help with 8.6 startup

[jmhink]

i have a major problem. i have an imac 266 w/ tray-loading cdrom using os8.6. well the mac stopped noticing the cdrom. any disc i put in the drive would not work. fortunately, i have an external qps que cdrw. i noticed that high sierra file access extension was missing, so i thought i would reload it from my 8.5 system disk (which i should have used my 8.6 update instead...oops) using the external drive. i restarted my computer, it gives me the happy mac, my startup screen, chomps on the hard drive for a few seconds, and then i get the error -

"Sorry a system error occurred.
unimplemented trap
To temporarily turn off extensions, restart and hold down the shift key."

well, this dosn't work. neither does holding down the space bar or the C key (since my internal cd drive is shot). the only key combo that worked was the one to reset my PRAM. which did not change the error message. any ideas?
thanx,
joel

 

[iJon]

why did you make 2 threads?

iJon

 

[Doctor Q]

Can you hold down shift and boot without extensions? If so, you can experiment to find out which extension (or extensions in combination) cause the system error. If not, I don't see what you can do until you can boot off one of your CD drives, which would let you run Disk Warrior, Conflict Catcher, or another utility you might have, or reinstall Mac OS.

By the way, please don't make duplicate posts to more than one forum, as you did with this problem. The people who can help you will see your first post and respond. The duplicate post is just an inconvenience to other forum members.

 

[jmhink]

a reply

2 threads?

because it's a hardware and a software issue.

unfortunately, i'm using a pc which had problems of it's own last week.

joel

 

[jmhink]

oops...and a response

sorry... first time using this - though i could get several perspectives...

anyway, i tried holding down the shift key and it doesn't work. i tried holding down the C key, but since my tray cdrom is out of commission, it will not load the disc. i put a bootable disc in my external cdrw drive but the mac will not load from it.

joel

 

[Doctor Q]

Do you have another Mac or access to another one? When I've dealt with systems that have both a booting problem and a CD problem, I start swapping hardware. I think that you need to get your hard disk and a working CD on the same system.

I see that you are a musician. Are you any good?

 

[jmhink]

reply

yeah, i've got an older mac which doesn't support usb. an lc475. i thought about exchanging the hard drive in the imac, but had no idea which type of drive to replace it with (let's face it, 6 GB of space is too little). then i will have the problem of accessing the files on my old drive (my wife would kill me if i lost all our digital photos).

maybe i'll crack open the lc and the imac to see if i could switch drives out...

any ideas why the keys aren't working at start up?

thanks for your interest and help in this.


about music... i'm my own worst critic. i do mostly dark ambient music which is an aquired taste. all my music is free for download at soundclick.com.

joel

 

[Doctor Q]

Re: oops...and a response

Originally posted by jmhink
i tried holding down the shift key and it doesn't work.

What happens when you try? The same system error or something different?

When you zapped parameter RAM, did you get the startup chime to confirm that it worked? Some servicepeople have said it is smart to keep holding until it chimes again. Maybe that's just superstitious, but it can't hurt.

Have you used your Mac to make music? I don't know how good MIDI devices are for ambience-type music, but there are a number of musicians on MacRumors who might know about such things. Digital didgeridoos, anyone?

 

[jmhink]

it chimes...

yeah, the PRAM reset worked no problem. i got the start up chime and everything. when i use the shift or space bar during startup, i still end up with the same error. i even tried a key combo that was to force the computer to scan the bus for other devices to load such as my usb cdrw. that didn't work.

i tore into the mac, and an old scsi external disc drive to see if i could pull the drive out and use it in the external drive housing, however, you know scsi and ide just don't match.

i was thinking of replacing the tray cdrom with a new cdrom, maybe then the mac will recognize the drive. i'd hate to buy a new hard drive, and still be unable to get my info off of the old drive.

yeah, i use the mac for all my music. i use opcode vision to record audio, and absynth for synth stuff. there is a bunch of great audio apps for the mac. if i just had the money.

thanks
joel

 

[Doctor Q]

The trouble with buying parts yourself is that you may not know which parts to replace. Maybe the CD drive is ok but the cable was damaged, or the interface on the motherboard is the problem. If you decide to take the iMac to a service center, you'll have to make super certain that they know that the data on the disk is more important than anything else. Better yet, take it to get the CD repaired with another compatible hard disk installed instead of the one with your files, so that you can use your own utility programs to recover or repair the hard disk once the CD works. Whenever I've upgraded to a new Mac, I've always kept my previous Mac so I'd be able to swap parts easily. I had such a case two days ago when I switched monitors to confirm that I had a dead monitor, not a dead video card. I'm sorry your problem isn't so easy to solve.

 

[jmhink]

very good point

yeah, i never thought of that, good point. i know there's power going to the cdrom because i see the little green light when i push the power button, and i hear the disc begin to spin. however, it never makes the usual sound of it searching for a starting point. i have cleaned the laser with compressed air. about a month ago, i couldn't even get the drive to open, but now it will.

unfortunately, i do not have another hard drive to put into it before i send it to a repair shop. i'd rather (of course) fix it myself. however, i think i'll look for a cheap cd drive and go that route first.

maybe it's just time for a G5!

thanks for your time.

joel