What is this?

[meatlocker]

Hello, friends. I've been trying to get an answer to this most puzzling of riddles over the last couple of weeks, and have been met with dead-ends, scorn, and outright ridicule.

Ok, maybe not the last two, but definitely dead-ends. Here is the scoopage - I bought a refurb'd 27" iMac a couple of weeks ago from the Apple Store. It works beautifully. I do a migration from an external drive which has a clone of my C2D MBP, and just before the login screen, I get this weird image:

The gray bar at the bottom is sometimes blue. This image is static, and sits on the screen for about 5 seconds, then the login screen appears. There are absolutely no ill effects from this image, and once the login prompt appears, everything works great.

I have reset PRAM/SMC, fixed permissions, hardware test...all of it. Nothing changes or is reported abnormally.

So I call Apple on Saturday, and they have me boot into Safe Mode. The image does NOT appear. Odd. So this is something that is being initialized right before the login prompt. But what could it be?

Apple insists on sending me a replacement iMac, you know, 'just in case'. Ok, fine. They upgrade shipping and it arrives yesterday. Guess what? Same issue when I migrate from my other machine...

I'm hoping with the wealth of knowledge that I have seen pass through these hallowed forum pages that someone will know the answer to this most irritating of puzzles, and how to rid myself of it.

 

[roeiboot]

wasn't this addressed in another post already ?

 

[meatlocker]

wasn't this addressed in another post already ?

Not a post of mine, and I didn't see it in a search.

 

[roeiboot]

i was referring to this post: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/209538-what.html

 

[pigoo3]

So I call Apple on Saturday, and they have me boot into Safe Mode. The image does NOT appear. Odd. So this is something that is being initialized right before the login prompt. But what could it be?

Apple insists on sending me a replacement iMac, you know, 'just in case'. Ok, fine. They upgrade shipping and it arrives yesterday. Guess what? Same issue when I migrate from my other machine...

Seems very strange that you've had this problem on two different computers.

- Do you have anything externally plugged into this iMac?
- When you say "migrate" from your other machine...are you migrating anything that could be effecting the operating system?

I guess worst case scenario is to get a 3rd iMac.

- Nick

 

[JohnCL]

It almost has to be something with software due to the migration. It is very unlikely that 2 different new iMac's will exhibit the same problem. Did you try a fresh install and not run the migration wizard? I would be anxious to see that result.

 

[meatlocker]

Thanks for the reply - no, nothing external plugged in at the moment. By 'migrated', I mean that I used Migration Assistant to copy my MBP backup from my external firewire disk to the new iMac.

This issue does not appear on the MBP, so I am wondering if there is some sort of graphics initialization/kext/daemon that is specific to the MBP that got copied over to the iMac(s), and does not get initialized properly because of the different hardware. If this is the case, how do I root it out?

 

[meatlocker]

It almost has to be something with software due to the migration. It is very unlikely that 2 different new iMac's will exhibit the same problem. Did you try a fresh install and not run the migration wizard? I would be anxious to see that result.

I should have mentioned this...yes, this works. I verified that on a fresh install, the issue does not appear. So it is pretty clear that it is something in the migrated data...I just don't know what initializes at this point in the boot process. It seems a little early for a 3rd party program to be in the boot process (before the login), but I could be wrong.

 

[pigoo3]

I should have mentioned this...yes, this works. I verified that on a fresh install, the issue does not appear. So it is pretty clear that it is something in the migrated data...I just don't know what initializes at this point in the boot process. It seems a little early for a 3rd party program to be in the boot process (before the login), but I could be wrong.

This is sort of what I was referring to in my earlier post. That something during the "migration" process is what's causing the problem, and thus not something with the hardware..

I'm not sure what your migrating...but if you were able to copy important files (documents, photos, etc.) manually...and install your applications from their original disks...that should help eliminate this problem.

- Nick

p.s. Just curious...what version of the Apple operating system are you running on your MBP (the computer I'm assuming you're migrating from)?

 

[meatlocker]

Thanks, Nick. I am trying to avoid a manual reinstall of all of the programs...I have some of the original disks, not all. It sounds like this might be inevitable, however. I am going a full migration, FWIW...docs, files, settings, accounts, apps.

Both the iMac and MBP are running 10.6.4

 

[pigoo3]

Thanks, Nick. I am trying to avoid a manual reinstall of all of the programs...I have some of the original disks, not all. It sounds like this might be inevitable, however. I am going a full migration, FWIW...docs, files, settings, accounts, apps.

Both the iMac and MBP are running 10.6.4

Well...at least it seems we're making some progress (regarding this problem not being hardware)...but something to do with the migration process. If you were able to some sort of "partial migration"...maybe that would help isolate the problem.

Regarding the OS versions...good to know that both your MBP & iMac are running the same version...just another thing to eliminate as a possibility.

Good luck,

- Nick

 

[JohnCL]

Is settings and accounts really necessary in the migration? I have never included those items in the process, just apps and docs. I was always in the school of thought that migrating accounts and settings could cause more hassle to the process. It has never been a real issue for me without those included.

 

[meatlocker]

I've always done it, and never really had an issue. Perhaps it is a bad habit. I will try to migrate just the apps and docs and see what happens. Thanks!

 

[JohnCL]

I've always done it, and never really had an issue. Perhaps it is a bad habit. I will try to migrate just the apps and docs and see what happens. Thanks!

Cool, post back. I am interested to see how it all turns out for you.

 

[pigoo3]

Cool, post back. I am interested to see how it all turns out for you.

I'm interested as well!

- Nick

 

[meatlocker]

Whelp...I am on my second reformat of the evening. After the first, I migrated just the apps and home folder. The issue was there right afterward. Then I created a new admin and deleted the tranferred home folder. The issue was still there. Now I am starting from scratch and thinking that I am just going to build up from scratch, which is a PITA, but probably cleaner in the long run. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[chas_m]

No, now that you've identified that the issue in your home folder, you can safely migrate all the apps (system settings, etc -- ie everything BUT the home folder) over, which should save you a LOT of work.

As for identifying the culprit, I'd suggesting looking first in the Login items and Startup items (they are two separate things) on your old machine to see what might be there that's third-party, any graphic-card drivers or anything like that would be a big clue.

 

[meatlocker]

Thanks chas_m...I had already gone through all of the login/startup items, along with prefs, kexts, and the like...I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and even went so far as to delete Fusion, as I saw it as the only thing that was really starting up early with the machine. No dice. So I spent a few hours last night rebuilding the machine from scratch, and all is well. It even seems a bit snappier, which is probably just a post-traumatic stress disorder artifact of having to go through the process....
Thanks again for the advice.

 

[drupgren9]

Same--I have an odd image on one of my g5 17" imac.....I went to upgrade the hdd and reinstall the OS--was all fuzzy, then when it was in the boot disc setup--the screen was 100%

When it was all done, it was fuzzy again and froze??