Photoshop won't boot up

I'm trying to open Photoshop CS2 but it keeps crashing on me, unlike Illustrator or Indesign, I ran Disk Warrior just to make sure it wasn't the HD but keep having the same issue, I also tried to reinstall it but no luck, please help!

Hi, coyococo3!
You might try navigating to Applications/Photoshop CS2/Legal and look in the Legal folder for an Asian (Vietnamese) version of the legal pdf documents there. If you find one, trash it. There was a known Adobe issue where this file caused crashes with the CS/CS2 versions of Illustrator and PS. It supposedly was resolved with the release of CS2, but still affects some systems.
Gary

Similar Messages

Photoshop won't boot up on Creative Suite 3 on my G4

Hi
The nearest topic I saw to this in the forum was "Photoshop hanging", but it didn't answer my question and your guys are technical, so I apologise for my basic knowledge.
I bought Creative Suite 3 less than a year ago, so I guess I am still guarenteed for technical support over the phone? I live in UK and didn't see a free phone no. for us.
So I'll bother u guys in the meantime if ok - My photoshop just doesn't boot up. It was working fine as was all my products on CS3, then suddenly doesn't work. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling.
My mac is a G4 and I added extra memory when I first bought CS3.
Regards,
Colin

Allen,
Thanks for your effort, but this still doesn't help me. Like i said originally: " My photoshop just doesn't boot up. It was working fine as was all my products on CS3, then suddenly doesn't work." This means that I can't even get preferences/ performance etc.
Buko,
Sorry I did add memory: 1GB in addition to original 512mB. CS3 worked fine for some time then PS started playing up ie not booting up. Under applications, it gives this version: 10.0.1 (10.0.1x20071012 [20071012.r.1644 2007/10/12:09:30:00 cutoff; r branch]) which seems quite unusal?
These are the details of the memory:
DIMM0/BUILT-IN:
Size: 512 MB
Type: Built-in
Speed: Built-in
Status: OK
DIMM1/J7:
Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR SDRAM
Speed: PC2700U-25330
Status: OK
Under hardware ATA:
TOSHIBA MK6025GAS:
Capacity: 55.89 GB
Model: TOSHIBA MK6025GAS
Revision: KA203B
Serial Number: 95QG0798S
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
OS9 Drivers: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 55.76 GB
Available: 35.7 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s3
Mount Point: /
Under Serail ATA - no info
Under Network Volumes - no info
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Colin

Won't boot, seems disk is gone?

Okay, I was on my iMac and it was running really slow, so reset it (Apple > Reset). It then comes up with a broken folder or whatever, and won't boot. I put in the installation disk, checked the Disk Utility and the only thing there is the Mac OSX Install Disk. I'm assuming that's not a good thing.
I didn't delete any system files (I barely even go anywhere outside of my user files) so I really just don't know what's going on. I can't even get the CD out of the drive now (because clearly that's the only thing it will boot from), so can't try anything else. Any suggestions, or is it pretty safe to say that my Mac is effed? I've only had it 3 months...
Also, if it is screwed, is there ANY possible way that I can salvage anything from it? I have $12k+ music, tens of thousands of images and photoshop stuff dating back 3-4 years. I've got SOME of it backed up onto my MacBook, but the majority is on there.
Message was edited by: jason_guy13

Thanks rkaufmann87, I'll try that.
Okay, as soon as I got it working again I backed up some of the stuff that I hadn't already. It then started to run quite slow again, constantly jamming up. I don't know, but could this by ANYTHING to do with a virus? I started to scan but then it just jammed completely, I restarted it and then the same thing, nothing to be able to boot from. I did notice it was very hot on top, moreso than normal. I think I'm going to take it in for them to have a look at anyway (once I get it working again and do a full virus scan, if it'll last that long). I'll leave it for a little while, try turning it back on, try rkaufmann87's suggestion and then try go from there, see what happens.
My thing is, I've only had the thing for 3 months? Is it normal for it to just die that quickly?
I'll keep you guys posted, thanks for all the help so far. Much appreciated.

Won't boot up again.

OK I’ll try another question (s), my computer won’t boot up, only get a gray screen then a small flashing folder with the old mac smile and a question mark. I did get Techtool pro 4 to run, but froze at the read/write test. Then I tried the Tech tool deluxe that came with my ibook and used that on the imac that said volume check failed, Error: the underlying task report failed on exit, 1HFS volume checked , 1 volume could not be repaired because of error and that is basically what the disk utility said. I have OS10.4 bundle, just installed it last week, it also has OS9.2 on it so I can run an old version of photoshop, does anyone think that it might have something to do with that OS9.2? or any other suggestions other than erase and install again which I also did last week or does anyone think maybe it’s the computer and I need to throw the dang thing out ? Thank you for any suggestions.

OS X should run fine with OS 9 there or not there. What can cause problems is if you use OS 9 based disk utilites on a OS X disk.
Given that you can't boot in safe mode and you can't repair disk I'm going to suggest that you erase the drive and 'Zero all Data' this writes zeros to every bit on the drive and should clear any bad sectors. You can then re-install OS X (and OS 9 if required).
I assume that you've backed up your data to the iBook G4 using Target Mode and so don't have to worry about loosing data?
mrtotes

Computer Won't Boot Up

Here is my issue, my computer one day was working fine and the next it won't boot properly.
System Specs: Satellite T235D-S1345RD (Laptop) - Windows 7 (64bit) - BIOS 1.7 - 4gb RAM -
I have gotten the computer booted one time. I am unsure why it did that time but did not do it another time.
Since that one time I put the computer in hibernate and when I tried to bring it out it told me it failed when coming out of hibernate so it went to reboot and now won't boot.
Here are the few steps I have done to try and get it working. When it boots up it gives me an error message (says that power failed or for some reason it did not boot)
I have ran "Repair Computer" and it does not do anything. I try start windows normally and it goes no where.
So I then tried F8 and got into the Advanced Boot Menu. First one I tried was Start Windows From Last Known Good Configuration. (or something like that I forget the exact wording)
When it does that the computer will start to boot up go to the "Windows Loading" screen and then it flashes a blue screen (there are words there but it flashes so quickly I cannot read it) and it goes back to the boot screen and acts like it is restarting and continues in that loop.
Next step - Enter F8 again tried "Repair Computer" and it loads to a black screen with a Cursor but nothing ever happens. I have given it over 30 min and nothing happens.
So next step- I enter F8 again and try to boot up in safe mode and again when it loads it flashes a blue screen and then nothing.
EDIT - I found how to show the blue screen. It says UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. Not sure what else I should do after I get that error message. Message Reads:
It reads UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME and says if it's the first time I've seen the error screen, to restart the computer. Then it tells me if it appears again, to check and make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
"If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode."
END EDIT
Next Step: I come to you guys here on this forum. I am a bit perplexed and lost at what to do. I wonder if this is a virus but I cannot get the computer to respond to try to get into it to check.
Ideas? Advice? What should I try? I can get into the F8 menu but not sure what else I should try. I will try anything to get this computer up and running!
Thanks for any and all help.
Lynda

Hi:
The 24 character failure ID usually indicates HDD is failing/has failed. You need to replace it with a new one.
Specs: http://support.hp.com/in-en/product/HP-Pavilion-dv6-Entertainment-Notebook-PC-series/5191856/model/5...
Manual: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03099531
Check warranty: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/weInput?cc=us&lc=en
Order recovery USB: http://support.hp.com/in-en/product/HP-Pavilion-dv6-6c13cl-Entertainment-Notebook-PC/5191856/model/5...
Contact HP: https://support.hp.com/in-en/contact-hp/product/HP-Pavilion-dv6-6c00-Entertainment-Notebook-PC-serie...
If you're under warranty, HP would send you replacement HDD.
If you're not, buy any branded 2.5" SATA 9.5mm thick internal laptop HDD and replace it yourself. But HDD of at least same capacity HDD as the one that came with your laptop (640gb) so that recovery media would work -
Go through page 56-58 in the Manual for replacement procedure. It's quite simple DIY job.
Something like this:
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16822236561
If you've not yet created the Recovery media to restore the factory settings after replacement, you have to order a set of Recovery USB from HP.
For salvaging the data from old HDD, I suggest you take out the drive. Connect it to another PC using SATA to USB adapter - copy all the files you need.
http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-Converter-Adapter-Cable-included/dp/B005B3VO24
Regards
Visruth
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Satellite m300 won't boot! please help!

Hi,
I've got a bit of an issue here.. I have a Satellite m300.. a white one..
and it won't boot... I've had this very issue before but it turned out to be an external USB HDD that stopped it from booting up but now even with everything removed it still won't boot.
And it was fine until yesterday, it just gave up.. I am away from home for work so I have all the work stuff and unfortunately without my recovery cd, but my guess is that it won't even read it..
So this is what happens..
turn on..
all light come on.. including power and all the white lights around the keypad..
and then maybe 5 sedconds later caplock and numlock(?) green lights flash..
then it's a dead still.. no HDD activities or sound.. just dead quite..
the screen remains black blank through out..
it seems to get stuck here before reaching the post screen.
i thought the power button usually took more than just a push to turn off? it instantly swithces off with a single push of the power button..
I think this laptop is like on sleep or something and can't seem to wak up.. maybe?
And it has vista.
Please help.. I have some important work files I need to recover at least before formatting..
and that has to wait till I get home which won't be for a month or so..
which also lets me take it back for warranty as well..
any help appreciated!!!
cheers,
Min

Quote
Originally posted by syar2003
If running a LCD display with DVI connection , try to hook it up with
an analog VGA cable.
Can also be that the motherboard fails to initialize the vga AGP card.
Turn off all power incl. AC .
Disconnect all devices from motherboard : AGP/memory/drives/floppy/USB/PCI cards etc. take out the 20pin & 4pin PSU connectors and reset the motherboards
cmos .
Assemble PSU connectors ,only one DIMM module and graphics card and turn it on and se if you get a post .
Just removed all components. I reset the CMOS. I then reconnected the 20pin and 4pin, 1 stick ram, and the video card (no ide devices, no mouse, keyboard cd drives) and the monitor doesn't show up. I also tried another monitor so it isn't the monitor.
Could it have a bad AGP port?
Any other suggestions? I am thouroughly stumped. Also the power and reset buttons don't work no matter what configuaration I put the front panel connectors in. The Power LED is lit up and it doesn't work and the reset light is off and it doesn't work.
Also noticed one of my fans connected to one of the two other fan pins on the motherboard isn't working.
What a nightmare.

Mid 2010 MacBook Pro won't boot past blue screen

I've been having problems booting up my MacBook. I can't get past the blue screen. It went from booting slow at the grey apple logo screen to not booting up at all. Is it a problem with my hard drive? I also have boot camp running as well, but I can still see the boot camp drive for windows and my OS X drive, as well as my installation disk when I have it inserted when I hold the option key at start up.
I'm still able to run windows on it without any problems when I pick the windows drive. I tried different methods from different forums but I'm just not getting through. I tried holding 'c' to boot up from cd and I let it run over night but it never got past the grey apple screen with the gradient wheel (still spinning). I had already used time machine to back everything up before this happened since I was able to boot up properly (but slowly). Can anyone help? It's driving me nuts, and I can't remember what os/firmware version I'm running.

n your signature you said you are running 10.6.3. So let’s assume you are running Snow Leopard.
It sounds like your diagnosis of disk problems is correct. The OS X partition may be corrupt.
Try booting in Safe Mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564
Try again to boot in normal mode.
If it will boot in Safe Mode but not in normal mode then you could have some 3rd-party software preventing the boot or you could have a corrupt disk or OS.
Boot as from the startup manager (Boot - option) and then select the installation disk.
Hopefully that will work better than starting with the Boot-C option.
Then try to repair the system disk.
Start the Disk Utility.
Perform the steps in http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836.
If it repairs OK but still won’t boot reinstall OS X.
Installing Mac OS X 10.6 SnowLeopard
http://kb.iu.edu/data/akav.html

MacBook Pro Retina 15" mid-2012 won't boot in clamshell mode with an external display attached

I have a 15" MBPr mid-2012 running OS X 10.10.1. The system won't boot in clamshell mode (power is connected, lid shut) with an external display attached via an Apple Thunderbolt->DVI adapter. it boots fine if the lid is open. It isn't the adapter or the display since my 15" MBPr mid-2014 boots up just fine connected to the same adapter and monitor. And this system used to boot like this just fine some while ago (probably before it was upgraded to Yosemite). I've reset the NVRAM (twice) to no avail.
Has anyone encounter this? Anyone have a solution? Should I try an SMC reset (always a bit nervous about that)? Might it be a driver issue in Yosemite?
Thanks.

I have a 15" MBPr mid-2012 running OS X 10.10.1. The system won't boot in clamshell mode (power is connected, lid shut) with an external display attached via an Apple Thunderbolt->DVI adapter. it boots fine if the lid is open. It isn't the adapter or the display since my 15" MBPr mid-2014 boots up just fine connected to the same adapter and monitor. And this system used to boot like this just fine some while ago (probably before it was upgraded to Yosemite). I've reset the NVRAM (twice) to no avail.
Has anyone encounter this? Anyone have a solution? Should I try an SMC reset (always a bit nervous about that)? Might it be a driver issue in Yosemite?
Thanks.

IMac shut down suddenly and won't boot back up

This morning my iMac shut down suddenly. All I had open was Google Chrome and I was just on Facebook and that's it. When I tried to boot it back up, it wouldn't load past the startup sound, wherein it would appear to shut back down,or at the very least the screen would go black (my mouse has lights that stay on when the computer is on, and the light kept going on and off while the screen remained black). This was the case for at least a half hour until it suddenly booted itself back up all on its own. I had it on throughout the day, just browsing the internet and watching Youtube. It shut itself down twice during the day, and both times it restarted on its own right away after showing me a grey screen with the Apple logo and a progress bar. Now it just shut itself down again and it won't make it past the progress bar screen - if it even makes it that far, sometimes it shuts off right after it makes the startup sound. It keeps trying to boot up on its own over and over again, but it keeps shutting down right away. All the fixes I've searched for so far require a computer that actually boots up all the way so I don't think I could run any reports if I tried!
I'm running the latest version of Yosemite (10.10.2?).
Model number A1311
Not entirely sure what specs are useful to know so I'm just gonna write some of what's on the box it came in:
3.2 GHz Intel i3 processor, 4MBshared level 3 cache
4GB of 1333MHz DDR SDRAM
1TB serial ATA hard drive
ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics processor with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory
Bought it around fall of 2010. Not sure if it's worth trying to get it fixed (I live nowhere near an Apple store) or if I should just get a new computer, but I would like to know what's wrong, if possible.

Try to boot into the Recover Partition by holding down the Command + R keys on startup. If it still won't boot then the HD has probably crashed. The is likely a AASP in your area, you can locate one by clicking AASP Locator, take it to one to be professional diagnosed. If it's only the HD, assuming you have been backing up, restoring to a new HD is pretty simple.

[865PE NEO2 PFISR] Won't boot with added memory

Recently I upgraded a few items on my PC which has been running fine for 18 months or so. I changed out the video card and bought double the memory of the same brand and type it had in it. I went from 1gig (2 sticks) and added two more sticks. But now it won't boot. The power is on but no output whatsoever.
I RMA'd the memory thinking that might be the problem but it's the same with the new set. I tried all sorts of memory/slot combos. Basically, the new memory works fine if you swap it out in bank A with the old stuff. That's how it's running right now, so I know all of the sticks are good. I can take a third and put it in either slot bank B and it'll boot, but obviously not run properly. But any combination of these four sticks and the system won't boot!
Please help!
I'm running this system:
Win XP (SP1 I believe)
865PE NEO2 PFISR
P4/3.0CGHz, 800M 478P/512K HT
DDR Corsair 512MB X4 (400)
Dual 80gb samsung HDs running SATA
Sapphire X800GTO 256M video card
Antec Sonata case
TruePower 380Watt ATX12V

What brand, model, and speed are the RAM sticks. Did you check your Test Report booklet which came with the mobo. If you can't find it, you can go to the MSI website and look for your MOBO and get the test report that way. Some brands/models will that have been tested are shown in the report to be okay in all 4 slots, some only test okay in 2 or 3. Check this report and if it is one of the brands/model/speed tested you will see how it fared. It may well be you the MOBO doesn't like your RAM in 3 or 4 slots.
Maybe I missed it, but did you try each slot with only one stick at a time? You may also have a bad RAM slot.

Lenovo G560 - Issue with won't boot and black screen after HDD upgrade

Lenovo G560 - Issue with won't boot and black screen after HDD upgrade.
What happen: My laptop was working fine, no blue screen issue, no funny business at all. I bought a new SSD Intel 120 GB and thought it would be a good idea to replace the HDD. I shutdown and disconnected the power adapter, waited a couple of minutes and removed the battery. I opened up the back case and replaced the HDD. And put all the screws back and put the battery back in.
Problem: The very first time I turned the power on, nothing happens besides a black screen. I pressed the dvd drive it works and opens up and closes. I waited for about 30 mins and still has blac screen. When I mean black screen, no bios menu, no logo, just a black screen with the fan sound on.
I have tried these:
1. Unplugged everything - battery, adapter, and pressed the power on button for about 60 seconds, nothing, the laptop turns on with the LED display on for both on and battery LED's. But nothing but black screen, no sound of windows loading just the fan and black screen.
2. I tried putting back my old 2.5" and nothing but black screen.
Thoughts and suggestions?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi Autoexit173,
Welcome to Lenovo Community!
As per the query we understood that you are facing issue with system not booting in your Lenovo G560 laptop.
As you have mentioned that the system not booting, please try to remove the RAM and turn on the system and check if you can hear any beep sound. Also try to clean the RAM slots and check for the issue.
Click here for the steps to remove the RAM and refer page number 40.
Hope this helps. Do post back if issue persists!
Best regards,
Ashwin.S
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My Macbook Pro won't boot up, I don't have any discs...bought from Craigslist

I bought my Macbook Pro (2012 model) from Craigslist and only had it about a week, but this morning I couldnt boot it up. I didnt get any discs with this computer. Only the powercord. What can I do to get it to boot up and where can I go from there? There was a software update last night and this morning it won't boot up. Is my only option going to Apple Store? Is there anything else I can try to at least get it to boot up?? Thanks so much.

Yea, it has Mountain Lion on it. I have tried starting while holding down Command-R, and also the Comand R, Option P, and still won't let me boot up. I made an appointment for a Genius Bar... Is this who I make the appointment with for help with this? We checked the seriel number from "About this Mac" and we went to view that it had a few years left of apple care. It happened right after a software update. Wonder if that caused it. Is there viruses out there for Mac's and should I have a program to clean it up after I get it going or IF I get it going tonight? Thanks,
Curt

Hi guys I'm really in need of some help. I have an IMac I3 for a while now I've been having a problem of my machine refusing it shut down , it goes to a blue screen with a spinning wheel but doesn't shut down. And now won't boot from install DvD

Please some one help me ...
A) my mac won't shut down with external HD connected (if it's been used)
B) there are disk permissions that can't be fixed SUID stuff ..
C) I have now verified the Mac HD and it tells me it's corrupt in bold red writing and to start up from install DVD
D) it won't boot from DVD so I cannot run the repair , initially the machine was spitting it out on start up , now it appears to be attempting to boot off DVD , well it sounds like it is .... BUT it's hanging with the Mac Logo and a wheel ... For um .... 30min now...
E) weirdly when OSX is booted off the hard drive , it won't recognise the Install DvD or the applications one... It just spits them out....
I had an old PPC 17" and it was a beaut .... Never had a single problem with it ...
I bought this one December 2010 and it's been nothing but issues for a computer in excess of £1000 I'm extremely disappointed ... And weirdly the shutting down issue started when it was a week out of warrantee ... I feel conned and am almost at the point of throwing it at a wall and buying a PC

Ok so I've done what you said and this is what it's come back ....
I don't know that these are the errors , but they're the things which don't look right ...
Throughout the shut down there is a recurring line ;
It says ;
Com.apple.launchd 1 0x100600e70.anonymous.unmount 301 PID still valid
Then there are 2 more which I think are related ;
Com.apple.securityd 29 PID job has I overstayed its welcome , forcing removal.
Then the same with fseventd 48 and diskarbitrationd 13
Oh and on Launchd1 : System : stray anonymous job at shut down : PID 301 PPID13 PGID 13 unmount...
Then the last process says "about to call: reboot (RB_AUTOBOOT).
Continuing...
And stops ...
Hope this means something to you ... Thanks again for your help so far :-)

FileMaker Server problem on Mac Mini Server - Mac Mini won't boot

I just installed a brand new Mac Mini Server today, and also FileMaker Server 11. A first-timer for both Mac OS X Server and FileMaker Server, I made an error as explained below, and right now I don't know how to get back on track with the system. It won't boot.
So, how did this happen?
At first everything was proceeding according to plan. I configured the pre-installed Mac OS X Server on the Mac Mini with users, groups and services. This was tested from clients and this seemed to work just fine. Then I installed and configured FileMaker Server. This was also tested from a client, and the example database that came with FMS was served up just fine.
The problem arose when I tried to install my existing FileMaker databases. I simply checked to see where in the file system the example database was located, and then copied my old databases to that location (I think it was Library > FileMaker Server > Data > Databases or something close to it - can't check it now...). I had the FileMaker Server Admin Console running, and hit the Refresh button hoping that this would make FileMaker Server find the databases.
This was my first error. I should have read ahead in the instructions to see that one is supposed to use an Upload Database assistant instead...
What happened when I hit refresh was that the FileMaker Server Admin Console became completely unresponsive with a spinning ball as cursor. I left it for about an hour hoping it would terminate, but gave up and tried to shut it down. It wouldn't close, so I force quit it from the Finder. Then I tried to shut down FileMaker Server, but I needed to force quit this as well. After this I thought it would be best to reboot the Mac Mini, so I shut it down, but now it won't even boot, it just stays on the screen with the spinning wheel for ever!
I have tried all the keyboard options while booting, but nothing seems to help. In safe mode, the grey progress bar just grows to about one third, then disappears and leaves the eternally spinning wheel.
The server version of the Mac Mini doesn't have an optical drive, only two internal hard drives. I tried to reinstall from scratch using the optical drive on another Mac on the network. The startup disk appeared when I tried to boot the Mac Mini holding down the option key, and after about 20 minutes or so of the spinning wheel I could actually access the discs. I started by running Disk Utility to check disk permissions. There were a lot of repairs concerning permissions and groups, especially on "Library". It said "ACL differs on Library", I don't know what this is but this was repaired. I then ran Repair Disk. The volume appeared to be OK.
When I tried to reinstall Mac OS X Server however, this failed with the message
"You can't upgrade this version of Mac OS X because a newer version is installed. Mac OS X Server couldn't be installed on this disk." I don't know how this can be, but I may have run software update earlier today.
What should I try next? Should I erase the primary HD and try to install again? Or should I install the system software on the secondary HD? Or should I just try to reboot as is in the hope that the disk permission repairs did the trick...?
Any helpful pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Hello there, I came across your post when browsing the forum for passive advice. I am in the same boat as you and am a first timer for both of these tools. I work for a company who now needs to expand its network and database capabilities. I have been assigned this task and these are the tools i have opted for. I have not yet purchased them and i am pleased to find someone who has my desired setup. Could you please advise on the simplicity of the setup and whether an advanced knowledge is required.
I want to use it in a mixed operating system environment. Is this possible?
Regards
Matthew

MacPro won't boot-up...I think it's hardware related

Sorry, this is detailed, but I figured I had to explain everything I've done so far and the issues I've had. Thanks much!
My MacPro won't boot up. Initially I thought it was a software problem, and went through this thread looking for help. After a while, I came to think it wasn't the OS but a hardware problem. Here's why:
The initial problem was that I couldn't login to OS X (Lion). It started with the screen flickering, and freezing up. One time I logged in, and there were these uniform dots across my screen, and a black border overlaying the screen. I restarted, and that was when I couldn't login at all. It would go the gray screen with the dark gray Apple logo. The sundial would appear below...and then suddenly freeze. At that point, nothing.
I tried to boot into Safe Mode, but this also didn't work. The same result.
I then decided I'd do a clean install from the Install DVD and overwrite my boot drive (everything is saved onto a RAID Array). However, I couldn't load the OS installer.
I then thought maybe it was the HDD itself (the boot drive), so I bought a new one and tried to format and install. Again, the same thing. The DVD drive would activate, the gray screen would appear, and then it would freeze at the sundial. But this time, the dark gray overlay would come on screen, with the small box that told me to hold down power key (the one in mutliple languages).
So I then began to suspect the problem was deeper. I ran the Apple Hardware Diagnostic test. (I disconnected everything except the keyboard and the display.) The quick version showed everything was fine, but the extended version came back with some varying results.
First, my specs.
This is a MacPro 3,1.
24 GB RAM (8GB installed by vendor, 16 GB recently installed by me)
Bay 1 - Unformatted new HDD
Bay 2 - Slice 1 of RAID Array
Bay 3 - Slice 2 of RAID Array
Bay 4 - Formatted HDD for Storage
When I ran the first test, it was as above. Here is the error message I received:
4MEM/62/40000005: 0x79600ff18
This made me think it was a memory issue. So I took out the new RAM I had recently installed and ran the test again. I got this:
4MEM/60/40000005: 0x79650d18
So I took the old RAM out and put the new RAM back in. I also put the original, formatted HDD with OS X back into Bay 1. Here's what I got this time:
4SNS/3/4000000: TMOP-128.000
The new kind of error led me to think the problem was the old HDD and old RAM (after all, when I used only the new RAM, I put the old boot drive back in). When I ran the test, with the unformatted HDD in Bay 1 and the new RAM, I got...no error message!
So I restarted my system, hoping I could load the Install DVD now and install Mac OS X on the new HDD in Bay 1. But...nothing. Same as the original result. Gray screen with a freeze on the sundial, and then gray overlay telling me to shut down. Aaargh!!!
Someone suggested trying to login to Single User mode. I was tried and was able to do that. But, what do I do from there?
So I rebooted, and then tried to login when holding down the option key. It came up with the option to load the Install DVD. I said yes, and of course, same result as before.
So, as a last step, I put my old HDD back in and started the system holding the option key. This disc is a dual boot drive with Windows 7 on another partition. It gave me the following options:
Mac OS X HDD (my Lion install)
Windows 7
Recovery HD
Install Mac OS X (DVD)
For kicks, I chose Windows 7 to see what would happen. It actually logged me in! ... but it was like I was in an old safe mode in this sense: the screen size was the smallest available (that is, all the icons were big).
This makes me think that maybe (again, maybe) the problem is the video card. (Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT) This might explain the flickering and freezing I initially had when I could actually login. But...really, I'm at a loss and don't know if I should take the time and money to get a new video card.
Any suggestions???
Thanks!
Naveen

Windows 7 DVD has a decent memtest and you are in Safe Mode probably due to Windows didn't shutdown gracefully.
You can also use chkdsk or WD Lifeguard to certify all the disk sectors are mapped out if they need be.
8800GT: you have heard of the 10 minutes in over for 350*?
But you might want a new card anyway.
Vendors and RAM. Well it was working but buying RAM esp FBDIMMs and my guess is you have some 4GB DIMMs. Also mixing sets or brands can work most of the time, but not always.
RAM probllems result in dirty files and other errrors so fix the problem, make sure you have a good pair and no errors. Or more. And then try clean install.
Windows 7 w/ AppleHFS.sys and AppleMNT.sys does not like an Apple array to be present. MacDrive gets around that and allows mounting - and avoiding BSODs.
Cheap as I have found, highest quality though, 667MHz so they run 4% slower is all, if you need one good set:
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
Lion Recovery Disk Repair? you did or didn't?
Lion installer: hopefully you kept the ESD package for later re-install (without having to download and all that bother).
Some people play musical chairs with the Risers and DIMMs and DIMM slots. Or just RMA and get new sets but I would try with just half the 24GB or less, then test with half the 16GB set. To have one set it would be one DIMM in A1 and B1.
And of course reset the SMC - hitting power button 10 seconds while unplugged (and no devices or cables connected).

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