MacOS Gurus ! OS 8.5 locking up

[Flynnstone]

I hope someone out there can help me.
I'm essentially a "switcher", so anything before OS X is not in my knowledge base.
We have an iMac (CRT) running OS 8.6 that boots up, gets to a point and then appears to hang. The clock in the menu bar is stopped, the mouse moves, but can't click or select any thing. The only way I know how to reboot is to pull the plug.
I've booted a OS 9 cd and have got that to "work". I've deleted the Finder Preferences in System Folder -> Prefs Folder. And other prefs too.
I've run Disk First Aid from the CD and it says the hard disk is ok.
I can get a brief bit of control if I click on the menu, as soon as I click/release it locks up.
The lock up coincides with the stop of hard drive activity. I'm not sure which is the chicken or the egg ?

Any help/pointers etc would be greatly appreciated

 

[JackRipper]

The first thing i would do is remove any thing in System>Startup Items.

EDIT: I forgot to tell you how! After pressing the power button hold down the space bar until the Extension Manager opens. At the end of the list you should see Startup Items and Shutdown Items. Just click off anything in the Startup Items list, click continue and cross your fingers.

Another thing to try when you're in there ( especially if your problem is not the startup items ) is to use the Mac OS 8.6 Base set ( drop down list at the top ).

Are there any USB or Firewire drives plugged in?

Do you see the hard disk icon on the desktop before it hangs?

How long have you waited for it to come out of the hung state?

 

[strider42]

I hope someone out there can help me.
I'm essentially a "switcher", so anything before OS X is not in my knowledge base.
We have an iMac (CRT) running OS 8.6 that boots up, gets to a point and then appears to hang. The clock in the menu bar is stopped, the mouse moves, but can't click or select any thing. The only way I know how to reboot is to pull the plug.
I've booted a OS 9 cd and have got that to "work". I've deleted the Finder Preferences in System Folder -> Prefs Folder. And other prefs too.
I've run Disk First Aid from the CD and it says the hard disk is ok.
I can get a brief bit of control if I click on the menu, as soon as I click/release it locks up.
The lock up coincides with the stop of hard drive activity. I'm not sure which is the chicken or the egg ?

Any help/pointers etc would be greatly appreciated

Never, ever, ever unplug the machien to restart it. Use the reset switch on the side of the machine (small button with a triangle on it).

Have you attempted just letting it sit for a little while. Could be old servers in the recent servers folder that its trying to find, or file sharing or web sharing inadvertently turned on when its not connected to the internet.

Beyong that, I'd try turning off any startup items, disconnecting everything but the keyboard and mouse, and zapping the pram.

 

[thecow]

Unless you have anything that you need on the hd, you could wipe it and install os 9 from the cd that you have.

 

[Flynnstone]

The first thing i would do is remove any thing in System>Startup Items.

EDIT: I forgot to tell you how! After pressing the power button hold down the space bar until the Extension Manager opens. At the end of the list you should see Startup Items and Shutdown Items. Just click off anything in the Startup Items list, click continue and cross your fingers.

Another thing to try when you're in there ( especially if your problem is not the startup items ) is to use the Mac OS 8.6 Base set ( drop down list at the top ).
Are there any USB or Firewire drives plugged in?
Do you see the hard disk icon on the desktop before it hangs?
How long have you waited for it to come out of the hung state?

I'll try the Startup Items/Extensions Manager.
Base set ?? drop down list?
No USB drives, No Firewire period. Bondi Blue iMac i believe.
Yes I see the hard disk icon.
How long to wait? Forever or until the power fails. (pulls plug )

 

[Flynnstone]

Never, ever, ever unplug the machien to restart it. Use the reset switch on the side of the machine (small button with a triangle on it).

Have you attempted just letting it sit for a little while. Could be old servers in the recent servers folder that its trying to find, or file sharing or web sharing inadvertently turned on when its not connected to the internet.

Beyong that, I'd try turning off any startup items, disconnecting everything but the keyboard and mouse, and zapping the pram.

This is a Bondi Blue iMac I believe. Where is the reset button?
Is it inside the door on the right side?
I'm more used to PCs with the reset easily accessable. Sometimes too accessable
How do "zap" the pram?

 

[Flynnstone]

Unless you have anything that you need on the hd, you could wipe it and install os 9 from the cd that you have.

They need to keep 8.6 on it. Something about 4D database server.

I really like OS X. Recently I needed to go to MacOS 9.2.2 to get Labview running. I had never really used MacOS before. I can see why some people didn't want to give it up. It's like a ... (searching for a good analogy) ... a good dog. Confortable and not complex. It had a warm feel to it.

 

[hulugu]

This is a Bondi Blue iMac I believe. Where is the reset button?
Is it inside the door on the right side?
I'm more used to PCs with the reset easily accessable. Sometimes too accessable
How do "zap" the pram?

The reset button in inside the door, and is a small recessed button with a triangle on it.

Then to reset or zapp the PRAM:

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

You may also want to check out Apple.com/support, they have knowledge base articles you can search.

 

[strider42]

This is a Bondi Blue iMac I believe. Where is the reset button?
Is it inside the door on the right side?
I'm more used to PCs with the reset easily accessable. Sometimes too accessable
How do "zap" the pram?

On a trya loading iMac, its the upper of two small holes between teh mdoem and ethernet ports. insert a paper clip into it and it will reboot.

hulugu has you covered on the pram zapping procedure. You might also ask for help at the iMac discussion forums. I'm a regular member there for the old CRT iMacs, and I know there's lots of people there with good ideas.

 

[hulugu]

On a trya loading iMac, its the upper of two small holes between teh mdoem and ethernet ports. insert a paper clip into it and it will reboot.

hulugu has you covered on the pram zapping procedure. You might also ask for help at the iMac discussion forums. I'm a regular member there for the old CRT iMacs, and I know there's lots of people there with good ideas.

That's right, I'm not at home so I was working from memory, and I also realized I have that little plastic piece that you could glue into the iMac's bay and then push on it to hit the Reset button.

Hey Strider, know anyone who wants another Bondi Blue 233?