My G4 Sawtooth Took A Dump

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Hey Gang,
Maybe one of the Guru's can help me out here. I'll try to give a brief scenario. I have 2 - 120Gig HD's installed, running OSX 10.3.9 and have a CD/DVDRW installed as well as maxed out RAM.

At first I was getting this "gray screen" issue with the Start Up Button icon and suggesting that I restart my computer. (in multiple languages I might add)

OK, no problem. But then it became a constant problem. It wasn't just with one application, it was with ALL applications.

I spoke with a rep at my local Apple store. He said it wasn't a software problem. He said it sounds more like firmware or one of those "ware" terms. He suggested that I check my Ram cards, HD's or other internal component and make sure everything is snapped in and locked down.

OK, pulled them out and snapped them in. No problem.

So, now I went into my Utilities folder and ran the Disk Utilitiy program to use FirstAid check for additional problems. I did notice that the Repair Disk button was grayed out.

So, then I used "Command I" on the drive to open the Macintosh HD Info and changed the Ownership & Permissions....

I changed the Owner: SYSTEM button to "My Name" and the Group: Admin button to "My Name" as well.

Now I can't even load the computer. UGH!!! I think I really "F'd" myself on this one.

I tried using the OSX system disk to maybe possibly over-ride and reinstall the OSX software which would reset the ownership preferences. But it won't even read the OSX disk even with holding down the "C" key.

Any suggestions on how I can fix this myself or do I now have to bring my computer to a specialist?

Thanks,
Anthony
 

dtravis7


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I am in a hurry right now but let me just say the Gray Screen is a Kernel Panic. RAM is one of the biggest cause of the KP, but it also can be other hardware or even the OSX install. I would say run Disk Utility and see if the drive has issues but you can not. Is this OSX CD the one you installed from originally?
 
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I ran Disk Utility and no problems were notified. At the moment I can't even launch the computer.

I even tried putting in an old drive and reinstalled OSX and I'm getting the "restart" screen again with a bunch of coding running down the screen.

Which seems to tell me maybe OSX went corrupt.

I do have OSX 10.1.3 available, which I did try to use. But like I mentioned in my first post, the computer doesn't want to recognize any System disk. I even tried the original OSX (blue disk).

When I try launching the computer, I get the apple icon but no progress bar and it just sits. I never make it to the desktop.
 

dtravis7


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That is really starting to sound like a hardware issue to me. Do you have any other RAM you can try and see if the Kernel Panic goes away?
 
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Hey DT,
Well, I could try to figure out which Ram card came with the drive and keep out the 3 additional I purchased to bump up my ram.

I guess that's what I'll have to do to start with. Trial and error. Start with one, see if it works. Keep adding till I find the one that bugged out.

Hopefully I can get a new one to replace them. I did buy them on Ebay. I don't remember if the seller offered a warranty on them.
 
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You cannot repair the disk you are booted from. Try booting from the install DVD/CD if you get it up and running after taking memory modules out, hold down C after the chime and go to utilities>Disk Utilities>Repair Disk.
 
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OK, here's the latest.....

I get home tonight, remove all the RAM cards. Check them all to see which is the newest (maybe one of those is causing the kernel panic) and put back the original RAM card and start from the beginning.

Again... I am running OSX 10.3.9.

So, I restart the machine. I get the Mac OS X startup screen (white box in the center of the screen with the blue progress bar).

I try the Master drive first. I get the startup screen, but no progress bar and it just sits there. I let it attempt to load for 10mins. Nothing.

I even tried to startup using the OSX install disc holding down the "C" key and I couldn't even get it to force a startup that way. It almost seems like my CD/DVDRW went bad. But I could be guessing.

I tried the Slave drive (which also had OS software on it) just to see if it would launch. I got the start up screen, the progress bar, but no text telling me what was loading up, and it cleared the startup screen. Now I'm left with a blue screen and no desk top.

Any suggestions????
 
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Do you have any way to format the slave or maybe install another non OS X or better yet a fresh drive? It may be a bad drive as you guessed but perhaps the ones within the machine are damaged somehow. How about disconnecting all drives and inserting the DVD and it should start from the DVD because it has the only OS it can find.

Another thought is - is there any other PCI cards installed? It may be getting hung up during the startup. Pull them out if true and add one at a time.
 
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Update.....

OK, so I reverted back to my old 10gig, reinstalled OS9 and wiped the drive clean. Then I added OSX the first edition.

The drive loads up no problem.

Piggy-backed the SLAVE 120gig, it loaded which I am pleased. The I had to change the access privaleges. OK, that worked too. I was even able to run Norton's Disk Dr and Speed Disk. All is good.

I tried piggy-backing the Master 120gig, No Dice. I don't know of the OSX 10.3.9 software was conflicting with the OSX 10.0 on the 10 gig or what.

I even had the System Preferences set up to launch from the 10 gig drive. But I kept getting the [ ? ] folder on the start-up screen.

I tried using my OS9 system disk and Nortons and starting up using the "C" key. The disk would launch, and load up to the desktop, but not ONE drive even showed.

I feel like I want to take a big magnet to the 120gig that's not cooperating and wipe it clean.

But I feel like it's either the drive tanked or somehow the OSX 10.3.9 software went corrupt somehow.

Any ideas???
 

dtravis7


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Are the drives jumperd correctly? If so have you tried formatting the 120 GB when it hooked up as a slave?

I guess I answered my own question about the Jumpers, but I have found Cable Select works better with some PowerMac Towers and certain drives.
 

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