snow leopard ate my computer (mac book pro, core duo)

it froze during a routine system update (not critical) after installation.
everything was working fine in the few hours i had it on, but I had to do a hard reset after the freeze.
now it freezes on startup.
but it also won't boot into safe mode.
or off my external.
or off of the install dvd.

I've reset the pram/vram.
tried to clear volatile firmware.
safe mode, obviously.

I'm pretty backed up, but not perfectly so and kind of want that data.
Also, while I have a working totally clean booting leopard alternate HD taking this machine apart is not an option right now because all of my tools are at work, and I don't want to take the small torx screws out with any bullshit methods.

Any suggestions? It clearly wants to boot off the HD but also freezes on the circle after a few minutes.

otherwise it's all kernal panic gray screens, freezing, bullshit, bullshit.

my advice: wait to upgrade if your computer is fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ml242

it froze during a routine system update (not critical) after installation.
everything was working fine in the few hours i had it on, but I had to do a hard reset after the freeze.
now it freezes on startup.
but it also won't boot into safe mode.
or off my external.
or off of the install dvd.

I've reset the pram/vram.
tried to clear volatile firmware.
safe mode, obviously.

I'm pretty backed up, but not perfectly so and kind of want that data.
Also, while I have a working totally clean booting leopard alternate HD taking this machine apart is not an option right now because all of my tools are at work, and I don't want to take the small torx screws out with any bullshit methods.

Any suggestions? It clearly wants to boot off the HD but also freezes on the circle after a few minutes.

otherwise it's all kernal panic gray screens, freezing, bullshit, bullshit.

my advice: wait to upgrade if your computer is fine.

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Routine system update after installation? Huh? There haven't been any updates to SL yet. It's still at 10.6.0.

Go here...

forums.macnn.com

That's unpossible.

If you had a Time Machine drive, you could just do a clean install and retrieve everything.

That's what it's for.

You clearly have PC, because Mac just works.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q-hKKJsMwv...ohnhodgman.jpg

it was a java driver from system update, about 6 megs and not critical.

how would time machine help me more than booting Leopard off a firewire drive, or booting off the dvd with CMND-CTRL-OPT-DEL?

Jongs.

"The Snow Leaopard " by Peter Mathieson was a good book , highly recommended ,I don't think him or G.S. Schalar actualy seen one ...and they were looking

Buy new hd, install new os, run time machine back-up. Kick self in ass for jumping on bandwagon and not waiting at least a month for the bugs to be worked out.

Good to know, was going to pull the trigger soon.

Use boot camp to boot in XP?

Me, I be waiting another month. I hate having broken software.

Funny... I use it daily on my MBP and have had zero issues.

Since we have all the Mac experts assembled. I tried to upgrade my 1.6MHz Powerbook G4 to 10.5.8 from 10.4.11. Everything seemed to work fine but anytime it tries to sleep I get the bomb dialog reboot box. Doesn't matter how sleep is invoked (timeout, close cover, Apple menu) Searched Apple support but couldn't find this one.

no issues with snow leopard here, although i was a little worried when i saw this thread.

Aren't there "geniuses" you can take your mac to get fixed free when it doesn't Just Work?

Props/Vibes to all you early adopters out there figuring this shit out while the rest of us wait to read about it in forums like this. I'm still running Panther on one of our work stations because it's been bomber, never crashes and runs smoothly.

none of these suggestions are going to work. i flashed the ram and it would not boot safe, or using the target disk as the primary drive. it is also probably unfair to blame snow leopard on the crash, but taxing the system did cause a short or some stress that killed some aspect of the hardware. maybe a freak occurrence, maybe not. but now i'm stuck with a 2000 pc until it's fixed. At least I paid only $29 to break my computer, longhorn is going to do people in way worse.

I don't think SL works with the latest java version, if you did a manual update after the SL upgrade. That's why SL "downgraded" the java version with the update. I think you are SOL until the first update where they hopefully fix that issue. If you can maybe try to downgrade back to an older version of java.

That's my best guess.

SL update worked well for me on 2 computers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ml242

At least I paid only $29 to break my computer, longhorn is going to do people in way worse.

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Vista=Longhorn



So much for mac reliability...

Do you have another Mac in the house?
You could pull the HD, put it in a separate (firewire) enclosure and reload it from your back up, then reinstall and try booting again?

If only you were using a computer for which there were better support tools than the power button...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by krp8128

Vista=Longhorn



So much for mac reliability...

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eh, windows 7 then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmf

If only you were using a computer for which there were better support tools than the power button...

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there are lots of tools. it's a unix syststem. the developer tools package is actually pretty impressive, and the terminal is way better than anything most people ever even sniff on a pc.

Alpen - first thing i did. it will not boot off any drive, primary or otherwise. it kernal paniced a couple of times and now it doesn't search for anything or chime.

I have a pretty good idea of things when it comes to computers, and this is the worst i've ever seen. it's basically a brick with a gray screen right now. I can't definitively blame SL yet, but like i said, i would wait.

something happened with that java update.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ml242

Alpen - first thing i did. it will not boot off any drive, primary or otherwise. it kernal paniced a couple of times and now it doesn't search for anything or chime.

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No, I didn't mean, boot from an external...
I meant, yank the drive, hook it up to another mac zero it out and reload via SuperDuper (if you have a mirror copy of the drive).
Or is that what you meant.

Good luck, sorry to hear.
You know shits flowing down hill pretty fast when your mac will no longer recognize it's drive.

yeah i am not going to have a chance to swap the drive because it takes me about an hour to crack it and put it back, and i'm sick of thinking of new ways to open up those retarded size 5 torx screws.

Does Apple still provide a separate "hardware test" CD/DVD with their computers, in addition to the install DVD? If so, did you try booting off that?

won't boot off that CD or any other...it's nuked.

Hour to swap a drive? MBP must be a pita my MB takes five minutes. check out carbon copy cloner, it's a cool way to ghost your drive.

yeah, you have to crack the case and take it apart for real, not like popping in a ram sim.

you end up entirely with the guts in your lap.

carbon copy is a sick app, agreed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ml242

yeah i am not going to have a chance to swap the drive because it takes me about an hour to crack it and put it back, and i'm sick of thinking of new ways to open up those retarded size 5 torx screws.

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Anyone who thinks torx screws are 'retarded' and they still haven't just bought a set of torx screwdrivers for their equipment doesn't qualify as someone who has "a pretty good idea of things when it comes to computers".

When you said that "the developer tools package is actually pretty impressive, and the terminal is way better than anything most people ever even sniff on a pc" you've just proven yourself to be the typical mac user... Can read ad-copy like a champ, but can't use their computer worth a shit. For example: having "lots of tools" because it's "a unix system" didn't help you understand how to access the disk from another computer. Or how to take apart your laptop... I mean shit - how could you possibly fix it if they didn't put a little door there for you!

ummm, i've taken apart lots of laptops including this one, my tools (including torx set) were at a job site because I don't want to carry 40 pounds of shit with me on a bike or the train every day.

And Torx screws are still retarded and one of the reasons WE BOTH probably have issues with Macs.

Apple crafts their products to keep people out and prevent them from messing with them in the guise of making the most perfect cleanest product. The developer tools suit my needs because I am fine working within the parameters of Apples code for some tweaking.

Torx function similarly, but they keep out only the lowest of all users to prevent them from inadvertently damaging their system because they don't have it; but everyone is perfectly capable of swapping out a drive, they are simply scared of breaking something.

That said, the products are pretty good, largely well designed, and suit most peoples needs pretty well.

Also, I am 99 percent sure that If I swap out that drive and stick into my MB (which came with a handy door) it would boot and that I am looking at a processor/logic board hardware problem.

Any other PC people that feel really superior because they paid a bit less congratulations, I hope you get a lot of virtual HJ's on Warcraft!

jumpin jiminy.... they must have made those things even easier to use than I thought! On a 'computer' (admittedly not a mac, but a 'unix system' none the less) you would need to do some troubleshooting to determine the difference between a disk problem, a disk controller problem, or a system board problem. But here you are 99% sure, and you haven't even pulled the disk! Don't mind me - I'll go back to running my company's network...

PS, I can turn you on to some great hardware stores that can sell you a T5 screwdriver that weights less than 40 lbs. In case you even want to fix your computer, or your blackberry, or your iDiotphone, or something...

haha, my torx kit is fine, and I'm browsing the internets on another computer today so all is well.

I am 99 percent sure that it is not that drive because there is a hardware command to bypass the startup drives in favor of booting off the firewire, which happens to be setup in this case like a regular mac drive. Because it won't boot off that drive either, I am pretty sure it's a hardware failure.

I could be wrong, but the way the computer crashed so hard so fast, i think that something in the installation taxed a damaged part, or there was something loose that caused a short.

Yes, the hard drive would be my next move to diagnose, but unfortunately I was at work and then traveling so I just didn't have the hour to spend taking the machine apart and putting it back together. Even in the mac repair facilities, I don't think they can do it in under 30 mins, it's really a pain in the ass the way the last gen MBP was put together.

Kinda like when you put a new tire on a bike, if you don't do it everyday it's just going to take a bit longer than at the shop, no matter how much you want to do it yourself (and i do). In fact, going for a bike ride right now!

Also, spoke to Apple and my generation MBPs have had some faulty Video Card / Logic Board burnout issues! They're aware of the problem and based on my description ordered up a new part.

I will let you all know how it goes!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ml242

Also, spoke to Apple and my generation MBPs have had some faulty Video Card / Logic Board burnout issues! They're aware of the problem and based on my description ordered up a new part.

I will let you all know how it goes!

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If it has the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card. Every one NVIDIA produced was faulty.

yes and apparently yes.

Same thing on my MacBook Air (yeah that's right, I'm a power user). Have time machine backup, but no USB drive, so couldn't boot using CC; had to take it down to the genius bar, where they did a reinstall (but saved me from having to restore my data, so that was nice.)

Upgrading headless Mac Mini, lost external video (to an LCD tv). Had to take it to work to finish the install.

All in all, we're 2 for 3 here. Make sure you have a backup and don't need your computer that day.

6.1 fixes the Java, btw.

i thought my wife was going to have an issue with the install , hers hung on the grey screen with the spinning ball. but eventually pulled through.

dudes who upgraded, check your battery status to see if there's a "Service Alert". People are blaming SL on battery failure, the good news is I'm going to get a new one before my Applecare runs out even though I'm pretty sure this is an OS thing. Better to have a new battery anyway than a three year old one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ml242

something happened with that java update.

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Yah some programs only work with the right Java version. I don't know the program you're talking about though. Seems weird you can't even boot into safe mode if its just a java issue.

PCs seem so much easier to deal with but I admittedly have only a tiny bit of experience with MAC in school labs.

man, all i remember about that shit was how infuriating it is to talk the apple "geniuses" sometimes.

I am bumping this olde thread because there's now a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA that I got a postcard for.

It looks like the big winners will be people who purchased HP's, who will get new laptops. They're reimbursing for repairs made though... could be worth checking out if you were ever frustrated with your machine.

http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/