The new update killed my Mac

[awirz]

Infos about your startup problem?

Hi Dean,

sorry for the long wait but I was on holidays for over a week!

Can you please provide more details about your Mac, System version and most important about how far you came when continuing startup in single user mode with "sh /etc/rc". The more output lines listed by "sh /etc/rc" you can provide the better I am able to analyze what goes wrong and where you get stuck.

Have you tried to put your Mac in Target Disk Mode connected to another Mac using FireWire and did the volume mount giving you access to the files?

Depending on the actual damage on your harddisk there are several things we can try to get the system operational again or at least copy your valuable data to an external harddisk (have you got one to use?).

Please be as specific as you can when describing what happens!

Looking forward to hear from you.

Adrian

 

[oscarszook]

Thanks for the reply.iBook G4, think it was running 10.3 or 4. I typed in before what it said but i tried again just now and got all this. i left the screen how it is ready for your reply.My wife gave me what she thoght was the target disk and i put it in but get nothing.(i also can't get it out). i am buying a firewire cable today to link my 2 laptops but i also have a external HD.

The volume macintosh HD apearrs to be OK
localhost root#/sbin/mount -uw /
localhost root#/sbin/mount -uw /
localhost root# sh /etc/rc
Checking disk
fsck_hfs: volume is journaled. No checking performed.
fsck_hfc: Use the -f option to force checking
Mounting local file systems
/dev/diskOS3 on / (local,journaled)
kern.syvs.shmmax: -1 ->4194304
kern.syvs.shmmin: -1 -> 1
kern.syvs.shmmni: -1 -> 32
kern.syvs.shmseg: -1 -> 8
kern.syvs.shmall: -1 -> 1024
Resetting files and devices
Starting virtual memory
Removing /mach.sym /bar/tmp/folders.*/etc/nologin /private/_tmp_/var/_run_/private/var/vm/swapfile0\mach.syn
Configuring kernel extensions
Jettisoning kernal linker.
Jan 1 10:06:51 kextd[38]: registering service "com.apple.Kernalextensionserver"
Resetting IOCatalogue.
Matching service count =0
Matching service count =4
Matching service count =4
Matching service count =4
Matching service count =4
Matching service count =4
Jan 1 10:06:54 kextd[38]: 332 cached, 0 uncached personalities to catalog
iPv6 packet filtering initialized, default to accept, logging disabled
Jan 1 10:07:07 mDNSResponder-108.6 (July 19 2007 11:33:32)[44]: starting
Jan 1 10:07:12 local host DirectoryService[56]: launched version 2.1 (v353.6)
localhost:/root* UniNEnet: Ethanet address 00:0d:93:59:24:e6
AirPortPCI: Ethernet address 00:11:24:92:e9:d3
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]:__SCPreferencesaccess CFPropertyListCreasteFromXMLData(): XML parser error:
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]:Unexpected character at line 1
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]:Old style plist parser error:
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]: Unexpected character '0x0' at line 1
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]: Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]: wireless configure:88001003
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]: initCardWithStorePrefs Failed.
Jan 1 10:07:15 localhost configd[49]: WirelessConfigure: 88001003
Jan 1 10:07:17 localhost mDNSResponder: couldn't read user-specific Computer Name; using default bMaciontosh-000D935924E6b instead.
Jan 1 10:07:17 localhost mDNSResponder: couldn't read user-specific Computer Name; using default bMaciontosh-000D935924E6b instead.
Jan 1 10:07:17 localhost mDNSResponder: adding browse domain local.
Workaround bonjour: unknown error: 0
Jan 1 10:42:44 localhost mdimportserver[124]: *** Failed to decode data, treating as binary

 

[awirz]

Hi Dean,

is there nothing more coming after the last line you mentioned?

Jan 1 10:42:44 localhost mdimportserver[124]: *** Failed to decode data, treating as binary​

Please enter the following in single user mode to determine the system version:

/usr/bin/sw_vers​

What do you get?

If you have the FireWire cable put your iBook G4 in Target Disk Mode by pressing T immediately after powering up. Then connect the cable to both Macs and see whether the iBook HD mounts in the Finder. If not start the Disk Utility program and see whether your iBook's HD shows up as a device. If yes you can try to mount it after selecting it. If the iBook's HD can be mounted you are able to copy your files to another HD, preferably an external one (that you may erase completely). SuperDuper is an excellent utility which you could use to copy your HD to another one or to an image on another HD. More about that later as soon as we know whether this is an option.

Have you tried to reset the parameter RAM by pressing and holding Command-Option-P-R when powering up until after the third restart chime? If not please do so.

Hear you later ... (going to bed) ;D

Adrian

PS: I assume you inserted a CD or DVD which did nothing. To get it back you would press the track pad button or the mouse button (if a mouse is connected) when powering up until the CD/DVD is ejected.

 

[oscarszook]

Yes that is all that came up.
After buying the cable I assessed the hard drive and verified. And it comes up with nothing wrong. So iam guessing my hard drive is ok and the problem is in the booting stage somewhere.
Mac OS X, 10.4.11,

where to now?

cheers

 

[Daytonazchic]

yea i have a apple ibook g4 and i cant figure this thing out it says i have to restart my computer so i restart it and the same thing happens again i put the recovery disk in and deleted everything off my computer back to factory spec and still no luck the computer only works in safe mode and i can only use the internet while being plugged into port but wifi does not work can someone please help me ?

 

[tabbycatmadden]

Hi all. I am new on here and feeling desperate at the moment so please forgive me if I am not doing this the correct way.
I have a MacBook Pro 2.20 Ghz. OS = MAC OS X
I was asked to install new updates and did so. I came back to the computer and one update had a message saying it could not install it was a MAC OSX??? update. It told me to re-start the computer. I re started it and the the screen will not go past the apple symbol and the turning circle thingo.
I tried all of the suggestions in the booklet including the self test with the MAC OS X Install disc 1 and did the short test which came up with the error code:4SNS/1/40000000:TGOD-89.000 . I tried looking all over the net and could only find the error code above with different endings and they were all very bad news. I then did the extended test which took aver an hour and it came up saying 'No trouble found'. I then did the quick test again and this time the error code did not come up, 'No trouble found'. I tried again to power my computer on and the same thing again, it won't go past the screen with the apple and the turning circle on it.
I tried to also do a different test to get into the drives? by holding down the 'c' key inseatd of the 'd'key as with the other test. This test would not work.
The screen with the apple and the turning circle on it stays for about 1 minute and then the computer screen just goes black and all is quiet again( seems to be turning itsdelf off) . Adrian, is there anything you may know about this problem?
I also have another question that may? be related?? I will post it separately,
I hope you get this message adrian, regards, Tabatha.

Please excuse me cutting and pasting this from another website. It's a LOT of typing otherwise. Could this be my problem???

nVidia 8600M GT Hardware issue !!! 10/10/2008 09:03:23 AM PDT
MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues

Symptoms
In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within two years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty.

What to look for:

Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen
No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on
Specific products affected:

MacBook Pro 15-inch and 17-inch models with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors
MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
These computers were manufactured between approximately May 2007 and September 2008
THis was found on a website called: World warcraft- a gamers website.

 

[awirz]

HD recovery by cloning and re-installation

Yes that is all that came up.
After buying the cable I assessed the hard drive and verified. And it comes up with nothing wrong. So iam guessing my hard drive is ok and the problem is in the booting stage somewhere.

Hi Dean,

sorry I get back to you so late, I was on a business trip much longer than anticipated.

I analysed your situation further and concluded that it's the best thing to make a duplicate copy of your startup disk (to an external harddisk), reinstall Mac OS X 10.4 and then take over all data from the copy. I had to do just that as well with 2 of my systems about 6 months ago since it is almost impossible to find specific problems buried deep in the system!

You have 2 options for the copy program: SuperDuper from SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner 3 from Bombich Software: Carbon Copy Cloner. I'm using SuperDuper regularly which is very good at making copies of harddisks with file access problems. A few months ago it copied a complete harddisk that nothing else could copy without problems!

Now you would do the following: Install the above utilities on your 2nd Mac (preferably a desktop system with more than 1 FireWire interface!), put your iBook G4 in Target Disk Mode and connect the FireWire cable between the 2 Macs. Attach the external harddisk (must have a FireWire interface in order to be bootable on the iBook G4!) to your 2nd Mac (if it has 1 FireWire interface only then you could daisy-chain 2nd Mac to harddisk and from harddisks 2nd FireWire interface on to iBook). After having mounted iBook and ext. harddisk (make sure it has a meaningful name) on your 2nd Mac you would start one of the utilities, configure them to copy the iBook HD to the ext. HD (erasing it completely and making it bootable!) and then execute the copy operation. After successful completion you would unmount both HDs, unconnect the FireWire cables, power down the iBook, connect the ext. HD to the iBook, start the iBook while pressing the option key and in the upcoming selection choose the ext. HD to boot from. If booting from the ext. HD is successful and the OS is operating properly you would insert the Mac OS X 10.4 CD/DVD and restart the iBook from it by pressing C after the chime. Now reinstall Mac OS X 10.4 on the iBook HD deleting the previous data. After the installation has completed and the iBook restarted you are given the option to take over data from another installation (here from the ext. HD; select all that you would like to transfer to your new system). Transfer of data will take a while. After completion you will need to install the necessary system updates. If you were using kernel extensions for any special devices before you may need to re-install them now. Otherwise you should now be up and running again. ;D

Good luck Adrian

 

[awirz]

yea i have a apple ibook g4 and i cant figure this thing out it says i have to restart my computer so i restart it and the same thing happens again i put the recovery disk in and deleted everything off my computer back to factory spec and still no luck the computer only works in safe mode and i can only use the internet while being plugged into port but wifi does not work can someone please help me ?

Hi,

in order to be able to give you advice I must have as many details about the problem and its symptoms as possible! Other than the Mac type I know nothing about your system, what goes wrong and where.

Please read the other entries of this thread, they could help you determine more details.

I need the exact system version, what you already tried to get rid of the problem, how far you get when you boot into single user mode (logged lines until output stops), etc.

Adrian

Hi all. I am new on here and feeling desperate at the moment so please forgive me if I am not doing this the correct way.
I have a MacBook Pro 2.20 Ghz. OS = MAC OS X
I was asked to install new updates and did so. I came back to the computer and one update had a message saying it could not install it was a MAC OSX??? update. It told me to re-start the computer. I re started it and the the screen will not go past the apple symbol and the turning circle thingo.
I tried all of the suggestions in the booklet including the self test with the MAC OS X Install disc 1 and did the short test which came up with the error code:4SNS/1/40000000:TGOD-89.000 . I tried looking all over the net and could only find the error code above with different endings and they were all very bad news. I then did the extended test which took aver an hour and it came up saying 'No trouble found'. I then did the quick test again and this time the error code did not come up, 'No trouble found'. I tried again to power my computer on and the same thing again, it won't go past the screen with the apple and the turning circle on it.
I tried to also do a different test to get into the drives? by holding down the 'c' key inseatd of the 'd'key as with the other test. This test would not work.
The screen with the apple and the turning circle on it stays for about 1 minute and then the computer screen just goes black and all is quiet again( seems to be turning itsdelf off) . Adrian, is there anything you may know about this problem?
I also have another question that may? be related?? I will post it separately,
I hope you get this message adrian, regards, Tabatha.

Hi Tabatha,

did you already reset the parameter RAM by pressing and holding Command-Option-P-R when powering up until after the third restart chime? If not please do so.

If this does not improve your situation you could reset the System Management Controller. Do the following:

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.
3. Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.
4. Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
5. Press the Power button to restart the computer.​

If that does not help either, start up the MacBook Pro in verbose mode by pressing cmd-v after the startup chime. You should see lots of information on your screen. Please send me the last 15-20 lines if the system gets stuck again. Otherwise how far did you get?

Good luck Adrian

 

[RenaeDeLiz]

Hello Awirz! I hope you can help me! I'm a comic book artist and I rely on my laptop for my job, and it has a weird error that won't allow it to fully boot up!

I have an ibook g4, OSX 10.4.11. While booting up, it is forever stuck on the apple screen with the spinning gear. I have tried all resetting methods, as well as other methods mentioned in this thread, with no luck.

I cannot boot from disk, or in safe mode. I can only go into verbose or single user mode. While in those modes, startup always hangs on

"Workaround Bonjour: error: 0"

I managed to run some kind of check and it says the HD is fine. Also this first happened when I restarted after safari crashed ( which it never does).

Please help!

 

[awirz]

measures to bring your iBook G4 back to life

Hi RenaeDeLiz,

here it is again, the darn "Workaround Bonjour: error: 0", sometimes rather harmless but it may occur when weird things are happening. Unfortunately I don't know exactly what process emits this error. I seems to have something to do with launchctl starting a daemon.

But let's try something useful (hopefully).

Did you already reset the parameter RAM (see tip for Tabatha)? If not do it 3 times in succession!
Or did you reset the power manager: turn ibook off, then simultaneously press and then release Shift-Control-Option-Power on the keyboard. Do not accidentally press the fn (Function) key! Then wait at least 5 seconds and switch the iBook on again.

If that did not help you can go into single user mode and delete some files that can prevent proper system operation:

/sbin/mount -uw / (note the space between uw and / !)
cd /Library/Caches
/bin/pwd (check that you are in the right directory before removing!)
rm -r *
cd /System/Library
rm Extensions.kextcache
rm Extensions.mkext
cd /System/Library/Caches
/bin/pwd (check that you are in the right directory before removing!)
rm -r *
cd /var/db
rm BootCache.playlist
reboot​

Good luck ;D

Adrian

 

[distnoted]

Workaround Bonjour error message with subsequent Single User mode lockup

The following is an edited copy of a message I posted earlier today at the Apple Support Discussion Forums.
_________________________

As SystemStarter and launchctl take over more and more OS X duties, a number of previously standard processes have been deprecated. Among these is the well-known and long-standing method of continuing into Safe Boot mode from Single-User mode, namely invoking the shell script rc with the command sh /etc/rc.

In the current OS X environment, however (and this is true for both 10.4 and 10.5), attempting to boot from the rc script will result in the system entering an irrecoverable loop -- as individuals here have, unfortunately, experienced far too many times. The "Workaround Bonjour" error message which appears just before system lock-up does not describe the cause of the situation. It is, rather, a casualty announcement. The actual event is due to incompatibilities between the rc script, launchctl and SystemStarter.

Here are the steps for continuing the boot process from Single-User mode into the GUI's Safe Boot mode. They apply to both OS 10.4 and OS 10.5:

(1.) You are by no means required to run fsck -fy as the instructions above the prompt would seem to suggest. If, however, you believe the directory has been corrupted, or if you're unsure about the filesystem's status, or if you're just the cautious type, then by all means go ahead and do so. If fsck reports that it modified the filesystem, it is essential that you run fsck again, and do so repeatedly, until fsck reports no problems were found.

(2.) Do not enter mount -uw to mount the filesystem in preparation for a continued boot. Various essential services which launchctl would normally have initiated will not be loaded, causing the boot process to become unstable. Additionally, mounting the system without first specifying system fallbacks will most likely result in the system cache contents from the previous session being rebuilt and recycled -- which is exactly what one wants to avoid.

(3.) As indicated earlier, do not invoke the rc shell script with sh /etc/rc.

(4.) To continue booting from Single User into Safe Boot, you have three options:

• Type ctrl-d;
• Enter the command logout; or
• Enter the command exit.

The three are equivalent.

{N.B.: The Workaround Bonjour error may, under certain conditions, occur in the course of a standard OS X session. Normally benign, (although annoying because of its habit of filling logs to overflowing) it may describe an actual crash. Such a crash usually involves Back to My Mac attempting to retrieve the local machine's WAN IP from uncooperative brands of Ethernet routers.}