Problems starting

Hi, I have an G5 iMac with OSX Leopard. I have been using it for a while, however when I turn it on, it gets stuck on the screen with the little folder icon with the alternating Finder icon and question mark. There is a CD in the drive, and it is spinning constantly. It is only a game, but surely this isn't right?

Is there anything I can do to get it to start properly?

Any help will be great.

Thanks,

Paul

OK, new update...its getting to the grey Apple icon with the loading circle thing underneath. It stays there for a while, then the screen goes dark and a message saying 'You need to restart your computer' appears. I've restarted it, and it happened again.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong?

Thanks

Hold the mouse clicker down at restart, that will force the CD to eject. The box that says to restart your computer in several languages is a kernel panic. Eject the CD, start up in Safe Mode by holding down the Shift key immediately after the startup chime. Report back in!

Thanks. I have a Logitech 3 button mouse. Which button should I press, or does it not matter?

Three buttons?! Sheesh! I would press the left one, I guess. None of the Logitech software will have loaded. Might take a try or two!

Right, I've tried the mouse button thing to eject the CD, all good. Tried to start in safe mode by holding the shift key as you said, but it didn't go quite to plan! Instead of the moving loading icon with the grey Apple icon, it just showed the grey Apple icon on its own, and then the fan span up to what sounded like full speed, and just stayed there.

Any other ideas?

Thanks

New update... I found the original install discs for my iMac. I put them in and held down "C" as it said. Installer loaded, I went into Disk Utility and tried to verify and repair the disc permissions. Thought it wouldn't do any harm, and may help to cure the problem, but it said it failed because it couldn't find anything. I then tried the Apple Hardware Test disc, clicked on extended test, 3 minutes later it came back saying that there is an error with the mass storage device!

The error code it gave is "2STF/8/3: S-ATA Bus 0 - Master"

I'm assuming that somewhere along the line it has buggered itself up somehow. Is there anything I can do to sort it out?

Thanks

The error code it gave is "2STF/8/3: S-ATA Bus 0 - Master"

Click to expand...

That is your hard drive. It is dead or dying. You need a replacement SATA drive. You do have a full backup, right?!

I thought it was that. Hard drives don't tend to give errors unless there is a big problem.

I don't have a backup, no, however I didn't keep anything on the internal HD anyway. All my stuff is on my external HD.

Is it easy (ish) to replace the hard drive do you know? Or would I be better off sending it to a service centre?

Thanks

Open up the side panel, gently remove the data and power cables, flip the little plastic latch thingy, pull out the drive. Installation is the reverse, no pins, no jumpers, SATA drives are pretty easy to deal with.

Hi! I am having the same problem. The same error code appears when i run hardware test. BUT, sometimes, the mass storage "passes" the test. So, should i get a new HD?

Im traying to reset the computer since i saw in some foruns it may be "keys out of order/system library error" wich i found out it may be some internal conflict or programs that are not compatible.

If someone could help me out with something...

Thanks!