OS X 10.4 (intel) won't boot -I'd like to reinstall but can't

[Woaheywoaheynow]

Howdy y'all,

I have a hand-me-down MacBook with a dead battery. After several instances were the power cord was unplugged, the OS won't boot.

what plainly happens is...
startup gong and grey apple as usual - then goes to black DOS-looking screen with two specific errors:

/etc/master.passwd: no such file or directory

and

CSRHIDTransitionDriver::stop

I have read countless articles and forum threads on the issue and have typed all kinds of commands. There seem to be lots of things you can do if you want to save the contents of your HDD. This is a hand-me-laptop, there are no files I need to keep. I would to reinstall the OS and I don't care what get's deleted in the process.

However, I can't boot from the install DVD, or boot into single-user mode, or zap the p-ram, or run a hardware test. all startup options end with the same errors as mentioned above.

thank you in advance to anyone who can lend me some advise.

 

[hackerwayne]

Howdy y'all,

I have a hand-me-down MacBook with a dead battery. After several instances were the power cord was unplugged, the OS won't boot.

what plainly happens is...
startup gong and grey apple as usual - then goes to black DOS-looking screen with two specific errors:

/etc/master.passwd: no such file or directory

and

CSRHIDTransitionDriver::stop

I have read countless articles and forum threads on the issue and have typed all kinds of commands. There seem to be lots of things you can do if you want to save the contents of your HDD. This is a hand-me-laptop, there are no files I need to keep. I would to reinstall the OS and I don't care what get's deleted in the process.

However, I can't boot from the install DVD, or boot into single-user mode, or zap the p-ram, or run a hardware test. all startup options end with the same errors as mentioned above.

thank you in advance to anyone who can lend me some advise.

Its a problem with the HDD. Remove the HDD and try to boot OSX DVD again. If that works, you will need a new hard disk

 

[Woaheywoaheynow]

any sources for how to crack into these intel Macbooks? hmmm, already sounds like too much work - i've got an old PPC wind tunnel that I'm working on as well. Rather spend my time getting that one back in shape. Probably have to put the MacBook on hold. thanks for the response.