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Level 1

4 points

10.5.8 Both hard drives OK, tested - will not boot past startup screen

Okay, I have an early 2008 MacPro, and everything has been running fine, but I was trying to search for something in Finder, and it wouldn't show up, so I checked my other hard drive's permission options - it displayed "Custom" for all users, when I know I had them all set to "Read & Write" previously, so i changed my main user's (on my newer HD on 10.5.8) permission to Read & Write on the original HD with 10.6.8, so I could search its contents, then these error messages poppped up, everytime i hit OK, a new one popped up immediately in its place, with some "Apple AUD" OR "HD" messages (can't remember the exact messsages), so I restarted my computer and now I cannot get past the apple logo screen.

- Attempted selecting both hard drives as startup discs and still hangs at the white apple logo screen.

- I tried booting into Safe Mode and it loads the status bar, and when it's done loading, it simply goes back to the spinning gear.

- Tried booting from my 10.5.8 installation disc and it works, both of my HD's tested "OK" when I verified them.

- Tried resetting PRAM, and even reset SMC, and the problem persists.

One last note: the original HD that came with my Mac Pro, which has 10.6.8 on it as of last year, has a tiny lock icon on the left of the little hard drive graphic.

I'm stressed because I use LOGIC a lot, and I have all of my music projects on these hard drives, and over a million files between both of them. I'd pull my hair out, if I hadn't just shaved my head for summer

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jun 13, 2013 3:56 PM

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Posted on Jun 13, 2013 4:01 PM

Your hard drives may be OK, but the installed systems are not. You need to reinstall OS X on your startup volume. Doing this with Leopard requires your Leopard DVD:

How to Perform an Archive and Install

An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.

1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.

Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions

Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.

3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.

4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.

5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.

6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

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16 replies

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 13, 2013 9:29 PM in response to emjayen84

Hard to know where to go from here. What I would probably do is partition off part of the empty space and install Snow Leopard on that partition. If you want to try it then follow the instructions below and partition off about 40 GBs. This will still leave 50 GBs free on the other volume.

To resize the drive do the following:

1. Open Disk Utility and select the drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list.

2. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.

3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)

4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.

You should now have a new volume on the drive.

It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss. Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.

10.5.8 Both hard drives OK, tested - will not boot past startup screen