Please help to bring mac back to life.

[suppafreak]

Hi

I am not much of a Mac person. So I was hoping someone here could help me.

I have this Mac

http://www.techist.com/forums/attac...p-bring-mac-back-life-2013-05-15-17.32.07.jpg

It has dual boot to Apple OS and Windows XP. Here are the issues:

1. When I click to boot apple OS, I get this spinning circle

http://www.techist.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5795&stc=1&d=1368725033

2. When I click to boot to Windows OS, I get this error

http://www.techist.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5796&stc=1&d=1368725091

I tried booting to windows XP CD by pressing and holding C key on the keyboard. I tried booting to Apple OS Safe Mode. Nothing works.

Any suggestions?

 

[ithanz]

have you tried the repair yet?

 

[xerolen]

What version OSX? What year and model iMac? Do you still have the OSX Discs?

 

[suppafreak]

The MAC is not mine, I have no idea what version of MAC OS it has. The only disc I have is WinXP. I find out if there is a MAC OS disc. In case there is a disc. What can I do with it?

 

[ithanz]

Since we don't have the version, I will just say this is compatible for the following: Mac OS X 10.1, Mac OS X 10.2, Mac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion

1. try starting in safe mode.

To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), do this:

Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

After the system has fully started up, restart your computer again normally.

If that does work:
2. Insert the installation disc, and restart the computer while holding the C key. Choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu.Click the First Aid tab. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.Select your OS X volume.
Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.

3. LAST OPTION DO NOT USE UNLESS NEEDED: Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
To get into single-user mode:
- Shut down your Mac if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and one of the following:
the "s" key for single-user mode. (Command-S)
the "v" key for verbose mode. (Command-V)

At the command-line prompt type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.

I copied and pasted most of this from various websites. Hope this helps. You may need to run the repair disc for XP as well but do the above first to see if that works.

 

[MyGodAL3X]

Maybe something stupid to try, but for the Mac booting problem, I have seen some Macs that stay stuck on the spinning circle because of peripherals.
Unplug everything except the power cable and try to boot into Mac OS X.
Maybe then we could get a OS X version, if you can get in.

 

[suppafreak]

Since we don't have the version, I will just say this is compatible for the following: Mac OS X 10.1, Mac OS X 10.2, Mac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion

1. try starting in safe mode.

To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), do this:

Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

After the system has fully started up, restart your computer again normally.

If that does work:
2. Insert the installation disc, and restart the computer while holding the C key. Choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu.Click the First Aid tab. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.Select your OS X volume.
Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.

3. LAST OPTION DO NOT USE UNLESS NEEDED: Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
To get into single-user mode:
- Shut down your Mac if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and one of the following:
the "s" key for single-user mode. (Command-S)
the "v" key for verbose mode. (Command-V)

At the command-line prompt type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.

I copied and pasted most of this from various websites. Hope this helps. You may need to run the repair disc for XP as well but do the above first to see if that works.

For the above scenarios, do I need to have a Mac OS disc? Also I am little bit confused what is the "startup tone". When I press the power button I hear a beep and then a sound that sounds like "Tada". Do I press the shift or "C" right after the beep?

 

[suppafreak]

Maybe something stupid to try, but for the Mac booting problem, I have seen some Macs that stay stuck on the spinning circle because of peripherals.
Unplug everything except the power cable and try to boot into Mac OS X.
Maybe then we could get a OS X version, if you can get in.

I did not have anything connected except the keyboard and mouse.

 

[MyGodAL3X]

If the Mac goes into Mac OS X by default, try unplugging the mouse and keyboard and just have the power cable connected.
I have seen Macs that get stuck on the loading wheel and when turned off and booted without anything plugged in, they got in OS X just fine. Then you just replug your mouse and keyboard once in OS X.

Regarding ithanz comment, to go into Safe Mode, hold the Shift key right after hearing the "tada" sound.
Pressing the C key after the "tada" sound will make you boot from a CD, if you have one in the disk drive.

 

[ithanz]

For the above scenarios, do I need to have a Mac OS disc? Also I am little bit confused what is the "startup tone". When I press the power button I hear a beep and then a sound that sounds like "Tada". Do I press the shift or "C" right after the beep?

To start in safe mode no you do not need the disc and no you don't need the disc for going into single user mode. The other option you do need a disc. I believe the start up sound is the "ta da" sound you are hearing But if that doesn't work, just keep hitting shift key when you startup until it works.

But try safe mode first becasue it rules out a lot of things.

I would suggest trying to get the disc if the guy has it, in that case you will be pressing c instead of shift.