marquis
asked on
Desktop freezes on startup
Mac Gurus, help!
Recently, my Mac IIvx 12/80 (7.5.5) has been crashing frequently. As soon as the desktop appears, any activity with the mouse freezes the screen. I tried restarting from different startup disks (even the original system disks) but it was the same story. I was alerted to some system errors such as type 1, type -10 and type 28. Any clues?
On one such restart, the sad face appeared with these numbers below it, along with a series of beeps:
0000000F
00000002
I used Tech Tool to zap the PRAM and rebuild the desktop, but problem persists. I have an external CD-ROM and EZ135 on a SCSI chain. I checked for connections and they seem to be OK. I have an internal 240M HD in addition to the original 80M HD. There are no SCSI ID conflicts between these devices.
1. what is the problem?
2. how do I fix it?
thanks
Recently, my Mac IIvx 12/80 (7.5.5) has been crashing frequently. As soon as the desktop appears, any activity with the mouse freezes the screen. I tried restarting from different startup disks (even the original system disks) but it was the same story. I was alerted to some system errors such as type 1, type -10 and type 28. Any clues?
On one such restart, the sad face appeared with these numbers below it, along with a series of beeps:
0000000F
00000002
I used Tech Tool to zap the PRAM and rebuild the desktop, but problem persists. I have an external CD-ROM and EZ135 on a SCSI chain. I checked for connections and they seem to be OK. I have an internal 240M HD in addition to the original 80M HD. There are no SCSI ID conflicts between these devices.
1. what is the problem?
2. how do I fix it?
thanks
It seems to be a hardware problem as far as I can see, if a reboot with different startup disks does every time the same. Maybe your ADB plug is damaged. I don't know if you have two ADB plugs at your computer. So try the other ADB plug or use the daisy chain possibilities and connect your mouse at your keyboard. If this doesn't help then I have no answer for your problem. Let me know if I could help you.
re
re
I think re is probably right, but one thing I would definitely do is to borrow a mouse from another machine and use it instead of the one you've got. It is just possible that the mouse is the source of your problem.
Rifty
Rifty
ASKER
Acutally my statement "mouse activity" probably is misleading. The desktop freezes even when I use only the command keys. Sometimes the desktop freezes as soon after startup.
Here's an update. Following a hunch, I removed the SIMMs (which I had installed over 2yrs ago) from their slots and restarted using the system disk. Worked fine for couple of minutes after which the freezes resumed. I then reinitialized my internal drive (hoping that it might be just a disk driver problem) and then installed Sys 7.5 afresh. When I restart from this disk, the happy mac face appears followed by an empty desktop screen w/ the mouse pointer but without any of the finder menus or connected hard drives. I can move the mouse pointer around the screen but nothing else works. (BTW, now I'm able to work for a couple of minutes off of the system disk before the computer freezes.) In the meantime, I ended up with another sad mac face w/ the numbers 0000000F and 00000001 which some one pointed out to me was a disk driver related error.
All this makes it seem as though it is a hardware related problem. Which part is still a moot question!
Here's an update. Following a hunch, I removed the SIMMs (which I had installed over 2yrs ago) from their slots and restarted using the system disk. Worked fine for couple of minutes after which the freezes resumed. I then reinitialized my internal drive (hoping that it might be just a disk driver problem) and then installed Sys 7.5 afresh. When I restart from this disk, the happy mac face appears followed by an empty desktop screen w/ the mouse pointer but without any of the finder menus or connected hard drives. I can move the mouse pointer around the screen but nothing else works. (BTW, now I'm able to work for a couple of minutes off of the system disk before the computer freezes.) In the meantime, I ended up with another sad mac face w/ the numbers 0000000F and 00000001 which some one pointed out to me was a disk driver related error.
All this makes it seem as though it is a hardware related problem. Which part is still a moot question!
The fact that you got it going for a while after reinstalling the SIMMS seems to direct attention to that spot. There may be a faulty connection between the SIMM and the motherboard, which is something very hard to locate, I imagine. The SIMMs themselves may be OK. I wonder - how long is it since you replaced the internal battery? Computers exhibit all sorts of funny symptoms when that is losing power.
Good luck,
Rifty
Good luck,
Rifty
One other point - coming back to the mouse. Just because odd things happen without using the mouse doesn't mean that the mouse isn't causing the problem.You can test this by pulling out the mouse cable and restarting. If nothing seems to be wrong (apart from the fact that you now have no mouse control) then I'd still be inclined to have that mouse checked out. At least you can eliminate it as a potential source of the problem.
Rifty
Rifty
marquis, the first problem was caused by your simms, the second by the rom. If the vx has a removable rom, a big chip that looks like a l2 chache or an oversized simm, then try pulling it out and reseating it. Then try reseating your ram. If your machine boots up properly, reinstall everything. If you still have problems, toss the thing out the window or visit your apple service person.
Osca
Osca
marquis, the first problem was caused by your simms (00000002), the second by the rom (0000001). If the vx has a removable rom, a big chip that looks like a l2 chache or an oversized simm, then try pulling it out and reseating it (also it might be labeled on the mother board). Then try reseating your ram. If your machine boots up properly, reinstall everything. If you still have problems, toss the thing out the window or visit your apple service person.
Osca
Osca
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
The machine boots without the SIMMs but the problem with freezes continues. The ROM chips on a vx motherboard are soldered on so can't check if it is the source of the problem.
The desktop freezes consistently when I use any of the finder menus (File, Edit, Special etc.) but allows me to open folders, move files on the desktop. From what I read someplace, the desktop interface instructions are stored in the ROM which might be the reason for the freezes. However, I have no way of knowing for sure without having to take it to an apple service (which probably is not worth it at this point anyway).
Thanks to all of you for your comments and help.
The desktop freezes consistently when I use any of the finder menus (File, Edit, Special etc.) but allows me to open folders, move files on the desktop. From what I read someplace, the desktop interface instructions are stored in the ROM which might be the reason for the freezes. However, I have no way of knowing for sure without having to take it to an apple service (which probably is not worth it at this point anyway).
Thanks to all of you for your comments and help.
ASKER