Leeroypenmut
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Single-user but nothing else

I have a friends IMac that has been send back from the repair shop - not repaired

 

It turns on with the chimes and proceeds to the apple logo then flashes black and then stays on a grey screen.

 

I have tried safe mode - grey screen

Verbose mode - grey screen

Reset nvram - no change

Apple hardware test - no access

Boot via dvd - no access

 

 

I can always access single-user mode - the hard drive seems ok and I can access the files

iPod touch, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on May 25, 2014 1:21 PM

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Leeroypenmut

Q: Single-user but nothing else

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 25, 2014 4:11 PM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 25, 2014 4:11 PM in response to Leeroypenmut

    I would start in by cleaning up fonts. Remove all items from Startup items.

     

    See this link to see what happens during Safe Mode.

     

    Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

     

    Download EtreCheck and paste results here. Look for Clean my Mac, MacKeeper, Zerobits, Genieo in the report.

     

    http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ May 26, 2014 6:19 AM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2014 6:19 AM in response to Leeroypenmut

    See

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

     

    And while in single user, run FSCK to repair the drive directory, if needed. See Use FSCK here.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417

  • by Leeroypenmut,

    Leeroypenmut Leeroypenmut May 26, 2014 2:18 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2014 2:18 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thank you for your reply

     

    How do I find the fonts?

    I have checked the startup folder and all is empty.

     

    How can I download and run Etrecheck? Can I run it in single-user via USB stick?

  • by Leeroypenmut,

    Leeroypenmut Leeroypenmut May 26, 2014 2:37 PM in response to WZZZ
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2014 2:37 PM in response to WZZZ

    Thank you for your reply

     

    I have run through all that I can in the link provided - but I can't access a lot of it and I don't have another mac.

     

    I can access single-user and fsck comes back ok - I can search folders and files

     

    I have removed .setupdone to try and restart the setup.

     

    The dvd just pops out the drive even if you try starting from the drive or not

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ May 26, 2014 2:57 PM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2014 2:57 PM in response to Leeroypenmut

    You might see if an SMC Reset does any good. Could try several and pay attention to the timing.

  • by Leeroypenmut,

    Leeroypenmut Leeroypenmut May 26, 2014 3:36 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2014 3:36 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    EtreCheck version: 1.9.11 (43) - report generated 26 May 2014 23:32:23 GMT+01:00

     

    Hardware Information:

              iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

              iMac - model: iMac12,2

              1 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4 cores

              8 GB RAM

     

    Video Information:

              AMD Radeon HD 6970M - VRAM: 1024 MB

     

    System Software:

              Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) - Uptime: 0 days 0:6:4

     

    Disk Information:

              ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

                        disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

                        Untitled (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (978.15 GB free)

                        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

     

              OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H 

     

    USB Information:

              Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

              Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

              Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

                        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

              Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

     

    Thunderbolt Information:

              Apple, Inc. iMac

     

    User Login Items:

              None

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

              QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

              JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.3.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

     

    Audio Plug-ins:

              iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.7

     

    iTunes Plug-ins:

              Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.3 - SDK 10.7

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

              None

     

    Time Machine:

              Time Machine not configured!

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

                   1%          WindowServer

                   1%          Safari

                   1%          fontd

                   0%          SystemUIServer

                   0%          activitymonitord

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

              106 MB          Safari

              57 MB          WebProcess

              57 MB          mds

              49 MB          Finder

              41 MB          WindowServer

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

              6.27 GB          Free RAM

              796 MB          Active RAM

              159 MB          Inactive RAM

              814 MB          Wired RAM

              209 MB          Page-ins

              0 B          Page-outs

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ May 26, 2014 3:40 PM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2014 3:40 PM in response to Leeroypenmut

    Nothing untoward there, but how were you able to visit the site from a Mac that can't boot past the grey screen?

  • by Leeroypenmut,

    Leeroypenmut Leeroypenmut May 26, 2014 4:12 PM in response to WZZZ
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2014 4:12 PM in response to WZZZ

    I have just managed to boot it up - I was trying the boot from disk but it spat it out again then the grey screen turn white and started.

    I was just testing to see if it was a fuke! I have restarted, shutdown, and on plugged the power.

     

    I have just updated the system and all still working - I will it cool down now and restart when cold.

     

    Is there any further checks I can do now to rule out anything?

  • by Leeroypenmut,

    Leeroypenmut Leeroypenmut May 26, 2014 4:17 PM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2014 4:17 PM in response to Leeroypenmut

    I did notice that the repair shop installed a different version osx

     

    Could that be why I couldn't boot with 10.6 snow leopard?

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ May 26, 2014 4:27 PM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2014 4:27 PM in response to Leeroypenmut

    Leeroypenmut wrote:

     

    I did notice that the repair shop installed a different version osx

     

    Could that be why I couldn't boot with 10.6 snow leopard?

    Nice of them to tell you. What OS did they install? (This may mean some of your applications will no longer work.) AFAIK, should still have been able to boot from the Snow disc.

     

    Oh, I see they installed 10.7.5.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 26, 2014 6:54 PM in response to Leeroypenmut
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2014 6:54 PM in response to Leeroypenmut

    Open Font Book in Applications. Select All Fonts and under File in the Menu bar select validate Fonts.

     

     

    See Font Management for  help: (the instructions are geared for Microsoft Office users but the general concepts of validating fonts is the same.)

     

    http://www.officeformachelp.com/office/font-management/

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ May 27, 2014 5:05 AM in response to WZZZ
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 27, 2014 5:05 AM in response to WZZZ

    Kurt Lang, a regular here has written a very useful guide, recently updated, to font managment. Note: the links to sections are not working. Must be scrolled to instead. That said, while fonts can cause  issues, it would not be my first choice for culprit for the problem you have been experiencing. And before you start removing anything in /Library/StartupItems, wouldn't be a bad idea to say what's in there first. I have several things there that I wouldn't want to see end up in the Trash.

     

    http://www.jklstudios.com/misc/osxfonts.html

     

    I think your friend should contact this repair shop, so called. Was it Apple?