i need THE GURU!!! pb doesn't start....

[ko7mac]

I have just erased almost 50 gb of video material, and i want have it back... but the worse is, that it still doesn't work...
I cant start up, it doesn't recognize even setup dvd or cd's...
all story:
since i have updated to x.3.6 it began to crash on regular basis.. it seems, that skype was causing a serious mess.. but single restart would do, till next time....
but right after update to x.3.8 it all went down very quick.. multiply restarts..crashing while editing on avid, final, or adobes...
last time i've had any use of it, was on recent holidays..while loading photos to iphoto..just died.. and so it is until now...
I have removed extra ram, this same with airport card..
I try to startup from 3 different setup discs... original goes to moment of loading of files.. then stripes on the screen.. and stucks...
I did: reset pmu..no result..
after connecting as external fire wire disc i found hd..with error message.. the worse pain... i had to lose 1/2 hour of ready material, but i need this machine tu run... just a week of time to days i would badly need it running... dvd rom is visible, so the problem isn't there... after formatting hd should be piece of cake.. but still isn't. hd is 100% ok.
is there anything in 0 sector, to cause this problem???
what else can i do?
is here anything else to reset??
new hd -would it help??
what worries me most, is why to .... it doesnt start from setup discs...that realy strange...it flashes question mark, with dvd setup disc spinning in...!!
has anybody any suggestions??
greetings..

 

[munkle]

Sounds like a HD problem. I was in a similar situation not too long ago, when Disk Utility informed me my S.M.A.R.T status was failing. From here on in things can go downhill very quickly, as you've experienced.

What I did, was use Drive Genius Lite to repair my HD (I wasn't able to boot either). After that I used SuperDuper to make a full clone of my HD onto an external HD. Replaced the failing HD in my PB, and then moved all the information onto from the clone copy.

It was a pain but everything is running good again now and I can breathe easy. A failing HD is scary and you want to deal with it as quick as possible.

 

[ko7mac]

??

i am prepered to dig into it, but...
do you know how to access mac-sort-of bios?? or:
do you think its only hd problem??
2nd question: whats on 0 sector of hd..
3rd q: where is the restriction of not booting from os 9 ??? <- this one i would like to know..i dont realy need os x for semi pro tv works...
thanks
m

 

[xsedrinam]

Hi Ko7,
Sorry 'bout your problems. Have you or are you able to backup everything at this point? Do you have DiskWarrior? You might try booting from that and rebuilding your Directory. You said your HD is "100%" okay. How did you verify that? Can you get Disk Utility to show S.M.A.R.T = verified? On Start Up have you tried holding down Option Key to make sure it's selecting the correct Start Up Disk? Just a start...
X

 

[munkle]

i am prepered to dig into it, but...
do you know how to access mac-sort-of bios?? or:
do you think its only hd problem??

It sounds exactly like the same problem I had a few weeks ago and that was due to a failing HD.

2nd question: whats on 0 sector of hd..

As far as I'm aware, sector 0 is merely the volume descriptor. [/QUOTE]

3rd q: where is the restriction of not booting from os 9 ??? <- this one i would like to know..i dont realy need os x for semi pro tv works...

'Fraid I don't know much about OS9...sorry.

 

[macdon401]

Me too!

Sounds like a HD problem. I was in a similar situation not too long ago, when Disk Utility informed me my S.M.A.R.T status was failing. From here on in things can go downhill very quickly, as you've experienced.

What I did, was use Drive Genius Lite to repair my HD (I wasn't able to boot either). After that I used SuperDuper to make a full clone of my HD onto an external HD. Replaced the failing HD in my PB, and then moved all the information onto from the clone copy.

It was a pain but everything is running good again now and I can breathe easy. A failing HD is scary and you want to deal with it as quick as possible.

I have a warning from SMART as well, I am just finishing burning 45 Gigs of stuff to DVD...nightmare!
Apple has told me I need a new Drive too,
with my backup will I save all my setups, email and passwords??
Help!

 

[ko7mac]

hi there!!
well..after failure on smart, i decided to format..material is material, -gone is...-lets say..just gone....usual pain of not having enough for backup.. specialy with video works...-never enough - i'll do it over..my problem..the point is to get this junk to talk to me...i need it.. my old g4 466 is just not up to work i do...
i work on macs since 96...so i have seen a lot....
but this is something new...in all cases before the last rescue was to feed in the system disc and just format&install...normal way of geting the things done..
this is a first time i cant get further....
i did check hd by connecting this pb to g4 in firewire hd mode..first failure, i did format, +check 100% ok..volume is there. -full access read&write...tested, looks perfect..-and that's what worry me the most..
hd is running, setup disc is spinning...and apple stays on grey screen..it just jumps down ..and thats the sign for me, that it will go no further...
frustrating!!!

 

[munkle]

I have a warning from SMART as well, I am just finishing burning 45 Gigs of stuff to DVD...nightmare!
Apple has told me I need a new Drive too,
with my backup will I save all my setups, email and passwords??
Help!

45GB onto DVD's - wow!

You might want to think about investing in an external FireWire HD to make your backups onto, I'm sure you're aware as I am now how important backups are! With an external HD you can use SuperDuper to clone your HD, so EVERYTHING is backed up. So if you run into any problems in the future, you can just restore from backup and have everything the way it was in under 10 mins.

For email, you want to backup the User/Library/Mail (and Mail Downloads for good measure) folder

 

[ko7mac]

hi guys!!

shall we write complain letter to steve??? ;-)))

 

[munkle]

hi there!!
well..after failure on smart, i decided to format..material is material, -gone is...-lets say..just gone....usual pain of not having enough for backup.. specialy with video works...-never enough - i'll do it over..my problem..the point is to get this junk to talk to me...i need it.. my old g4 466 is just not up to work i do...
....
i did check hd by connecting this pb to g4 in firewire hd mode..first failure, i did format, +check 100% ok..volume is there. -full access read&write...tested, looks perfect..-and that's what worry me the most..
hd is running, setup disc is spinning...and apple stays on grey screen..it just jumps down ..and thats the sign for me, that it will go no further...
frustrating!!!

Unfortunately when you've got a SMART failure, reformatting just isn't going to cut it, you're going to have the whole hog and replace your actual HD. It is indeed a bugger but thinking of it as an excuse to upgrade to a bigger/faster HD might help lessen the pain a bit!

 

[ko7mac]

now i am getting:
invalid memory access at %srr0 ff846288 %srr1 : 00003030 !!!!
-now i understand everything!!! :-((((
-any suggestions???

 

[macdon401]

Steve!

Steve is not in my goodbooks right now, My G5 is a month and a half old!
Good advice on the external hard drive, unfortunatly good ole Steve has gotten most of my cash right now, seeing as I gought an iPod Mini and a Shuffle for my Mother! This machine was my pride and joy 48 hrs ago ,...now I'm looking at it with an evil grin on my face...a la jack Nicholson in the Shining!
R

 

[munkle]

At least it's still under warranty...that should move you down from "The Shining" levels to about "You can't handle the truth!" levels, non?...

 

[macdon401]

What about ko7mac ...he must be around Jack in "Wolf"...!
The drive is still running but beachballs and force quits are making me crazy,
is this normal for a "failing" disk>
R

 

[ko7mac]

i.m still here..
my pb is older..so i dont have to bother myself with apple care and so on..
what i just did, is i have started pb in firewire mode abd connected it to pc.
i did format with windows, run all the checks and scans.. and it looks ok..so the hdisc is all right.
but i still cannot load setup disc..-basicly no progress...
in older macs, after reset, computer was schowing date of birth of steve jobs..
my pb has shown 04.04.76 -what was it?? one of his children???
m

 

[wdlove]

Have you done a Repair Permissions. Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities If you have AppleCare, you could run the Tech Tools CD that comes with the box. Run the multi tester. I would either take to PowerBook to a local Apple reseller, which many times can be easier in person. Otherwise call Apple Phone Support.

 

[ko7mac]

thanks, but..
if i would have apple care i wouldnt bother at all....
this same with tech tools..
behalve that suggestion, i did everything i know...and that is 9 years on macs...
and i am still here.... -stuck....