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[NerdEyeBlind]

I have an older PowerBook that will load up to the screen "Starting Mac OS X" and it just sits there. For hours. If I don't keep it awake it will eventually go to sleep and shut off. Is there a way to initiate a safe mode? I held down the "Apple" key and it didn't seem to do anything.

Anyone know what the problem might be?

 

[monchi-kun]

there's a safe mode in macs?

try popping in the OSX cd and boot from it...see what happens

 

[Phobophile]

Try booting from disc. If you still have it.

 

[NerdEyeBlind]

Try booting from disc. If you still have it.

Nope, don't have it. Am I out o' luck?

 

[monchi-kun]

Nope, don't have it. Am I out o' luck?

i dunno, go get a scratcher from a 7-11 to see if you are

 

[NerdEyeBlind]

i dunno, go get a scratcher from a 7-11 to see if you are

Two problems. No 7-11s around me. And I don't know what a scratcher is.

 

[lil smoke]

zap the p-ram a few times upon startup. Do you have a maintenance disk ie: tech tool pro, diskwarrior? Can you start up from that?

 

[NerdEyeBlind]

zap the p-ram a few times upon startup. Do you have a maintenance disk ie: tech tool pro, diskwarrior? Can you start up from that?

No maintenance disks. How do I zap the p-ram?

 

[hirokazu]

No maintenance disks. How do I zap the p-ram?

You do realize that most of the general questions you ask here can be answered by typing them into Google, which brings you results in an instant?

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393

Mac OS X: How to start up in Single-User or Verbose Mode
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106388
I'm not sure how useful this will be to you unless you really know what you're doing or attempting to do. IIRC it dumps you into a terminal screen, and you're pretty much on your own from there, aside for some researching of your symptoms and possible solutions online (Google )

If you have another Mac around, you could try Target Disk Mode
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

Repair the disk permissions if you manage to get access to the disk.

You really should've kept the OS X Install Discs that came with your computer. Do you have any other OS X Install Discs that you might have purchased to upgrade? In the worst case scenario, I don't suppose it's illegal to re-download the same discs that should've come with your Mac as a replacement? :/

 

[lil smoke]

You really should've kept the OS X Install Discs that came with your computer. Do you have any other OS X Install Discs that you might have purchased to upgrade? In the worst case scenario, I don't suppose it's illegal to re-download the same discs that should've come with your Mac as a replacement? :/

actually when you call Apple Care for support, they encourage you to do so, or they tell you to just "grab" a disk from someone else. This is for past software of course.