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The update completely screwed up my computer! Now it won't start-up - it only goes into Terminal then shuts down. After three tries Techtool Pro opens in e-disk mode to repair the problem (which it can't find a solution). Great Apple - thanks !

Has this affected anyone else ?

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 14, 2013 2:10 AM

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43 replies

Sep 14, 2013 4:45 AM in response to Lesultan

  1. No, just you!
  2. I hope you have a backup.

    Your hard drive may be about to fail.

  3. Sounds like your computer is booting into single user mode, not the Terminal. Here is a reference about how to fix it: What to do when a Mac always boots to verbose or single-user modes | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews
  4. I'd try to boot into the recovery partition and repair your hard drive.
  5. Then get rid of Techtool, you don't need it.

Sep 14, 2013 11:03 AM in response to arthur

1) thanks for the "just you" comment. That helped quite a bit. . . almost fixed the problem. Cool !


2) I do - checked the HD with Techtool and Disk Utility - it's perfectly fine. It's the software installation.


3) It's not booting into single user mode - maybe you didn't read what I'd written. It boots into a terminal window showing me lines of code - which stays on the screen for 6 seconds then it reboots. Not three times as previously thought but continuously.


4) did that - the drive was verified as being OK - it's the file structure that makes the Disk Utility repairs hang.


5) I'll pass that on to Micromat ~


Thanks for the assistance, although nothing you've provided has helped. I'll try another forum.

Sep 15, 2013 3:28 AM in response to Lesultan

For insure that that there is no hardware issue that

could be the cause, run Apple Hardware Test. If it

passes, at least you will have the piece of mind that

the hardware is good.

Apple Hardware Test->http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509


If this gives positive results, you may want to give a PRAM reset

a shot. This forces the Mac to reidentify all hardware and pass

that info on to the OS. It may be possible that there may have been

some sort of corruption.


The fact that this is happenning so soon in the boot process

tends to lead one to believe there may be a hardware issue/

driver conflict/driver corruption.


BTW, what is shown in the lines of text displayed before reboot

(if it is there long enough to catch anything of note)?

Sep 15, 2013 4:22 AM in response to woodmeister50

Thanks Woodmeister,


I'd already done a PRAM reset - I used to work in Tech Support for Intuit on the Mac side (back in 1996/97) so I'm not a Mac novice, but nice call anyway.


I've run the hardware test and everything's OK. I was led to believe there was some sort of corruption in downloading the update, which is why I'd asked if anyone else had a similar problem. Must have been the Internet connection whilst updating.


The text displayed lasts a few quick seconds and disappears so no chance unless I record it.


I've restarted the compi in Target mode and I'm copying the entire 1 TB drive to another 3 TB drive on the same computer (which has 9 TB in four drives) - have about 22 hours left so I will do some more house renovation in the meantime.


Thanks for the suggestions.


Cheers

Sep 15, 2013 8:11 AM in response to Barney-15E

Disk Utilities told me that the file structure was bad. . . then got stuck !


After a few (9 or 10) tries I decided to run the Mac Pro in Target Disk mode and run Disk Utility from my laptop on the suspect disk - it repaired (or so it says) the disk and now I'm copying ("restoring") all contents onto another disk that I can run further tests on later.


If this works I can use the computer tomorrow.

Sep 15, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Lesultan

Lesultan wrote:

Now is there a chance you could find another moment to explain WHY TTP is such a problem ? I've used it for more than 10 years and it's only been an asset.


I realize you considered my response unhelpful, but my answer remains unchanged: uninstall it.


You explained that your Mac was unable to start. In that case the Apple Support article is the appropriate place to begin troubleshooting.


You also asked if anyone else had been similarly affected. Lacking an overwhelming response from a representative sample of millions of Mac users running the latest OS X release, any premise that the update caused this problem must be logically flawed. On the other hand OS X updates will very frequently reveal incompatibilities with third party software, especially those that modify the Mac's operating system. Techtool Pro is one of many that do.


TTP is also unnecessary in that it conveys no benefit. An example is the following: http://www.micromat.com/support-45/knowledgebase/ttp7kb/techtool-pro-has-found-b ad-blocks-what-do-i-do7


Solution: erase the volume, if it happens again replace the drive. Really?


TTP and similar utilities may be used to "repair" a damaged HD for the purposes of extracting whatever data remains intact, after an irretrievable data loss event has already occurred. Your very complaint illustrated that it was unable to do that. Conclusion: it's worthless.


... I decided to run the Mac Pro in Target Disk mode and run Disk Utility from my laptop on the suspect disk - it repaired (or so it says) the disk and now I'm copying ("restoring") all contents onto another disk that I can run further tests on later.


To be clear, Apple's Disk Utility accomplished what TTP could not.

Most likely, your HD is already in a failed state, so I don't recommend relying upon it. I do recommend that you extract its data, then replace the drive.


A failed HD will fail again, every time. Hard disks are cheap, and backups are essential. Having a reliable backup strategy makes events like this a non-event. If you want to keep the HD in service despite these cautions, I recommend you erase it as recommended by Micromat, do not reinstall TTP, and if it fails again replace it - also as recommended by Micromat.


I maintain many Macs for many people and have done so for many years. None of them have TTP or any similarly clever utilities installed. It's your Mac, do with it what you will, but if you choose to install such junk you own the consequences, which may be that it trashes your Mac.

Sep 18, 2013 1:03 PM in response to arthur

Tech Tool Pro had nothing to do with the problem.


I took out the suspect disk - and all others except one clean 3TB disk. Booted in Target Mode and then downloaded and ran the installer from my laptop.


Exact same problem three times on three separate disks.


All of my diagnostics report all of the disks are fine. They all boot in Safe Mode but not in normal mode once the update has been applied.


I changed my updated graphics cards for the originals, nothing but monitors, keyboard and mouse are plugged in (yes, I tried another monitor without kbd and mouse).


I've changed the cables even - nothing works.


I'm beginning to think it's the processor.


Here is a pic of the screen.


User uploaded file

The update completely screwed up my computer! Now it won't start-up - it only goes into Terminal then shuts down. After three tries Techtool Pro opens in e-disk mode to repair the problem (which it can't find a solution). Great Apple - thanks !

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