Weird Melt Down - Now Can't Reinstall

OK Guys,
Something weird happened while I was working on a project yesterday. I was simply using the Find Function to sort out all the footage that was not 720 x 480 in the DV codec (I transcoded around 200 stock footage files to DV).

Everything was going fine until I deleted a few files using the "Make Offline" dialog and then my screen started to "melt down". Meaning: the image on the screen began to dissapate from the outside of the edges inward. I have never seen anything like that before.

Right away, I hit the power button to shut down - and it did so with no troube. When I powered back up, I am getting the blue OS X bar stopping just short of letting me launch.

I rebooted with my Tiger disk, hoping to repair the disk. It would not allow me to repair it with a warning stating that it could not continue because of some process or something "missing" (sorry, not recalling here).

So I decided to do a clean reinstall with my Tiger Disk, a factory copy that I got when I worked at Apple. After trying the clean reinstall, the dialog states that I need to "try again" as it was not a good install for some reason.

I have a second set of Tiger CDs that I got for installing on my G3, so I want to try these disks since my other one is giving me problems. But now I cannot eject the original Tiger Disk by holding down the period key on reboot or with the Eject button.

I'm in hell. Any help from you system gurus?



Kevin Monahan
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<<<process or something "missing">>>

That would be good to know.

<<<do a clean reinstall with my Tiger Disk>>>

On to a what? G5? We assume you're not still on the G3.

You seem to have a really serious, basic failure. Return the machine to factory specifications and try booting from the CD again. Pull all the non Apple memory out and disconnect anything that didn't come in the shiny white box with the machine. Leave the keyboard, mouse and monitor.

If the CD boot succeeds, launch Disk Utilities and see if your hard drives are still there. I'm guessing no, but so far, it's just a guess. You could have a memory failure, power supply, System Board, etc.

Carefully write down the error message. We're pretty dead without that.

There is one item that also points to a dead drive. When you tried to delete your unwanted files, the machine had to do some pretty serious drive management. If a drive was going to fail, that's a good time.

Koz

"......."melt down". Meaning: the image on the screen began to dissapate from the outside of the edges inward. I have never seen anything like that before..."

your NTSC monitor or the apple monitor?

were the fans running full speed when this happened?
just curious

Hi Koz, Hi All,
<<<process or something "missing">>>

You got it....

Dialog Box:
First Aid Failed: Disk Repair stopped repairing the disk "Mac HD" because the following error was encountered: The underlying task reported failure on Exit.

Disk Utility Interface:
In Red:
Invalid Catalog Record Type
Volume Check Failed

Error: The underlying task reported failure on Exit.

<<<do a clean reinstall with my Tiger Disk>>>

Sorry. It's a G4 Powerbook 1 gHz. It's a rental actually, so I need to fix it or else I own a very expensive doorstop.

<<Leave the keyboard, mouse and monitor.>>

Yeah. I already had everything disconnected.

<<If the CD boot succeeds, launch Disk Utilities and see if your hard drives are still there. >>

I can boot off the Tiger DVD and the Mac HD is still there.

<<There is one item that also points to a dead drive. When you tried to delete your unwanted files, the machine had to do some pretty serious drive management. If a drive was going to fail, that's a good time.>>

These files were on a FireWire drive. I should probably see if the FireWire drive is having trouble, but I haven't checked it out yet. First things first. I need to get my system back.

Any idea about how to eject a disk when the eject button doesn't work? I'm sure there's a mechanical way to do it. I wanna try my other Tiger OS disk next.

I'll keep bangin'. Thanks. ;-)



Kevin Monahan
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Hey Arod,

<<"......."melt down". Meaning: the image on the screen began to dissapate from the outside of the edges inward. I have never seen anything like that before...>>"

your NTSC monitor or the apple monitor?

were the fans running full speed when this happened?
just curious

It was a G4 Powerbook's display. Very weird. I've never seen anything like it. The splash screen for OS X looks fine now though.

Didn't hear any fans engage either.

Thanks for your interest.



Kevin Monahan
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Kevin-

From the technogeek...

You may be losing the hard drive.

What's the SMART status? Have you been able to boot up in safe mode? This might be the same thing that happened to my G4 PB last Thursday. I type to you today from a brand-new hard drive. Thanks, Apple Care!

Do you have your copy of Disk Warrior handy?

Have you tried to reboot in target disk mode, pull your user folder and/or whatever you need to another system or disk for safety's sake?

Do you want to talk to Chris, since he likely just went through this with my laptop? It's hard to troubleshoot long distance, but it's probably a lot faster than doing this online...

Kevin,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds like your boot drive is passing on (I lost one on a PB - not cheap to fix unless you take it on yourself).

I would replace it & start over.

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Hi Kevin,

Things to try.

On restart, hold down the mouse button, this might eject your disk.

Try a Safe Boot, hold down the Shift key while rebooting.

Zap your PRAM.

--ken

be aware of the class action suit for powerbooks ! they tend to crash right after the warantee is passed. . . I got one used and plan to take it in before the warantee goes out to see if they will be willing to replace the usual suspects

sorry I dont' have more details at the tip of my fingers but. . . the info is out there

Hi Gang,
Thanks for the suggestions!

You may be losing the hard drive.

That's not good. It's a rental and I may be responsible to have it fixed. So, I have a need to succeed.

On restart, hold down the mouse button, this might eject your disk.

Cool. This ejected the disk, but unfortunately my 2nd Tiger OS X disk would not even mount.

Try a Safe Boot, hold down the Shift key while rebooting.

It won't Safe Boot at all. I've also tried booting into Single User Mode and tried to fsck the drive, but I get the same error as I am in Disk Utility.

Zap your PRAM.

Good idea. I tried that and it still won't boot.

What's the SMART status?

Verified. I assume that is good.

Do you have your copy of Disk Warrior handy?

Oh krap. I just checked and the most recent version I have of DW is for Panther. Should I get DW or Tech Tool Pro? I've heard recently that TTP is better than DW. DW is a one trick pony whereas TTP does what DW does and more.

Have you tried to reboot in target disk mode, pull your user folder and/or whatever you need to another system or disk for safety's sake?

OH! GREAT idea Deb. If I have to reinitialize, there are a few files that I really need to have. Namely a Motion file that has elements for my new demo reel that will take hours to reproduce (some truly SICK motion graphics). I'm gonna do that next.

After I blow off some steam at the Y, I'm gonna go and get DW or TTP from the Comp USA down the street. I'll repost in a couple of hours and tell you what happens next.



Kevin Monahan
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Chris,

be aware of the class action suit for powerbooks ! they tend to crash right after the warantee is passed. . . I got one used and plan to take it in before the warantee goes out to see if they will be willing to replace the usual suspects

Well, that's not good news. This rig is a rental, so I'm SOL if I cannot fix it. For my own PowerBooks, I get AppleCare. It's worth it for piece of mind.



Kevin Monahan
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Why is having a rental computer crap out on you YOUR fault? Except for the fact that you've got your own valuable stuff on it now that you need to get off, I'd take it back and complain about IT failing YOU, not the other way around. Did you do something foolish with it? It doesn't sound like it.

Scott

Kev,

You're not supposed to edit in the pool, man...that voids your rental contract

Your drive is dead, man. To give you an idea of what you are looking at if someone else fixes it:

[www.macservice.com]

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Hi Scott,

Why is having a rental computer crap out on you YOUR fault? Except for the fact that you've got your own valuable stuff on it now that you need to get off, I'd take it back and complain about IT failing YOU, not the other way around. Did you do something foolish with it? It doesn't sound like it.

Ah, you're prob'ly right. I did nothing foolish. And I shouldn't go flippin' out until I actually READ my contract. ;-)

I was operating FC Studio normally and just deleting clips. I am a power user and I do stuff kind of fast, but nothing that would totally flip out the screen like it did. It looked like the interface was literally melting off the screen.

It would make logical sense that if something fails on me, I'll be covered. If I damage the box or let it get stolen, then that is something different. I'm gonna check on that contract. At least I have something to read while I'm on the treadmill (not in the pool Joe?I'm strictly a jacuzzi kinda guy).

Thanks for the link in case a DIY is necessary. I doubt I'll have to go that far, though.

Concidentally, my 5.1 crossgrade just arrived today, so if I have to erase the disk, it'll be cool. I just wish I would have access to some of my Motion files and backups. I did some sick motion graphics on a few of those files. At least I'll try Deb's idea for target mode to save those babies!

A good reason to always back up your project files to your iDisk nightly. Something I did not do for my Motion files. I just checked: Apple Backup will automatically upload your project files to your iDisk nightly, so I think I'm going to set that up so it's a no brainer from now on.



Kevin Monahan
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Hi Kevin,

That does indeed sound pretty strange to me! Wish you'd taken a photo (with a camera!) of the machine melting!

As for ideas, how about an external CD/DVD drive? Have you tried holding option on bootup to select your Tiger CD as the boot volume?

Could the firmware be fried from the hard shutdown? this happened to me once on my PB 12 inch...

Those just off the top of my head....

J.

Hi There

Had similar problem with a G4 15" powerbook, do you get any beeps and or flashing lights on startup? the little light by the opening button.
In my case had beeps etc was hardware problem new logic board. Was told in the Apple store differant beeps for differant hardware problems cant remember the formula but there is a thread on the apple site about just this 2 for ram 3 for HD etc etc

Derek

<<<differant beeps for differant hardware problems>>>

Exactly. I know having your machine melt is probably the worst time in the world to pay attention to nuances, but everything means something.

Did the screen stay the same brightness while it was melting? Were there any beeps? How many? etc. etc


I will tell you I have had a screen do completely wonderous things (I have screen shots) and it was all tracable to the video card. In the case of a portable, it's the System Board/Mother Board.

Koz

Yes, Koz. I'm suspecting the video card or the motherboard. But it's no longer my problem, I'm returning the computer to the rental company.

Disk Warrior could not repair it, so I went into Target Disk Mode as Deb suggested to retrieve my important files. I'm copying them over right now.



Kevin Monahan
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