my macbook won't startup completely. i can log in, but then it tells me the hard drive is full and i can't access anything: no desktop, no dock, nothing. i think i had a runaway log, but i'm not sure. is there a way to boot from the installation discs? and if so, what can i do once i boot? can i delete files?
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
ok, so this happened a week ago, and i just switched to my work pc to get through the week. i left my macbook off this entire time and i just switched it on and it started completely, but i still only have 2gb left. i have an external hard drive, but i did have an external just break on me about a month ago, so what can i do to get rid of things on my current macbook?
You strangled the disk with pumping up files until it cannot breathe. Note that, for a good run, you must have at least 10 % free disk space.
Now, if disk is good, no tragedy. One solution is to start up by pressing Shift key, this starts a minimal and safe system which may free up resources. If this works, you may delete files so you may have more free space. If you may free up space in this may, restart normally and you are done.
If you do not have a proper backup, as often happens, you must copy them first, and you cannot do that in this way. Therefore the solution is to start up in target disk mode by pressing T key after chime. You must have a second mac and a firewire cable to connect the two macs. The one started in target disk mode becomes a simple external disk. Now, you can save data then delete files so as to have at least 10 % free disk space.
You cannot safely use a PC for saving data, even if it may detect your mac in target disk mode. You must have a utility named MacDrive, but note that some mac files may get corrupted in Windows enrionment. So, best a 2nd mac and a firewire cable. And, for the future, an external backup disk easily solves the issues.
this helped me tremendously and while i was able to free up 12gb of hard drive, i wanted to back up again on my external before moving photos or music in case i mess up ... however, now my macbook is crashing every time i try to back up using my time machine. it'll start the whole XXMB out of XXGB, freeze, the screen will get dark & have a multilingual screen telling me i need to restart. any idea why?
update: i tried to verify the disk and then repair it in disk utility. it said that it could not be repaired and now my macbook won't even acknowledge the hard drive...
EDIT: it is shown, though unmounted & grey, in disk utility, but no where else
I got a black screen telling me I had to reboot in many languages, what was it? - http://www.dslreports.com/faq/4970 Also has detailed description of what happens during a KP.
Apple docs: What's a kernel panic? (Mac OS X) - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ - http://www.index-site.com/kernelpanic.html
Topic : kmosx: Kernel Panics? Don't panic too! - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=121923
X-Lab: Resolving Kernel Panics - http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
Tutorial: Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics - http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060911080447777
Tutorial: An introduction to reading Mac OS X crash reports - http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060309075929717
12-Step Program to Isolate Freezes and/or Kernel Panics - http://macosg.com/group/viewtopic.php?t=800
Texas Mac Man's post on kernel panics - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1723768
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Using Disk Utility in Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions 10.0-10.6 - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751
"Try Disk Utility" (modified from http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417)
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer (Edit: Do not use this disc if it is not the same general version as what you have currently on your computer, e.g. use a Tiger disc for a Tiger drive, not a Panther disc), then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
If when booted to the installer disk Disk Utility does not even detect the drive then it is quite posssible the drive has totally failed and will need replacing.
If the hd totally crashed & burned, then there's nothing to do but replace it.
But in general, I've had over-storage problems on Macs before; sometimes I couldn't even open two internet tabs at the same time. I'll tell you what my problem was. It might help you and others too.
1. My iPhoto library eventually got way too big (including videos shot with my cam). To keep that under control, once a year I burn my entire iPhoto library onto DVDs, and file them away safely. Then I delete the entire iPhoto library and start over again...until another year rolls around.
2. I had way too may iMovie (or Final Cut) events and projects. This is a massive storage issue (esp. if you're filming in High Def.). Once you create and export a movie, the project footage will remain in iMovie, unless you delete it all. I had over 50gb of old footage on iMovie when I first had a Mac and didn't know better. Once you've created & exported your movies, delete the event and project footage.
As for storage, everything has it's pros and cons. I like DVDs because they never crash. But if you have a zillion gb of stuff, then a good external hd is needed.
I think that if the average Mac user keeps iPhoto and iMovie clean like this, these sorts of problems won't happen. Now that I do this, I'm only using 75 out of my 160gb.
Unless you're using true archival grade DVDs there is always a chance of them going bad. I hope you are making multiple copies of each DVD.
Apple at least seems to be under the impression optical media are a thing of the past and seems to be discontinuing hardware and software supporting the use of optical media.
It seems you have a damaged internal disk, therefore backup everything and replace it. If you have a good backup, there is no tragedy, if you don’t, do it immediately.
Before jumping to replacing the drive, first see if Disk Utility can see it. If it can it is possible that whatever caused the initial problems did more serious damage to the operating system files but does not automatically make it a hardware issue.
I wrote ‘it seems’, which implies no jump whatsoever. Besides, if the disk is good, may be always used as an external disk for backup or else.
There are, of course,various ways of testing a disk, from the simple SMARTReporter through Apple Hardware Test to more sophisticated methods. Installing via erase-and-install method may also be a simple test, which does not take more than half an hour.
But the list may be longer.
thank you for all of the information. i haven't had a chance to really sit down and open my system using the operating disc. mostly, i'm worried because i partitioned the disc, so my computer can recognize the part that is not the back up of my system. the part that is full of videos & teaching materials can still be accessed, but the backup/time machine part cannot. i went to hong kong over the weekend (i live in mainland china) & bought another hard drive just to try it again, and trying to back up my computer through time machine is causing my computer to crash every time. i'm getting nervous/paranoid because my previous external fell & was unreadable back in january. i went to visit my sister in london around this time and tried to get it fixed there, but just decided it was no big deal because i could get another external as the previous one was 2 years old. so this current backup external is the only backup i have :/ i deleted some preference files to see if it would help time machine, and it seems like it does not. therefore, after this *last* backup attempt, i am going to just manually move all of my files (teaching materials, music, photos) to this new external hard drive (which the computer is reading) and then attempt the disk repair & boot up with the install disc. and if that doesn't work, just wipe & start again? i'm not sure. are there any links or help pages you can suggest to make sure i get everything from itunes & iphoto backed up correctly when i transfer it to my external?
this is my most recent log, if this helps any:
Mon Mar 26 12:38:13 2012
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x2abf6a): Kernel trap at 0x00256102, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000058, CR3: 0x00100000, CR4: 0x00000660
EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x25000000, EDX: 0x086f06f8
CR2: 0x00000058, EBP: 0x35aa3c38, ESI: 0x00000000, EDI: 0x00000000
EFL: 0x00010246, EIP: 0x00256102, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x35aa0010
Error code: 0x00000000
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x35aa39b8 : 0x21b837 (0x5dd7fc 0x35aa39ec 0x223ce1 0x0)
0x35aa3a08 : 0x2abf6a (0x59e3d0 0x256102 0xe 0x59e59a)
0x35aa3ae8 : 0x2a1a78 (0x35aa3b00 0x0 0x35aa3c38 0x256102)
0x35aa3af8 : 0x256102 (0xe 0x48 0x10 0x28a80010)
0x35aa3c38 : 0x28e4e0 (0x8bce784 0x33000 0x0 0x1)
0x35aa3d38 : 0x256d63 (0x5ac3ec0 0x33000 0x0 0x1000)
0x35aa3de8 : 0x258f93 (0x8b6dcb8 0x33000 0x0 0x5)
0x35aa3f38 : 0x2ab83c (0x54743d8 0x32000 0x1 0x5)
0x35aa3fc8 : 0x2a18da (0x6246824 0x0 0x10 0x6246824)
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: backupd
Mac OS version:
10K540
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 10.8.0: Tue Jun 7 16:33:36 PDT 2011; root:xnu-1504.15.3~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBook2,1 (Mac-F4208CAA)
System uptime in nanoseconds: 5650134335490
unloaded kexts:
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 2.0 (addr 0xc95000, size 0x12288) - last unloaded 287044473332
loaded kexts:
com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 5.1.1 - last loaded 60553681972
foo.tun 1.0
foo.tap 1.0
com.pctools.iantivirus.kfs 1.0.1
com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore 5.1.1
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 2.1.0
com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor 3.0.1d2
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 2.0.5f13
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.57
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.5.7
com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.0.20
com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0
com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver 1.1.6
com.apple.driver.AirPort.Atheros21 425.14.7
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelMeromProfile 19
com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 4.7.0a1
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.5.1
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.0.46
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelGMA950 6.3.6
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer 6.3.6
com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 303.8
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTrackpad 201.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver 201.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard 201.6
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.6.8
com.apple.BootCache 31.1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.6.4
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.7.3
com.apple.iokit.AppleYukon2 3.2.1b1
com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager 160.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 4.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.3.6
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.3.6
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 142.6.0
com.apple.security.sandbox 1
com.apple.security.quarantine 0
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 2.1.12
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 142.6.0
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass 2.6.7
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.0.3
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileReadCounterAction 17
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 2.0.5f13
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileTimestampAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileThreadInfoAction 14
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileRegisterStateAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileKEventAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileCallstackAction 20
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 2.0.5f13
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 2.0.5f13
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 74.2
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 2.4.5f3
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.3
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.8.3fc2
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.3
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 320.1
com.apple.iokit.AppleProfileFamily 41
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.0d5
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 4.7.0a1
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert 1.0.1
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.2
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.2
com.apple.driver.CSRUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.4.5f3
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.4.5f3
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.4.5f3
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 4.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.9.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 2.6.8
com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.6.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 4.2.4
com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport 2.5.1
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 402.1
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport 2.1.0
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireSBP2 4.0.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 2.6.8
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.6.8
com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily 2.5.1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.0.6
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.2.6
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.10
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 4.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.4.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.6.6
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 6
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 289
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.6.3
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.3.6
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.3.0
macbook won't start completely; hard drive full
