Stuck in open firmware

While I was browsing the internet my mac said that Macintosh HD can not be used, I restarted it and now it is stuck in open firmware and at the top of the screen it says user-abort. What should I do?

It seems that your HD has got some defective sectors and the OS can't read the data which is needed to continue.
Is it still the original HD?
If your're running OS9 you can use utilities like Norton utilities to fix your disc if you don't plan to reinstall the OS.

Similar Messages

Need urgent help on Sawtooth stucked at Open Firmware screen

Hello.
I've got a G4 Graphite Sawtooth Powermac running a Newertech MaxPower 2.0MHZ processor upgrade for about 3 years. It is running Leopard (10.5.8) system.
I've also installed a Seritek 1S2 card with a 500GB Sata disk.
Some days ago I've started to notice that sometimes when I did Log Off or Shut down the Mac cleaned all the desktop icons but then nothing happens.
Also, it started to freeze sometimes doing some tasks like open apps or working on Photoshop.
Today the Mac refused to boot on the main system disk (I have a secondary 80GB disk with Tigger installed on it).
Then I ran TechTool Pro Disck scan and it gave me an error on scanning the main disk.
I've booted into the Tiger disk (a 80GB one) and think to myself if this could be something to do with the Seriteck card or driver, or something related to it...
I've loaded the Seritek install CD and click the install firmware of the Seriteck disk, then I've booted and... it stucked on Open Firmware forever.
It is on the welcome screen of the open firmware and I can't do anything.
It says" To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return", but I can't type anything because it looks freezed. My keyboard don't respond.
I've tryed the firmware boot (that one with the long beep pressing the programmer button) at no avail.
I'm desesperate. I'm a freelancer and I've goot importante work to deliver to clients and I can't get my Mac to to boot into the system.
At this point I just want to boot normally into Tiger, Leopard, whatever.
I just need to boot and recover my works.
See screenshot of Open Firmware screen here:
http://img19.imageshack.us/i/dscn3061q.jpg/
Can someone please help?
Thank you for your time,
Macjaime

I ran TechTool Pro Disk scan and it gave me an error on scanning the main disk.
If you did a "Surface Scan", and not a "Volume Structures Repair", it is telling you there is a Bad Block on the Hard Drive.
There are two cases: It could be temporary, or it could be permanent. There are two sub-cases of each: It could be important or it could be unimportant.
When you run the test, and it tells you the Surface Scan has detected an error, you are supposed to ask it figure out what file is involved, and write it down. Then you can decide whether to delete that file and replace it with a good copy.
Bad blocks may mean your drive will not be working properly in six months, if you continue to use it full time. It could also die this afternoon -- no one knows. If you can re-initialize with Zero all Data (one pass) the drive will substitute some of its stash of spare blocks for any that remain bad after the zeroing. But of course all your data will be lost, and it takes a few hours to complete.
Some readers suggest that a drive that has had spare blocks substituted may last a long time at light duty, such as making an occasional backup.
The only article that comes up with a search for "default catch" has to do with drives that are really wacked out. It suggests you back up everything and re-initialize the drive.

Tried to install OS X on my G4 and it is now stuck on Open Firmware screen

I have a powermac g4, with dual 450 processors. Bought in 2000 - After buying a brand new G5 last year I recently tried to install my OS X Tiger I got with the G5 onto the G4. Initially it all booted up fine. However when I turned it back on instead of booting up it made a long tone and then went to an Open Firmware screen with the prompts to type ‘shut-down’ or ‘reset-all’
Neither prompt works and this happens every time I turn it on. I have tried holding ‘c’ with original CD I got with the G4 to bring it back, I have tried holding ‘c’ with the OS X cd, I have tried to re-set Pram by holding down the appropriate keys but nothing works it just always makes the long tone noise and goes to the Open Firmware screen.
I have also been informed about updating the Frimware -i now have the software on a CD but cannot get the system back to be able to do this
Can anyone help me bring the G4 back to life?
G4 Powermac Have a G5 too

Hi
You could order the Full Retail Version of OS X (Black DVD with a silver X on it). Regarding always starting up in Open Firmware, in this thread a bloke had the same problem until he disconnected his peripherals before restarting. See if the entire thread helps:
http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB13&Number=2 43591&Main=243591
Steve

Stuck, No Open Firmware, Help Please

Alright guys, got new ram, airport card, pram, and harddrive online from this powerbook g4 a1106 I was given.
I have all the hardware and was looking to get into the open firmware menu.
I hold command option O F
nothing happens, just goes to this white screen and sits there forever.
I dont have leopard yet but am assuming i could still get into that OF menu.
Please Help
Thanks

Ok sorry for double post,
I found out you just hold the power down or 5 seconds, did this, no change, cant get into open firmware, just white screen

HT201718 IMac is on white screen "Open Firmware" what shall I do now

well I have a genuine Mac Leopard OS X 10.6.7 installation disk and the iMac is stuck in grey screen and says in panic: We are hanging here.I have been able to get to white scree in Open Firmware but that's about it. Holding the C key down doesn't start the installation disk.

Is your signature correct?
The A1076 is not able to run 10.6 - that OS is for Intel Macs. That model is a PowerPC G5.
You need the original install disks or a copy of 10.5 to install or fix that hardware.

Lost open firmware password - any way to reset?

Hi
I lent my PB to someone and I don't know exactly what happened, but now the PB can't start up. I get the flashing Finder icon and question mark, so I got out my install discs and tried to repair permissions/reinstall. But I set an open firmware password which I have now forgotten, so I can't boot up from the disc. Is there any way that I can reset the password, or somehow reinstall?
I did check the airport card, it seems to be seated properly.
I'm running 10.3.9 on the 1.33 GHz PB.
Any help will be hugely appreceiated. Thank you.
p53

Thanks Gossamer, but I can't reset the PRAM because I've lost my open firmware password.
I'm basically stuck with a PB that won't start up until I remember my open firmware password (which is unlikely) or I am able to reset the password somehow.
I didn't mention in my first post - when the PB goes into open firmware mode, the screen displays:
"Invalid memory access at SRR0: ff84a4d0 SRR1: 0000b030"
Does this indicate a problem with the memory?
p53

Start-up problems, black screen or open firmware

My iBook G4 1.33GHz Dual USB, with 1 gb RAM memory has been troublesome lately. It's installed with the latest version of OS 10.4.9
When starting up the ibook, it will sometimes only show a black screen after the boot chime. Repeated force restart sometimes makes it boot up the open firmware (white screen).
Then I see the error message:
"Illegal instructions at: %SRR0:ff85e778 %SRR1:00081000"
When I continue on with "mac-boot", I get the blue screen with a question marked box. So it can't find the startup disk.
This usually only happens when I'm done working for the day and close the lid on my ibook without manually clicking on the sleep mode when I put in in my drawer,. I've seen several times that the screen is still on when I close the lid, so it will continue to burn battery time.
I've managed to get the ibook to boot properly after removing the battery and letting it "cool-down" for 15-20 min. Also, zapping pram, vram sometimes works, but I don't know how much that actually helped. It worked once when I typed in the reset-nvram in the open firmware screen too.
I'd rather not have this happen at all! Any suggestions? Is this the much-talked about RAM memory failure?
Any suggestions would be very appreciated.
Message was edited by: antony chen

HI,
*"I get the blue screen with a question marked box."*
That can mean several things. One, the drive is failing. Two, your iBook can't find a System Folder to boot from. Try booting while holding down the Option key which will prompt the Startup Manager window.
MemTest
Boot from your install disk and check the hard disk for errors.
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window where you see Capacity and Available. Make sure there is always 15% free disk space. Not enough disk space can cause directory corruption.
If you cannot boot from your install disk, try booting in Safe Mode
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Carolyn

PowerBook G4 boots to Open Firmware without keyboard access

Summary:
Let me provide a little backstory.
According to the [DARPA Visitor Guidelines|http://www.darpa.mil/body/visitor_guidelines.html] wireless network technology is prohibited from DARPA facilities. Laptops with a wireless card are required to be "disabled at the BIOS level".
Before an upcoming visit to DARPA I was told that I would need to make sure my laptop wireless card was disabled. I mentioned that Macs don't have BIOS but I'd look into doing it in Open Firmware. The response from DARPA was that no one has ever successfully brought an Apple laptop into the facility, and that I should procure a PC laptop for my visit. Ah, a challenge!
I booted into Open Firmware (⌘⌥OF), located the wireless card in the device tree, and removed two properties I figured the driver would be searching for: the vendor ID, and the product ID. I exited Open Firmware and continued to boot into Mac OS X v10.5.2.
Sure enough the System Profiler showed that no wireless card was installed. Success! Now I just need to make the device tree modifications persist between reboots.
It seemed the solution was to place the Open Firmware commands I issued to disable the card into nvramrc. So I set nvramrc to contain the same commands, and set use-nvramrc? to be true. I rebooted the machine but the card was still detected.
A bit [more research|http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/805-4436/6j4719c8v?a=view] revealed that the device tree is not created by Open Firmware until after the nvramrc is executed. The solution is to build the device tree in the nvramrc and tell Open Firmware not to rebuild it. The documentation states that this is accomplished with the probe-all, install-console, and banner Forth commands. I added those commands to my nvramrc and rebooted. The contents of nvramrc:
probe-all install-console banner
dev wireless
" device-id" delete-property
" vendor-id" delete-property
The outcome... well technically the laptop has wireless disabled. Almost everything is disabled. The machine now boots directly into Open Firmware with a few ominous bits of output and no response from the keyboard.
no active package
Apple PowerBook5,6 6.4.9.1f1 BootROM built on 01/21/05 at 10:51:16
Copyright 1994-2005 Apple Computer, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Welcome to Open Firmware, the system time and date is 05/06/2008 10:00:00
Command security mode
To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return.
To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return.
ok
0 > _
The first sign that something has gone wrong is no active package. The second message just throws another wrench into the works: Command security mode. Yes, the Open Firmware password was enabled. In retrospect this was a bad thing to have set when mucking about in OF. I knew of the RAM change trick (see below) so this was not an issue at the time.
Question:
So the question is: What actions do I need to take to return the laptop to a useable state. That is, booting into Mac OS X.
*Attempted solutions:*
+1. Reset nvram+
The first and most obvious solution is to reset nvram using the snag key combination ⌘⌥PR. Unfortunately do to the firmware password being set, [all snag keys have been disabled|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352]. This means no target disk mode (⌘T), boot from CD (⌘C), boot from network (⌘N), etc... In any case an attempt at resetting nvram yields an additional message being appended to the Open Firmware screen:
Release keys to continue!_
+2. Reset nvram after changing amount RAM in system+
Luckily there is a work-around to firmware password protection. Changing the amount of RAM installed in the machine should allow the nvram zap snag to function. I removed one of the two 512MB DIMMS in the laptop and started up while holding down ⌘⌥PR. This results in the same message as above:
Release keys to continue!_
Not so lucky.
+3. Reset the Power Management Unit+
[Resetting the Power Management (PMU)|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449] is accomplished by removing the battery and disconnecting the power cord, and then holding down the power button for about 5 seconds. This had no effect besides resetting the system clock to 01/01/1904 00:00:41.
Getting more desperate...
+4. Search logic board for CUDA+
I [opened the machine|http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G4-Al-15-Inch-1-5-1-67-BT-2-0 -LR/64] to search for a hidden [CUDA button|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760]. As expected, a CUDA button does not exist on this model and the PMU reset is accomplished as noted in attempted solution 3.
+5. Remove internal battery+
Well the laptop is open now, so I tried removing the internal memory backup battery and revisited each of the above solutions. No success.
+6. Remove hard drive+
Again, since the laptop was open, why not remove the hard drive and see what happens. The machine wasn't even making it to the boot-loader hand-off so I didn't expect this to produce any results. No results produced.
Thinking crazy thoughts...
+7. Attempt a firmware update+
Firmware updates have a side effect of resetting the nvram. Also firmware updates are initiated very early in the startup process by holding down the power button until a tone is heard and the power light flashes. My thought was that I would grab a previous firmware update for this laptop and force it to be reapplied. Unfortunately there have been no updates to this model's firmware.
+8. Write my own firmware update script+
While investigating solution #7 I realized that the file BootROMFirmware installed by the firmware updaters for G5s and G4s machines are just Forth programs with a binary payload attached to the end. I learned [Forth|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth(programminglanguage)]. The BootROMFirmware files are really cool, since they do everything from drawing the progress bar during the update, uncompressing and check-summing the binary payload, and generally making sure you don't brick your machine. In any case it seem entirely doable to write my own program in Forth and undo the evil I did before. I really only need to flip one bit. I needed the use-nvramrc? variable set to false. So I created this very simple Forth program:
\ debrickifier
setenv use-nvramrc? false
reset-all
The original firmware file had additional attributes set, a creator and file type of fw99. So I set those two attributes on my file as well. I ran strings on the firmware installer program and guessed that it was copying the file to /System/Library/CoreServices. So this is where I placed my Forth file. Reinstalled the drive and rebooted the laptop while holding down the power key to initiate a firmware install. No dice.
Its hard to tell why this is failing. The file may in the wrong place, have the wrong permissions. From what I've reviewed in the original files, the setenv and reset-all words should be available. Maybe the Firmware Update utilities are setting some other magic in nvram before the reboot.
I think I've covered all the different major solutions that I've attempted. Their might be a few more that I've forgotten to mention (like using an external USB keyboard). I still think that getting some Forth to execute via the firmware update mechanism could use some more exploration. My current worst case is that I'll replace the logic board, although I'd hate to do that when I know there are only a few bad bits flipped in a CMOS somewhere.
I'm hoping to snag the attention of the resident hardware/firmware guru that can shed some light upon the firmware update process, but any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Mark

For your next DARPA visit, another option might be to buy the cheapest possible third-party wireless card — it doesn't even need to work. Insert it into your Powerbook's CardBus slot before visiting DARPA, and turn Airport off in System Prefs. On arrival at DARPA, remove the card from the Powerbook and hand it to the security guard. Retrieve it from the guard as you leave, and turn Airport back on again when you get home or back to your office. Unable to comply with the letter of the dunderheaded regulation because you have no BIOS, you will be complying with the spirit of it instead, and no one will be the wiser.

I am having a Startup problem. Someone comes on the screen with Open Firmware to Startup. How can I reset the PRAM myself to solve this problem?

I am having a Startup problem. Someone comes on the screen with Open Firmware to Startup. How can I reset the PRAM myself to solve this problem?

Read these.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10330118-263.html

Start-up Problem - White Screen Open Firmware

Hi
Just turned my eMAc on and got a new beeping sound, the little light on the front flashed several times and then the screen went completely white with the following message;
Apple PowerMac 6,4 4.8.2f1 BootROM built on 03/11/04 at 09:18:55
Copyroght 1994 - 2004 Apple Computer, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Welcome to Open Firmware, the system time and date is: 07:26:35 10/20/2006
To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return
To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return
ok
0 >
I typed in 'mac-boot' and return and everything starts and 'appears' to work as normal.
I have shut down and restarted twice and the same thing happens. I also noticed that the push button switch seems to be sticking.
My question is - Is this a hardware issue (the start button is faulty) or is it a software (firmware, corrupt file)?
Many thanks for help and advice
Mick

It's possible it's a hardware problem, but first I'd suggest you try resetting Open Firmware:
At the 0 > prompt, type:
reset-nvram
and press Return
At the 0 > prompt, type:
set-defaults
and press Return
At the 0 > prompt, type:
reset-all
and press Return.
With luck, that will clear things and you'll be back to booting normally.
Hope this helps.

Long tone on start up and then goes into open firmware

I stumbled upon the older posts here and thought I'd add a solution.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6115258
It was about an emac starting up with a long tone and the led flashes a few times and then goes into Open firmware, and when doing "mac-boot" in open firmware, it attempts to start, shows the apple symbol, the screen goes dim and crashes.
It could be a bad power switch. To confirm - you can remove the emac case, be careful not to touch the motitor's picture tube. Find the cable to the power switch; with a small wire just touch together the black and red wires on the power switch cable (or it might be red and green). This will start the emac. If it boots up and runs OK then the power switch was bad. Not sure where to buy a new switch. I soldered and glued my switch together.
<Edited by Moderator>

Or, you'll find both the short pigtail-cabled nVidia graphics driven power switch and the version with a longer cable used with the AIT graphics driven models here* for a good deal less.
Note that the later ATI version can actually be used with either product generation.
*I may receive compensation as a result of parts or services being ordered by users specified at the link shown in this message.

IBook G4 - Black screen in open firmware

Hi, i have a strange problem with my iBook G4.
When switched on it chimes and starts loading but the screen is completely black (not no backlight but completely black). In otherwords it does not show the grey screen or apple logo.
Once the OS boots the blue screen comes up and everything works perfectly.
So the problem is that anything before the actual OS loads is black. That means the grey screen with apple logo, open firmware and the drive selection screen (if you boot holding ALT/OPT) are all black.
I have tried resetting the PMU, Pram and blindly (with black screen) in open firmware did reset-nram and reset-all but nothing changed.
It is a late 2004 iBook G4 1.2Ghz with 512MB ram, 30GB HD and OSX Leopard 10.5.8.

This is a strange one, isn't it?
I'd count my lucky stars that it will boot into the OS, and I'd be saving up for a new MacBook Pro (or used MacBook).
I'm going to kick this one around with some of the gang in the Lounge and see if any of them have any ideas about what may be causing this.
Good luck with it.

How do I install an open firmware password on my 10.6.8 OSX Macbook?

I tried to download the lastes version of open firmware, but it is incompatible with the version of my computer. Don't tell me to use a disk I got with my computer, that would be for a Macbook Pro, not a Macbook, which is what I have. Please tell me if you can find a link to a firmware password program for Mac OSX 10.6.8, or if you have another way of installing a firmware password. Thanks.

You have other problems on your computer, then, or not reading carefully. Note this:
"For Mac OS X v10.5.x, start from the Leopard Install DVD and choose Firmware Password Utility from the Utilities menu, then skip to step 5."
For Snow Leopard if the above does not work, then look for the Firmware Password utility on your Snow Leopard DVD.
Oh, and please don't click on the Helpful or Solved buttons for your own posts.

Open firmware startup disk by default

I have an iMac which by default always goes to the open firmware startup disk screen. How do I get rid of this? I have tried zapping the PRAM, reinstalling the OS and a different hard drive. There are no problems w/ the functionality of the computer or the software and there are no symptoms to say that there is anything wrong w/ the computer. Just want to get rid of having to hit enter at the firmware startup disk screen every time I turn it on. Any suggestions please.

Mark, it appears that the defauly startup mode has been changed on your Mac.
Probably the easiest way to get back to normal is using a utility. I use the free utility OnyX. In OnyX go to Parameters>Login and at the bottom of the pane you can change your Mac's default startup mode.

Strange boot bug; open firmware not working

Hi!
I have a powerbook Alu 15", 1.5Ghz. It runs OS X 10.4.2 with the latest security update. My problem started last Saturday.
The problem is that my pb will not restart nor boot on its own. The computer makes its usual chime, the hard-disk starts to spin for a few second, and then stops suddenly before anything is displayed on the screen (the display does not even light-up). If I press the option key after or before the chime, and keep it pressed, or the shift key, or the c key, or the t key, or the command-option-p-r key combination, or even the command-option-o-f key combination, the behavior is exactly the same: the disk starts to spin for a few second after the chime, and suddenly halts. The computer appears to shutdown on its own before the boot can even start.
Here is the strange part: the computer boots normally if I press the command key (this key on its own is not suppose to do anything). It also works if I press the command-s or command-v key combination. No other key combination seem to work.
Except for this strange boot behavior, the computer works flawlessly. I did not have any kernel panic for at least a year, the computer did not crash recently, everything works fine except for one small detail on which I will come back at the end.
I've tried to fix the problem by the following actions:
1) Clean install of Tiger with a new partitioning of the disk; I even zeroed the entire disk. This did not change anything so the problem is probably not OS related.
2) Reset of the PMU with the four finger salute: shift-control-option-power combination. No effect except that I lost the date/time information. Hence the reset worked.
3) Tried to reset the PRAM, but the command-option-p-r key combination does not seem to work.
4) Tried to load the open firmware with command-option-o-f, but this does not work either.
5) Memory seems ok. I have 1x256M of Apple RAM + 1x1G of RAM bought from OWC. I've had the OWC RAM for about a year without any problem. Anyway, I removed the 1G module and tried to boot on the 256M Apple module alone. Exact same behavior. Then I removed the Apple module and put back the 1G module. Exact same boot behavior. So the problem is not with my RAM, unless both modules have simultaneously developed a malfunction.
6) Tried to run the Apple hardware tests. However, for my machine, these tests come on the install DVD, in a special hidden volume. To boot on this special volume, one needs to boot with the option key depressed, and to select the boot volume from the open firmware interface. But this does not work on my machine, the computer seems to shut down before this interface can be activated!
So this problem is very strange. I can live with having to press the command key for booting my machine, but I would sure like to know what is going on here. Is the problem hardware related? Perhaps, but as I said, the machine works flawlessly except for the strange boot behavior.
Is the problem related to firmware? I think that this is the most probable option. What do you think? Maybe, the firmware got slightly corrupted? Maybe a bit got flipped in the flash memory? Is this possible? I guess so. But, what can I do? Should I contact my friendly local repairman?! I have to admit that this option scares me a little bit for such a strange problem. I would need an Apple engineer with boot related experience/expertise!
Now, here is a little bit of further information. I don't know if its related, but it is also very strange. I work with a dual screen configuration. Usually, I connect my screen and then I wake up the computer. Last week, I noticed that if I connect my second screen live, the system detects it automatically. I guess this is new to Tiger? Anyway, the strange behavior is that the computer then asks me if I want to sleep, restart or shutdown my pb, as if I had pressed the power button. But I did not press this button when I connected the dvi connector >:-o
Many thank

Hi Scott!
Almost every time the PowerBook woke after sleep, I got the 'Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now...' message.
I get this message upon wake only rarely, but every time I plug or unplug a display live.
The strange behaviour was tolerable, so I've lived with it for several months. But then when checking out the PowerBook discussions, I read about the failing lower RAM slot problems, and just out of interest, checked out my System Profiler....
Ok, so the good news is that my pb may continue to work for several months
My lower RAM slot appears to be ok for now.
Interestingly, I'm sure that the start-up problems began when I started using my PowerBook with a 23" Apple Cinema Display (a pink hued one, but that's another on-going saga) - and you too have mentioned that you use an external display, so I wonder if that's part of the cause of our start-up problems.
Yes, I've noticed the 'Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now...' message just a few days before noticing the strange boot problem (not sure if the machine booted in between). I use ViewSonic displays (one at home and one at the office), and several different projectors in different class rooms. From what I read, it is plausible that there is a link between this problem and the dvi port. Could it be that the boot sequence of mb is affected by a hardware problem on the dvi port? But not when a press the command key?!
Anyway, my machine is no longer under warranty, so I intend to live with the problem for as long as possible...
But I've been doing more regular backups since then.
Best wishes to you and your (almost) new machine!
Marc.

Stuck in open firmware

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