Kernel Panic??!!, My G4 tower won't restart all the way! Options

[macintarian]

Hello good people,

I have a G4 tower, 512MB RAM, 800 MHz processor, OS X 10.2.4, 40 gigs harddrive. I think it may be "kernel panic" which I read about in previous posts with similar error messages. Halfway thru restarting I get a "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power Button for several seconds or press the restart button", with what non-english alphabets at the bottom. Again and again I try and get the same message.

I have a MOTU Fastlane Midi USB interface and a firewire cable for a camcorder connected to my machine(camcorder is unplugged from cable).

I don't know where or how to begin to resolve this problem as I can not even get the machine started. I would appreciate some advice to nudge me in the right direction without risking the loss of data on my harddrive. Thanks in advance.

[Francois Déchery]

except if you're used to unix, i would suggest you to restart from the MacOSX CD 1 (press C during startup to boot from CD-rom).

When the installer program starts, go in the menu and choose "Disk Utily".

Then choose the second tab 'disk first aid' and try to 'repair DIsk' and ALSO 'repair permissions'. If you get error during this processes, do it again, until all is fine (except some weird permissions problems that could remain, and could be ignored)

When its OK, quit, then restart (press Option to be sure to boot from the HD)

If its not a big problem, it should works

If it fails you can boot in single user mode (appleKey-S at startup) and play with the terminal to figure out whta's wrong. but if you're not a unix guru, you only risk to add more problem than you solve.

Next solution, find another HD (IDE or FIrewire), plug it to the mac, boot from the CD, install OSX on the second new drive, boot from the second drive, backup your data (home directory) to the new drive, then re-install OSX on the first HD...

HTH

[TheWeaze1]

Turn the computer off, then on. Hold down shift right after you hear the start up chime. This is called safe mode in OS X. It is kinda like extensions off in OS 9 but it also runs a directory check. Also, make sure you un-plug everything from your mac. Except for stock keyboard/mouse. You can also try starting up in verbose mode...apple-v after start up chime. This goes to a unix shell and tells everything that is being loaded so you can see where it hangs. Its like watching a windoz box start up.

Ce message a été modifié par TheWeaze1 - jeu. 12 juin 2003, 11:28.

[macintarian]

Thanks a lot Webmaster and TheWeaze1, I will try your suggestions too Weaze1, Webmaster I tried your advice to boot up from the MacOSX CD 1 but was afraid to proceed past the point where I have to click Restore. It explained what restore would do which was "Apple Software Restore will restore software and factory settings and will erase your HD to it's original settings". As I don't want to lose my data I just hit "Quit" till I was sure about what to do. I did have an option to "Switch" but didn't know what that would do. Would that have created a new and seperate HD on my system? If so could I then have access to my original HD and just copy my data unto the new HD?

Thanks a lot guys

[lepetitmartien]

macintarian, the switch would have allowed you to tell the installer where to find a different drive/partition to install OSX on.

If you have only this drive, it would have been of no use.

If you have ANOTHER drive, install OSX on this different drive then do the stuff Soif the webmaster told you.

If you don't, follow either the first recommendations of Soif, or the weaze1's.

keep us informed so that we can help you in case.

[macintarian]

Thanks lepetitmartien,

On trying to install Mac OS X, after selecting the harddrive I get a message saying "There are newer versions of some of the software packages in Mac OS X already installed on the volume Macintosh HD". "This software does on allow older versions to be installed on top of newer version".
Originally I had the factory setup which was both OS 9.2 and OS X, then I upgraded to Jaguar 10.2 then to 10.2.4. There is a check box that I haven't checked saying "Erase destination and format as: Does this mean that I have to check the erase box and won't that erase my data,......or is it already gone?

[TheWeaze1]

omg, don't erase anything. Did you try those things I told you to do yet? You should be using the Jag disk to try and make repairs, but do the things I told you to do first. You can try to Archive and install off the Jag disk, but don't earse anything!

[macintarian]

Well, I did not check the erase box, so my old data should still be there, I am trying both what you and Soif suggested. I think may have cleared up why I got the warning about "Newer software does not allow me to install older version". I was using the Mac OS X disc, I will try starting up from the Jaguar disc. This was my confusion as I didn't know which disc to start up from. I will keep you guys posted on my progress. Thank you guys once again.

[macintarian]

I have tried what the webmaster and weaze1 suggested. After I
verified and repaired my disk and permissions,both using Disk Utility and using the "fsck command", I get an "Invalid sibling link" error. I quit disk utility and restarted holding down the option key to start up from the harddrive but now I get two white stripes going across my monitor. As I'm not a Unix guru I couldn't understand the other options offered by pressing apple-v or s, so I didn't try those. I don't mind re-installing my software from scratch but I really don't want to lose the data I have on my harddrive. Does this mean that I am left with no more options?

[Francois Déchery]

It seems you got a serious HD problem.

Your BEST option if to find ANOTHER HD, plug it, and install OSX (or OS9) on this NEW drive.

Then boot from this new drive and try to backup your /Users/loginName/ folder from the old drive to the new drive.

[macintarian]

Thank you much Webmaster, I don't have another HD, but I do have an old iMac computer, is it possible to use that machine's HD?

[lepetitmartien]

You can, mind that everything will be erased on it!

extract the HD from the iMac

set its jumper to "slave" at its back (it should be explained on it, at worse find the tech data on the HD manufacturer site) if it is to be plugged on the same cable as the drive to back up.

Connect it into the G4 (power and IDE cable: the plug is the one left on the same cable as the original HD)

Follow the instruction already given to enforce install of OSX on this drive.

[macintarian]

New progress, I ran an apple diagnostic test on my system and it passed each category, so it seems, my HD is fine. After the diagnostic test I restarted my machine and it went all the way, though it hung a bit during restart. After restarting, I saw my desktop just as it were with all my software present.........however, my mouse cursor was frozen in place and my clock on the upper right hand corner was flashing. I could only "tab" thru my desktop but could not access or open anything. Does this mean anything to more experienced mac people?

[Francois Déchery]

Beleive me BACKUP your data AS FAST AS POSSIBLE (2nd HD method), then reformat and reinstall OSX... you will avoid a lot of trouble!

[macintarian]

It's me again, well I did what webmaster suggested, I have installed a second HD and set it to slave. I did install OS 10.1.3 the version that came with the G4 on the new HD, however I was running 10.2.6(Jaguar) when this all happened. 1) do I need to do a clean install of Jaguar on the 2nd HD, and reboot from it?,... 2) how do I then go about finding the data on the problem HD so that I can back up or copy the files that I need? Thanks again for your help.

[macintarian]

oh I forgot to mention that after installing 10.1.3 on the 2nd HD I could find the original HD or it's data....I understand that I should try a clean re-install of Jaguar and then try again, all I have to do is figure out how to find the problem HD, would it be visible on the desktop?

[dixiechicken]

You can and should install Jaguar on the new HD.

If both HD:s are on the same cable, -
the new HD jumpered as master and your old HD as slave, -
both hd:s will show up on the desktop.

The HD you're booting up from ( the new HD ) will be -
the topmost rightmost HD-icon on the desktop.

Be careful you dont by mistake install Jaguar back onto your old drive.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[macintarian]

Thank you very much dixiechicken and all, that's precisely what I needed to know. Yes both HDs are on the same cable. I'll post my results as soon as I try it all out.

[Francois Déchery]

before re-installing the 1st HD, you should backup all the content of:

/Users/your_login_name/

To your new (2nd) HD

Then, i would advice to erase the 1st HD (re-format) just in case, and verify it for bad-blocks with a Norton or DiskWarrior App. Then, when you are sure that you first HD is perfectly OK, reinstall a fresh MacOSX on it....

Re-install all your Apps (with the installers if any) then, copy back your document from your backup on the second HD.

HTH

[macintarian]

Finally!! I finally was able to spend some time inside my G4 and did exactly what Webmaster suggested I do in adding a 2nd HD to my G4. I used my old iMac HD as my 2nd HD and it worked great. I was able to see my problem HD on the desktop and backed up my data. Thanks a lot Webmaster, TheWeaze1, Dixiechicken and Lepetitmartien. Now I've got to save up some money and become an active member to this valuable mac community.