Stuck on Happy Mac?

Hi, LinuxTux37 -

Welcome to Apple's Discussions.

Try booting to the Software Restore or Software Install CD, then run Disk First Aid from the Utilities folder on the CD. If DFA finds anything wrong, let it attempt to repair it.

How long has it been since the internal battery was replaced? Those have an expected life of only about 4 or 5 years, and when they get too weak or become dead, booting irregularities can occur.

The smiling Mac \[SE] is smling because it found good boot blocks on a boot device. As Don suggested, a crash or hang at this point could indicate directory damage (lost track of where the "Blessed Folder" and it files (System and Finder) are located or similar problems.

It is fairly rare, but it could also indicate that the disk driver has been damaged. To correct that problem, run Drive Setup, select your Hard drive, and choose "Update Driver". When you restart, the boot process may get farther.

It's good that it's the happy Mac & not the sad Mac. Look at this link.

Mac OS 7.x - 9.x: Troubleshooting Startup Issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1926

Try a startup with extensions Off (depress the Shift key at startup).

If that doesn't work, try a PRAM zap (Depress the following keys at startup; Command Option+PR & listen for at least 2 bongs; then release the keys)

Once you get your startup problem resolved, you should update your OS to at least 9.1 (or higher). The freeware updaters are at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1387

 Cheers, Tom 😉



Message was edited by: Texas Mac Man