Start up screen error?

Question

i have an ibook g3 that i recently started using again after 2 years, started up fine, did some apple updates this morning, it asked to restart my computer, then the grey apple start up screen turned into a circle with a / through it and wouldnt continue to the next screen..any advice?

Answer 1

Hi there:
The symptom you describe is outlined with some ideas on a cure in
this Apple Support document on the topic of grey screen startup:
"Your Mac won't start up in Mac OS X" (Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier)
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1411
This covers several instances and more than a few similar issues;
so some of the probable fixes or troubleshooting should apply...
One step to try is booting up in SafeBoot (shift key held down through
a startup; to check and do minor repair on startup) and if that works,
see if the system's Disk Utility can perform a 'repair disk permissions'
and then follow that with a normal restart. If your computer is still on
from the first instance you mentioned in your earlier post, you may be
able to shut it down by holding the Power button in for 10+ seconds.
The link above has a variety of things to try; with links to more.
Given you have an iBook, some other things may be necessary to
resolve an issue; should it be related to a kernel panic, or some
other problem. In some instances, resetting the PMU may be one
of the last things to try before throwing in the towel. I'd suspect a
different problem after a few minutes with the computer in hand,
if the SafeBoot or other listed things do not help.
Panther Maintenance Tips - O'Reilly Media:
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/11/21/maintenance.html
OS X Panther Solutions:
http://www.macattorney.com/panther.html
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting:
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html
Good luck & happy computing!
edited 2x.