MAC OSX 10.4.11 Problems Booting (Mouse/Keyboard not functioning)

[PCSAARON]

Ok.. This computer is driving me nuts!

I have a iMac G5 with OSX 10.4.11. The computer stopped booting and was stuck on the grey screen with the spiral.

I assumed the hard drive must be going bad. So I removed the hard drive and hooked it up via a USB drive reader to another MAC running Leopard (don't remember the version). I ran a check on the filesystem and it said there was a few errors. After this, I used SuperDuper to create a backup.

I restored the backup to another drive and put this new drive in the non-booting machine. The computer first has a question mark in the beginning (I am assuming it is saying it doesn't know where to boot from - not sure how to fix this). If I hold the command down and turn the machine on and choose the OSX 10.4.11 icon, the machine will boot and work with no issues (FIRST TIME BOOT ONLY). If I reboot or turn the machine off and start it again, the keyboard and mouse will NOT work. Even if I remove them and re-plug them back in. The OS boots, but no USB. It seems that the machine will ONLY work once after the image is created. I am not sure if this is making sense.. The keyboard and mouse work great before the OS loads, and/or the first time after the restore of the SuperDuper image.

I tried several drives to see if the new drive was bad, they all did the same. Also, when loading the image for the first time (since this was the only time the mouse and keyboard would work), I tried to repair the OS and fix permissions on all files and then a reboot allowed the mouse and keyboard to work only ONE time.

I tried to reinstall the OS from the DVD but the machine would NOT give me any options when choosing C at startup. It would load the grey screen and run the DVD for about 15 minutes or so before it shuts the machine down. No messages, just shutdown..

Does anyone have any ideas on what to do here? I need to get this workstation back up and running.. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[PCSAARON]

Also wanted to mention. I did reset the PRAM. Still same issues..

 

[drlex]

Any help or ideas would be appreciated."

Firewire cable, target disk mode and re-install OS from another machine?

soi là, soi carré

 

[SYQUEST]

Does it boot from the Apple DVD and fuction? Did you try putting the original drive back into the Imac? Since you made a backup of the original, you might running some diagnostics on it or re-format the drive and do a system restore, and see if that works. If the drive is defective, then you might try reformating the new one then, and testing it before doing a system restore to make sure it is performing properly. Do you have any standalone disk utilities, like Drive Genius? One of those could provide a better evaluation of what may be happening with the drive.

One other thing I should have mentioned above, are you sure the replacement is proper for the Imac? You did not mention what brands or models the drives are!

....JIM....