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3 year old imac dies... do I have any recourse?

I'm sure this isn't the right thing to do, but if preserving your data is key - I'd remove the hard drive itself. Get an external enclosure for it, and get a replacement drive for the imac. Perform a fresh install - and if things work, copy your data over from the external. Then use that external as a backup drive for the future. Otherwise, if the imac is still not working - you can safely send it out for repair without worrying about losing your data.
 
DocV said:
I was able to boot in single-user mode and got the the command prompt but had no idea what to type. The article said to type "reboot" and that's what I did... the machine restarted and I got the same eventual decending curtain and kernel panic, multi-lingual, restart your mac messge.

So clearly something is still working. But what to do now?
Click to expand...

I wonder if the parallels kernel extension got corrupt, that seems to be where it's freezing, corrupted kernel extensions can do nasty, nasty things. However the fact that you are able to boot into single user mode pretty much rules out hardware failure.

Have you tried booting it into another OS? If you are able to boot Windows or Linux then you can probably rule out a hardware issue.
 
I do have an external backup so I'm OK there..

After reading another article, I tried booting in 'safe mode' while viewing progress by holding down shft+command+V at start up. It got to just about the same point but this time, the last three lines before it stopped were different:

Jan 5 15:23:05 (my mac's name) mDNSResponder[44]: mDNSKeychainGetSecrets: Could not copy keychain default
Jan 5 15:23:05 (my mac's name) mDNSResponder[44]: SetDomainSecrets:mDNSKeychainGetSecrets failed error 2313 CFArrayRef 00000000
Jan 5 15:23:05 (my mac's name) root[150]: Recreating System.keychain because it cannot unlock; see /usr/libexec/security-checksystem​

...And that's it. The cursor is sitting on the line below and not responding to any inputs.
 
foidulus said:
I wonder if the parallels kernel extension got corrupt, that seems to be where it's freezing, corrupted kernel extensions can do nasty, nasty things. However the fact that you are able to boot into single user mode pretty much rules out hardware failure.

Have you tried booting it into another OS? If you are able to boot Windows or Linux then you can probably rule out a hardware issue.
Click to expand...

It does... but it makes no sense to me that he wouldn't be able to boot to a dvd. Booting to the OS dvds tends to take a very long time in terms of loading. It can take several minutes, and while I'm not suggesting he reformat or reinstall, it's odd that it wouldn't make it that far (OP doesn't mention anything about previous optical drive failure). Perhaps the OP should try that again. In terms of data retrieval, it's not that difficult. The Apple store might even be able to run it in target disk mode considering it can obviously access the HD.
 
No need to worry about data recovery from the internal HD, like I said, I've got an external witih Time Machine.

As for booting from the Install DVD, I've tried numerous times, but each time I do, I can hear the DVD drive spinning up and the read head accessing. It does take longer than the HD boot, but the end result is still always the same; grey curtain decends and I get the multi-lingual kernel panic message, "Need to restart your mac".

Is there a way to boot from DVD and see what's going on like I did in verbose, and visual safe mode?

How do I boot from another OS wihtout having an exteranl drive with another OS installed? Unfortunatley, I don't have any compatible OS's lying around in a spare external.
 
stupid question, but if you have a full backup on a Time Capsule, have you tried booting from the install disks , formatting, and re-installing the OS ?

don't know if you can format it in "safe/verbose" mode first then boot from the DVD to do this though... to get past the grey screen thing..
 
DocV said:

GFX0: family specific matching fails
Matching service count = 1
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 3
iMac8,1: stallinng for module

AppleTyMCEDriver: :probe(iMac8,1)
AppleTyMCEDriver: :probe fails
NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

​
Click to expand...

I'm no expert at this but "GFX0: family specific matching fails" could mean that the machine can no longer identify the graphics chip so it won't load a driver that is required to display a GUI. That could explain why your OS DVD will not load and AFAIK you have seen command line looking stuff, no GUI objects to appear. This could mean graphics module repair or replacement, if possible or complete logic board swap.

Another thing that strikes me is "AppleTyMCEDriver: probe fails" which I think has to do with network directory listing. That could be a product of the earlier failure. Kind of like code debugging, other errors appear after the first one that caused it all to happen.
 
dakhein said:
I'm no expert at this but "GFX0: family specific matching fails" could mean that the machine can no longer identify the graphics chip so it won't load a driver that is required to display a GUI. That could explain why your OS DVD will not load and AFAIK you have seen command line looking stuff, no GUI objects to appear. This could mean graphics module repair or replacement, if possible or complete logic board swap.

Another thing that strikes me is "AppleTyMCEDriver: probe fails" which I think has to do with network directory listing. That could be a product of the earlier failure. Kind of like code debugging, other errors appear after the first one that caused it all to happen.
Click to expand...

I am able to get it to a graphic mode. When I do nothing, I still see the apple logo and the spinning gear. And if I use the command to choose my startup disk, [I belive it's holdig the option key] I see the color graphic of a HD and another of a DVD drive with the pointer working. I can move the pointer an choose which one I want. So I'd think if it wre a graphics issue, would I even be able to get that far?

On a side note, for the record, I am able to get it to boot in "single-user" mode and I see the commandline prompt- :/root# ...but I don't know what to type. I'm no unix guru. It does say\:

If you want to make modifications to files:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mmount -uw

if you wish to boot the system:
exit

:/root# AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: iniitialization complete
 
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DocV said:
I appreciate all the replies, but it's not sounding too encouraging. As far as trying a new HD, could I just unplug the internal HD and try to boot without it, instead of having to go out and buy a new HD? In theory, if the HD was the prob, shouldn't I be able to boot from the install DVD wihout the HD connected?

And yes, for those who pointed it out, I realize it was only implied, but yes, I did upgrade my RAM when I first got my machince back in 2008, so I took the upgraded RAM out and reinstalled the original factory chips, just to rule out the RAM as being an issue. But no such luck. Sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...

You can always buy an external hard drive, install the operating system on it, and boot from the external drive. If you don't want to buy one, chances are excellent if you talk to a few people that someone has a spare hard drive around that you could use. And you need one anyway for backups.
 
Good to know that you are able to get a chime, that means the POST is passing. I am away from my Mac. In single user mode several things can be done, so be very careful with it.
One thing to do will be a disk check, and read the log to see in details what is going on.
 
I got kernel panics on my Mac Pro because of a faulty 8800GT. When I took it out and tried to boot with the original discs I also got kernel panics because I had a GT120 in there that I had purchased more recently. It turned out that my original discs couldn't handle a newer graphics card being in there.

Now whilst this isn't possible with an iMac, I still wanted to eliminate one more element. Is the disc you are trying to boot with the original that came with that iMac?
 
My internal HD is *not* the original. My original died after 18 months. The one in there now is also now about 18 months old. But when my last drive failed, it was much more obvious. It gave all the typical signs of failure before it died.

UPDATE: I called Apple Care again to see if they could help me with some command line attempts in single-user mode. While they knew nothing about that [which was kind of surprising] they did tell me about the hardware diagnostic you can perform by holding down the "D" key at start up!

Sure enough, I was able to get it to launch and test my system, and according to the "quick" test, *nothing* is wrong with my hardware that it could find. I'm now running a more extensive test that takes quite a bit longer. Fingers crossed.

I'm making progress. But given that the machine is doing this much, I'm having a harder and harder time accepting logic board failure, which is what the "Genius" at the Apple store told me, or the dead video card the third party Apple repair shop tried to convince me of.

I know enough about unix, that I'm sure there's got to be a significant amount that can be done from the command line in single-user mode, but I don't know enough to do anything on my own. There has got to be someone at Apple in level 2 support that can walk me through it, but how do you get your case escalated? So far I've had no such luck. The last guy, after telling me about the "D" command, just kept trying to get me to take my box to a third party repair shop.

I'm not convinced I've exhausted all my options yet. I'm sure there's still more I can do on my own, but I need your help. I'm counting on all the brilliant people here to get me out of this. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Also, does anyone know of a *complete list of all the commands* that can be run at startup? With all that I've learned in the past few days, I'd imagine there's got to be more.

Regards...
 
If your dvd drive is ok and you can't boot from the correct original disc then there is most likely a hardware problem and no amount of unix is going to help. The most you can hope to accomplish is to narrow down what the hardware problem is.

To me it sounds like the graphics card that's on the motherboard has gone bad. When my 8800GT went bad it showed similar problems.

I think your number one priority should be to get the computer to boot off a known working system. You didn't answer if you're absolutely sure the disc you tried to boot is the one that came with that iMac.

Even if you were able to track down the hardware problem it will be too expensive to fix (unless it is the hdd).
 
Back home, in front of my Mac, and with my reference book.

As the Mac passed POST, there is not an obvious Hardware Error.
However if it is suffering an intermittent issue, this might fail if there is an error.
My MBP was not consistent with this when had a defective Logic Board, and even I isolated the issue to one of the RAM module, the logic board was damaged (may be by the defective RAM).

In general the Mac OS X start up is as follows: (Leopard reference):

Firmware Stage: Successfully ok is you hear the chime sound, the power or light lit and light gray screen (POST OK = Power On Self Test passed OK)

Booter Stage: is you see a dark gray Apple Logo it is OK. The system kernel and essential kernel extensions loaded OK

Kernel Stage: you see the dark grey spinning gear below the Apple logo, the BSD UNIX system loaded.

User environment Stage: the first process launchd starts, this is indicated by the blue screen and will successfully end with the login screen or the Finder.

Can you please recap your issue based on the previous stages, where you get stuck?

(1) Can you start up Mac OS X in Safe Mode? Do this by holding the shift key during startup.
If this works, then launch the Console (this will give you a lot of details about what the system is doing).
To launch it use spotlight and type 'Console', or find it inside the Applications Folder, Utilities
Launch Disk Utility and check the HDD.
Restart and see if it works.

(2) Can you start in Single User Mode?
Holding Command and S keys.

----------
DocV said:
No need to worry about data recovery from the internal HD, like I said, I've got an external witih Time Machine.

As for booting from the Install DVD, I've tried numerous times, but each time I do, I can hear the DVD drive spinning up and the read head accessing. It does take longer than the HD boot, but the end result is still always the same; grey curtain decends and I get the multi-lingual kernel panic message, "Need to restart your mac".

Is there a way to boot from DVD and see what's going on like I did in verbose, and visual safe mode?

How do I boot from another OS wihtout having an exteranl drive with another OS installed? Unfortunatley, I don't have any compatible OS's lying around in a spare external.
Click to expand...

Not sure if this will work, one way is after downloading a free Ubuntu Disc Image and burn it to a disc, when starting up the Mac boot form the disc holding the C key.
-----------------------------------
Some basic Commands will be:
/sbin/fsck -fy
This will verify and repair the startup volume (like Disk Utility will do)

/sbin/mount -uw will mount the startup volume as a read a write file system

These two are listed/shown in the screen.

After doing this try rebooting by the command
/exit
 
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TinHead88 said:
If your dvd drive is ok and you can't boot from the correct original disc then there is most likely a hardware problem and no amount of unix is going to help. The most you can hope to accomplish is to narrow down what the hardware problem is.

To me it sounds like the graphics card that's on the motherboard has gone bad. When my 8800GT went bad it showed similar problems.

I think your number one priority should be to get the computer to boot off a known working system. You didn't answer if you're absolutely sure the disc you tried to boot is the one that came with that iMac.

Even if you were able to track down the hardware problem it will be too expensive to fix (unless it is the hdd).
Click to expand...

Yes... It is the original install DVD that came with the computer. As far as the graphics card failing, what makes you suspect that? So far, the graphics appear to be working just fine.

----------
McGiord said:
Kernel Stage: you see the dark grey spinning gear below the Apple logo, the BSD UNIX system loaded.

User environment Stage: the first process launchd starts, this is indicated by the blue screen and will successfully end with the login screen or the Finder.

Can you please recap your issue based on the previous stages, where you get stuck?
Click to expand...

I can get all the way to the "Kernel Stage" according to your description above. The gear spins for a couple mins the the Kernel Panic message appears.

(1) Can you start up Mac OS X in Safe Mode?
Click to expand...

No.

(2) Can you start in Single User Mode?
Holding Command and S keys.
Click to expand...

Yes.

Not sure if this will work, one way is after downloading a free Ubuntu Disc Image and burn it to a disc, when starting up the Mac boot form the disc holding the C key.
Click to expand...

My spare machine is a PC, so I can't burn a mac disk and holding the "C" key does not work. That said, I can choose the DVD drive if I hold down the "option" key at startup and choose it from on the screen. But when I do this, I get the same Kernel Panic after the gear spins for about 3-4 mins.

-----------------------------------
Some basic Commands will be:
/sbin/fsck -fy
This will verify and repair the startup volume (like Disk Utility will do)

/sbin/mount -uw will mount the startup volume as a read a write file system

These two are listed/shown in the screen.

After doing this try rebooting by the command
/exit
Click to expand...


This sounds great... I'll give it a try. Thanks!

----------
Big-TDI-Guy said:
Random AHT FYI: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=113848

Also - have found several threads stating that this test frequently fails to ID a bad hard drive. So also keep this in mind.
Click to expand...

Results came back from the extended test with "No trouble found".

I'll have to read up on the link you provided and see what I find.
 
OK, booted in single-user mode and here's what I got after running /sbin/fsck -fy

** /dev/rdisk0s2
** Root File system
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking Catalog File
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking Catalog hierarchy.
** Checking Extended Attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
:/ root#​

Then when I ran /sbin/mount -uw I got

root_device on / (hfs, local, read-only. journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local)
fdesc on /dev (fdesc, union)
:/ root#​
 
DocV said:
OK, booted in single-user mode and here's what I got after running /sbin/fsck -fy

** /dev/rdisk0s2
** Root File system
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking Catalog File
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking Catalog hierarchy.
** Checking Extended Attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
:/ root#​

Then when I ran /sbin/mount -uw I got

root_device on / (hfs, local, read-only. journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local)
fdesc on /dev (fdesc, union)
:/ root#​
Click to expand...

Good, now reboot to see what happens.
 
Further update-

I tried to reboot using the command "exit" and it stayed on the command line screen [as opposed to a fully reboot with chime and grey screen] It went through all the same command line messages as I posted when I did the verbose boot and stopped at the same point as before re: keychain security. So I pressed the button on the back to shutdown, then restarted and single-user mode and tried everything again. This time I noticed it said to type "/exit" so I did and this time I got the following:

-sh: /exit: No such file or directory
:/ root#​

This time I just typed "exit" without the backslash and got the following:

logout
single user mode: exit status: 127
Singleuser boot __ fsck not done
Root device is mouned read-only

If you want to make modifications to files:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /​

If you wish to boot the system:
exit​

:/ root#​

So I typed "/sbin/mount -uw /" again and this time it just went right back to the command prompt, ":/ root#" and I typed "exit"

That time, it did the following:
logout
Jettisoning kernel linker.
Resetting IOCatalogue.
GFX0: family specific matchinig fails
Matching service count = 1
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 2
Matching service count = 3
iMac8,1: stalling for module
Jan 5 20:35:00 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Path monitoring failed on "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Matching service count = 1
AppleTyMCEDriver: :probe(iMac8,1)
AppleTyMCEDriver: :probe fails
Previous Shutdown Cause: 3
NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.
GFX0: family specific matchinig fails
GFX0: family specific matchinig fails
GFX0: family specific matchinig fails
GFX0: family specific matchinig fails
Matching service count = 0
Jan 5 20:35:05 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Failed to count the number of files in "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Jan 5 20:35:05 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Failed to count the number of files in "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Jan 5 20:35:09 localhost DirectoryService[75]: Launched version 5.8.1 (v514.28)
Jan 5 20:35:11 localhost /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow[66]: Login Window Application Started -- Threaded Auth
yukon: Ethernet address 00:1f:5b:ed:d3:2d
AirPort_Brcm43xx: Ethernet address 00:1e:c2:c2:8b:b4
Jan 5 20:35:13 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Failed to count the number of files in "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Jan 5 20:35:13 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Failed to count the number of files in "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Jan 5 20:35:13 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Failed to count the number of files in "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Jan 5 20:35:13 localhost com.apple.launchhd[1] (org.postfix.master): Failed to count the number of files in "/var/spool/postfix": No such file or directory
Jan 5 20:35:15 localhost mDNSResponder mDNSResponder-176.3 (Sep 30 2008 16:59:38)[65]:starting
AirPort: Link Down on en1
en1: 802.11d country code set to 'US'
en1 Support channels {from there it lists a LONG sequence of assending numbers starting from 1}
/drv/ HypApic.c:234 Host APIC phy 0xFEE00000 lin 0x5da65000 ver 0x14
/drv/ HypVtd.c.3500 [vtdInit]
/drv/ HypVtd.c.3516 [vtdInit] VTD initialization disabled
/drv/ HypLowCache.c.173 Low cache initialized (6208 kB for 8 VMs on 4096 MB)
/drv/ HypSMBIos.c:54 Failed to find SMBios entry point
/drv/ HypModule.c:162 Parallels IPI irq = 0 ipi = 0(0x0)
/drv/ HypModule.c:169 Parallels Hypervisor 5.0.9308.543312 loaded.
/prl_hid/ Parallels HID Helper started.
com.parallels.kext.prlnet 5.0.9308.543312 has started.
com.parallels.kext.vnic 5.0.9308.543312 has started.
Jan 5 20:35:21 joe-blows-imac ntpdate[150]: can't find host time.apple.com
Jan 5 20:35:21 joe-blows-imac ntpdate[150]: no servers can be used, exiting
Jan 5 20:35:22 joe-blows-imac mDNSResponder[65]: mDNSKeychainGetSecrets: Could not copy keychain default
Jan 5 20:35:22 joe-blows-imac mDNSResponder[65]: SetDomainSecrets: mDNSKeychainGetSecrets failed error 2313 CFArrayRef 0000000
Jan 5 20:35:22 joe-blows-imac root[172]: Recreating System.keychain because it cannot unlock; see user/libexec/security-checksystem
​

And that's where it stopped responding and I had to press the button on the back of the box to get it to turn off.

UPDATE- While typing this up, I noticed the date and time are way off. I'm sure I did this when in installed the new mainboard clock battery. So now knowing this, is it possible this could be exacerbating my problems? If so, how do I fix it given the current state of my machine?
 
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FYI- For anyone followinng this thread, I came across the following on the Apple support site and I'm trying it now:

1.Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
2.At the command-line prompt type:

/sbin/fsck -fy


3.Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:

** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

4.When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.

Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.​
 
If you have a good external backup, then i agree with the person who suggested a clean install. Why mess around with the possibly corrupted existing files, when you could get a clean install loaded. This would help rule out software issues.

If you can't get a clean install loaded that boots reliably, then I think you probably do have a hardware issue...

if the clean install works, then you can go about reloading your data and files - but NOT the full OS...
 
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Most likely a reinstall of the Mac OSX will be the next thing to attempt.
And to do that based on the difficulty you have to boot from the optical drive it will be to get another HDD or another Mac with Target Disk Mode and perform the OS X installation.
 
DocV said:
I am able to get it to a graphic mode. When I do nothing, I still see the apple logo and the spinning gear. And if I use the command to choose my startup disk, [I belive it's holdig the option key] I see the color graphic of a HD and another of a DVD drive with the pointer working. I can move the pointer an choose which one I want. So I'd think if it wre a graphics issue, would I even be able to get that far?
Click to expand...

No. You don't get to the Mac OS X desktop or even the boot DVD user interface. What you describe is nowhere near that far. The OS needs to load a driver to support rendering the more complex objects that both the desktop and the DVD installer use. The "GFX0: family specific matching fails" may mean the graphics hardware is no longer recognizable to Mac OS so it will not boot to a desktop or a GUI installer. I don't see anywhere that you said you saw any icon or object that resembled as such. The hard drive and DVD icons are what you see if you hold down the option key BEFORE booting an OS, something that doesn't require the full features of a graphics driver.
 
McGiord said:
To change the time and date the command is date.
To know how to use any particular command you can type man after the command.
http://macapper.com/2007/03/08/the-terminal-an-introduction/

Were you able to get the to the user environment?
Still stuck at the same spot?
Click to expand...

Still stuck in the Single-User mode. I was able to bring up a bunch of info using the "help" command and some other things, but it's pretty confusing. I'll check out the link you sent and see what it leads to.

As for clean install, I'd love to but I cant even get it to boot from the DVD. I'm seriously thinking about formatting the HD because, in theory, if it is just corrupted files, a formatted drive would be the same as buying a new drive and installing it... wouldn't it? And if that doesn't work... *then* I'll go out and buy a drive. Would you agree that makes sense?

Aside from the time and date issues, the other constant failure point is the keychain. It says it cant access it so it trys to recreate it, but no such luck. [see the last few lines from the Single-User mode screen above]
 
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