Option Key won't work at Startup

I understand that holding the Option Key at Startup will give a window to select start up drives. Apparently, on my G4, that doesn't work (I have an Apple Extended Keyboard)
Is there an alternative way to access my startup disks when I power on? Preferably not in Single User mode?
PPC G4 Dual 450 upgraded to Dual 1.3   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   9200 Radion, Controller Card to hold Hard Drives, and a Networked G3 Desktop

Restart the computer and after the chime press and
hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager
screen appears. If this isn't working then you may
have a problem with your keyboard, OS X, or need a
firmware update:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117.
The keyboard is fine, I use the Option key all the time during normal use. Other Start up commands (command+option P+R) My Firmware should be up to date (had to update it to install the new Processor) Currently, OSX 10.4.8 has been somewhat questionable (I've posted elsewhere about my prefered Start Up not working).
I found a link saying that some G4's might not have the "Option" to Boot Manager. If that's the case with my Gigabit Ethernet G4, could there be another way to access the Boot Manager at Start up?

Similar Messages

  • IMac won't start in mac. Will only start in Windows, option key won't work to allow me to get to mac side. downloaded avast last week. Worried this could be the problem??

    iMac was making a strange sound yesterday. I shutdown and restarted now it will only boot in windows vista.  I've tried option key that doesn't work, I've tried command R no luck.  I've left un-plugged, not sure what to do. I don't even get the white screen like it's trying to load, it goes directly to windows vista, once in windows I can't get anywhere to try and go back.  I did download avast the other week, it seemed to be running fine until yesterday. UGH

    If you are running OS X "Lion" or later, boot OS X Recovery by holding ⌘ and r (two fingers) while you start your Mac. For Snow Leopard, start your Mac while holding the c key with its original OS X Install DVD inserted in its optical drive.
    At the Mac OS X Utilities screen, select Disk Utility. Select your startup volume (usually named "Macintosh HD") and click the Repair Disk button. Describe any errors it reports in red. If Disk Utility reports "The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK" in green then you can be reasonably (though not completely) assured your hard disk is in good working order.
    If you manage to boot OS X, uninstall Avast. Its effect on a Mac has progressed from complete and utter worthlessness to maliciousness.
    Be sure to use its latest uninstaller, which will remove it completely.

  • My Mac won't boot past white screen and startup keys won't work

    Hello. I have an iMac not sure what year.
    So about a year ago it froze and wouldn't restart, so I neglected it for a year. Now that this my only fixable Mac I have been researching to fix it. I was able to boot into safe mode about a week ago for a little bit but then it froze again. Ever since then none of the startup keys work, even resetting the PRAM, I heard the second ding and then it just brings up the cursor on the white screen with no disk options.
    I have an external disk drive connected to the USB I'd like to boot my Mountain Lion from but since the start up keys don't work I don't know how to do that.
    Any help would be incredible, I do not care about saving anything from the computer I just want it to work. I hate dealing with the "geniuses" so that's not an option.
    Thanks

    When you hear the startup tone hold down the Option key and you should be able to boot into the Recovery Partition if you have Lion, Mt. Lion or Mavericks on the internal HD. If even the Option key does not work then your keyboard may have dead batteries or be defective and in need of replacement.
    If you have ML on the EHD as a bootable clone then you should be able to boot from it.
    My best guess is you have a failed HD though, my advice is to take it in for professional diagnosis to your local Apple Store or AASP and get a quote on what is wrong then decide  how you want to proceed.

  • Page Up and Down keys won't work - have tried everything

    My Page Up and Down keys won't work. I've tried hitting F7, the Fn key, checked that the "Always use cursor keys to navigate" box is not selected in the Advanced Options tab and made sure that the "Use autoscrolling" tab is selected. I tried uninstalling and re-installing Firefox, tried hitting buttons F1 through to F12 and then checked that accessibility.warn_on_browsewithcaret is set to 'true'.
    It also won't work in Internet Explorer - I have no idea what else to try. My Up/Down arrows are working, just not the Page Up/Page Down buttons. Please help, this is driving me nuts. It's only just started happening; I've never had a problem with it before!

    What is the value of the pref [http://kb.mozillazine.org/accessibility.browsewithcaret accessibility.browsewithcaret] on the about:config page?
    Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode]] to check if one of the add-ons is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).
    * Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
    See:
    * [[Troubleshooting extensions and themes]]
    * [[Troubleshooting plugins]]
    If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.
    * Use "Disable all add-ons" on the [[Safe mode]] start window to disable all extensions.
    * Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")

  • 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

  • Arrow Keys Won't Work on Many Websites

    On many game sites, the arrow keys won't work at all, so I'm not able to play. The hardware is fine, they work fine in email and Word, just not on the game sites. Do I have a setting wrong? I've checked everything (I think....)
    Thanks!!!

    The arrow keys are working for me in the game on http://www.ezone.com/games/jazzy/gamecode.htm. The arrow keys work slugishly for me in the game I tried on www.freeonlinegames.com/play/3350.html. The third sight seems to require registration so I did not try it.
    Freeonline games was more responsive for me using Firefox, you might want to give this browser a try and see how it behaves.

  • HT1379 Some keys won't work?

    What causes some of my keys not to work?

    You'll need to provide some additional information .... what keys won't work, what is running on the system when that happens, does it only happen after an event, like waking from sleep or ? If you reboot or shut your system down and restart does that fix it for some period of time?

  • My backspace key won't work

    My backspace key won't work and I just changed the language from Norwegian to English. I don't know if it's a context, but please help me! I need to use InDesign. bav

    Strange, can you attach a USB KB to test if it's the OS or not?

  • My 8 key won't work when I press it to put in my password, what can I do?

    my 8 key won't work when I press it to put in my password, what can I do?

    Presumably you are connecting it from the *Dock Connector.* In this case, the controls on the car stereo should be controlling the iPod and the iPod's controls are disabled.
    If you are using the car's connection interface, consult the car manual to find out how to control the iPod. If you are using an adaptor between the iPod and car, ask the adaptors installer or manufacturer.
    Phil

  • I purchased a new keyboard and the volume keys won't work now.  How can I fix this?

    I recently purchased a keyboard, with the numbers to the side, and now the volume keys won't work on the keyboard.  Do I need to reset something? 
    Thanks in advance!

    If the keyboard you purchased is an Apple model MB110LL/B -
    Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - English (USA) - Apple Store (U.S.)
    ...then -

  • Boot while holding the OPTION key doesn't work.

    This is really dumb.  I was thinking today my passwords were too weak, so I set out to put Keychains to use.  First thing I did was reset my login password - but then changed my mind and reset it again.  Didn't write any of this down and now I can't correctly type in an admin password. 
    SO I searched and found how to boot into the "Recovery Partition" by restarting while holding the OPTION key.  This worked!  I used the resetpassword in Terminal - and successfully reset the ROOT administrator password.  I figured that was me.  And my advisor (article I found on-line) didn't mention NOT to.
    I still need to reset my admin user password, but now when I try to do the Recovery Partition trick my display remains blank.  I can tell it's powered up, but no progress bar or apple logo...  One further clue is that if I give up and let go of the OPTION key (because nothing at all is happening) five minutes pass (not 20 seconds or so like the time it worked) and the computer starts up as usual.  No "OS X Utilities" window, just the everyday wallpaper and file folders.
    So that's my situation.  Many thanks in advance.
    I should mention, I'm using a mac Pro and the latest version of Yosemite.  And a hardwired keyboard and mouse...

    Is the key(s) stuck, or sticky or not very responsive?
    try another keyboard, any usb keyboard for windows or another mac should work.
    try flipping your keyboard over and letting it bang on the desktop, your r key could be gunked up and the contact might have failed. Depending on the model keyboard liquid or food or something else could be trapped, the older bondi-plastic ones do this more than the aluminum-plastic ones but the key could need a good smacking,.

  • Hi, iPak II user.  Two keyboard keys won't work, and the picture goes haywire sometimes, flashing itself, bak to old stuff, typing in the safari line, all this going on vey fast.   Any fixes out there?

    Hi, iPak II user.  Two keyboard keys won't work, and the picture goes haywire sometimes, flashing itself, bak to old stuff, typing in the safari line, all this going on vey fast.   Any fixes out there?

    Sounds like it could be a hardware problem.
    Try a restart or reset to see if that helps. If not, contact Apple Support.
    Restart: Press On/Off button until the Slide to Power Off slider appears, select Slide to Power Off and, after It shuts down, press the On/Off button until the Apple logo appears.
    Reset: Press the Home and On/Off buttons at the same time and hold them until the Apple logo appears (about 10 seconds).
    No data will be lost.

  • Upgraded OS from Windows 2000 to XP, now my Registration Key won't work

    Any reason why my registration key won't work when I upgraded my OS from Windows 2000 to Windows XP? Oh, and I also upgraded the QuickTime application.

    QuickTime 6.5 registration will not work with QuickTime 7.
    You'll need to purchase a new "Pro" key or revert to QT 6.5 Pro.

  • Fn F7 keys won't work in BootCamp on MBP

    I'm trying to use a projector with my MBP to teach CAD in BootCamp. The problem is that I can't mirror my screen when using bootcamp, like I can in OS X. I can get an extension of my screen, but can't display the contents of my screen on the projector.
    Normally you would use the fn F7 keys to toggle through the display options, but in Windows XP the fn F7 won't work.
    Does anyone have any ideas? A remapping program for MBP? Please Help.
    Brett

    Have you tried the windows way (right click on desktop > properties > settings and uncheck Extend my Windows desktop... ?
    Hope this helps...

  • Equal Key Won't Work

    For some strange reason the Equal key on my MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo won't work.
    I did go to the control panel to reset the keyboard shortcuts. I can use the option key to get ≠. I just can't get a normal equal sign...
    Ideas?

    I'd try restoring your keyboard shorcuts, and setting, to defaults and see if that fixes things. It will hoewever delete your custom settings so hopefully you've not done so much.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Setting JMS Priorities in the Presence of a JMS Control

    I posted the following question to the JMS interest newsgroup and received a response on how to accomplish my objective using the QueueSender class. However, nobody in that newgroup could tell me how to construct a QueueSender from the JMSControl ser

  • Third party sales MM config

    Hi, We have a third party sales requirement and i need  to configure the MM part from when the sales order triggers a PR to Invoice recept which will update the billing document for the customer. Would be really grateful if someone can guide preferra

  • Adobe Media Encoder CS4 Suddenly Adding Black Bars To L & R

    I think I may be going crazy. Every video I have ever shot has been cropped to 720x340 in After Effects then exported as an uncompressed Quicktime movie file at 720x340.  For the last year I have done this process exactly the same everytime. On my we

  • Does AppleTV(v2) output 24-bit audio through TOSLINK port?

    I have some high-definition audio files (24-bit/44.1KHz and 24/96) in Apple Lossless format. I also have what I thought was a simple question: Does the AppleTV support bit-perfect playback of such files? In other words, will the AppleTV stream them w

  • Syncing between a work and personal iPhone help

    I have both a work and personal Iphone. I want to know if there is a way share my calendar between phones and some apps of my choosing without sharing all photo's and contacts. Is this possible? If so, how would i accomplish this?