Wafu
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Mac fails to boot
Noob in the Mac world, I bought a 2nd hand G4 on Ebay last summer. I've fired it up a few times and it's worked fine. Since moving house it's been sat in a corner but 3 days ago I hooked it up and it booted straight in. When it connected to the net it downloaded 4 updates, 1 of them was 186mb. I can't recall the subject of the updates but since restarting the Mac won't boot properly. It takes forever to get past the grey/white apple screen. then sits on a blue screen with a mouse pointer. the mouse pointer will move but I get no login screen. To give you an idea, the process takes around 10 minutes, then that's it, it doesn't go any further.
I have no media, the Mac was going very cheap! Can I do anything or is it a write off?
I have no media, the Mac was going very cheap! Can I do anything or is it a write off?
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ASKER
Ok I held down the shift key, now 30 seconds or so after the progress wheel appears the G4 shuts down.
ASKER
ok what does the option key look like?
ASKER
ok found the option key and got a choice of options but the mouse isn't functioning at that level. Stuck again.
Sorry, I gave you the wrong instructions to reset the PRAM. Reboot holding down the command-option-p-r key combination until you hear the startup chime for the third time.
ASKER
No joy there I'm afraid. I got the 2nd and 3rd chimes but the boot process is the same.
It's possible the clock battery is dead. I wouldn't have thought that would cause, but the battery is likely dead or dying by this point and it is cheap to replace. I assume your G4 is a minitower? If so, see:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42713
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42713
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ASKER
I like the SpinRite plan, I bought it a few years ago actually, I use a few of the GRC bit and piece. I may have to get a USB caddy to mount the MAC hdd on my PC as the PC is SATA only! Which is a pain. I'm guessing SpinRite will fix a device presented as USB from boot but I'm not 100% sure.
Yes, that would work. I fixed a HDD-based video/mp3 player that way. Basically anything that the BIOS will recognize can be used with SpinRite (spinning-platter type disks that is). I'm also a fan of the author's Podcast, security now. Ok I'm getting off subject here. I hope SpinRite works!
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ASKER
still waiting to check the MacOS IDE drive with spinrite, only just got around to ordering the caddy. Once that's done I'll know where I stand.
ASKER
Shelved the MAC without resolution, as always, life has taken over and the MAC has gone on the back burner. Thanks for all the comments and time guys. Appreciated as always.
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Apple's early computers ran on a variety of operating systems, including a Pascal version and one based on CP/M, before releasing its ProDOS with the advent of its 16-bit computer. With the release of the Lisa, which had its own OS, Apple and computing entered the graphical age; it was followed by the Macintosh, which offered a series of "System" operating systems. Other Mac operating systems included PowerPC until Apple acquired NeXT and folded it into the Mac OS. Current operating systems for Apple devices are Mac OS-X and iOS.
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If that doesn't solve the problem, force a disk repair and boot in safe mode by booting while holding down the shift key.
If it still doesn't start, try booting holding down the option key to bring up the boot selector.