"panic: we're still hanging here"...? please help!!

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About 4 months ago I bought a used mac laptop. Unfortunately I can't remember it's exact specifics, & I can't get into it to tell you what they are, but I believe it is an iBook G3 (if that at all helps). For those 4 months, it worked perfectly fine...

Today, when I start my Mac there's a gray screen with a blinking gray box w/ a globe inside it. Then it switches to a little folder icon which has an alternating flashing mac face & question mark inside that. After a minute or two, the folder icon disappears & the gray apple logo appears. Quite some time after that, an animated 'wheel' (that's the best description I can think of atm) appears below the apple logo. The wheel goes 'round & 'round forever & nothing further happens. I've literally left it on for over an hour, & it's still the same screen, with the same spinning wheel.

However, yesterday when the problem first started, it did get farther than that screen, but not much. After seemingly forever, the spinning wheel & apple logo disappeared & a big exclamation point stretched across the screen. Over top of it was a bunch of what I considered gibberish, & at the very, very bottom of all that jargon were the words; "panic: we're still hanging here...". I could not do anything but turn the mac off.

Does anyone - anyone - have any idea what's going on with my mac? I should also mention that I've tried rebooting it in 'Safe Mode' following instructions online to hold the Shift key down while rebooting. I've tried this several times, holding the Shift key before turning it on, holding it directly after turning it on, waiting until the 'start sound' signals & then holding the Shift key. Nothing works. I've googled the 'panic' phrase & came up with nothing. Please help if you can! Thank you.
 
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Are you on OSX or OS9? Do you have the original installation discs? I'd suggest booting off those and going into disk utility to try and fix your problems. If that doesn't work then an Archive and Install may be on the cards.
 
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Today, when I start my Mac there's a gray screen with a blinking gray box w/ a globe inside it.
The globe might hint that it's looking for a network.
Quite some time after that, an animated 'wheel' . . . appears below the apple logo.
So it's OS X.
. . . a big exclamation point stretched across the screen.
Wow. That's a new one on me.

If the machine is looking for a network and can't boot, give it the choice to boot from its own system by holding down the Option key when you start it, and hold it down until two or more system boot-disk choices line up in the middle of the screen (if this works).

Again, if this works — and it might take a while to do so in a G3 running OS X — use the mouse and click on the machine's system, then the arrow, to boot it.

After it's up and running (hopefully), go into the system preferences to the startup disk, and click on the machine's system disk icon.
 
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MacHeadCase

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Welcome to Mac-Forums, mlynn.

I think you are experiencing a kernel panic. Most of the time, it is hardware related but it can also be software sometimes.
 
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Are you on OSX or OS9?

OSX

Do you have the original installation discs?

Unfortunately I do not. I bought the notebook used, & it didn't come with any discs. Is there any way to install without it?

hold it down until two or more system boot-disk choices line up in the middle of the screen

I tried this (thank you for your response) but only one system boot-disk choice came up. The HD was the only option, so I tried clicking that & then the arrow, but all it did was take me to the gray screen w/ the gray apple logo & did nothing. I let it sit for almost 30 minutes, & nothing happened. The spinning wheel didn't even come up.

I think you are experiencing a kernel panic.

I went to that link you provided (thank you), but it seems like all the troubleshooting answers there either involve being able to get past the startup screen or completely reinstalling OSX, & unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a way to reinstall without the startup disk, which my computer didn't come with.

Thank you all so much for your responses. Any additional ideas would be greatly appreciated!
 
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The globe means that the Mac is looking to boot from a network, but obviously none exists. The folder with the flashing question-mark/Mac icon means that it found the internal boot drive, but the boot image appears to be corrupted.

It looks like the machine started to boot and then encountered the corruption/error. At this point it is safe to assume that it is software related. I have seen what you are talking about, and it is indeed a Kernal Panic. You need another Mac (with a FireWire Connection) or some OSX boot discs. If you can find either, let us know and we'll go from there.
 
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You need ... OSX boot discs.

Thank you. Do you happen to know which discs I'm looking for? I know I couldn't give you much in the way of specifics for my iBook, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for & don't want to end up buying the wrong thing. I thought I'd check eBay, & I found this, which looks like it's for my iBook, but I wasn't sure if it's exactly what you're talking about.
 
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Thank you. Do you happen to know which discs I'm looking for? I know I couldn't give you much in the way of specifics for my iBook, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for & don't want to end up buying the wrong thing. I thought I'd check eBay, & I found this, which looks like it's for my iBook, but I wasn't sure if it's exactly what you're talking about.

Those should work.
 
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You should buy the Tiger OS X for PPC,make sure it is not for Intel. I think they are 2 different CDs
 
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Well on an iBook G3, y04chs067, Tiger might grind it to a halt if it doesn't have enough RAM and, since the iBook's video card is probably not supported, some of Tiger's eye candy wouldn't show up anyway.

I would go for sure with Mac OS X Panther 10.3.x though. It was a very stable and mature OS on any Mac.
 
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You need another Mac (with a FireWire Connection)

I have a friend that has a mac w/ FireWire. But he isn't sure how to help my mac w/ his. Do you know how we would go about doing this, or do you know of any websites that have instructions for it? Thank you again for all your help.
 
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Sure, this is easy.

Plug a FireWire cable into your frinds Mac while it is powered up. With your iBook powered off, plug the same cable into your iBook. Power up your iBook and hold down the "T" key while doing so.

In a perfect world you will get the triangular FW symbol on your screen, and your hard drive icon will mount on your friends Macs desktop. Now you can simply run disc utility from his Mac and have it look at your drive. It may be able to repair it without needing to reinstall the OS.

If your drive doesn't mount, then you will have to use the discs.

You should buy the Tiger OS X for PPC,make sure it is not for Intel. I think they are 2 different CDs


The e-bay auction specifically said G3, so they are PPC discs. They should work, assuming he actually has a G3.
 
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Thank you so much!!! I will try that, & if it doesn't work, I'll try the discs. Thank you again, I really appreciate it!!

PS -
assuming he actually has a G3
Actually, I'm a she. ;)
 
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