iMac 2003 won't boot...any ideas?

Hi there, I've been trying to boot up (after quite a number of years of dormancy) my old iMac 2003 ( I think...it's the globe one). I don't remember which operating system it used actually. Probably something like osX4. I've been looking at all sorts of forums and have tried many things (fsck, booting up in single user mode and then doing fsck, resetting the nvram). It might not have been a good idea to do all of this but I was quite desperate. I've seen "disk os9 I/O error" a lot and haven't been able to do anything about it. I keep coming back to a black screen where it says:
Darwin/BSD (Computer-my name.local) (console) and then login:
I have no idea what my login was so many years ago and everything I try doesn't work. Anyone any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any help. thanks!

Welcome to the Mac Forums.

Your iMac is ancient when measured in computer years. Some of our folks have been Mac users for that long so perhaps they will be able to offer some advice. Don't get your hopes up too high and stay tuned.

Hi

Hi chscag,

My hopes aren't that high yet. thanks!

Probably need to know exactly what "won't boot" means.

- What exactly is happening?
- What exactly are you seeing?
- How far do things get?
- Do you get the "happy" Mac startup sound?

* Nick

Hi Nick

Hi,

Thanks for responding. Well, without doing anything special, without holding down any combination of keys while booting up, the following happens:

I get the happy boot-up sound

I get a grey screen with the apple logo

the wheel underneath starts to turn, and turns for quite a while (say, a minute)

I get the blue screen where OSX loads, it loads fully

then just a blue screen, with a cursor at top left corner

then everything stops. it just stays on this screen.

update

suddenly the little wheel started turning again and is still turning

2nd update

then the screen goes black ( I think this is single user mode)

it says at top left: "disk os9: I/O error" twice

then: Darwin/BSD (localhost) (console)

login Jul 21 20:24:28 computer-my name- SystemStarter[72]: lstat("system/Library?StartupItems/IFCStart/IfcStart"); Input/output error
Jul 21 20:24:31 Computer-my name- root [182]: [MAFL] starting run loop/n
diskos9: I/O error.
diskos9: I/O error

that's it

It sounds like what was called the Flat Panel or FP iMacs, and can run Maximum MacOS: X 10.5.8.

If it was just pulled out of storage, leaving it plugged in and powered for maybe 12 or more hours often helps before trying to boot it.

If it doesn't boot, you could try using Firewire Target Disk Mode if you have another FW enabled Mac and a FW cable to access the data if that's what you were wanting to do.

Patrick
======

g.tarjan said:

suddenly the little wheel started turning again and is still turning

Click to expand...

Of course one of the first questions is. Are you 100% sure this computer was operating properly when it was last used years ago? If it had a problem then…then that problem would still be there now.

- Nick

Seems to me that I ran into this many years ago where the system boots to the login screen and then craps out. I think I started in safemode and ran disk utility in safe mode to fix that particular issue. Flash NVRam been done yet?

Idea # 1. Don't spend money on it!

That model has a PRAM or backup 3.6v lithium battery. Consider replacing it as it has been stored for years.


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer+Technology/BAA36VPRAM/

I see "disk os9: I/O error" Shot in the dark, might be the Hard Drive is dying and full of errors.

dtravis7 said:

I see "disk os9: I/O error" Shot in the dark, might be the Hard Drive is dying and full of errors.

Click to expand...

That would be my guess.

Harry's probably right about the pram battery but that shouldn't affect boot up if the unit is plugged in for a bit before attempting boot IIRC. I assume the OP doesn't have the OS discs.

+1.

But probably died rather than dying ;P plus a corrupt directory structure no doubt, and different boot procedures will overrule most "PRAM" type settings so the PRAM battery then becomes a non-issue and does nothing helpful.

Reason I said dying instead of Deceased is it still sort of boots! Grin When I say it's dead it won't even spin up or goes Click Click! Grin

Rigor mortis has set in!

dtravis7 said:

Reason I said dying instead of Deceased is it still sort of boots! Grin When I say it's dead it won't even spin up or goes Click Click! Grin

Rigor mortis has set in!

Click to expand...

LOL!!!! Actually that's a good accurate description and as my youngest, now adult son would say, for a really "dead" drive = FUBAR drive.

Hi Nick, Yes, I'm sure that the computer was working before. I actually used it a couple of years ago and it was fine.

mad_macs said:

Seems to me that I ran into this many years ago where the system boots to the login screen and then craps out. I think I started in safemode and ran disk utility in safe mode to fix that particular issue. Flash NVRam been done yet?

Click to expand...

Hi Mad macs, I think I tried NVRAM. Is that booting while holding down option+command+O+F?

harryb2448 said:

Idea # 1. Don't spend money on it!

That model has a PRAM or backup 3.6v lithium battery. Consider replacing it as it has been stored for years.


NewerTech 3.6v Lithium 1/2 AA PRAM Computer Clock... in stock at OWC

Click to expand...

I was actually not going to spend money on it, no. but you say don't spend money and then consider replacing the battery? Would firewire target disk mode work to retrieve at least some of the files?

g.tarjan said:

I was actually not going to spend money on it, no. but you say don't spend money and then consider replacing the battery? Would firewire target disk mode work to retrieve at least some of the files?

Click to expand...

That's why I mentioned trying it, as you won't know until you try.

Quite often a Mac will wake up enough for firewire target disk mode to work when they won't boot normally on their own.

Trying a Safe Boot mode sometimes works as well.