Al G4 12" 1.33GHz boots in safe mode, otherwise blue screen before log-in

+First let me say I found many an "Archived" posts about this type of problem but+ *NO SOLUTIONS.*

I started this problem over on G4 powerbook, didn't find a solution there so thought maybe this is a more likely place to find an answer. see: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10053631#10053631

*The set up:*
I bought a Al G4 12" 1.33GHz that would not boot up,(OS 10.4.x) it would go into Kernel panic upon startup. There were lines in the lcd screen as well.

*What I did:*

Thought it was an OS update gone bad so I replaced the HD, Pulled and changed the Airport Express card, changed the RAM (786MB), Rest NVRAM and PRAM and installed OS 10.5 via Target from another G4 as I still could not boot from the combo drive (without a Kernel panic).

*After the install/upgrade NO MORE KERNEL PANICS, or lines on the screen but+. +It will only boot in "safe" mode from either HD or Combo drive.+ Hang Occurs right before desktop would appear with auto login, with and without airport card. With and without the airport.kext in extensions.

*SOMETHING IN THE OS lets the machine boot in safe mode only*... How can I find a list of items/extensions to check to see what is causing the conflict?

*Over on the PBG4 board I think I've tracked the problem to VRAM* but not completely certain as it could still be the known Airport card glitch.

Is there some place I can find out what Extensions are not running in safe mode so I can see if I can do a software work around with a custom startup set?

Message was edited by: themachead

MacPro 1.1 G5, Dual-Core Intel Xeon 2.66GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 15GB ram

Posted on Aug 27, 2009 11:19 AM

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1 reply

Sep 9, 2009 7:43 AM in response to themachead

+*The Solution+:*

Found the solution myself

Upgraded to Leopard, *did a safe boot and ran system profiler - looked at extensions running.*

W*hile in safe mode I "trimmed" the extensions to that set* (had to do with extraneous or corrupted video drivers) and voilà w*as able to boot and use the computer with no freezing or Kernel panics.*

Also used G4 Fan control to run the CPU cooler.

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Al G4 12" 1.33GHz boots in safe mode, otherwise blue screen before log-in

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