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When iMac G4 Boots up everything loads then I get a blue screen

I recently purchased an iMac G4 in really good condition off of craigslist. It is a 15" 700 MHz early 2002 model. When it turns on I get the loading screen and the progress bar goes all the way through like normal. However, once it finishes then it goes to the desktop which is just a blue screen. It has no bar on the top and no application list on the bottom. This is not the blue screen of death. The mouse still moves. I borrowed an OS X 10.4 install disc from a friend and the only way I can get it to open to put the disc in is to click and hold the mouse when I boot it up. The disc never regesters when I put it in. If anyone can help that would be awesome!


Thanks!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 15" 700 MHz 512 MBs RAM 40GB HDD.

Posted on Aug 18, 2015 8:23 AM

Reply
52 replies

Aug 20, 2015 3:20 PM in response to Foxy754

Actually, the first character should be a period ( . ) 😉.


# -i prompts you in case the target file already exits.

# without the -i the target ( .applesetupdone.old ) file is overwritten.

mv -i .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old


do a

ls -la

to see what files exits in the directory/folder.


When the file .applesetupdone does not exit at boot time, mac os x will create a new admin account among other things.


R

Aug 18, 2015 12:03 PM in response to Foxy754

Try a safe boot.

Shutdown your machine. Hold down the shift key. Poweron. Wait awhile; wait awhile while you harddrive

is being checked.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455


Grey disc are model specific. A mac will not boot from the wrong disc.


The disc never regesters when I put it in. If anyone can help that would be awesome!


What are you expecting to happen? What happens when you hold down the option key then power on?

Your probably right. You need to reinstall after reformating the hd.

"You have to call Apple & likely ask for a Product Specialist to get it (Leopard), if they still have it... helps if you tell them you have a new iPhone (iPad) that needs it!"

BDAqua


Restore Tiger 10.4 & Leopard 10.5 DVDs are available from Apple by calling 1(800) 275-2273. Have your serial number ready. Have your credit card ready too. There may be a small fee.

Another number to try is 800-767-2775.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4720126?tstart=0 -- January 20,2013

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5772721?answerId=24588313022#24588313022 -- January 22,2014


What are the part numbers for these disc?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2191

Aug 18, 2015 1:50 PM in response to rccharles

I held down shift and then turned it on and got a grey screen that had the Macintosh smiling on it. Then it went into the loading menu for a while and then booted into the normal blue screen that I get. I don't know if this helps but it has been taking a while when it says Initializing Network. (See attached pictures). I then went ahead and turned it off and clicked to get it to open the disc drive. I put the disc in and it closed it and then it continued to boot into the blue screen and is now just sitting there with the blue screen. User uploaded file

Aug 18, 2015 4:55 PM in response to rccharles

It isn't registering anything I put in there or do. I have tried Fsck. I have no idea how to force it to read the discs. All it gives me are those loading screens. I have only tried the disc 1 on the bottom. I don't think the top one will work. My schools Tech Department lent these to me because they had them sitting around.User uploaded file

Aug 18, 2015 6:56 PM in response to Foxy754

These are the machine specific disc. Apparently, they are not for your machine. I'm not an expert on what discs went with what machine.


The black disc are the general use discs. You will be able to install any version of Tiger on the machine 10.4.


iMac g4 700mhz; source mactracker data base.


User uploaded file


find exact specs on your mac.

This site provides more information. Best for older machines. Note, serial number is sent in the clear.

"A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It's used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac's serial number for and more importantly... what is it hiding and what can it do for you ?"

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php


or

This site provides more information, but lacks security too.

"A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It's used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac's serial number for and more importantly... what is it hiding and what can it do for you ?"

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

( hint by K Shaffer )

Aug 18, 2015 7:02 PM in response to rccharles

Okay. I am slightly confused. I am more used to dealing with Intel Macs. What do I do from here? Should I call Apple and get a new disc? (If so how much will this cost?)


I am a big fan of Mac Tracker and I know it only goes up to 10.4.11. These discs are for 10.4.8. I'm assuming from what you said they are not compatible. When I get the right disc will it automatically open?

Aug 19, 2015 9:39 AM in response to Foxy754

You could see if the machine works in single user mode. If so, you could try creating a new user.


Get the Mac to set up an additional administrative account.

Start with your computer power off. Hold down command-s. Power on your computer.

Type in the following:

The first two commands will depend on your release of Mac OS X. Look at what is typed out in the console to determine the exact format.

# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write. Press return after each command.

# in case of partial success repeat this command until errors go away.

/sbin/fsck -fy

/sbin/mount -uw /

cd /var/db

pwd

#List all files. The l is a lower case L.

ls -a

#The move command acts as a rename command in this format.

mv -i .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old

# reboot your mac

shutdown -r now

Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

Limnos adds detailed explainations:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8441597#8441597

The above the idea came from a post by JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_reset_my_mac_os_x_admin_root_password.html

You will need to scroll down to see this post. Search for applesetupdone


This method is mentioned in an apple support page without giving an explanation.

Aug 19, 2015 8:08 PM in response to Foxy754

# lines that begin with the pound sign are comments.

# You do not need to type the comments lines. They are for your information.

# I'll bold what you need to type.




# The first two commands will depend on your release of Mac OS X. Look at what is typed

# out in the console to determine the exact format.

# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write.

# Press return after each command.

#

# If you disk is really messed up this line could fail.

# In case of failure, repeat this command until errors go away.

/sbin/fsck -fy

/sbin/mount -uw /


# change directory

cd /var/db

# print working directory

pwd

#List all files. The l is a lower case L.

ls -a

# I like this forum.

ls -la

#The move command acts as a rename command in this format.

# this command does the magic. When X doesn't see the file, X will re-initialize the mac.

# it's ok. It will not let you do any harm.

mv -i .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old


# reboot your mac

shutdown -r now

Aug 19, 2015 8:11 PM in response to rccharles

Some back ground information.


Here is an overview of the commands.


#What is my short user name? Type the whoami command.
mac $ whoami
mac
mac $
#How to list all of your disks.
# The ls command is for list
mac $ ls /Volumes/
Audio CD Macintosh-HD Spotless Tiger-ext
mac $
# Let's say your flash drive is named Spotless


# cd is change directory
mac $ cd /Volumes/Spotless
# pwd is Print Working Directory. A directory is the Unix name for a folder. You are always in a directory.
mac $ pwd
/Volumes/Spotless
mac $
# The ls command is for list
# l is long
# F is type of file where / is directory. For directories, the slash is pasted to the end of the name.
mac $ ls -lF
total 134704
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 64560 Mar 3 2009 A-picture-of-Youpi-key.png
drwxr-xr-x 83 mac staff 2822 Nov 7 14:52 Applescript files/
drwxrwxrwx 12 mac staff 408 Dec 13 2008 Christmas Cards/
drwxr-xr-x 9 mac staff 306 Dec 21 17:39 Christmas Cards 2009/
... trimmed ...
What does all this mean?

drwxrwxrwx

d = directory
r = read
w = write
x = executeable program

drwxrwxrwx
|| &nbsp|&nbsp |
|| | all other users not in first two types
|| |
|| group
||
|owner
|
What type of entry is this? d = directory, - = file, etc.


Every Unix resource: files, folders, etc has an owner, group, other
A Unix resource has one owner.
A Unix resource has one group. A group contains a list of users.


To gain access to a file, you can be the owner, in the group, or not the owner and not in the group hence you end up as other. The owner, group, or other has read, write, or execute permissions.


# l is long
# a is all to show hidden files & folders
mac $ ls -lFa
total 134736
drwxr-xr-x 41 mac staff 1496 Dec 22 17:11 .
drwxrwxrwt 8 root admin 272 Dec 24 13:55 ..
-rwxrwxrwx 1 mac staff 15364 Dec 23 12:52 .DS_Store*
drwx------ 4 mac staff 136 Jan 22 2009 .Spotlight-V100
drwxrwxrwt 5 mac staff 170 Sep 14 16:36 .TemporaryItems
d-wx-wx-wx 4 mac staff 136 Dec 31 1969 .Trashes
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 64560 Mar 3 2009 A-picture-of-Youpi-key.png
drwxr-xr-x 83 mac staff 2822 Nov 7 14:52 Applescript files
drwxrwxrwx 12 mac staff 408 Dec 13 2008 Christmas Cards
drwxr-xr-x 9 mac staff 306 Dec 21 17:39 Christmas Cards 2009

... trimmed ...
# mv is move or rename
mv -i the-name the-new-name




# You can just rename the file back to what it was with mv command.
mv -i old-name new-name


Here is what these commands mean:
cd is change directory
pwd is a print working directory
ls is list
sudo is Super user do
mv is move or rename


For cryptic comments, you can always uses the manual command which is man. For example:
man mv


# Type the letter q to quit.
In case you have spaces in your filenames or directories, you need to escape them. See examples:

mac $ ls -l ~/"see it"
-rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 3171 Oct 26 23:38 /Users/mac/see it
mac $
mac $ cd /Users/mac/Desktop/ttt\ html\ copy/


Do you know about tabbing? Type in a few letters of a name then press the tab key. The computer will type out the rest of the name if it is unique.


Press the up arrow key to see the previous command(s).


To edit a command, use the left arrow key to more left and the right arrow key to move right. Use the delete key to delete the key to the left. Type a letter to insert.


history to see many previous commands.


mac $ history

1 pwd

2 man ls

3 history

You may copy then paste from this list.


----------------------


http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2692161&tstart=0


Robert

Aug 20, 2015 10:44 AM in response to Foxy754

The positive news is the the hardware is working. Could still be some obscure hardware glitch, but the probability is small.


Oh 😊 ! Someone already tried to create a new id. 😮.


You need to repeat the entire procedure with the corrections below.


User uploaded file

Notice:

overwrite .applesetupdone.old?


You pressed return, but you needed to type y for yes then return. You should do:

ls -l

to verify that the file disappeared.


corrections for you instance -- example:

localhost# mv .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old

overwrite .applesetupdone.old? y

localhost# ls -l

When iMac G4 Boots up everything loads then I get a blue screen

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