Looping, Not logging in Mini

[bluewhaleCA]

Hi. A friend has a PPC Mini which she loves.Until it broke and my really really limited knowledge of UNIX and Mac OS's didn't help.
It boots, tho I don't hear a sound to allow me to try safe mode.. have tried a few times but have to power cycle unit to get it to reboot so stopped trying that. She gets mostly a blank blue screen with a Mac hourglass circling. The system picks up a new mouse or keyboard if you change them. The pointer works when the system is not spinning/waiting.

A few brief moments I see text at the top... ends with
dev/console : operation not supported by device

She does not have the original Apple OS disk(s).
I do have a dual layer DVD disk of 10.5: can I boot from that to get in and try to resolve the hang up? If so do I have to hold a key down to boot from optical?

My thanks for any advice you can offer.


Paul

 

[Foamcow]

Yes.
Put the disc in and if it doesn't boot from it try again holding down C. You can then try to repair the disc via Options/Disc Utility or just cut your losses and reinstall. Of course if the disc is faulty a good idea would be to get a new drive asap.

If you have another Mac you can also try Target Disk Mode.
Hook up the 2 Macs with a Firewire cable. Then boot the broken one holding down T.

When you boot the other machine it should have the broken one's disc mounted on it's desktop. Assuming the disc isn't broken of course.

If you aren't hearing any sound on boot then it could also be seriously dead but the fact you're getting "something" on screen indicates it may be recoverable.

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Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

 

[bluewhaleCA]

Cool. Thanks Foamcow.
Could you tell me if Firewire wires have more than one type of plug? USB comes in a few flavors... Needless to say I've almost not used firewire.

Paul

 

[Foamcow]

I think there is a mini-firewire, but generally they are a large D shape. All the Firewire connectors on a Mac are the standard, large, sort.


*I'm unsure about whether Firewire 800 on the Macbooks etc is a different shape.



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<honk>*:O)</honk>

Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

 

[jmgalvin]

Before resorting to more drastic measures, try resetting PRAM.

Hold down the Command, Option, P and R keys simultaneously as you start. If you hear the chime, WAIT for a second chime and release the keys.

Using OSX 10.3.9 & 10.4.11 on a G4, G5 & Intel Macbook

 

[jpadie]

and bear in mind that you cannot use an OEM install disk to install on a different type of machine. you need the full retail version. you should still be able to use an OEM disk to do diagnostics though.

 

[bluewhaleCA]

I may have 'found' the problem: there's a disk in the optical drive. I only have bluetooth Mac keyboards, and the eject disk key does nothing. I can hear the drive trying to start up numerous times then cut out.

Is there a way to force the unit to eject the disk in such a situation? I do have USB Windows keyboards: is there a keystroke combination using one to eject the disk?

 

[bluewhaleCA]

Never mind. I ended up opening the CD to remove the Ubuntu disk I had tried to boot from on site. Looks like the optical drive is shot. Time to get it to someone who knows more about them than I do.

Thanks for the support.


Paul