How to repair Mac OSX 10.4.6

I m trying to reboot with the Apple CD but i cant!!!!

I have already tried to hold the "C" key while booting but it will not do anything.

Please advice.

PowerMac G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6), None

Posted on Jun 25, 2009 11:56 AM

Reply
11 replies

Jun 25, 2009 2:43 PM in response to xcino

If the computer runs and you can see an inserted media
disc (the OS X installer boot volume) in the System
Preferences> Startup Disk control panel, you may be
able to choose that bootable media OS X as Startup.
Then choose the Restart button in the Preference panel.

Sometimes, other things may be necessary if the correct
OSX bootable installer disc won't work with the computer
it shipped with; or if the retail OS X installer disc later
bought & installed in the computer won't boot it up.

If the disc is not from the computer's original software packet,
you would have to try starting up from an OS X retail 10.4.x
installer disc to see if it could be used as a repair disc. The
last Tiger 10.4. retail discs are of a higher step than 10.4.6.

You could also get and use an appropriate Disk Warrior or
Drive Genius (and other, TechTool Pro, etc) correct third-
party disk utility & use that to try various repair techniques.
Each third-party disk utility can do several things, some do
more or do things in a different way than the OS X disk utility.

You may have to see if resetting the PRAM & NVRAM may
help the computer see the correct bootable disc should that
be the only path available to you. You could also try to get
and use a second Mac and FireWire Target Disk mode, to
see if using the second Mac's Disk Utility can repair that one.

In any event...
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Jun 30, 2009 1:48 PM in response to xcino

To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse to open an application to do something, you'll need to type a text command at the prompt (#) to tell fsck what to do. The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) and single-user mode are two examples of command-line interfaces in which you can type such commands. To use fsck:

1. Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line. Hold CMD+s keys down at bootup.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.

2. At the command-line prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy

(SPACE between fsck AND -fy important)

3. 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 ofvolume) 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).

4. When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Then Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.

Jun 29, 2009 12:33 PM in response to xcino

fsk (as described in the article to which Cornelius provided a link) will let you repair your main drive without booting from an optical disc. It is remotely possible fsk might repair whatever is ailing the computer in terms of not seeing the disc in the optical drive, but I am not holding my breath. In that regard if fsk does not change things you should anticipate replacing the optical drive if it is the original one that came with the G4. It is relatively inexpensive.

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How to repair Mac OSX 10.4.6

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