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User profile for user: becca jnr
becca jnr Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Blue screen of death ...on a mac .....

I was just going through the installion process for a demo of ' AudioHijackPro ' which went ok .

I was about to test the app...but needed to install an extra piece of software (which came with it ) to enable an ' instant hijack' .

software installed , my mac informed me I needed to shut down( kernal panic , I think) then after trying to restart I see the grey apple screen then the ' booting to macOSX' screen, then , a blue screen with nothing...except occasionally, a cog wheel which is visable for a few seconds ...a slight change in the blue color on the screen and then ...a blue screen .

Occasionally I see what looks like a darwin screen ( black with white writing ?!) but this is only visable for 1 second and then the blue screen reapprears.

I tried resetting PRAM and unplugging for 2 mins and then plugging in and turning on at the same time etc ...to no avail .

Also repaired permissions and disc too.


anyone ?

kindest,becca

iMac 350 -9.2.x iMac 400 DV - 10.4.11, Mac OS X (10.4.11), HP c4180 photosmart, HPw20 monitor, Nano 4Gb, hp pentium3 server

Posted on Feb 8, 2008 11:17 AM

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User profile for user: Jeff Kelleher
Jeff Kelleher
User level: Level 4
3,075 points

Posted on Feb 8, 2008 11:24 AM

If you boot in verbose mode (hold down CMD-V at startup) you may be able to get some clues as to what it's trying to do when it 'hangs'.

It's possible that you have a corrupted or dying HD. If it's just corrrupted, you may be able to save it with DiskWarrior (or a similar utility).

It's possible that you have some other hardware going bad (memory is pretty common).

Just curious - when you repair the disk, what procedure did you use and what were the results?

Jeff
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User profile for user: Jeff Kelleher
Jeff Kelleher
User level: Level 4
3,075 points

Feb 8, 2008 11:24 AM in response to becca jnr

If you boot in verbose mode (hold down CMD-V at startup) you may be able to get some clues as to what it's trying to do when it 'hangs'.

It's possible that you have a corrupted or dying HD. If it's just corrrupted, you may be able to save it with DiskWarrior (or a similar utility).

It's possible that you have some other hardware going bad (memory is pretty common).

Just curious - when you repair the disk, what procedure did you use and what were the results?

Jeff
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User profile for user: becca jnr
becca jnr Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Feb 8, 2008 11:32 AM in response to Jeff Kelleher

Hi jeff...thanks for the quick reply ...
I'll try the verbose mode , Though definately possible ..I think the HD should be ok ...its not that old and it did test ok recently with TechTool Pro , memory checked out too but obviously these thing can happen so I'll go check via verbose mode..........

To repair the disk I just used disk utility on the install cd , the results of disk utility showed all seemed fine with theexception of permissions which needed to correct a few items but did state that it did so ok .

kindest,becca
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User profile for user: becca jnr
becca jnr Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Feb 8, 2008 1:06 PM in response to becca jnr

UPDATE>....realised I had used my Panther install disc for the disk utility first time round ....I have now verified the HD and was informed that....

" Mac HD need's repair"
"Error:the underlying task reported failure on exit"

I have duly repaired the disk successfully , restarted and .... same issue present ...my mac just hang's on blue screen.

any help appreciated

kindest ,becca
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User profile for user: Jeff Kelleher
Jeff Kelleher
User level: Level 4
3,075 points

Feb 8, 2008 1:27 PM in response to becca jnr

If verbose mode just gets you to the blue screen after all the startup info goes by, then you're not seeing what's happening when it hangs - right?

If DU repaorts that it can't repair the HD, then the next step would be to use TechTool (which you did) or DiskWarrior. DW can sometimes fix things TT can't, but obviously there's no guarantee.

So - if you have a damaged HD (per DU) that can't be repaired, my next step would be to erase and install. You may be able to get away with an archive and install, but you'd have to do an erase and install anyway if the archive didn't help. If you erase the HD and reinstall everything, and it's still not working, then chances are the HD is bad.

good luck,

Jeff
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User profile for user: please oh please oh please
please oh please oh please
User level: Level 1
40 points

Feb 8, 2008 1:28 PM in response to becca jnr

You don't say how long you waited after receiving the "blue screen." I've noticed that on occasion after receiving a kernal panic the restart is extremely slow... way beyond what it seems like it should take to start up again. It's been a while since this has happened so I don't remember how long the restart took, but I seem to remember it was between 5-10 minutes, then eventually everything came up and went back to normal.
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User profile for user: becca jnr
becca jnr Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Feb 9, 2008 2:19 AM in response to Jeff Kelleher

well, I tried to tried to start with Verbose mode but ....nothing appeared to happen ...just the blue screen ( maybe I didnt do it right ?)

Disk Utility did say that it had repaired the disk succesfully ?!
I will leave the machine starting up for longer ....I have in all fairness only left the mac showing the blue screen for a minute or two ....so, I will give it 15 mins and post back with the results


one thing I didnt metion was that there is 4.9Gb of available space on the 80Gb HD so I presume doing a Archive and install wouldnt be an option( because of the 'previous system 'file size that would be created would be bigger than the available space ), or would it ?

thaks for your input

kindest ,becca

Message was edited by: becca jnr
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User profile for user: Jeff Kelleher
Jeff Kelleher
User level: Level 4
3,075 points

Feb 9, 2008 7:37 AM in response to becca jnr

Yes, archive and install is not an option.
Also, 4.9 GB of free space is really not enough for OS X.
Your HD is for all intents, full. That may or may not be related to your problem (I'd guess not, but it could make your Mac a bit slow).
Since DU reports that it has repaired the HD, but it still won't boot, it could be still be a failing HD. DU can fix what went bad, but it goes bad as soon as you boot it again.
It makes it more difficult to be sure what to do next since your HD is a bit full.
If you have your important data backed up, I think an erase and install would be in order here. It will help get you closer to figuring out the problem even if it doesn't work.

Jeff
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User profile for user: becca jnr
becca jnr Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Feb 9, 2008 12:46 PM in response to Jeff Kelleher

Hiya Jeff...Now normaly , I am the one who backs everything up all the time ...BUT, you guessed it ...this time I havent ...you see, this mac was given to me and before I backed it up I needed to get either an external HD or RW ~I keep looking on ebay etc but tbh finding stuff I like which runs on a mac appears difficult (to me at least )

So, suffice to say I have not backed this mac's data up ...hangs head in shame 😟...
...suppose I will have to just reinstall , lose my data and see if she will boot up after that

any other way ?? *hope's

kindest,becca

Message was edited by: becca jnr
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User profile for user: becca jnr
becca jnr Author
User level: Level 1
55 points

Feb 11, 2008 7:10 AM in response to becca jnr

UPDATE > -every minute or so ( I haven't timed it ) the screen displays some white writing on a black bacground

two different variants of this have appeared in the first the time/date computer name and :/dev / console operation not supported by device text appeared on the screen in white over a black background.... I entered my admin password , clicked enter ...nothing happened .

Then the black screen returned to blue for a while.

A black screen appeared a second time and said " welcome to Darwin "

then returned to a blue screen

Is there any commands any one might know of that I could input when the text appears that could help find a solution or fix this 'issue '

I would really appreciate it

kindest , becca

Message was edited by: becca jnr
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Blue screen of death ...on a mac .....

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