On Oct 9, 2008, at 3:43 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi, Thanks for the advice so far. > What actually happened was that I was downloading a driver for the > scanner, which was followed by the "optimizing feature" &[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Optimizing can't hurt your System, it just "pre-linking" files for faster access. You can manually "Optimize" by using a utility like Pacifist to "Update Prebinding". I've had various updates crash while optimizing, and it never causes any issues like you're having. Just download Pacifist and "Update Prebinding" to finish what was interrupted. It is unlikely this is the cause of your problems. > The damage seems to be deeper than I thought. I can't connect to the > internet, can't startup from my Panther install disc (just get a > blank screen, even though the disc is recognized when I start up from > the HD). You're booting from the Panther Install Disc, and it's booting, and only THEN giving a blank screen? You're holding the "C" key to boot the install CD? > Classic won't load; I get messages that "I do not have access > privilege to various files, despite having signed in with the > administrator's password. Can you boot MacOS? > I ran disk utility, and repaired some permissions, but to no effect. Repairing Permissions RARELY if EVER helps fix anything. You need to "Verify Disk" and then boot from an alternate source, the install CD perhaps and "Repair Disk". > I've tried to start in verbose mode, but that doesn't appear to work. By holding the Cmd-v at startup? > I was operating under "file vault", and when I try to turn it off I > keep getting the message that there is not enough memory to do that, > despite having dumped just about everything except the OS. > I can live with the loss of what is on the computer, but would much > rather retrieve it. I wonder if DiskWarrior > or some other 3rd party software might help. DiskWarrior almost always can repair things. If it can't, you'd probably best start over. > I also wonder about putting in a much bigger hard drive, then copying > the whole of this HD to a partition that is maybe 50 to 100 percent > larger, to give me some more space to try and turn off File Vault, > and/or run some 3rd party utility on it. However, I also wonder if > there is some sort of virus or worm, etc on this drive, if it might > wreak havoc on a new drive. VERY unlikely for worms or virus' or whatever. > The worst part of this all is that I'm stuck using a PC!! > TIA for any thoughts. Thoughts: 1st you need to get the install CD to boot correctly. Insert the CD and then shutdown the Mac with the CD in the CD unit. Then reset the PRAM and NVRAM: Boot holding the Cmd-Opt-P-R keys until you hear several successive chimes, then slide the fingers on the P & R keys over onto the O & F keys immediately after one chime so that you're now holding the Cmd- Opt-O-F keys. This should give you a white screen with black type, the "Open Firmware" startup page. At the open firmware prompt, type: set-defaults<Return> reset-all<Return> where <Return> means hit the Return key after typing the previous. The response should be "ok" to the 1st command, and a restart to the 2nd. Be ready for the restart, and and hold the "C" key to force the CD to boot. If the CD won't boot, you've got problems. You didn't say the Mac model? Is the firmware up-to-date? You can check the firmware version in System Profiler, and then look for the latest version here: <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1395 If the CD boots correctly, go directly to Disk Utility and run "Repair Disk" on the Disk. (you could also "Repair Permissions" but it won't help anything). After this, use Startup Disk to reselect the HD as the startup volume, and reboot. Immediately after rebooting, hold the Cmd-v keys for the verbose dialog IF you think that might help. The verbose dialog generally only helps when a boot doesn't complete, and stalls or has a kernel panic. If you're booting does complete, the whole dialog is in Console>System.log so you don't need to look at the verbose startup, you can read the startup dialog at your leisure. I think the best course of action is to reinstall the latest Combo Update, if you're using Panther, that would be the 10.3.9 COMBO Update. Download it and double-click the package to reinstall it. This will "refresh" all the System software between 10.3.0 and 10.3.9 without the hassle of a total reinstall. This normally will fix about 90+% of all problems IF your HD was verified OK by Disk Utility. After reinstalling the Combo Update, (which should also "Optimize" your HD again), you should be able to connect to the internet again, and hopefully everything is OK? If you have DiskWarrior in CD form in the appropriate version for your OS X version, you can use it instead of the install CD and Disk Utility to repair the HD. I'm not sure about your File Vault problem, but if you're really tight on free space (Panther wants 2 GB free space MINIMUM), then try deleting some useless stuff. You can do a search by size and delete Quicktime "demo" movies and other large video files. Something like the app. Monolingual can strip out the foreign language help files that clog things up, you may save over half a GB. I don't know anything about your File Vault issue, I never use File Vault, but it sounds like a good way to get a screwed up file system? As bad as HP drivers are (bloatware that hogs resources, and is buggy), I don't think your problems are caused by HP drivers or "optimization". File Vault seems the more likely culprit to me? (and lack of HD space and/ or RAM?). Check that firmware too! Good luck! Kris --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
