what the problem might be?
Thanks - Just Plain Bill -

It only works on 64-bit Macs.

I partitioned my MacBook Pro and installed Windows 8 in it.....now I can't find my partition when I pressed option key when booting up.....so how can I do to find the partition to boot...I can see it in the disk manager in Mac....any ideas? thanks..!..

I partitioned my MacBook Pro and installed Windows 8 in it.....now I can't find my partition when I pressed option key when booting up.....so how can I do to find the partition to boot...I can see it in the disk manager in Mac....any ideas? thanks..!..

Hi LamboMong,
just try this:
http://refit.sourceforge.net
install, reboot twice and choose the Windows-Partition on next startup.
(The apple-bootloader doesn't display all bootable harddisks.
With rEFIt you can boot from all partitions/harddisks on your computer.)
I hope that will solve your problem.
Daniel Fernau

Problem with H and Option key on a macbook keyboard

I have a problem with my macbook keyboard, any time i tried to use the "h" or "option" keys i get the TM symbol.
All other keys works perfect
i don't know what happend?
Thanks

To access NTFS Windows from your MAC OS via Bootcamp, use this software:
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
To access Mac from your Windows via Bootcamp, use this software:
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/bootcamp/

When I restart my computer and hold the option key after creating a bootable usb with windows 7 and partitioning only the original partition shows up. Not the windows one or the bootable usb.

     Okay so first things first this isn't the newest macbook pro. When I open about my mac and go to system report it says it is a Macbook Pro 3,1 and the Boot Rom Version say MBP31.0070.B07. Originally when starting up Boot Camp Assistant there where only two options, the "create windows 7 bootable usb" was not there at all. So after some editing and helpful tutorials I was able to get the option show up and created a bootable usb with windows 7 and downloaded the support software onto a separate flash drive. Finally I did the last step and created a second partition for windows. Once the process is complete my computer automatically restarts.
     This is where the problem is. Once my computer makes the booting up sound it doesn't load up windows it gets stuck on a apple logo as if it's trying to reastart normally and can't. So I shut down and this time I hold down the option key during start up. It brings up the main partition and some recovery thing but no windows partiton and no bootable usb.
     I forgot to mention that I am running OS X 10.9.3. Okay any body want to help me out? Iv'e been at this for hours and can't get an inch closer to having windows. Please and thank you!
P.S. If I missed a discussion that answer my question just point me to it. Iv'e been looking for a while, but who knows i might have missed one.

The only known way to make it work on an external drive is by first installing Windows onto an internal drive, then cloning the install to an external Thunderbolt drive. Thunderbolt is seen as an extension of the internal bus, so Windows doesn't see it as an external device.

I have late 2006 iMac 24" and I cannot boot it up. I have tried everything but it will only come up in safe boot. I can, at last, boot up on the option key and it now gives me the option of the Recover HD but when I select this, it still won't boot up?

When I select the Recovery drive it tries and then I can't get further than a white screen. My curser so has 2 columns of marks like a horizontal barcode. I think it's a software problem. When I boot up in safe boot, I have run the disc utility and it says the disc is fine and I have run the repair permissions but it makes no difference.

Thanks AAndy but I had read all of that and tried everything but I have no disks as I upgraded from Snow Leopard over the internet. I have my Snow Leapard box but the disk is missing so I can't use that and anyway, I can only boot up in safe boot so it wouldn't recognise the superdrive. I had a copy of the recovery on a flash but it doesn't recognise that. I have redownloaded it but cannot get it onto an external because of safe boot. I have done the following
Reset the PRam, reset the desktop.
Tried the D key - no responce
Tried opt D and Command D - no responce
Comant R, jusr R and opt R - no responce
By no responce, I mean that the wheel goes round under the apple and then it goes white - and stays like that.
The only thing that I can do, is to boot up on the option key when it give me a choice of drive. If I select Recover, wheel turns under apple - white wcreen
If I boot up on the shift key, it boots into safe mode and there it stays, quite happy surfing the internet and playing stupid Facebook games, so long as I don't want to use any search engines (none of which work (not finder, not mail, not anything) and then after a few hours of forgotton pleasure, it crashes!
The only thing I can think of to do is to redownload Lion - it appears in my purchased account in the App Store but, Sod's law, our satellite internet is not working and I don't think my phone account has enough MBs - anyone know how many Lion is?
I can't backup because I can't use an external drive and old one stopped working a few months ago, so I haven't been backing up and as this is the first problem I have ever had with my iMac in 7 years, I had got a bit comlascent! However, I am pretty certain that I can re-install Lion without wiping my hard drive - I have done it years ago with an older system and an older Mac.
Do you think that downloading Lion again and re-installing it will help? Does anyone else have any suggestions?
Thanks for responding so far.

Updated to Tiger, stuck on grey screen BUT boots fine with option key

I've searched the forum and found many other similar threads. But no real answers for my particular problem. Here it is. iMac 800 MHz G4, 512 RAM was on 10.3.9. Updated to 10.4.5. Then booted from a firewire hard drive and fixed permissions and ran Disk Warrior. Now when I try to boot up normally it just stays on a blank grey screen. No Apple logo. No spinning wheel, nothing. Weird thing is it boots up fine if I hold down the option key at start up and select the hard drive. So, I've done that and repaired permissions and run disk utility. Says everything is OK. Even zapped the PRAM. But still, only way to get it to boot is by holding option key and choosing hard drive. Any ideas?

Hi Steve, What other start up options are you seeing when you boot with the 'Option' key? Have you tried a 'Safe Boot"? Hold down the 'Shift' key while restarting until (hopefully) you see the spinning gear wheel. Wait while it restarts, this takes a lot longer. If you can boot into 'Safe mode' then in System Preferences>System>Start up disk, make sure that your hard drive is selected.
If you can't boot into 'Safe mode' (you should be able to) then when you have booted with the 'Option' key, follow the 'System Preferences' advice above. Select your hard drive & 'Restart'.
Also have a look at
Dr Smoke's Troubleshooting Startup and Login Items.
For future reference, bookmark his X-Lab home page. There is a wealth of helpful information. Obviously he'd like you buy his 'Troubleshooting' e-Book, but there's loads there for free.
As Dr Smoke would say: "Good luck! "
Have fun too!
An  a day...
Adrian
ibook G4: 768mb, iMac 17" G4:768mb (10.3.9) Mac OS X (10.4.4) Belkin Wireless F5D7632

Option Key for Boot Camp not working with New iMac Keyboard

Hi, I own a early 2006 Intel iMac. Recently, my wife complained that the keyboard was getting dirty. Basically I think she liked the new keyboard on the new Aluminum iMac better. We purchased it back in August and everything worked great. Oh I also had the beta version of Boot Camp installed. Everything worked great, hold Option down on boot and could choose which OS to go into.
Fast forward to now, purchased Leopard and love it! Decided to wipe the system and do a fresh install. Everything is installed (Leopard, Boot Camp, Windows XP) and working great, that is except when I press and hold the Option key at start up. If I have the new keyboard installed, the Option key does not bring up the boot manager. However if I plug the original keyboard in and hold Option, it works!!!
Ok I could see a problem if the new keyboard was NOT an Apple product. But it is and frustraiting as I can use the control panel to choose. This is a long round about method and does not make a happy wife with me. HELP!
Jhan Jensen

Thanks for the info! I was about to call myself and I may still do so. I am hoping if Apple gets enough of these calls then maybe it will spur them on to get it done sooner. (Apple are you listening) I will do the same with the KB swapping, she will be happy at least she can still use the new keyboard. She types a lot and has be really happy with the new keyboard and its response.
Thanks again for the help!!!
Jhan

Windows drive no longer available at power up with Option key?

I've done a byte to byte copy of a separate disk drive (320GB) that was my Vista x64 bootcamp drive. (In a MacPro) to a new 750GB drive. After I completed the copy process, I pulled out the 320GB drive and put in the 750GB drive. I hold down the "Option" key during power on and expected to see both my Mac drive and my Windows drive boot option. Unfortunately I only see the Mac now.
If I go into OSX I can see my Bootcamp drive on my desktop (Untitled), can open it and see that all my windows files are there. So what am I missing to get my bootcamp drive to show up during the power on Option process?
Thanks, Rob.

RAID is destination for dmg image file.
But tried it again using a single Mac HD boot drive just to eliminate that possibility. Got the same error:
====Cloning NTFS filesystem to compressed dmg=======
hdiutil create -puppetstrings -srcdevice "/dev/disk1s1" "/Users/robainscough/Documents/Untitled.winclone/Windows" 1>&2
PERCENT:0.000000
MESSAGE:Preparing imaging engine…
diskimages-helper(424,0x100781000) malloc: * error for object 0x1021108d0: pointer being freed was not allocated
* set a breakpoint in mallocerrorbreak to debug
hdiutil: create failed - No child processes
return value of hdiutil create -puppetstrings -srcdevice "/dev/disk1s1" "/Users/robainscough/Documents/Untitled.winclone/Windows" 1>&2 is 256
hdiutil create -puppetstrings -srcdevice "/dev/disk1s1" "/Users/robainscough/Documents/Untitled.winclone/Windows" 1>&2 did not complete successfully
cleaning up: Mounting Disk
Volume (null) on /dev/disk1s1 mounted
Sun Jan 3 15:03:14 PST 2010
Since WinClone is freeware, I really wasn't expecting much. Does anyone know of any other tools that will get the job done?
Thanks, Rob.

How do I resolve this error message? The iPhoto library is on a locked volume. Reopen iPhoto when you have read/write access, or reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library.

How do I resolve this error message? The iPhoto library is on a locked volume. Reopen iPhoto when you have read/write access, or reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library.

Hi j,
I don't know if this will work, but I'd try logging in to an admin account, going to your main library (not user library), opening it, opening Application Support, selecting iPhoto, hold down the command key and press i, click on the lock in the lower left, entering the password and making sure you have Read & Write privileges for System and Admin.

Holding down the option key when booting my iMac lo longer shows me my bootable external drives, the system just boots up to the main system. Also, holding down command, option,P,R no longer zaps the p-ram. the system just boots up.

Holding down the option key when booting my iMac lo longer shows me my bootable external drives, the system just boots up to the main system. Also, holding down command, option,P,R no longer zaps the p-ram. the system just boots up normally. Why do these key fonctions no longer work?

It could be your timing if on a bluetooth keyboard. I find it best to hit the keys as soon as i hear the chime, release and hit them again but this time holding them before the chime ends....like a fake pump in football.
But....you can always open up system preferences, startup disk, and select your bootable clone for booting. If it doesn't show up there, the Mac doesn't think it's bootable.

Option keys no longer working!

Can any experienced user provide a solution for this seemingly simple problem? Since I upgraded to 10.6.8, my keyboard (first slim version, extended) option keys are dead. All other keys seem to be working normally.
Here are just a few problems associated with it:
8 I can no longer make a bullet (option 8) as you see here.
8 I can no longer shut down my computer using command-option-control-eject. It restarts instead now.
8 I can no longer perform various keyboard shortcuts in Adobe CS5 apps that require using the option key.
How do I fix this...anyone?

Thanks for the response. Option modifier key is set to Option.
Thinking back again to when this first occurred, it actually started about a week before updating to 10.6.8. The first time I noticed it was when I upgraded to Adobe CS5 from CS3 and in InDesign was not able to change text leading using the option key. I thought CS5 might have a different keyboard shortcut for that, but no. Still, at that point, I didn't realize it was the option key that wasn't functioning until these other issues occurred. Could CS5 could have caused this? Perhaps I should go to the Adobe forum with this issue.

Command, Control, and Option keys no longer works with Citrix Receiver after upgrading to OSX 10.9.5

At first my keyboard did not work with Citrix Receiver after upgrading to OSX 10.9.5 and I found the workaround by using "cmd + tab," however, once my keyboard work within Citrix, the "command, control, and option" keys no longer work. Does anyone have a remedy for this?

Keyboard no longer works with Citrix Receiver after upgrading to OSX 10.9.5

Option Key Anomolies

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for