System drive crashed...

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Level 3

885 points

System drive crashed...

My system drive crashed earlier this week but thank God I had a Time Machine back up to refer to when I installed a clean version of Leopard on the brand new drive. What I am slowly learning is that some of my apps are not working now. For example Aperture keeps force closing on start up other apps are requiring me to re-register or I have to download a certain item for it to run again! What purpose is the TM backup if you have to go through that hassle? Also my screen seems to have dead pixels which are annoying me big time! I never had those issues prior to the HD crashing. Everytime I click on something on screen, it leaves a small square mark on the screen until I scroll or refresh the screen it will leave. I unplugged the monitor and plugged it back in. I checked the display settings and that all checked out fine. I just want my computer back to how I had it and was hoping that was the whole reason for the Time Machine backups but I guess wrong.

1.8 G5 PowerMac & 2.33 Dual Core Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 6gigs of RAM, 250g & 1TB HD's, Final Cut Pro Studio3, Fotomagico Pro

Posted on Nov 19, 2010 12:06 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 19, 2010 12:47 PM in response to DVX100Shooter

Hi

Navigate to /Users/yourhome/Library/Preferences. Create a folder on your Desktop. Move everything from the Preferences folder into the newly created folder on your Desktop. If you're using Apple Mail don't move the com.apple.mail.plist. From what you're describing it does appear you have any dead pixels. A corrupted display or cms preference could account for what you're seeing? Even a corrupt font can cause strange behaviour.

Restart your computer. If this improves things launch all the applications you typically use and monitor their behaviour. There may be a need to move back any property list or preference that relates to that application although to be honest most applications will be fine creating their own preferences/property lists from scratch again. If nothing improves move all the files (apart from com.apple.finder.plist) back again.

A possible explanation is when you restored from your TM Backup you may have re-introduced a corrupted preference/property list or some other corruption. Possibly caused by your failing drive over a period of time. Some applications will benefit from being reinstalled. Some applications may even require it. Some applications store licence information in 'special' areas of the drive that clearly - with your new drive - are no longer accessible as they would have been on your failed drive. If you have the installer disks for those applications then I can't see it being such a problem?

There's nothing wrong with using TM as a backup although if it was me I would supplement it with another back up strategy. IMHO when it comes to backup I always think redundancy. DVDs are cheap. Supplement TM with a backup to DVD once a month for example.

Tony

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Answer 2

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 19, 2010 5:09 PM in response to Antonio Rocco

I tried what you said and the only difference I noticed was my desktop had a different layout and my dock had icons that weren't there before. Aperture still didn't open up. I still noticed the pixel issue. So I returned it back to how I had it. Now if the pixel thing is preference issue, couldn't I trash that preference? I just know which one it is. I looked for one that said display or cms but didn't see it.

One idea the Genius guy at the Apple store suggested was once install my new HD and make sure its up and running, go and remove my 2nd internal drive which I use solely for Aperture. He said to replace that drive with the old drive and see if it will mount. If it does, drag whatever I can off of there and then trash the drive.

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Answer 3

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 20, 2010 3:17 PM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
My system drive crashed earlier this week but thank God I had a Time Machine back up to refer to when I installed a clean version of Leopard on the brand new drive.

What you should have done (and should probably do now) is a "full system restore" from your backups, per #14 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).

That will put everything back the way it was at the time of the backup you select.

However, it's possible that as your internal HD was failing, it corrupted some things, which Time Machine backed-up. If so, the restored system may not start, or may kernel panic, or just not work properly. If so, try the restore again, but pick an earlier backup, from before the problems started.

Message was edited by: Pondini

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Answer 4

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 23, 2010 6:49 PM in response to Pondini

Well my last backup was in early October and my HD was failing mid November. I like the idea of the full system restore but I thought that is what it does anyway when you select Transfer Time Machine Back Up to new drive. Everything was pretty much the way I had it based on that last back up. The only thing that will not work is Aperture. It keeps force closing! My Aperture library is completely on another drive but the program itself is on the system drive. This program may need to be trashed and re-installed but everything else like my Final Cut Studio and many other programs worked after the transfer!

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Answer 5

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 23, 2010 7:07 PM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
Well my last backup was in early October

Why? Backups get less useful the older they are. The more often you do them, the better you're protected.

I like the idea of the full system restore but I thought that is what it does anyway when you select Transfer Time Machine Back Up to new drive.

There is no such option. Do you mean +Setup Assistant+ or +Migration Assistant,+ when you set up a new Mac? If so, yes, those transfer everything except OSX; the full restore transfers OSX, too.

The difference may be, it sounds like you installed Leopard from your Install disc, then used either +Setup Assistant+ or +Migration Assistant.+ Did you update OSX to 10.5.8 and run +*Repair Permissions+* before using any apps? If not, you were using older versions of apps with newer versions of the data. That's not necessarily a happy combination.

Everything was pretty much the way I had it based on that last back up.

Pardon the old saying, but "Close only counts when playing Horseshoes."

The only thing that will not work is Aperture. It keeps force closing! My Aperture library is completely on another drive but the program itself is on the system drive. This program may need to be trashed and re-installed but everything else like my Final Cut Studio and many other programs worked after the transfer!

In your first post, you said "some of my apps are not working now . . . other apps are requiring me to re-register or I have to download a certain item for it to run again!"

If all those are all fixed, except Aperture, you should count yourself lucky. Do yourself a favor and back up regularly and frequently.

And I always recommend keeping "secondary" backups. All hardware fails, sooner or later, and no backup app is perfect. See #27 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).

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Answer 6

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 24, 2010 8:41 AM in response to Pondini

Maybe there is a way to set up Time Machine to do what I want but I never could figure it out. When I set up it originally, it was constantly backing my system up which is what we all want it to do. My issue with that is I noticed when I was not using my computer, it would not sleep because of the TM doing its job. So that is why I stopped the backups in early October. I was hoping to do backups once or twice a week but it seems like its constantly backing up.

I did install Leopard from the disc but can't remember if I ran repair permissions after it was installed. I couldn't see my screen during the install process for some reason. I could see it but it was hard to read. Once the install was complete, then the Leopard animated video played crystal clear. There's a chance I clicked on something I shouldn't have due to not being able to read the screen good.

The 2 biggest issues that remain that I am noticing that is, is Aperture won't open and I am constantly getting mouse trails on my screen when i click on something or drag the mouse across the screen. Everything else seems to be working fine from the TM back up!

Also check this out. My old system drive that wouldn't boot my computer up, well I took out the other drive that I solely use for Aperture (photos) and I replaced that with the old system drive (now that I have TM backup on the brand new drive. Tell me why the old drive mounted just like that! So I was able to grab stuff off that drive that the TM backup didn't have. After I was done with that transfer, I took the old drive out and put the Aperture drive back in.

So with all that said, what is the best option right now? Should I try a Archive and Install? I just bought Aperture 3 so I can just install that from scratch. Aperture 2 is what I had that is not opening. Trying to figure out how to fix the annoying mouse trails is my current issue!

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Answer 7

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 24, 2010 9:23 AM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
Maybe there is a way to set up Time Machine to do what I want but I never could figure it out. When I set up it originally, it was constantly backing my system up which is what we all want it to do. My issue with that is I noticed when I was not using my computer, it would not sleep because of the TM doing its job. So that is why I stopped the backups in early October. I was hoping to do backups once or twice a week but it seems like its constantly backing up.

It sounds like you have problems with your system. 😟

Time Machine backups shouldn't run constantly, or for very long (after the first full backup). If they do, it's an indication of a problem.

And the problem with your screen is another indication, likely of hardware problems.

I did install Leopard from the disc but can't remember if I ran repair permissions after it was installed. I couldn't see my screen during the install process for some reason. I could see it but it was hard to read. Once the install was complete, then the Leopard animated video played crystal clear. There's a chance I clicked on something I shouldn't have due to not being able to read the screen good.

The fact that the welcome video played means you did an +Erase and Install.+ That did just what it says: it erased the entire contents of your system, and installed Leopard.

If you then transferred/copied/restored things from your backups, that's why you now have the 2009 version of everything.

So with all that said, what is the best option right now?

First, what version of Leopard are you now on? If your Install disc wasn't 10.5.8, and you haven't run Software Update, download and instal the "combo" update. That's the cleverly-named combination of all the updates to Leopard since it was first released, so installing it should fix anything that's gone wrong since then, such as with one of the normal "point" updates. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacOS_X_10_5_8_ComboUpdate

Whether you do that or not, run a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder).

Then run the +Apple Hardware Test,+ either:
[Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509].

or if it's a PPC Mac, it's on one of the disc(s) that came with your Mac, and is tailored to it's particular hardware. The disk should have +Apple Hardware Test+ and instructions for running it printed in very tiny type.

If that shows hardware problems, take it to Apple.

And do regular backups. If they run for very long when you haven't changed much, see #D4 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). If they seem too slow, see #D2 there.

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Answer 8

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 25, 2010 8:41 AM in response to Pondini

Hi Pondini,

I am using 10.5.8 and I did the software update as soon as the installation was complete. I did a repair permissions yesterday that seemed to have help with the "mouse or cursor trails" on screen. I still see them but not as much (knock on wood!!!). I guess I will try the Apple Hardware Test next. Be reminded that this is a brand new drive that is in my machine. Its only been in there for about a week now.

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Answer 9

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 25, 2010 8:50 AM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
Hi Pondini,

I am using 10.5.8 and I did the software update as soon as the installation was complete. I did a repair permissions yesterday that seemed to have help with the "mouse or cursor trails" on screen. I still see them but not as much (knock on wood!!!).

Good. Not great, but progress. 🙂

I guess I will try the Apple Hardware Test next. Be reminded that this is a brand new drive that is in my machine. Its only been in there for about a week now.

Yes, I know. I doubt it's a drive problem; it sounds like either memory or the graphics card. 😟

But even brand-new drives fail . . .

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Answer 10

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 25, 2010 10:14 AM in response to Pondini

Just found something else that might be interesting. I opened up one of the folders in my TM back up and attempted to open Aperture. What I got this time was a Error message saying it could not be opened and the error code is 10657. I did a google search for that error code and found that this is a sign of a unhealthy system. The article went on to say that this error is usually caused by problems in the registry. It listed an application called "Regcure" but it seemed like that was for PC's and not for Mac so I didn't try it but they claim Regcure will scan your computer and correct whatever the problems are. The weird thing is that their website (Regcure) kept mentioning things about PC's, but never mentioned nothing about Mac aside from calling the error code "Mac 10657".

Your thoughts on this? Should I give it a whirl anyway and see if does what it says?

Message was edited by: DVX100Shooter

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Answer 11

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 25, 2010 10:26 AM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
Just found something else that might be interesting. I opened up one of the folders in my TM back up and attempted to open Aperture.

You cannot "use" Time Machine backup files directly; they must be restored somewhere first.

You can view some types of files, but you can't change anything in your backups.

Be very careful using the Finder (or Terminal) on your backups; Apple doesn't do a very good job of warning folks that *Changing, moving, or deleting things in your backups can corrupt them, sometimes beyond repair.*

And yes, that article does not apply to OSX -- there is no "registry."

So no, +*do not+* load and try to run that. It probably won't run anyway, but if it does it could cause havoc.

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Answer 12

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 26, 2010 2:01 AM in response to Pondini

This is all around frustrating! You would think that with the TM backup, my system would be completely the way it was at that last back up interval and its not! Aperture is the only app that I am getting that error code. I think I am just going to install Aperture 3 and call it the day.

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Answer 13

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 26, 2010 7:02 AM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
This is all around frustrating! You would think that with the TM backup, my system would be completely the way it was at that last back up interval

If you do a full system restore, yes, your entire system is restored to the exact state it was in at the time of the backup. But that's not what you did.

Aperture is the only app that I am getting that error code. I think I am just going to install Aperture 3 and call it the day.

Yes, exactly. Count yourself lucky that you're not having all sorts of problems!

And start doing regular backups so the next time something awful happens, you won't have to go through this again. TM will protect you best if you let it do them hourly. If there's a problem with the size of the hourly backups, or they take very long, investigate it, and fix it; don't just quit backing-up.

Have you run the +Apple Hardware Test?+

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Answer 14

DVX100Shooter Author

Level 3

885 points

Nov 27, 2010 1:07 AM in response to Pondini

I haven't ran the Apple Hardware test yet because it said you have to return your system to practically the state of how it was when you got it with aftermarket things installed. My graphics card is different and I have more memory sticks in there now too.

Now here is another strange thing. Tonight my computer locked up on me 8 times! I have no idea what is causing this to happen. Last week when I took my computer into the Apple store, they said it was my HD that was going bad. I replaced it with a brand new on that same night. Now a week later, I am having the same dag on issues! It either locks up on boot up or it makes it to my desktop and cursor freezes causing me to force shut it down.

I try booting it up in Safe mode but that too locked up on me as well. A friend suggested that I wipe the drive and install the OS again but don't restore my system from the TM back up. He seems to think there is something possibly corrupt to cause my computer to keep acting like this.

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Answer 15

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 27, 2010 7:25 AM in response to DVX100Shooter

DVX100Shooter wrote:
I haven't ran the Apple Hardware test yet because it said you have to return your system to practically the state of how it was when you got it with aftermarket things installed. My graphics card is different and I have more memory sticks in there now too.

Run it anyway. Although the problem sounds like the graphics card, which it probably can't test, it should be able to test everything else, including the additional memory.

If it is the graphics card, you need to address that. Rule out everything else you can, of course, but the longer you delay, the worse it's likely to get. Do you still have the old one, and was it working when you replaced it? If so, swap them.

You might also try the (free) Rember, a heavy-duty memory tester, from: http://www.kelleycomputing.net/

Now here is another strange thing. Tonight my computer locked up on me 8 times! I have no idea what is causing this to happen. Last week when I took my computer into the Apple store, they said it was my HD that was going bad. I replaced it with a brand new on that same night. Now a week later, I am having the same dag on issues! It either locks up on boot up or it makes it to my desktop and cursor freezes causing me to force shut it down.

Yes, as we discussed, it's unlikely (but not impossible) to be the HD.

I try booting it up in Safe mode but that too locked up on me as well. A friend suggested that I wipe the drive and install the OS again but don't restore my system from the TM back up. He seems to think there is something possibly corrupt to cause my computer to keep acting like this.

As long has you have two full backups, on separate external drives, that might be worth a try.

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