Can it be saved??

Morning everyone,

Very new to Macs. Less than a day actually. Not having the money to purchase a new machine, I stumbled across a G4 Power Mac at a boot sale yesterday and thought that this would be a nice introduction to the world of Apple. I realised I was taking a bit of a gamble as I couldn't know for sure if it would work but parted with my £30 and brought it home.

To my delight it booted up fine and I had a couple of joyful hours getting to know my new machine.(it was running OS 9.2) And then I discovered the 'Software Update' option. And I clicked it. And it said there was an OS update. Great, i thought. After downloading the update it seemed to be installing it. And then a grey screen with a warning that something was wrong and I'd need to reboot. So I did this. Trouble is that now it won't reboot at all. I get the grey screen with the Apple and there it stays.

So my question is, does anyone know what has gone wrong and can I fix this. I have searched the forums but most people advise re-installing the OS. Unfortunately my computer didn't come with any discs. If I have to now buy a copy of Tiger then my bargain suddenly becomes expensive and probably not worth doing.

As I mentioned I am new to Macs so don't really know any of the commands (I can get into the DOS equivalent using com+opt+o+f)

The software must still be on the computer! Just desperate now to get it back and got into the OS. Is there a system restore you can do that would take me back to a point prior to the download? Any help would be greatly appreciated, otherwise I guess I'm back to my PC for a few more years until I can save up some money!!

Nix77 said:

To my delight it booted up fine and I had a couple of joyful hours getting to know my new machine.(it was running OS 9.2) And then I discovered the 'Software Update' option. And I clicked it. And it said there was an OS update. Great, i thought. After downloading the update it seemed to be installing it. And then a grey screen with a warning that something was wrong and I'd need to reboot. So I did this. Trouble is that now it won't reboot at all. I get the grey screen with the Apple and there it stays.

Click to expand...

Regarding the "Software Update"...what was it you were downloading?

- Nick

I suppose I should have taken a bit more notice of it.....but I'm sure it was just an OS update. I assumed it was just going to upgrade my 9.2.2 edition to something a bit more recent? It was definately something to do with the OS. Sorry I can't be more specific. If I'd thought for a second there may have been trouble then I would have noted it down.

Nick

Nix77 said:

I suppose I should have taken a bit more notice of it.....but I'm sure it was just an OS update. I assumed it was just going to upgrade my 9.2.2 edition to something a bit more recent? It was definately something to do with the OS. Sorry I can't be more specific. If I'd thought for a second there may have been trouble then I would have noted it down.

Nick

Click to expand...

OS 9.2.2 is the newest & last version of OS 9 that was ever released...so it probably wasn't that.

I'm usually kind of cautious when downloading software updates. OS 9 was a good operating system...but OS 9 was a different programming language...and not as stable as OS 10...and thus any software update to OS 9 might have a greater chance of instability when doing a software update.

But like I said, if your computer already had 9.2.2 on it...then the download must have been something else.

It may or may not help...what model Macintosh did you purchase?

Thanks,

- Nick

By the way...being a VERY new Macintosh user...that was pretty darn sharp of you to notice so quickly & remember...that your Mac has OS 9.2.2 on it.!!!

Some long time Mac users who have been using Mac's for years & years...if asked what OS version their Mac has...would simply say..."I don't know!";D

- Nick

Ha ha - yes it wasn't that easy to find out! I spent the first hour just exploring what I had bought. Still not sure what sort of animal 9.2.2 is though? Tiger maybe?

Anyway my machine is a Power Mac G4. It has a 30gb Maxtor harddrive, two lots of 512 and one 256 memory stick. Can't remember what the processor speed is though. Nothing spectacular I imagine as it's probably about ten years old now.

Thanks for your replies. Just kicking myself for doing that stupid download now. I suppose if this had happened on my PC I would have just booted up in safe mode and tried to sort it out from there. Have Macs got something similar?

More research on the internet suggests that this is quite a common problem with no easy fix. Looks like I've wasted my money. Oh well.

This chap had a similar problem:

Power Mac G4 - Hung On Gray Screen After 10.4.11 Update - Forums | MacLife

I don't know. A bit disheartened really. My friends that are Mac users say that above all else they are stable machines! Maybe I've just been unlucky but I assumed that with a software update direct from my desktop I'd be fairly safe. If I can find a cheap copy of Tiger then I may give it another go, otherwise it's destined for spares and repairs on ebay.

Nix77 said:

More research on the internet suggests that this is quite a common problem with no easy fix. Looks like I've wasted my money. Oh well.

This chap had a similar problem:

Power Mac G4 - Hung On Gray Screen After 10.4.11 Update - Forums | MacLife

Click to expand...

A bunch of thoughts here.

No 9.2.2 is not Tiger...not even close!

The link you provided about the grey screen & the 10.4.11 update. NO...not even close to affecting you! Your OS is no where near 10.4.11 to be similar.

Here is something to try. Being a PC user I'm sure you are familiar with all of the "control panel" programs...and all of the "utility" programs that launch automatically when you boot the computer.

Well in Mac OS 9 and earlier...you could start up the Mac in such a way that almost all of these programs did not launch or load on startup.

This may be a long shot...but try to boot the computer while depressing the "shift" key. This prevents these utility programs from launching on startup...which could be causing some sort of software conflict.

Another thought. Try "zapping" the PRAM. To do this, boot the computer, and simultaneously hold down the "Apple + control + P + R" keys.

This should "zap" the pram & cause the computer to reboot. Keep holding the keys down until you hear the computer make it's start up sound 3 times. Then let up on the keys.

Please post with your results.

Thanks,

- Nick