Mac won't boot

Easy Rider

Hi All,

Installed two 1gb ram sticks, both compatible with my Imac G5 1.8ghz...

I booted up my computer and it was fine for a couple of hours, I checked about this Mac and the memory was recognised....my computer then began to just shut down completely, like the power was being cut....re-booted, got back in but again the power cut...

So I opened it back up made sure the ram was in place properly re-closed the and booted up, now I just get the grey apple screen with the apple in the middle, the fans are going fast and the timer just keeps turning....any ideas what is wrong?

I have already done a reboot of PRAM and have also tried to repair disk, when I repair disk by using my boot disk I can get into first aid but can't select repair or anything it is simply greyed out when I select my harddisk...I guess it is really fecked....if nobody has any ideas does anyone know where I can take it for repair etc in Dublin?

Thanks

babypink

first thing i'd do, just to rule out bad memory, is to put back in the old memory you had and then try things out. Though the fact you can boot from the install disk leads me to think that the memory is indeed ok.

check out the reference sticky at the top of the forum for repair places......off the cuff i'd recommend mactivate, typetec or the MacShop.

the fact you're even getting to the Apple logo means that the HD might not be shagged....its recognising that there is a bootable volume there....just not proceeding any further. You don't by any chance have access to another mac? You could boot your iMac into disk mode by holding down T while booting, then connecting via a firewire cable to another mac and try repair the volume from the second machine.

This would be a good way of getting data off your machine if you need to do a fresh install......which i think you might have to do, if the above doesn't work.

Easy Rider

cool, I do have another mac, I have a mac book pro....so do I boot both at the sametime and hold down T on which mac?

I have replaced my memory with the old memory so it is definitely not the memory....

kevteljeur

Consider trying single-user start up - hold down command-alt-s at start-up - and then (if it boots up) at the command prompt type (without quotes) 'fsck_hfs -fyr /dev/rdisk0s2' to repair the disk. If that goes ok, and it finishes, type 'exit' and it'll reboot.

Worth a try. Saved my bacon very recently.

babypink

Easy Rider wrote: »

cool, I do have another mac, I have a mac book pro....so do I boot both at the sametime and hold down T on which mac?

nah.....you can leave the MBP on as normal. Just boot the iMac holding down T

Connect the computers via firewire, and hopefully the imac will mount on the MBP. If it doesn't mount, have a look in the Disk Utility on the MBP....it should at least recognise that there is a drive there, you might possibly be able to repair & mount it.

babypink

so....any progress with this?

Easy Rider

Hi,

I have been away for most of the weekend, will give it a shot tomorrow, I don't have a firewire cable so will need to pick one up somewhere...

kevteljeur

Easy Rider wrote: »

Hi,

I have been away for most of the weekend, will give it a shot tomorrow, I don't have a firewire cable so will need to pick one up somewhere...

Have you tried the Single-User boot up, and running the 'fsck_hfs -fyr /dev/rdisk0s2' command? I just ran the 10.5.3 update, and had to do that before it booted correctly, but it worked fine after that. I'd recommend trying it, if you haven't already.

If it works, then you could save yourself some hassle with cables and second Macs, etc.

Sad Professor

The RAM isn't inserted properly. This happens to me almost everytime I install new RAM. You need to push to push it down very hard, until you hear a click. Like me you're probably being too gentle. The black screen, sudden restarts and kernel panics are all a normal consequence of not doing this properly.

SP

Easy Rider

I'm pretty sure I am pushing it in okay, remember I did have it working properly....I don't think I am getting kernal panic, just the grey screen....I was using my new ram without problem then it stopped....just shut down....I am getting the click on the ram without issue...

Easy Rider

Okay, well I tried the ctrl alt s and I do get into the dos type screen but it won't let me type anything, it gets as far as saying:

jnl: unknown-dev: Examining extra transactions starting @ 1967616 / 0x1eo600
Then:

IOATAController device blocking bus
IOATAController device blocking bus

Sad Professor

Easy Rider wrote: »

jnl: unknown-dev: Examining extra transactions starting @ 1967616 / 0x1eo600
Then:

IOATAController device blocking bus
IOATAController device blocking bus

I don't like the look of that. Your hard drive is probably f**ked. Or will be soon. Are you backed up?

SP

Easy Rider

Yeah, a quick look on the net that is what it suggests, I started to get further errors such as ATA: Device recovery failed terminating device....

All my photo's are backed up, my music is on my Ipod, everything else does not really matter as it is probably stored on most of my e-mails etc online...

Sad Professor

Get a firewire cable as babypink suggested and you might be able save a few more files via your MBP. Don't turn your imac on in meantime. If the hd isn't totally dead yet it's living on borrowed time. It may already be too late but it's worth a try.

SP

babypink

with error messages like that it looks like it is properly fubar'd....... i'm just hoping that the controller is ok! a new HD will answer that question