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PLS HELP! OSX won't boot, I get this message:

T

tomG4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 22, 2003
8
0
Honolulu, Hawaii
Please help OSX won't boot, I get this message:
From path:"/pci@f2000000/mac-io@17/ata-4@1f000/disk@0:5,\mach kernel",
waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOPath Match</key><string ID="1">IODeviceTree:/pci@f2000000/mac-io@17/ata-4@1f000/@0:5</string></dict>
Still waiting for root device
Still waiting for root device
Still waiting for root device
Still waiting for root device

Can anyone help me? I have no idea what to do. I tried different suggestions that I found in this forum but nothing worked. I am (was) running OS X Jaguar on a dual 1Ghz G4. Is this software or hardware related?? All I get is a gray screen with the swirley thing when I try to boot and then it just freezes. When I try to boot in single user mode I get the above message :(

To make matters worse, I just moved from Boston to Hawaii and all my installation disks are still there. ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!!!
Thanks
 
Go to the beach and relax till your CD's come from Boston... .LOL

looks like the kernel is gone (the main part of the OS)

I don't suppose you have OS 9 on your computer?
 
did this begin immediately following the physical move of the computer? If not, what happened right before this started? crash? install a software?

paul
 
It sounds like it could be hardware or software related. From what it says it looks like it's waiting on your optical drive, and the optical drive isn't responding. Now, this could be a problem with the software not working correctly, or it could be a problem with the hardware being physically damaged. I would also be interested in what happened before this started.
 
Before this happened I was downloadibg music from the web. I went to bed and when I got up in the morning the computer was frozen (I keep it on all the time). When I rebooted that's when the problems started.

I don't have an optical drive.

I can sometimes boot into OS 9 after a few reboots. If I run Norton it tells me I have major problems but after they get fixed and I reboot still nothing.
 
Originally posted by tomG4


I don't have an optical drive.
Click to expand...

You don't have a CD ROM eh? :rolleyes:

seems to me like it would the Kernel that Corrupt ... I don't remember if OS X installs like most UNIX systems ... but if it does ... based on what that message says it looks like the Root Partition is missing, and the only way to solve that, that i know is to reinstall everything..

Unless there is another way ..

Try to boot into OS 9 ... back everything up on some external drive, or borrow a CD burner from someone, back up your vital files and reinstall and start from scratch.

Sorry man
 
:confused: oh, sorry I do have a cd rom drive. I didn't realize optical drive was a cd rom drive, I thought they were two seperate things. Shows you how computer literate I am.
 
Originally posted by tomG4
:confused: oh, sorry I do have a cd rom drive. I didn't realize optical drive was a cd rom drive, I thought they were two seperate things. Shows you how computer literate I am.
Click to expand...

My advice, back up, reinstall ... your best solution short of taking it into a place, you could call apple see what they have to tell you

but the reinstall is my best advice
 
Thanks for your help guys. I have one more question, should I reformat the disk and then install the OS or can I just install the OS without reformatting?
Cons? Pros?
 
Originally posted by tomG4
Thanks for your help guys. I have one more question, should I reformat the disk and then install the OS or can I just install the OS without reformatting?
Cons? Pros?
Click to expand...

you best bet is to make a back up of your files, and then reformat and clean install.

You never know what got corrupted so you may end up with the same problem

so wipe your drive clean, and then install the OS
 
You mentioned you have restore CD's ... can you wait to get those?


If not, go ahead and get Panther, many claim that breathed new life into their computers :)
 
I have restore cd's but I wouldn't even know where to start looking for them. I need my computer up ASAP so I just have to buy new ones.
Again, thank you so much for your help everyone!
 
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