iMacDV - frozen Happy Mac - OS 9->OSX.3

[oakye]

Hi all - Google led me here and looks like the responses are great! Hope some pros can help me fix something that my bro messed up this weekend. I'm sure it's not a hardware issue.

What we have:
* iMac DV w/OS9.0.
* OS10.x was installed on there, too, by my bro, several mths ago
* This weekend he was not able to toggle from OS10.x to OS9 (?? the story is hazy as I didn't witness this...and as usual, I'm a PC rat, not a Mac pro. he may have bought OS10.3 this weekend and tried to install it)
* He booted up in OS10.x, went to Preferences, changed the OS to OS9 and then upon restarting, the mac was not able to fully boot/it froze.

What do I mean by freeze?
* The chime does occur
* The screen is gray, and the Happy Mac appears. Nothing after that. No HD noises, no changes in icon
* I am able to shutdown by holding the Power button for several seconds
* I am able to boot with an OS9 CD

What else did my bro try to do:
* re-install OS9
* restore OS9
* bought OS10.3 from Fry's
* ran disk utilities and there are no hardware issues

So now it comes to my (and your) help...

What I tried:
* I have firmware update 4.x but can't really use it since I can only boot via CD which takes up the slot so I can't load the firmware from another CD
* Booting with OS 9 cd, selecting the startup disk, choosing the one internal HD...(I was not able to drill down here further)
* Boot from OS10.3 cd but was told it needed firmware. I quit the installer and looked at the Startup Disk selector...
* Interestingly, it shows two OS9 folders...identical names...is this a red flag?

Can you help?
* What should I do next? I don't want to re-install OS9 again or restore without getting confirmation from the pros here (Buzz?)
* What is the cause of the problem...so he doesn't do it again.

Many thanks,
oakye

[Buzz]

Well, #1 OS9.0 has some serious issues. Upgrade to 9.2.2 especially if youwnat to use a dual boot system.

Either way OS9.0 should boot. Have you tried holding down the shift key on boot? Thi swill disable extensions and startup items.

How long have you let the happy mac sit before giving up? after some OS installs it may take a while to get into the boot proceedure. The Mac does a few checks and things on boot. After OS installs these can take a little longer.

[oakye]

Good to know about OS9.0 - bad to know that's my luck!

* I held down the shift key on rebooting -- nothing changed. I still get the Happy Mac -- and don't hear any hard drive-whirring.

* I just left the Mac on for 19 minutes with the Happy Mac face...still just hanging there.

* I will try to download 9.2.2 online - I think I read in another post that someone tried that. I'm going to assume that my PC can download necessary 9.2.2 startup disk files onto a CD-R and then use that to start the iMac?....

EDIT: More info here...
* I'm downloading a 71mb .smi.bin file of OS9.1 to my PC's CD-R... I have a feeling that I'm not going to be able to load this "as is" into the Mac. Any tips on what to do next, since I can only boot up the iMac via the CD drive?

(guess i have to upgrade from 9.0 -> 9.1 -> 9.2.1 -> 9.2.2)

If I use the included 9.0 CD, i won't be able to eject it (i don't think). if i insert & boot with the 9.1 file, the mac's not going to recognize it.

fun fun fun!

[Buzz]

Here's another trick that may help oakye.

Hold down command-shift-p-r on boot. Keep holding it, you should hear the start up chime repeating. Let the Mac chime 5 times then let go.

This will clear the PRAM (Priority RAM) that contains information the Mac always uses, clock time, startup location, and several other items.

You are correct that you aren't going to be able to swap CDs if you've booted from a CD. However, getting any version of OS9 to boot will allow you to upgrade to 9.2.2

You may want to try a "Clean Install" from teh OS9 CD options. This will create a new system folder and leave yoru old files and system folder in tact. At the very least this will let you get all the files off the drive before you wipe it clean.

[oakye]

Curiouser & curiouser....

==========

<LI>I used a CD drive (ISO9660 format) on my PC and downloaded the OS9.1 updater file from the Apple Support site. (It's in .bin format). I have it sitting here.

I did the following: <LI>..."do a Clean Install of OS 9.0.4 from your OS 9.0.4 Install CD. "

However....upon restarting, same thing. I was not able to boot to it. I still get the chime, then the grey screen, then the Happy Mac and then...that's it. No sounds comin' from the machine, that's for sure.
<LI>I also moved the "Previous System Folder" and what looks like another "System Folder" within the "Original Items" folder into the Trash, but I haven't officially deleted it yet.
<LI>I tried the ol' command+shift+p+r trick, and...nothing new happened. No multiple chimes, just the same ol' chime + gray screen + happy mac. *** I had tried this 1 day ago, before posting...and I did get the 5 chimes, but upon restart, no new behavior ***
I tried holding the Shift key down.... the booting process doesn't progress in the Happy Mac stage enough for the extensions to even come on.

I'm scratching my head...I'll try to insert & startup the CD-R later.

Should I bother Restoring?

Now i'm scared that the only option is to wipe the HD, or...that if I take it into a shop, they'll suggest that as a first option. Well, at least I have what sounds like a stumper.

[oakye]

Great news - I managed to haul Ruby to the local Apple store (after getting lost in the store's phone system, whose menu directed me to a generic support line).

Anthony at the Genius Bar in SF pulled out an OS9.1 Software Install CD, we booted with that and installed it, and voila. Back to normal.

Then, with the ethernet connection, he was able to download 9.2 & 9.2.2 updaters, and the latest 4.x firmware update. He even took the time to run each one, to make sure nothing bombed, and it all worked great.

We decided that I could, by now, install OSx.3 solo...I haven't dared to do that yet but he's pretty confident it should behave alright.

So no real explanation of what sequence of events caused the Happy Mac but...at least the remedy worked without having to wipe out any info!

thank you for your help - i was able to go to the Apple Store with an above average level of troubleshooting, so we didn't have to waste any time doing everything we discussed here. I credited it to the support forums.

p.s. bummer that the pc's cd burning programs can't just burn a cd in "mac format" -- i guess those power pc days are gone, eh? ;-)

[Buzz]

Great news Oakye.

OS9.0.x did have serious bugs. It may have been one of those causing the problems.


I'm glad you got it worked out.. and I'm very thankful you took the time to post here that you did.


As for the CDs... burn in ISO format.. the Mac can read that.