Sorry for the long explaination,,,,
My daughter brought me her MB (model number: mb466xx/A) )because it's not working. She trashed some items and did a backup. After she restarted, the problem appeared. I have a feeling she trashed some kind of system file. And, of course, she does not have the disks that came with the computer.
Though having worked with Apple computers since around 1986 (an Apple IIc), I am not a tech person. I can follow instructions and know my limits. Hoping for some help here. I should mention that she has the back up and she has a newer Macbook. She says I am free to "experiment" as much as I want.
Here is what happens at start up:
I get the startup chime
After about 15 minutes, the computer is booted but no hard disk shows on the desktop. Some times it says "insert disk", but this message goes away after about 30 seconds. The menu line starts flashing (about a half second of flashing).
The keyboard does not work at this time, so I connect and external keyboard.
When I go down to the Dock and click one of her applications, it launches and the menu line STOPS flashing. When I quit the application the menu starts flashing again.
I have run /sbin/fsck -fy and just fsck -fy in single user mode five or six times and also run fsck_hfs. It tells me there is an invalid sibling link (8, 581) which could not be repaired after 3 tries. However, it also shows: "FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED"
I have also run Diskwarrior which tells me tells me it repaired some things but could not replace the directory because of a malfunction. I opened DW's Preview window and am able to see all the files on her drive.
Also tried booting from my external hard drive but could not find her hard disk, or at least it did not show on the desktop.
It seems the problem has improved a little because at first I could not get anything selected, let alone launched, from the dock.
Her trackpad has not been functioning for several months. Seems to be stuck down. I tried loosening the 3-slot screw to adjust it, but could not get it to move.
My daughter brought me her MB (model number: mb466xx/A) )because it's not working. She trashed some items and did a backup. After she restarted, the problem appeared. I have a feeling she trashed some kind of system file. And, of course, she does not have the disks that came with the computer.
Though having worked with Apple computers since around 1986 (an Apple IIc), I am not a tech person. I can follow instructions and know my limits. Hoping for some help here. I should mention that she has the back up and she has a newer Macbook. She says I am free to "experiment" as much as I want.
Here is what happens at start up:
I get the startup chime
After about 15 minutes, the computer is booted but no hard disk shows on the desktop. Some times it says "insert disk", but this message goes away after about 30 seconds. The menu line starts flashing (about a half second of flashing).
The keyboard does not work at this time, so I connect and external keyboard.
When I go down to the Dock and click one of her applications, it launches and the menu line STOPS flashing. When I quit the application the menu starts flashing again.
I have run /sbin/fsck -fy and just fsck -fy in single user mode five or six times and also run fsck_hfs. It tells me there is an invalid sibling link (8, 581) which could not be repaired after 3 tries. However, it also shows: "FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED"
I have also run Diskwarrior which tells me tells me it repaired some things but could not replace the directory because of a malfunction. I opened DW's Preview window and am able to see all the files on her drive.
Also tried booting from my external hard drive but could not find her hard disk, or at least it did not show on the desktop.
It seems the problem has improved a little because at first I could not get anything selected, let alone launched, from the dock.
Her trackpad has not been functioning for several months. Seems to be stuck down. I tried loosening the 3-slot screw to adjust it, but could not get it to move.