[SOLVED] macbook stuck on loading screen after leopard upgrade

[atomicrabbit]

Ok Here's the rundown:

My friend tried to upgrade to leopard on her (2yr old) macbook, but it went screwy. Here are the steps she told me she took:

- Installed Leopard
- Got a blue screen when the computer started, so she restarted and it seemed to work.
- She noticed the computer running slowly so she decided to reinstall leopard (not sure why)
- After reinstalling she noticed the laptop was faster, but microsoft word wasn't working properly (not sure about the details about that)
- She restarted and she couldn't get past the grey loading screen.
- She tried to reinstall again, but it said she didn't have enough room on the hard drive. I suspect the reason is the second time she installed, it did an Archive & Install rather than overwriting the most recent leopard installation.
- The next time she restarted the laptop, she saw a flashing folder with a question mark and then it got stuck on the loading screen.

Here's where I came in:
When she asked me to take a look at it, I turned on the laptop and I saw the folder with the question mark flash once, then it went to the apple logo with the loading circle below and got stuck there indefinitely. I left it on for about 45 minutes just in case it was actually doing something. If I wanted to shut off the computer, I had to hold the power button for about 5 seconds.

Then I tried to reset the PRAM. After doing that it no longer gets stuck at the loading screen. Instead, when it gets to the loading screen, it stays there for about 10 seconds and reboots itself and this cycle continues indefinitely until I force the laptop to shut off.

I tried booting from the leopard disk again, and it gets into the setup fine, but I cannot do much because there is not enough space to install and it only give me the option to Archive & Install. The HDD capacity is 55gb and there is about 5gb free.

What can i do???? If you need anymore info, just ask. I do not know the specifications of the laptop and neither does she. It's a white macbook, about 2 yrs old and I believe it has about 1 gb of ram. The leopard disk is a legal copy that came with her new iMac. Thats about all I know.

 

[logana]

The leopard disk is a legal copy that came with her new iMac. Thats about all I know.

Are you or your friend trying to install OSX 10.5 from an iMac Install disc ie not a retail copy of Leopard - if so that is where your problems lie.

If it is a retail copy you are going to have to delete the existing system from the MacBook - or can you wipe the hard disk - do you have backups of all her files or does she ?

 

[atomicrabbit]

It's the leopard disc that came with her iMac. On the disc, it says:
Mac OS X Leopard
CPU Drop-in DVD
Version 10.5
This software is part of a hardward bundle - not to be sold separately

So what can I do now? Is there a way to safely install OS X Leopard with a retail disc without needing to wipe the hdd?

EDIT: and no, she does NOT have a backup of her files If it were me, I would have backed everything up before upgrading, but she didn't tell me she was upgrading, she just did it. Is there some type of bootup utility I can burn to a cd that will let me browse and backup the HDD?

btw, thanks for the reply.

 

[atomicrabbit]

anyone?

 

[ingenious]

Is there some type of bootup utility I can burn to a cd that will let me browse and backup the HDD?

Do you have another Mac and a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable handy? You can use FireWire Target Disk Mode if you have both of those.

1)Start up her computer and press and hold the "T" key before it chimes.
2)The FireWire symbol should appear.
3)Connect her MacBook and your other Mac with the FireWire cable.
4)Browse her MacBook's hard drive on the other Mac and copy necessary files*.
5)Eject her hard drive's icon from your other Mac.
6)Disconnect the computers and turn hers off by holding down the power button.
7)Continue to reinstall Leopard from a retail disc.

*If you have the space, you might consider using Migration Assistant to copy only her user account (no network settings or applications) and then manually copying her applications (some of which you will have to reinstall anyway). If you migrate her account, you'll have to migrate it back after installing Leopard.

 

[atomicrabbit]

no I don't have the firewire cable. Is there a program I can download and burn to a cd that will do the same thing?

If I reinstall leopard on the macbook as it is now, with a retail disc, will it install properly? Or will I need to format and install? What is different about the the iMac install disc?

 

[logana]

I agree with the firewire target mode suggested - if necessary buy a firewire 6 pin to 6 pin cable - should only be $5 or so and worth every cent.

What's different about the iMac install disc is that it should only install the OS onto that particular machine (iMacs of that spec) - normally you get an error message when trying to install on to a different Mac and it simply won't install.

You know have at least one non-loading OS on your friends MacBook.

THe best way is to use target mode to get the files off the MacBook and then do a fresh install from a RETAIL Leopard disc while erasing everything on the MacBook disc (clean install).

 

[atomicrabbit]

ok but IF for whatever reason, I cannot get a firewire, or cannot connect to another mac, would installing over the current installation with a retail disc potentially fix the problem?

What's weird is that she was able to install leopard on her macbook with the iMac disc, no specific error, other than the blue screen AFTER the installation and a few non-specific problems (i.e. ms word).

 

[logana]

Yes ..potentially but if your friend has an iMac why not use the firewire cable and copy all her files over to the iMac before you do the install just in case.

Better safe than sorry.

 

[killmoms]

What's weird is that she was able to install leopard on her macbook with the iMac disc, no specific error, other than the blue screen AFTER the installation and a few non-specific problems (i.e. ms word).

The blue screen after installation is almost always caused by users having an old version of APE installed (with or without their knowledge). Does she have a Logitech mouse of some sort attached to said iMac?

 

[ingenious]

no I don't have the firewire cable. Is there a program I can download and burn to a cd that will do the same thing?

If I reinstall leopard on the macbook as it is now, with a retail disc, will it install properly? Or will I need to format and install? What is different about the the iMac install disc?

If you can't boot the computer, how can you install an application?

Leopard will install properly, but because of your aforementioned hard drive space problem, you'll have to wipe her hard drive, and that will get rid of all her data, her photos, music, documents, etc.

Your best bet is to purchase a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable and use Target Disk Mode. You can purchase one from a local computer store or possibly a place like Best Buy. I found my at a locally-owned one however; Radio Shack (horrible store) and Wal-Mart only had 4 pin varieties.

What's weird is that she was able to install leopard on her macbook with the iMac disc, no specific error, other than the blue screen AFTER the installation and a few non-specific problems (i.e. ms word).

I have no idea about the whole iMac drop-in vs. Retail except for the licensing and the fact that I've used restore discs from other computers (i.e. iBook G4s) in different models (i.e. iBook G3, etc.) with no problems.

 

[atomicrabbit]

The blue screen after installation is almost always caused by users having an old version of APE installed (with or without their knowledge). Does she have a Logitech mouse of some sort attached to said iMac?

What is APE? and what does her iMac have to do with the macbook in question? If you're wondering if she has a logitech mouse connected to her macbook -- i'm not sure, i'll ask.

If you can't boot the computer, how can you install an application?

I meant if there was some sort of file manager program I can burn to a bootable cd and boot the macbook from it. Obviously I wouldn't be able to run a application from the OS if I can't boot into it.

Leopard will install properly, but because of your aforementioned hard drive space problem, you'll have to wipe her hard drive, and that will get rid of all her data, her photos, music, documents, etc.

Your best bet is to purchase a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable and use Target Disk Mode. You can purchase one from a local computer store or possibly a place like Best Buy. I found my at a locally-owned one however; Radio Shack (horrible store) and Wal-Mart only had 4 pin varieties.

When she reinstalled leopard the second time around, it obviously did an archive and install. So I have 2 questions:

1) Does it keep the archived/backed-up OS somewhere specific? If so, where? Is it a single file?

2) Could I potentially delete the archived OS from the HDD so I could reinstall without needing to copy her data from and to the macbook. Obviously I will still backup her data just in case, but the whole process of backing up, formatting and installing again is tedious especially since she'll lose all the settings and applications. I know I'm being picky and annoying, but I want to avoid a format

 

[killmoms]

What is APE? and what does her iMac have to do with the macbook in question? If you're wondering if she has a logitech mouse connected to her macbook -- i'm not sure, i'll ask.

Sorry, I meant to say MacBook. In any event, APE is a system hack that Logitech used to use in some of their mouse "drivers." The old version of APE that was included in these drivers caused a problem during the upgrade to Leopard, I forget the technical details but it manifested as the "blue screen and nothing else" problem you're experiencing.

 

[atomicrabbit]

ok well, like I said I'll ask, but she is not very technically inclined so I doubt she would know to install a hack for a logitech mouse, or even know HOW.

Anyhow, any ideas on the other questions I asked?

 

[ingenious]

I meant if there was some sort of file manager program I can burn to a bootable cd and boot the macbook from it. Obviously I wouldn't be able to run a application from the OS if I can't boot into it.

I don't know of an application. I think a FireWire cable is your best bet. Trust me.

When she reinstalled leopard the second time around, it obviously did an archive and install. So I have 2 questions:

1) Does it keep the archived/backed-up OS somewhere specific? If so, where? Is it a single file?

2) Could I potentially delete the archived OS from the HDD so I could reinstall without needing to copy her data from and to the macbook. Obviously I will still backup her data just in case, but the whole process of backing up, formatting and installing again is tedious especially since she'll lose all the settings and applications. I know I'm being picky and annoying, but I want to avoid a format

Yes, OS X stores it in a folder "Previous Systems" at the root level of the drive. Deleting this folder will remove the old install and its settings, but keep the current install and imported (from original install) settings.

Also, I wonder if she she really did have Application Enhancer (APE) installed, because the reports seemed to indicate that APE would not let the Mac boot past the blue screen, ever. You mentioned that she was able to get the MacBook to boot after restarting it. I wouldn't waste too much time finding out about APE. I'd migrate the account off and copy applications off, format, then do a retail install of Leopard and re-migrate and copy her applications.

 

[atomicrabbit]

I don't know of an application. I think a FireWire cable is your best bet. Trust me.



Yes, OS X stores it in a folder "Previous Systems" at the root level of the drive. Deleting this folder will remove the old install and its settings, but keep the current install and imported (from original install) settings.

Also, I wonder if she she really did have Application Enhancer (APE) installed, because the reports seemed to indicate that APE would not let the Mac boot past the blue screen, ever. You mentioned that she was able to get the MacBook to boot after restarting it. I wouldn't waste too much time finding out about APE. I'd migrate the account off and copy applications off, format, then do a retail install of Leopard and re-migrate and copy her applications.

Thanks for the info! And yes, she was able to boot into leopard the first time she installed and also after the first re-install of leopard. I just have a few more questions:

1) Does the Archive & Install backup applications as well, or just the OS files?

2) When you say "migrate" the account off, is there a specific way to copy the user settings? Do I just need to copy files directly? What files do I need to copy?

 

[atomicrabbit]

Ok, I was able to view the files/folders by starting the leopard installer and going to the Installer Log and choosing to Save Log. I cannot find a "Previous Systems" folder, but I did noticed 2 folders named "Pro-53" and "Pro-53 2". Could those be the backed up systems?

These are thec ontents of those Pro-53 folders: There are folders named "AU", "RTAS", "To Applications Folder", "VST" and a file named "serial#"

How can I determine the system specs? When in the Leopard installer, all the options (i.e. About This Mac) are greyed out.
EDIT: Nevermind, I didn't realize System Profiler was in the Utilities menu. So just to let everyone know, the macbook is:

MacBook 1.1
Intel Core Duo
1.83 GHz
L2 Cache: 2 MB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB11.0061.B03

 

[ingenious]

Thanks for the info! And yes, she was able to boot into leopard the first time she installed and also after the first re-install of leopard. I just have a few more questions:

1) Does the Archive & Install backup applications as well, or just the OS files?

2) When you say "migrate" the account off, is there a specific way to copy the user settings? Do I just need to copy files directly? What files do I need to copy?

1) Archive and Install just reinstalls a copy of the OS under your settings, applications, and documents. It does not backup applications because it doesn't affect them. All of her settings are still there. Archive and Install only touches system files.

2) Connect the two computers using Target Disk Mode and use Migration Assistant.app on the "other" Mac. Choose "From Another Mac". Make sure you tell it to only copy the user account, not network settings or applications (those will interfere with your settings and applications).

You can copy her applications over separately. Her hard drive will appear on your Desktop. Create a new folder on your computer for her applications and stray files (anything she wants to keep that's not inside her user folder).

After you've ensured all her files are copied and backed, drag her hard drive to your Trash to eject it.

Then, begin the install process on her MacBook and choose to format the laptop.

 

[atomicrabbit]

ok can someone please help me out with something. I don't have access to a second mac just yet, but I will soon. In the meantime I'm trying out a bootable utility disc I found. The problem is, it's a DMG file and I'm trying to restore the DMG to a partition on an external hdd I have. I've already had a partition on the harddrive from before with some data on it. I made another partition for the utility dmg in Windows (formatted as NTFS).

I connected the hdd to the mac and when I select the dmg as the source and the new partition as the target, then click restore, it starts doing something (progress bar moving) then it gives me the error:

Restore Failure
Could not restore - Read-only file system

huh??? So I thought maybe it was because the partition was formatted as NTFS. So I selected the partition and clicked the Erase tab, selected Mac OS Extended as the formate, then clicked Erase.

A warning box pops up specifically saying:
Erasing a volume will destroy all information on the volume. It will not erase information on other volumes on the same disk. Are you sure you wish to erase the volume "four" ?

So I click Erase and what does it do? It pops up an error that says:
Volume Erase failed
Volume Erase failed with the error:
Invalid argument

and then all the volumes on the external drive disappeare!!!!! Why the hell would it specifically state that it will not erase the other volumes and then do exactly that!?!??

Anyways, thankfully all it erased was the partition table and I was able to easily restore the partition table with an application I had on my PC, but what the hell?? How am I suppose to format the partition as mac os extended if Disk Utility won't let me and keeps deleting all the partitions on the drive when I try.

I also tried going to the Partition tab and all the options are greyed out. It will not let me add a new partition. It only allows me to select an option from the Volume Scheme pulldown menu -- which basically allows me to create X amount of partitions, but does not keep any partitions currently on the drive

Any suggestions???!!

 

[atomicrabbit]

Ok I fixed the restore problem. It was because I was trying to restore to a FAT32 partition. I used iPartition to create a HFS+ partition and the restore worked. I connected the laptop to another mac via firewire, backed up the entire hdd and I am now going to attempt to archive & install leopard using a retail version. I just have to make a bit of space on the hdd first and I will give you an update if it works or not.

If it works.. thanks for all your help and suggestions.

 

[atomicrabbit]

Ok i got it installed! Everything seems to work properly, but it runs pretty slow. Is it because it barely meets the minimum requirements?

It's a 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo with 512MB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

You need more RAM for that bad boy.

 

[atomicrabbit]

thought so. thanks!

 

[atomicrabbit]

errg. This never ends. Ok I'm trying to revert back to tiger. Is this even possible??? Do I have to erase and install or is there a way I can archive & install back to tiger (from leopard)

 

[ingenious]

errg. This never ends. Ok I'm trying to revert back to tiger. Is this even possible??? Do I have to erase and install or is there a way I can archive & install back to tiger (from leopard)

Click Options on the install application I think.

Personally, I'd just check Crucial for more RAM; prices are really reasonable right now. Leopard really is much better, even for all of the FUD going around these forums.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, some people are having real problems, but many of us are not.