Hey Mac geniuses.
Here's hoping someone out there is able to help me with this- I have been reading forums and threads all over the Internet for days now following random tidbits of wisdom and am still nowhere.
To make this as short but detailed as possible:
A- last week my imac ( 2008 model 10.5.8)
Started acting strange, lagging each time I would perform any command, open any program or click anything at all.
I started troubleshooting by updating software, deleting unused programs (Firefox etc. ) and clearing as much space as I could from the drive thinking it might be a space issue or a corrupt program somewhere.
None of this helped, the issue got worse and worse
B- I started poking around different forums and following threads of people reporting similar issues, I ran disk utility ( it would not verify and spit out the 'invalid node structure message)
By this time the lag was so bad it was taking 20 minutes sometimes to execute a command and so I could not get time machine to work( so forget about any possibility of cloning or otherwise) so at that point i just continued the painful process of copying as many files as I could to backup
C- I tried a hardware test from disk, and it reported 'no issues with volume',
i started up the imac in safe mode- not any change, I started it up from what I thought was the install disk and received the message ' this software cannot be installed on this computer '
I followed people saying to try the single user mode an enter these fsck commands like: ' sbin/
Which reported the same invalid node structure message.
Then I tried this single user mode method of entering fsck_hfs -rf/dev etc. but couldn't figure out what my disk os numbers were.
D- I'm totally fu&@ked now, the imac won't even boot up past the grey screen and when it does it just stays there for a moment and then randomly shuts off! ( it only started doing this after I had booted to the screen where you can mount the hard drive or a CD which was useless anyway because the disk won't work) after I tried this single user mode fsck stuff the Mac just won't boot past that screen nor stay on.
Wtf?! I am totally an completely lost here, I am really hoping someone has the expertise or knowledge to walk me through how I might fix this?
Maybe I am naive but I have read around a lot and seen people claiming they have fixed this invalid node structure issue ( assuming that is the ultimate issue) without sending the Mac for repair or buying a new hard drive.
I have I believe there is a way to restore the factory settings or something from single user mode maybe? (Although my tech knowledge only goes so far as an artist.)
I don't know what's up with my install disks, they won't work, I don't have a FireWire to attach to another Mac - ( which I read someone say to try) I don't have $100 to replace the disk warrior copy I use to have- but lost, and I totally and completely need this computer every single day as I rely on it to make a living. I'm sort of crippled without it.
I feel like I have tried everything I know how to try or is available to me without buying something or calling apple. ( is that a good idea btw? What will they offer that I can't get in a forum like this from someone wise ? )
So in short unless there is someone out there who has the wisdom to bless me with a solution I'm about to go into panic-mode.
Please note:
I don't take anyone's wisdom for granted or expect anything for free so
I would be willing to offer creative services or other expertise that I have, in exchange for anyone who might help me fix this problem.
With gratitude,
R.
Here's hoping someone out there is able to help me with this- I have been reading forums and threads all over the Internet for days now following random tidbits of wisdom and am still nowhere.
To make this as short but detailed as possible:
A- last week my imac ( 2008 model 10.5.8)
Started acting strange, lagging each time I would perform any command, open any program or click anything at all.
I started troubleshooting by updating software, deleting unused programs (Firefox etc. ) and clearing as much space as I could from the drive thinking it might be a space issue or a corrupt program somewhere.
None of this helped, the issue got worse and worse
B- I started poking around different forums and following threads of people reporting similar issues, I ran disk utility ( it would not verify and spit out the 'invalid node structure message)
By this time the lag was so bad it was taking 20 minutes sometimes to execute a command and so I could not get time machine to work( so forget about any possibility of cloning or otherwise) so at that point i just continued the painful process of copying as many files as I could to backup
C- I tried a hardware test from disk, and it reported 'no issues with volume',
i started up the imac in safe mode- not any change, I started it up from what I thought was the install disk and received the message ' this software cannot be installed on this computer '
I followed people saying to try the single user mode an enter these fsck commands like: ' sbin/
Which reported the same invalid node structure message.
Then I tried this single user mode method of entering fsck_hfs -rf/dev etc. but couldn't figure out what my disk os numbers were.
D- I'm totally fu&@ked now, the imac won't even boot up past the grey screen and when it does it just stays there for a moment and then randomly shuts off! ( it only started doing this after I had booted to the screen where you can mount the hard drive or a CD which was useless anyway because the disk won't work) after I tried this single user mode fsck stuff the Mac just won't boot past that screen nor stay on.
Wtf?! I am totally an completely lost here, I am really hoping someone has the expertise or knowledge to walk me through how I might fix this?
Maybe I am naive but I have read around a lot and seen people claiming they have fixed this invalid node structure issue ( assuming that is the ultimate issue) without sending the Mac for repair or buying a new hard drive.
I have I believe there is a way to restore the factory settings or something from single user mode maybe? (Although my tech knowledge only goes so far as an artist.)
I don't know what's up with my install disks, they won't work, I don't have a FireWire to attach to another Mac - ( which I read someone say to try) I don't have $100 to replace the disk warrior copy I use to have- but lost, and I totally and completely need this computer every single day as I rely on it to make a living. I'm sort of crippled without it.
I feel like I have tried everything I know how to try or is available to me without buying something or calling apple. ( is that a good idea btw? What will they offer that I can't get in a forum like this from someone wise ? )
So in short unless there is someone out there who has the wisdom to bless me with a solution I'm about to go into panic-mode.
Please note:
I don't take anyone's wisdom for granted or expect anything for free so
I would be willing to offer creative services or other expertise that I have, in exchange for anyone who might help me fix this problem.
With gratitude,
R.