my emac needs a doctor

[Noize Anomaly]

today i had a lovely surprise. i went to start up my emac, and just when the screen would have turned gray and had the apple in the middle, the screen went all black, then turned dark gray and a blue folder in the middle toggled between the mac face and a question mark. i couldn't open the disk drive to re-install the os, and i couldn't get into my computer. what is going on, and what should i do?

[Ottawaman]

If you've added RAM, take it out and see if the problems come back. If you haven't added any, I would try taking out the standard RAM and putting in known good RAM and see what happens. A bad stick of RAM is the most common culprit to consistent kernel panics.

Are you running any torrent programs?

Both BitTorrent, Azureuz and other torrent clients have been known/reported to cause Kernel Panics, especially just after System upgrades.

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
__________________

[Ottawaman]

SOP for kernel panics:

1 -Unplug all USB devices...especially if you have a USB hub. USB hubs, if not self powered, can be a major cause of panics. Corrupt kernel extentions (drivers/kexts) for USB devices can do the same.

2 -Repair permissions --if these are not correct kexts may fail to load.

3 -startup in 'safe' mode to prevent most kexts from loading by holding down the 'shift key'.

still getting a panic?

---I still think the clue was the ATI 8500 and the dependencies related to the IOkit. (IO=input-output)

Also try this:
Go to: /System/Library/
Trash: Extentions.kextcache and Extentions.mkext

Reboot

Those files will be recreated by the system. If these two files were corrupted they may be the cause of the panics. They store the order kexts are loaded and which kexts are loaded at startup.

Other possibilities:

Re-install the ATI drivers which came with the card.

Re-install the system if none of the above works. BTW, which version of
X are you running?

source: http://www.ehmac.ca/showthread.php?t=32953&highlight=Kernel+Panics

[Noize Anomaly]

thanks for the help man.

no i haven't added any RAM, or changed anything. i was using bit torrent a bit though. the problem is, i can't even get into my computer at all. all i get is that gray screen, there is no way to get by it. i can't even open my disc drive. EEEKKKK!!!!!

i didn't have anything connected to the mac except a modem via ethernet. but it is not plugged in anymore and i still can't get into my OS. only the gray screen of agonizing doom.

[Noize Anomaly]

this is starting to freak me out. i have some stuff on there that i need......like my Duck Flambé recipes........and my my account info for the david hasselhoff fanclub.....and all that midget porn!!!!

[Ottawaman]

Can you get the computer to Start Up in Safe Mode? (be warned it will take significantly longer than usual to start up, and don't hit the power button while it's working away).

As a standard if not always necessary procedure, in your place I'd insert the OS X Install disc, shut down, unplug everything except the original keyboard and mouse, pull the power cord from the side of the computer and wait at least 30 minutes, then reattach the power cord. The start up holding down the 'c' key yo boot from trh OS X Install disk to run Repair Disk from the Installer menu, per Using Disk Utility and fsck. If Repair Disk reports fixing any errors, repeat Repair Disk until it gives a clean bill
If that doesn't work, you'll need to get an external FireWire drive which is larger than your internal disk, install OS X on the external, copy over the files you want to keep to the external, and then reformat the internal. Unless the directory problem was caused by bad hardware, you should be able to reinstall OS X and your stuff on the internal disk. The external would be a good backup device. If the problem recurrs, you have a bad internal hard drive, and if your machine is still under warranty or AppleCare I'd take it in to have the drive replaced. If it's not under warranty or AppleCare I'd have the drive replaced anyway, but there'd be no hurry about it if you had your backup up to date, as eMacs work when booted from external FireWire drives with no problems at all.
One additional tip from Mac OS X: "Broken folder" icon, prohibitory sign, or kernel panic when computer starts is to hold the 'x' key down after resetting NVRAM to force the computer to look for an OS X System on the first partition of the hard drive, and if the computer starts then, immediately check that System Preferences> Startup Disk shows the hard drive selected as the boot volume.

[Ottawaman]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25392

Learn how to start up Mac OS X 10.2 or later in Safe Mode.

To start up into Safe Mode (to "Safe Boot"), do this:

Be sure the computer is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key.
Tip: The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone but not before.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple and progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
During the startup in Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.3.9, you will see "Safe Boot" on the Mac OS X startup screen.

During the startup in Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you will see "Safe Boot" on the login window, which appears even if you normally log in automatically.

To leave Safe Mode in any version of Mac OS X, restart the computer normally, without holding any keys during startup.

[Tizerfish]

today i had a lovely surprise. i went to start up my emac, and just when the screen would have turned gray and had the apple in the middle, the screen went all black, then turned dark gray and a blue folder in the middle toggled between the mac face and a question mark.


That little icon with the blinking question, means no start up Folder and/or disk Pretty much Either your harddrive got currupt or your hard drive died

I see you have a G5 mac, what you might want to do is do firewire target mode for the eMac hook it to your G5 via a firewire cable and scan the disk with the G5's disk utility,


http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
some info on target disk mode

All the best,

[Ottawaman]

Is it possible that your hard drive cable has come loose?

[Tizerfish]

Is it possible that your hard drive cable has come loose?


nah not in an emac, the system would not have tried to boot and then not if this were the case, since he did see an apple at somepoint that gives him hope that the harddrive is not dead,

[Noize Anomaly]

actually i didn't see an apple. i saw that folder thing in its place.

thanks a lot for your help guys! i'll go through all of this and see what happens. damn this sucks. i have a 300 gig external firewire drive so that will help. anyway, thanks again and i'll let you know how this all goes.

[Child of Cupertino]

Stupid question here, but did you try to boot off an OSX installer CD and repair the disk using Disk First Aid? When you turn the computer on, hit the button to open the tray and insert the disk. Then, reset the eMac (probably a button or pinhole somewhere you push to do that). Then, after you hear the startup chime (er... you do hear a startup chime when you try to start it up. Right?), hold down the C key forever until the eMac clues into booting off the CD/DVD installer.

Good luck.

[Noize Anomaly]

ok...i haven't had time to check on this in a while but i just tried starting it in safe mode. i turned on the power, then as soon as the sartup sound played, i hit and held the shift key, the screen stayed black for a few seconds, then turned light gray for a split second, as if it was going to go to the apple icon thing, but then turned black, and then a darker gray screen appears with that folder toggling between the mac logo, and a question mark.

should i still try that target disk thing?

[Tizerfish]

should i still try that target disk thing?


Yes thats the only way your going to see if the harddrive is dead :hjy:

[Noize Anomaly]

damn....i don't have a firewire cable. arrgghh!

[Tizerfish]

well my offer is still open if ur in TO u can drop it off i'll see whati can do :mbx:

[Noize Anomaly]

well my offer is still open if ur in TO u can drop it off i'll see whati can do :mbx:

alright man. i might just do that. i have three weeks off starting next week so i should have lots of time. i've been so busy lately that i haven't even had time to look at it until last night. thanks again.

also, i just remembered, for some stupid reason i actually bought this emac from futureshop...yes yes i know......anyway, it is still under warrantly until january. is it worth taking it in there just in case the HD is fried? or will their bull**** warranty cover that?