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MacBook won't load OSX, starts Darwin console???

I

iAussie

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2006
48
1
Hey everyone,

I've got a 2.0GHz C2D MacBook with 2GB of Apple RAM in it, when I woke it from sleep before, Safari 3 would crash as soon as I tried to open it (FireFox was fine) so I went to Software Update and got the new Safari update, as well as the latest security update (and something else too... an Airport update maybe?)

They downloaded and installed, but then when it restarted, it'd load the login screen but then throw me out to the Darwin command-line console once I put in my username and password :confused:

I've tried starting up in Safe Mode and running Disk Utility, it didnt find any errors, nor did the Apple Hardware Test. Any ideas what the problem is and how I could fix it? Thanks heaps in advance
 
Eidorian said:
Did you verify your disk in Disk Utility? Otherwise I suggest and archive and install.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I ran 'Verify Disk', 'Repair Disk' and 'Repair Disk Permissions' but they didnt solve the problem.

Am I able to backup my data from within Disk Utility (on the install disk) so I don't lose it if I have to resinstall OSX? (Is that what you mean by archive? I'm assuming that reinstalling OSX will reformat my drive)
 
iAussie said:
Yeah, I ran 'Verify Disk', 'Repair Disk' and 'Repair Disk Permissions' but they didnt solve the problem.

Am I able to backup my data from within Disk Utility (on the install disk) so I don't lose it if I have to resinstall OSX? (Is that what you mean by archive? I'm assuming that reinstalling OSX will reformat my drive)
Click to expand...
Archive and Install will only erase your system files and preserve your user directory.

If you have another Mac you can put your MacBook into Target Disk Mode and copy your user files over for some additional security.
 
Eidorian said:
Archive and Install will only erase your system files and preserve your user directory.

If you have another Mac you can put your MacBook into Target Disk Mode and copy your user files over for some additional security.
Click to expand...

Ahh ok, unfortunately I don't have another Mac to do the Target Disk thing... I have an external USB hard drive though, is it possible to create a disk image of my MB and put it onto there? Would that actually be useful if things happen to get worse? I'll go have a look at Disk Utility now...
 
iAussie said:
Ahh ok, unfortunately I don't have another Mac to do the Target Disk thing... I have an external USB hard drive though, is it possible to create a disk image of my MB and put it onto there? Would that actually be useful if things happen to get worse? I'll go have a look at Disk Utility now...
Click to expand...
Yes, you can make an image from a folder and then place it on the external drive.
 
Eidorian said:
Yes, you can make an image from a folder and then place it on the external drive.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for your help, I'll try that and see how it goes...

Edit: What's the best type of image to do? A compressed one? Or a read/write one? Or one of the others? Sorry for all the questions! Its the first time I've run into any trouble on my Mac
 
The installation got about halfway through, then came up saying it'd run out of space (dunno how that happened, seeing as it didnt let me start until I deselected some of the options so the installation would fit). So now it doesnt really do anything at all when I turn it on, just comes up with the message box saying it ran out of space.

So I guess the question to ask now is, anybody know a good external case for a MB hard drive so I can pull all my files off it before I have to reformat it and start fresh? I should still be able to access the files on it, shouldnt I?

Unless there's still a way to otherwise fix all this mess? :(
 
Any external USB or FireWire hard disk will work fine. You'll more then likely have to do an Erase and Install now.

A compressed disk image will take more time to make but it'll take up less space. The benefit of read/write is that it'll still allow you to write into the disk image.

If you feel confident you can even install OS X to your external drive (only the required files), boot off of that, and then copy over your files that are still on the internal hard drive.

http://www.google.com/search?q=install+os+x+external+drive
 
Archive and install works great to correct this problem. I had a bad upgrade a few years ago going from 10.3.8 to 10.3.9 and this fixed the problem with very few hassles. Since then, though, I do a full cloned backup and use the Combo Updates any time I update Mac OS X.
 
dacreativeguy said:
Archive and install works great to correct this problem. I had a bad upgrade a few years ago going from 10.3.8 to 10.3.9 and this fixed the problem with very few hassles. Since then, though, I do a full cloned backup and use the Combo Updates any time I update Mac OS X.
Click to expand...

Combo updates? Never heard about that :)
 
Eidorian said:
If you feel confident you can even install OS X to your external drive (only the required files), boot off of that, and then copy over your files that are still on the internal hard drive.
Click to expand...

Great minds think alike, I did that last night then saw your post this morning! I was able to install OSX onto my external, so I can now boot from that and it sees the files on the internal hard drive, so I can copy off the stuff I need. On the weekend I'll just completely wipe the internal drive and install OSX again, then copy back my files etc.

Whats the best way to back up my entire internal hard drive (not just my files, but OSX too)? If i create an image of it, is it possible to restore OSX from this image should anything ever go wrong again?

Thanks so much for your help Eidorian!


Are Combo Updates the ones you download from the Apple site that contain all the upgrades, not just the most recent? These somehow work better? Or is it just more convenient to backup once and then update all at once?
 
iAussie said:
Great minds think alike, I did that last night then saw your post this morning! I was able to install OSX onto my external, so I can now boot from that and it sees the files on the internal hard drive, so I can copy off the stuff I need. On the weekend I'll just completely wipe the internal drive and install OSX again, then copy back my files etc.

Whats the best way to back up my entire internal hard drive (not just my files, but OSX too)? If i create an image of it, is it possible to restore OSX from this image should anything ever go wrong again?

Thanks so much for your help Eidorian!


Are Combo Updates the ones you download from the Apple site that contain all the upgrades, not just the most recent? These somehow work better? Or is it just more convenient to backup once and then update all at once?
Click to expand...
Once you have your internal drive back up and running you can use Super Duper to clone your OS X install to an external drive.

Combo updates from Apple are larger updates designed to combine cumulative updates from past ones.

You can try imaging as well using NetRestore.
 
Darwin/dsb

I had a similar problem with my MacBook. It gives me the black screen with Darwin/DSB when I try to reboot, but only with peripherals attached. If I disconnect all the peripherals, it boots up fine, but if my external monitor, and/or hard drive are connected, it goes to the black screen. I tried disconnecting the external hard drive but leaving the external monitor, and it still goes to the black screen. If I disconnect everything, it will boot back up fine, then I just reconnect all the externals. Little bit of a pain in the ass, but at least it works.
 
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