Periodic non startup of iMac

Yet again my iMac wouldn't start up. I had this problem a while ago and it went in for repair, they couldn't find anything wrong, but had come across this problem before and replaced some power related part. Today I left my iMac in sleep mode , came back to it after half an hour or so and it had shut down completely, it took me another half hour to get it to start up, I disconnected cable from mac and from mains and tried several different things and eventually got it going. I bought this Mac in April this year. This should not be happening, it's not a pc and there isn't any microsoft anywhere near it!
I wondered if this has happened to anyone else, and if so what they did about it. Please help, I don't want to be without it for another fortnight or so.

Have you also experienced slow response from video-intensive apps, like games or internet sites?
I'm having the same startup problems when my iMac gets warm. If I shut down and need to restart, I'll just get a blank screen, then the question-mark folder. Unplugging, resetting PRAM, and all the other forum suggestions don't work to restart, either. I've got to just wait an hour or more till I can startup again.
Also, after I've warmed the computer up a bit, I'll have frequent slow responses using Safari--I get the spinning wheel of frustration. When I play World of Warcraft, I frequently get lag spikes. I used to blame WoW. Now I've begun to think the problem has to do with the video card or the CPU or both--or more.

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HT1529 Upon startup my iMac has a popup that says: "talagent wants to use the local items keychain." New to me--can't get anywhere. How do I get out of this and get things up and running again?

Upon startup my iMac (OSX Mavericks) has a popup (that I can't get rid of!) that says: "talagent wants to use the local items keychain." I never set this up, don't want it, and want my iMac to start up with my desktop in place and ready to work. I'd appreciate some help please. How do I get rid of this? Thanks.
Larry

I found this and it fixed my issue..
I was suffering with this same problem, I followed these steps and everything returned to normality:
1.- I opened KeyChain app and run the FirstAid (from the KeyChain app Menu)with my user Password (this do work) because the problem is not with your password. If there is any trouble with your keychain file this will fix it.
2.- Opened Disk Aid and run Fix Persmissions just in case there was left some wrong file permissions during the upgrade.
3.- Went back to the Key Chain App and Locked and Unlocked the Keychain using the Lock in the top left corner of the app. When asked for my password I simply typed my User password.
After this everything worked fine. These are the steps that I followed but I really think that #3 did the trick here. You could try to do only #3 directly and it might fix your problem, but fixing the Keychain and fixing OS permissions is never a bad Idea.
Good Luck friends.

Dreamweaver CS4 Mac – non-startup – Error: 150:30

Hi, any help would be appreciated.
Dreamweaver CS4 Mac – non-startup – Error: 150:30
"Licensing for this product has stopped working". Transferred to new computer via Time Machine back-up.
Thanks

See if anything here helps: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/error-licensing-product-expired-cs4.html

Firefox 4 Does Not Run on Non-Intel G5 iMac

I have a G5 iMac/Power PC/NON-Intel. I keep getting alerts to upgrade to Firefox version 4. Clearly, that's impossible because version 4 doesn't run on a non-Intel G5 iMac. Is Firefox going to leave people like me in the lurch, or is there an update in progress for iMacs that can't support Intel-associated software?

There is a third party version of Firefox 4 that runs on OS X 10.4/10.5 and PPC Macs, for details see http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox

FF wants to access fonts from NON-startup disk repeatedly

Ever since updating to FF 3.6.4, I keep getting dialog boxes asking I allow or deny FF to use fonts from a non-startup disk. I keep denying the request, but it keeps asking. The fonts look like they are installed on the startup disk. I run OS X v10.6.4 server.
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== After update to FF 3.6.4

The initial upload of my question would not accept my OS version correctly. I am running OS X 10.6.4 server.

User Directories on a Non Startup Volume?

Is there a way to create or move the user directories to a non-startup volume?
What I am trying to do is to either partition my internal drive (or perhaps actually use a secondary drive) such that I have a smaller startup volume that holds ONLY my OS and applications, and then use a secondary partition or drive that holds ALL my data. There are several reasons why I would like to do this, which I won't get into at this point.
Is there a way to force the creation of the user directories onto another volume? Or is it possible to move the directories to another volume after creation and have the system look for them in the new location? I would think this should be possible because in a way OSX Server uses this scheme (over a network).

Shahin wrote:
Have you personally done this? Can you attest to its success?
No, but I have no reason to think that it wouldn't work. I just don't like partitions.
Also any comments regarding the reply above yours warning as to possible problems with this? This can obviously be disastrous if it doe snot work. Of course I will back up before proceeding with this, but I am more concerned about ongoing and strange problems that may occur over time.
Well, there is that
What you ask is certainly a non-standard configuration for MacOS X. However, it is also 100% valid. Apple wouldn't give you that option if they didn't intend to support it. I have no doubt you will run into odd problems where some 3rd party software (or the odd Apple installer) assumes your home directory is at /Users/whatever. It would definitely be a good idea to keep your old home directory around for a month or two.
Another option would be to just mount that other drive at /Users, after copying your home folder there, of course. You would have no problems with software because your home directory is still the default, just mounted differently. In the event of a hardware failure on either the startup or other volume, you could have some issues getting things right again. Apple does not provide any easy-to-use method for this. You have to hack around in your /etc/fstab file or maybe auto_master or auto_home. There is a little bit of black magic behind the automounter however.

DropBox on non-startup volume

Is it possible to create a guest accessible drop box that is accessible via a networked connection, but does not reside on the startup volume of the host? I'm running 10.4.11 with an 80Gb HD. It is partitioned with an 8Gb startup volume and the remainder is for files. I want networked guests to upload files by default to the non-startup volume.
Thanks

Hi, on 10.4.x you'll need Sharepoints to add the other drive as a Normal Share, you can also use it to set Users & Groups that you want to have access...
http://www.hornware.com/sharepoints/

Time Machine on non-startup disk?

Does anyone know if Time Machine can be used on non-startup disks? I have a Dual-Mirrored Door G4 running as a file server with two separate internal hard drives, a boot volume with the operating system on it and a second drive with all the data that is shared. I can run Time Machine to backup the boot volume, but what I really want is to run it for backups on the data volume but I can't quite figure out how. Thanks for any help.

Oops, I figured this out, nevermind.

I get a 'prohibited symbol' when I try to startup my iMac, can't access computer. How to proceed?

Hey guys,
So my iMac has had its first real problem since I bought it in 2010.
Yesterday I was browsing the internet on my iMac via tethering from my smart phone (Samsung galaxy ace, on vodafone, if that means anything) when suddenly it froze and I got the colourful spinning loading wheel and couldn't click on anything. This went on for long enough that I lost patience and turned off the Mac (by holding the power button) with the intention to start fresh. Nope, now I can't access my desktop anymore. Now, whenever I turn my Mac on it I see the grey screen with apple logo with the spinning loading thing under it, this lasts about 30 seconds and then it shows me a 'prohibited symbol' (i.e. A circle with a stroke in it). I then have to turn the computer off, and this repeats when I try startup again.
Now, after some googling a found that this is probably a "kernel panic". But the problem is that none of the solutions I've read seem to work.
- I tried booting in safe mode by holding shift but it didn't seem to activate it..? (and I know its not a problem with the keyboard because I tried starting up and holding alt and that worked)
- I also tried booting from my installs disc but that didn't work either, it just loads for a while then it gives me the prohibited symbol again.
- I also know its probably not a problem with my hardware because everything is unplugged except my USB mouse.
Some other facts:
- I'm running Mac osx 10.6.2 (its all I've ever run, never updated)
- strangely, the windows partition of my hard drive works fine. I just hold alt and then can still access windows. But then as soon as I try to tether the internet from my phone again, it works for about 2 minutes and then I get a quick bleu screen and the comp restarts, which makes me think this kernel panic was induced by furthering my internet.
- On one of my startups yesterday I got a flashing folder icon with a question mark on it, all the other times its been the prohibited symbol.
I have a time machine hard drive that I can resort to if worse comes to worse, but the last time I backed up was about 2 months ago, which means id lose my creative work from the past 2 months (im a musician and ive been working on an album), which is obviously not preferable.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Please let me know id you need anymore info.
Cheers,
Nic

@sanjampet: I have already read the link you provided and none of the solutions work, which is why I posted here.
Safe mode just doesn't activate. I hold shift for as long as possible until eventually I get the prohibited symbol. When I hold shift I see the apple logo and loading icon and then eventually prohibited symbol, its as if I wasn't holding shift at all, which makes me wonder if the shortcut is even correct? And I know its not a problem with my keyboard or my timing of pushing shift because holding alt/option works as usual.
Holding C to load from the installs disc doesn't work either, which eliminates all the solutions based on that. Its the same as safe mode - I hold the button until I eventually get prohibited symbol.
I also tried selecting my Mac hd via holding alt key - same result: prohibited symbol.
I also tried selecting my installs disc via holding alt key and a strange thing happens: I see the apple logo and loading wheel but this time it is stuck on the apple logo and loading spin thing for about 20 minutes while there is lots of noise and activity coming from the CD drive..
I also tried resetting the NVRAM/PRAM, which DID seem to have an affect (screen was brighter + startup sound was louder) but I still see the prohibited symbol like all the other times.
I'm yet to be able to get past the prohibited symbol, the only way around it so far is to load the windows partition if my HD.

How can I share printers using a non apple router, imac to ipad?

Newbie in osx, but experienced in linux.
My new imac has 3 printers setup for sharing, but ipad 2 / iphone 4 fail to see them. I am using the belkin router that I owned already, instead of buying an Airport.
I found a solution at askubuntu.com Q 26130 at http://askubuntu.com/questions/26130/how-can-share-my-printer-so-that-i-can-use- it-with-airprint
I setup a linux machine on the network, with no physical connection to any printer. The 1st, an hp fax psc has a usb to imac, as the 2nd, an hp psc, the 3rd printer is an epson wireless, which is only connected on the network by wifi to the belkin router. I'm certain the imac "sharing" is properly setup, because the linux machine has no trouble finding the printers. Only the ipad / iphone have a problem.
Once I put the linux machine (with the above changes) on the network, everything works as desired. I can print on the ipad / iphone to any of the 3 printers, using the built in Airport printer routine (not the epson or hp apps). And the imax and linux machines can also print on all 3.
So, I suspect the imac isn't telling the router to display the printers on the network in a way that iOS can see them. I know it would work if I owned an Airport, but I'd rather not spend that much right now.
I'm sure someone knowledgable in OSX might have an idea where to stick an Airport definition file, created from the python script in askubuntu, that could solve this without having to run the linux laptop all the time. Any ideas?
TIA

It's possible to use free software (Virtualbox and Ubuntu) to fix the broken iOS 5 Airprint printing with non supported printers. Here's a fix that works on my imac, but should also work on even a windows pc.
My setup is a lion imac with 2 non-airprint supported usb printers attached, a belkin wifi router that provides network connectivity for my imac, ipad, and iphone.
Install ubuntu 11.10 in a virtualbox vm. Specify to use the "Bridged Adapter" with "en1: WiFi (AirPort)" for the network hardware. Make sure the imac's usb printers are setup with sharing. On ubuntu, select System Settings > Printers and add your imac's shared printers to the list. Then start ubuntu's firefox and set "localhost:631" in the address. On the administration tab, under the Server section, check "Share printers connected to this system" and hit Change Settings button to activate it. Go back to ubuntu's printer setup, and right click on each printer and check that the properties Policies tab does not have any messages about it being unshared. If so, then go back to firefox and make sure the Server sharing checkbox is enabled. It may help to reboot.
Fire up virtualbox to be able to use AirPort printing to your imac's usb printers, when you want to print from the iphone or ipad. This also works on iOS 5.
Only problem is error message from iphone to check the printer for errors, even though it actually prints ok.
references:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/26130/how-can-share-my-printer-so-that-i-can-use- it-with-airprint
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2011-June/033611.html

Internet not working on Non-Equipped Airport iMac w/ AE wired via Ethernet

I have a total of (3) non-equipped airport computers that I wanted to share Internet thru the (2) AEs and (1) AEBS. Using one computer, I manually configured the AE and powered it down, then using the same computer I configured the AEBS, then powdered up the AE and it showed SOLID GREEN!. FYI...I did select it to communicate with the AEBS by WDS. Now I have the Flowerpower iMac with ethernet cord plugged into the (1) AE, and it still has the Solid Green Light. The Built-in ethernet is not communicating with/to the Internet??
I went to "System Preferences" on the computer to check the "Network" settings. Is this where the problem lies?? Under the "TCP/IP" it has the "Configure" with options,which should it be? (Manual, DCHP, or DCHP with manual address)?
When I choose "DCHP", it self assigned the IP Address and then states that it might not be able to connect to the Internet, the "manual" and "DCHP with manual" states that I am connected, but it can't find the server web address that I'm looking for. I originally configured the AE using the info I got off of the AEBS, but not the exact same IP Address or Mac Address. I also configuring the Network Internet settings on the computer with that I found from the "System Preferences" on the graphite iMac with the RCA modem and AEBS attached via ethernet cables.
I think I'm getting confused... The AEBS has thru the Airport Admin. Utility:Internet, airport, network and WDS settings, the computer that's connected to it has thru the System Preferences: Network built-In ethernet with TCP/IP and ethernet settings, the AE has thru the Airport Admin. Utility: Internet, airport, Network and WDS settings and the computer connected to it has thru the System Preferences: Network built-in ethernet with TCP/IP and ethernet settings.
Do they all share some of the exact same information? Is there some fields that I don't need to fill in or select? If I'm manually filling in the information, Where do pull that correct information from?
Okay after stating that, it makes me sound like I don't have a clue and I'm just lucky that I got the AE to turn on Green. But I haven't found anything published addressing this exactly and straight forward.
Can anyone who has done this and succeeded go over this step-by-step? and unravel the all twisted up information that's going around and around in my head?
iMac G3 Graphite, iBook G3 Graphite Clamshell, iMac G3 FlowerPower Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I had to manually configure the AX and the Built-In Ethernet on the flowerpower iMac, when I tried to do it automatically with DCHP, it self-assigned the IP Address and would not let me connect on the Internet nor was the light green. I remembered iFelix's instructions stating that I would have to do it manually and the light turned green again! and my email works on the graphite BUT now I can't get the AX to appear in the Airport Admin. Utility, so I rechecked my settings thru the Airport Admin. Utility and in the Airport I checked the "enable the IR option". and............ well It appeared and I went to the flowerpower iMac with my daughter by my side, we both held hands eagerly awaiting to see if the web page would load and........ and......... and....... and......... and........ WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO she screamed, I screamed, she screamed again sooooooo loud that I didn't notice that I was still screaming too! IT WORKS!!!!! It REALLY WORKS!!!!!!!
Look, are you looking? Can you see I'm smiling ear to ear!!!!!
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
For anyone wanting tips, please refer to my other thread Re: Can the Airport Express be used as an external card too? start by me.

After startup my iMac's screen turns black

My iMac start ups normal. I hear the chime, followed by the apple logo and gears. Then the screen goes black but you can still see the cursor clear as day. I can also turn the brightness up and down, but it is still black. Is there anything I can do to fix it without taking it to the apple store 45 min away? Please help!!!

Will it start more normally if you choose to hold the Shift key down through startup and then you may be able to see the desktop and login...? This would be SafeBoot mode.
If so, then it could be troubleshooted or console utility logs looked into, to see if there is any evidence of system parts not loading properly, or of a hardware issue. Or a graphics problem after the system loads.
SafeBoot starts the computer in a reduced OS X so several items are turned off.
With an AppleCare plan in effect, you should consider making an appointment
with a Genius at the Apple Store, to take the computer in for diagnosis.
Especially if this repeats itself; that would make it easier to prove a point.
Have you used this computer with an external display?
In safeboot mode, if it starts you could check some other things in the system.
However there are keyboard shortcuts on startup that
may be able to troubleshoot past the problem.
•Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
•About reset the NVRAM (so you tried it, more than twice?)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
PS: there may be two things to try:
two workarounds:
Put the computer to sleep (close the lid on a Mac Book (pro) or press the power button quickly on a desktop Mac. After a few seconds of sleeping, wake the computer up again. The login dialog usually appears now.
2. Sometimes you do not want to put the computer to sleep because you do not want to interrupt a task that is running. In this case, press CTRL+SHIFT+EJECT. This keyboard shortcut usually locks the screen. In out case, locking the screen also enables or resets the screen saver, so that the next key press or mouse motion will bring up the login dialog.
Good luck & happy computing!

Keyboard not responding at startup on iMac.

I'm currently using an Apple aluminum keyboard (with numeric keypad) and when ever I boot my iMac on this keyboard, I am completely unable to select my boot volume which makes it impossible to start up Bootcamp in my windows partition. I do most of my gaming on Windows as well as other leisurely activities but ever since I brought my iMac to the Apple store in march, I have been unable to select windows from startup making me have to go onto OSX and select it via the control panel. A genius at the apple store successfully selected my OSX from a different keyboard meaning that it's not the computer but the keyboard itself.
How can I get my keyboard to work at startup without having to buy a new one?
Help in this situation would be wonderful

If it works with another keyboard, it is obviously a problem with your keyboard, as you said yourself. If the iMac is still under the one-year warranty or AppleCare, you should be able to get a new one, assuming there is no sign of an accident, like liquid being spilled on it.
A few things to confirm... The keyboard should be connected directly to the computer, not to a USB hub. Try it on a different port, if you have not already.
Do the basic trouble-shooting procedures: run +Repair Disk Permissions+ in Disk Utility and reset PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
But if your computer worked fine at the Apple Store, those last two trouble-shooting actions probably will not help, since it worked when another keyboard was used.

Non-startup disks wakes up at odd times

Hi.
My secondary hard disks keep waking up at inconvenient times, when I'm doing tasks that should have nothing to do with them. For example, launching System Preferences, clicking on a menu item, opening a file in Safari that resides on the boot drive, or simply clicking on an edit point in a file in Fireworks (which doesn't have scratch disk options). I get a beach ball and have to sit there while an irrelevant drive spins up.
It could be any activity really. The wake-ups aren't at any time, but generally in response to some user input.
All of my apps reside on the boot SSD drive, as well as current project files. The other drives are for backups and archived projects.
Is it possible that the system is using non-boot drives for virtual memory? How would I stop this?
My tower has all 4 HD bays loaded, with the primary startup disc being the SSD drive with with over 400GB free. My energy saver preferences are set to "put the hard disks to sleep when possible" as I prefer the quiet of the SSD and the energy saving benefits.
I ran a clean system install when I installed the SSD, and reinstalled most software from scratch. I did drag across a couple of minor apps from the former startup disk, now that I think of it.
BTW I had the same problem with my previous set-up; same, computer but with a standard HDD boot.
It's driving me bonkers, as it defeats much of the purpose of having an fast SSD with low latency.
Thanks.

Are those other drives searchable by Spotlight? Perhaps Spotlight is looking around for stuff. If you really don't need those other drives indexed disable spotlight for them using the Spotlight preference's Privacy settings.
Note, I'm just guessing here.

Upgrading from Jaguar to Tiger on non dvd FP iMac

From my research of these discussions it seems like it should be possible to use the DVD drive in my wifes 15" powerbook G4 to upgrade my FP700G4iMac to OS 10.4 using something called firewire disk mode and a retail DVD of Tiger? (Seems that Apple no longer exchanges the DVD for CD's?) Can some one point me to a write-up on how to do this or otherwise explain it so I don't screw it up. It's also a mystery to me which upgrade method to use: Simple update vs. archive and install vs. erase and install vs. ??
Thanks,
Rick

Hello.
Connect the two machines with a 6pin-to-6pin Firewire cable (example).
iBook: Insert the Tiger disc
iBook: Go to Apple menu > System Preferences... > Startup Disk > 'Target Disk Mode'. The iBook will restart in Target Mode.
iMac: Power on and hold the Alt ⌥ (Option) key down.
iMac: Select the Tiger Install disc to boot from.
iMac: Run the Installer for an Upgrade.
iMac: When you are at the OS X desktop eject the Install disc.
Disconnect the firewire cable.
iBook: Power down using the power button.
I'd advise backing up all your data before undertaking this.
mrtotes
Message was edited by: mrtotes: Changed Powerbook to iBook

Periodic non startup of iMac

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