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Resolved URGENT: HELP!! I Screwed up my eMac!

MatthewLTL

MatthewLTL

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 22, 2015
1,684
18
Rochester, MN
I used Secrets and tweaked a bunch of settings including OpenGL (Secrets automatically checked it) and also turned off BeamSync now i can't use the mac! It boots but that's about it. The Finder is the only thing that works nothing opens i cannot open any programs at all cant open System Preferences either! I tried to boot into Safe Mode but that didn't help a thing!!!!!

HELP ME PLEASE!!!!
 
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If you have another Mac then connect the eMac with target disk mode and find that configuration file and change the setting back.

If you don't have another Mac you could try an Ubuntu LiveCD.
 
Alrighty right, let's see if we can't get this thing back churning away with minimal effort.

Let's turn back on BeamSync, as the CRT monitor in the eMac requires it. Boot into Single-User Mode (Command+S at chime until you see the UNIX shell appear), and type this in:

"sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver Compositor -dict deferredUpdates 1" (Minus quotes)

Now go ahead and give your eMac a reboot by typing in "reboot" minus the quotes. Let us know how it goes.
 
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MatthewLTL said:
I didnt even see that post til 30 seconds ago and i dont think that is the issue
Click to expand...
Look. We are all here to help. But if you keep asking questions and ignoring the answers we give you because you think they are irrelevant or incorrect then we cannot help you.

If the answers we give you are not the ones you are expecting or don't square with what you think the answer should be, why bother asking questions? Just go with your answers. Our help won't help you if it's not anything you are going to use.

Please don't mistake my tone as angry or condescending because it's not. It's just an observation.
 
eyoungren said:
Look. We are all here to help. But if you keep asking questions and ignoring the answers we give you because you think they are irrelevant or incorrect then we cannot help you.

If the answers we give you are not the ones you are expecting or don't square with what you think the answer should be, why bother asking questions? Just go with your answers. Our help won't help you if it's not anything you are going to use.

Please don't mistake my tone as angry or condescending because it's not. It's just an observation.
Click to expand...

the onlly reason i said i dont think its the issue is because i have no screen tearing
 
Xernicus said:
Alright, here's the thing. You NEED BeamSync to be enabled on your eMac. Why? Because it's a CRT, and CRT's require Vertical sync.
Click to expand...

I thought someone said that you can use a CRT without V-Sync, but it would just be choppy and teary.
 
MatthewLTL said:
the onlly reason i said i dont think its the issue is because i have no screen tearing
Click to expand...
OK.

Like I said, it was just an observation. Intell has been around for awhile and gets paid daily for the advice he gives out free here.

Others have made some suggestions and it looks like Xernicus has a good one. I'd try that.

Hopefully it's just down to beamsync and nothing else.

You may want to try just a few settings at a time as you go and see how it affects the Mac. That way you know it's stable before you try other settings. If you make a whole bunch of changes all at once it can be difficult to recall all of the changes you made.
 
poiihy said:
He is paid? I didn't know that... huh
Click to expand...
He works in IT and has for quite a while. It's his career.

He's seen every possible combination of hardware and software for every model of Mac and he's paid to make it all work while supporting other people using those Macs in his organization.

So, we all benefit from what he knows.
 
Xernicus said:
Alrighty right, let's see if we can't get this thing back churning away with minimal effort.

Let's turn back on BeamSync, as the CRT monitor in the eMac requires it. Boot into Single-User Mode (Command+S at chime until you see the UNIX shell appear), and type this in:

"sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver Compositor -dict deferredUpdates 1" (Minus quotes)

Now go ahead and give your eMac a reboot by typing in "reboot" minus the quotes. Let us know how it goes.
Click to expand...

Didn't fix it
 
eyoungren said:
He works in IT and has for quite a while. It's his career.

He's seen every possible combination of hardware and software for every model of Mac and he's paid to make it all work while supporting other people using those Macs in his organization.

So, we all benefit from what he knows.
Click to expand...

So who pays him? Is he employed by MacRumors?
 
if your eMac is NOT a 1.42Ghz one then enabling QurtzGL will break OS X as it only works on core image cards (bar the FX5200) and I see you enabled it so I suggest disabling it in single user mode
 
MatthewLTL said:
the onlly reason i said i dont think its the issue is because i have no screen tearing
Click to expand...

Like I stated in Intell, eyoungren, and I's guide, the results of disabling BeamSync on a CRT is unpredictable. For some it may work and for others it may catastrophic. That is why it is critical to read the whole thread before trying the tweaks as it was stated before what is appropriate for different video chipsets and CRTs or LCDs.

MatthewLTL said:
Didn't fix it
Click to expand...

I suspect that you did more in Secrets than just disable BeamSync.
 
Intell said:
This is salvageable, but we need to know exactly what things you changed in Secrets.
Click to expand...

VSync Off, OpenGL was turned one and a bunch of things like finder tweaks

----------
LightBulbFun said:
if your eMac is NOT a 1.42Ghz one then enabling QurtzGL will break OS X as it only works on core image cards (bar the FX5200) and I see you enabled it so I suggest disabling it in single user mode
Click to expand...

i am still in Single User mode. Gimmie the command(s) and ill give it a go!
 
In single user mode, do this:
Code: 
mv /Users/{your username}/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist /Users/{your username}/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist.broken

Then type reboot and restart your machine normally.
 
wow i am never going to play with commands i don't know, one time i disabled my sound.
 
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