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Serious 10.5.7 Issues - iTunes, Firefox, T'bird Won't Open.... More

S

ShiftyPig

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 24, 2008
567
0
AU
Hello all,

I am having a bit of an issue with my 13 MBP. With absolutely no rhyme or reason as to frequency, I have been having issues where all of a sudden:

I can't create folders on the desktop (Error code -50)
iTunes won't open (error code 13014)
Spotlight won't search (returns dictionary definitions)
Firefox won't open (A copy is already running...)
Thunderbird won't open (A copy is already running...)
... and probably other problems I can't recall right off.

The machine is slow to restart when I do; one time I couldn't get past the gray screen for an hour. Once it gets through a restart however everything is fine for some amount of time before the problem happens again.

I have received two kernel panics in the past week. Both came off the back of waking the laptop from sleep.

As far as I can tell (or remember), I haven't installed anything that would cause the system to go nuts. I have TM backups, would prefer to use one of those versus a complete wipe as I have Parallels installed and don't want to have to redo that, plus Windows, plus all my Windows programs, etc.

Really have no idea what to do or where to start :confused:


Edit to add: I do have a lost+found and Damaged Files folders in my Macintosh HD directory. Not sure where they came from, can't really determine by looking.

Edit: more info, when I try to save something from online, it says there is not enough disk space. Also, it appears as though dmg's will not mount.
 
Thanks for the response. So it's about to die. :(

Making my Genius bar appointment for the morning.
 
After yet another unenjoyable Apple Store visit, the tech determined that there is nothing wrong with the hard drive.

Is there any chance this could be software related? It seems to create such a wide range of issues that it would have to be something within OS X and not a single program. The inability to save anything is what gets me.

Have to go back to school on Monday - hopefully it is sorted by then. :(
 
I assume running Repair Disk Permissions and Verify Disk in Disk Utility does nothing to resolve the issue?
 
Fixed permissions repeatedly, problem still occurs. Ran disk repair from the install disk, still happens. Ran hardware diag on loop, no issues found.

I'm about to do a format + reinstall and salvage things from Time Machine that I want. If that doesn't fix it, I guess I'm out of ideas.
 
Am about to try that. Did a basic erase + install and it hung when I tried to copy my applicarion folder over from my TM backup. Surely something will work lol.
 
GGJstudios said:
Just curious: Why aren't you on 10.5.8, which is the most current version of Leopard?
Click to expand...

I thought .7 was the latest. My fault there. It is .8, I was just trying to differentiate between this and SL.

It seemed to do well until I tried to restore from TM... I'm thinking that if I manually pluck the files I need and properly reinstall programs I'll be good to go in a few hours. Just hoping it's software related.
 
Awesome update so everyone can laugh at my tribulations

Alright, going back to the beginning, I took this into an Apple Store on Tuesday @ 5pm. The tech said it must be software related, sent me away to do a reinstall.

Wednesday, 3pm... attempt erase and restore, install OS X, hangs when trying to recover from TM backup. Power down and prepare to nuke.....

Wednesday, 7pm.... zero-out format and reinstall. Success! Forget restore from TM, selectively pull the files I need and call it good. Sweet.

Thursday, 8pm.... issue occurs again. Basically, cessation of the ability to read/write. List of issues too long to name.

Friday, 11am.... back to (a different, non-tourist) Apple Store. Replace hard drive, alleged diagnostics, and fresh OS X install.

Friday, 5:30pm... collect laptop. Power up in car to let it run on the 45 min drive home. At the stoplight to leave the mall - kernel panic. On restart, report shows that the laptop made it 70 seconds. Powered up again, letting it run... about 3 minutes down the road, issue reappears. No ability to save, open iTunes (on an OS X install that is all of 5 minutes old), iPhoto.... etc.

Friday, 6pm... back to Apple Store. Tech wants to "completely wipe" and reinstall OS X. I explain that the hard drive was in a cardboard box at 11am and it is a fresh install as of leaving the back room. Three hours later I collect a laptop that...... was given a fresh OS X install.

Basically, I figure that I'm just counting down until it craps out again. After tomorrow morning I will be in Gainesville so it's going to turn into a gigantic hassle.

I've never dropped this thing and it's not water damage. At what point is anyone actually going to fix anything? Do I need to explicitly ask for new RAM or explicitly ask for a new logic board? Or do I need to be dropping the lemon law bomb (already been in three times for the same issue). The techs acknowledge when I bring it in that something is seriously wrong. However, a simple restart fixes the problem .... if by fix I mean lose all my data in open programs and have to power down and back up. There's clearly something electrical going on deep in this thing, but for now I'm stuck with an unreliable piece of junk :(
 
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