HEEELLLLLP! My iMac is wrecked!

[native00]

I think my toddler son may have gotten to the computer and put the HD in the trash.

I was doing my usual computer business when I noticed that I couldn't open up folders to see their content. I then noticed that the hd icon wasn't on the desktop!

I assumed it was in the trash, but when I doubleclicked, it wouldn't open either!

I figured that by restarting, maybe the hd icon would return. It did not.

My computer starts up, shows me the mac icon, then shows a completely black screen with this terminal looking prompt:

/etc/master.passwd: Invalid argument
-sh: /etc/profile: Invalid argument
-sh-2.05b#

Someone please help.

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I can't help - but I can attempt to help others help you.

First - are you using another computer to get here? (is it a functional Mac or PC?) Or is your Mac working on another account / partition allowing you to post?

What Mac do you have? Model / Version / and What OS are you running? Details are needed.

These things will help others narrow things down for you.

Good luck either way.

[native00]

^^Right right. I got so caught up in the issue that I forgot to list my details.

It's a PPC iMac running the latest update of Tiger.

I am posting from my old ass PowerBook, also running the latest Tiger.

[IgnatiusTheKing]

I just checked on mine by dragging it toward the trash, but I don't think it's possible to throw it away. The trash turns into the eject button, so it might mean that the HD needs to be remounted, though I'm not sure how to go about that.

Hope that helps.

[native00]

Yeah, I can't even get to the login screen when I reboot.

just comes to that verbose or single user mode that I quoted earlier.

I did do some "fsck" ing and it said my HD was fine. Something wrong with booting up or...?

[chadrob30]

I posted your issue on another site and one of the gurus responded with this:

"You can't put the HD in the Trash, but you can put the System folder in the Trash.

Boot from the DVD, run the Disk Utility to check the integrity of the disk catalog, then do an Archive Install of OS X. You won't lose any data that hasn't already been lost.

If Disk Utility gives errors, the disk may be failing, and you'd need Data Rescue or similar to recover it to a second disk."

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I posted your issue on another site and one of the gurus responded with this:

"You can't put the HD in the Trash, but you can put the System folder in the Trash.

Boot from the DVD, run the Disk Utility to check the integrity of the disk catalog, then do an Archive Install of OS X. You won't lose any data that hasn't already been lost.

If Disk Utility gives errors, the disk may be failing, and you'd need Data Rescue or similar to recover it to a second disk."

Was that "other forum" insanelymac by any chance? I've see a lot of smart cats over there. Applenova has a lot of smarties too. But Macrumors is the best for info on the minute. And I think by far the largest.

[chadrob30]

Was that "other forum" insanelymac by any chance? I've see a lot of smart cats over there. Applenova has a lot of smarties too. But Macrumors is the best for info on the minute. And I think by far the largest.

It was actually broadbandreports.com A few icognito Apple employees hang out over there.

[native00]

ChadRob - I appreciate the extra effort to post it on another forum.

Now I gotta go through the garage and look for the dvd.

[Big-TDI-Guy]

Apple at least gives you just ONE disc. So tape that thing to the back of your stand or something. Not like with PCs and you have 45 different CDs in your "restore" set.

Never lose "the golden key" - I thought every dungeon master knew this.

And good luck with your repairs, in all seriousness.

[native00]

Naw, sometimes you gotta learn things the hard way.

This is my fourth Mac and I've never run across this problem.

I just hope that its as simple as the disk being in the box - I'm not the kind of guy to throw disks away anyways.