Apple with new Tiger upgrade won't boot

punky · 19-09-2005, 20:43

I was trying to upgrade to Tiger on my Powerbook. I put the DVD in and went through and installed it. It initally booted up and it worked, used Dashboard, etc. I then went to the Software Update menu, and went to install the updates. My Powerbook restarted and hasn't managed to boot up since.

It makes the chime, and it loads with the inital grey screen, with the rotating dial, and just seems to hang there. It does seem to make occaisonal noises, but how long could I leave it there? Its been over 20 mins already. I have tried retarting whilst pressing C and retsrting whilst pressing D and both bring me straight back into the grey boot up screen. The computer seems to be fairly alive, I can retstarting by pressing the power button and the battery charging indicator works. I don't wether it just needs to be left hours to sort itself out? How long do you leave it? I think it may be stuck in inifinite loops or waiting for non-existant events.

I have taken the battery out and waited, and restarted to see if that works, it doesn. I have tried booting with command-ctrl-r-p pressed down, the computer chimed a second time, but didn't get further than before. I managed to get DVD out, with a bit of agro, can't remember how, so I am a bit reluctant about putting it back in.

What's the best thing to do to sort it, and how do I do it? A reformat & reinstall? Some other system restore thingy??

Thanx in advance guys...

Stuart · 19-09-2005, 21:01

Sometimes the NVram can lose it's settings (equivalent to PC BIOS settings).

Got this from http://davespicks.com/writing/progra...keys.html#boot , but try pressing cmd-opt-n-v to reset the NV Ram to default values.

punky · 19-09-2005, 21:07

Cheers for that mate, and that site you linked to looks brilliant, with all those boot options. I'll give that a try. Nice one

punky · 19-09-2005, 22:10

Stu, any idea how long it should take? Its taken at least 1hr 20 mins now and just keeps outputting the same line at various intervals.

Quote:

/System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow: Login Window Application Started

I know its still going because the timestamp keeps going up.

Any idea how long it should take/how long I should leave it? I have only just found out a safe mode boot and want to try that, but don't really want to stop this midway...

Stuart · 19-09-2005, 22:25

IIRC, the Mac takes a little longer the first time it boots after the upgrade to Tiger, but it shouldn't take 1 hour 20 minutes..

punky · 19-09-2005, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

IIRC, the Mac takes a little longer the first time it boots after the upgrade to Tiger, but it shouldn't take 1 hour 20 minutes..

This is clearing the NV ram, which is taking 1hr 20 mins. It did boot into Tiger once after a couple of mins and it worked, but after I updated from 10.4 to 10.4.2 it then failed to boot.

This clearing the NV ram seems to still be going judging by the timestamps, but I can't find anywhere what is a reasonable amount of time for it to take, or if it is safe to restart half way through

Stuart · 19-09-2005, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by punky

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

IIRC, the Mac takes a little longer the first time it boots after the upgrade to Tiger, but it shouldn't take 1 hour 20 minutes..

This is clearing the NV ram, which is taking 1hr 20 mins. It did boot into Tiger once after a couple of mins and it worked, but after I updated from 10.4 to 10.4.2 it then failed to boot.

This clearing the NV ram seems to still be going judging by the timestamps, but I can't find anywhere what is a reasonable amount of time for it to take, or if it is safe to restart half way through

Clearing NV ram should be instant... It's the same as selecting the "Reset to defaults" option on a PC BIOS.

punky · 19-09-2005, 22:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

Clearing NV ram should be instant... It's the same as selecting the "Reset to defaults" option on a PC BIOS.

Weird. It took a couple of mins to display various messages about the filesystem and stuff, but now displays that message for the last 1hr 40mins.

Stuart · 19-09-2005, 22:44

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?...82747190&query=

It seems that the 10.4.2 update can cause the first startup to "hang" (although they say for up to 30 minutes). There are some steps there you can try. (assuming you do manage to log in).

punky · 20-09-2005, 11:37

Cheers again for your help mate.

Well last night I restarted the computer during that clear NVRAM thingy and after trying to boot into safe mode, which it wouldn't do, I bit the bullet and inserted the DVD and tried to re-install off the DVD again. Went to the same screen for ages, and didn't think it would work, but eventually, the installer kicked in. Went through the install and it worked. Now boots up fine. Remembers all my settings, including the changes I made to dashboard.

Bit reluctant to run the upgrader now... might wait until 10.4.3 comes out and leap frog over the 10.4.2...

Graham M · 20-09-2005, 13:42

hmm best bet now youve installed is to run Disk Utility and select your Mac OS X drive and fix all permissions, Tiger is VERY finicky about permissions

punky · 20-09-2005, 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeph

hmm best bet now youve installed is to run Disk Utility and select your Mac OS X drive and fix all permissions, Tiger is VERY finicky about permissions

Indeed mate, i'll do that.

I read somewhere last night that one thing that could have caused it is a "user authenticated" error.