06-05-2006, 07:34 PM

All my G3 500 iBook does is just boot to the gray screen, stay there for a long time. Then goes to the gray screen with the apple logo, then the little pinwheel thing starts. It will do that for a long time, then the apple logo changes to a circle with the line going through it; Kernal Panic. Ive looked on Apple Support, but I want to know if there is a way to fix it without having to restall the OS. I don't have the OS Disks but I can probably get them. So what ways can I fix this, other than using the Panther Discs in any way.

06-05-2006, 07:37 PM

From Apple Support:

Use fsck

fsck is a command-line utility that may be able to verify and repair a disk. If you can successfully start up in Safe Mode or use Disk Utility while started up from a disc, you don't need to use fsck. However, here are some situations in which fsck may be necessary.

Your Mac OS X disc isn't available.
Your optical drive isn't available.
You can't start with a Safe Boot.
Tip: If you use a Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) formatted volume, such as with Mac OS X 10.3 or later, you probably won't need to use fsck. If you do use it for any reason, please be aware that benign error messages can appear.
If you're not sure how your volume is formatted and you can't start up from your Mac OS X volume to find out, type the following command in a command-line interface and then press Return: diskutil info /

If you see "File System: Journaled HFS+" returned, you have a Journaled volume.

To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse to open an application to do something, you'll need to type a text command at the prompt (#) to tell fsck what to do. The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) and single-user mode are two examples of command-line interfaces in which you can type such commands. To use fsck:

Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
At the command-line prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy
Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.

06-05-2006, 08:13 PM

How do you boot into Single User mode? All I know is press Command and S. Do you do it after the chime, do you hold it down?