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From: David Empson on 19 Jan 2010 00:18
Michelle Steiner <michelle(a)michelle.org> wrote:

> In article <woof-B3FDFD.18243218012010(a)earthlink.us.supernews.com>,
> elmo <woof(a)woof.com> wrote:
>
> > We do not have the original disks. Google has not been helpful so far.
> > Any ideas?
>
> Buy Snow Leopard, and run Disk Utility from it.

That is not likely to be helpful.

An iMac running 10.5.x (Leopard) might be a PowerPC model (G5 or G4
processor). In these cases you would need to locate a second-hand
Leopard install DVD. Snow Leopard won't even boot.

elmo has managed to run fsck in single user mode and it didn't report
any errors, which means Disk Utility's Repair Disk won't fix anything
either (it is the same mechanism).

You can't use Snow Leopard's Disk Utility to do a Repair Disk
Permissions on a Leopard system - the mechanism has changed and it is no
longer compatible with the older permissions database. You have to use a
Leopard (10.5) DVD to repair permissions on a Leopard system.

That means a Snow Leopard DVD will achieve nothing, unless it is an
Intel iMac and the goal is to install a new system version in place of
Leopard.


elmo - if you aren't sure which processor your iMac has, but you can
boot into Safe mode, then you should be able to get into the Apple menu
and choose About This Mac. It shows the processor type.

If you can't get that far, there is probably a way to find out via
single user mode. The title printed at startup should look something
like this (example is from 10.6.2):

Darwin Kernel Version 10.2.0: Tue Nov 3 10:37:10 PST 2009;
root:xnu-1486.2.11~1/RELEASE_I386

Your one should have a version 9 point something and an earlier date.
If it says "RELEASE_I386" on the end, then you have an Intel iMac,
otherwise it is a PowerPC.

The other way to find out is to use sysctl to ask the kernel for some
variables:

sysctl hw.machine
sysctl hw.model

The first prints "i386" for Intel, "ppc" for PowerPC (I think).

The second prints a string which identifies the series of iMac you have,
which will be something like "iMac7,1". Intel Macs start with "iMac",
PowerPC iMacs start with "PowerMac".

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: Andreas Rutishauser on 19 Jan 2010 00:22
Salut Michelle

In article <michelle-8ABF02.16333718012010(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
Michelle Steiner <michelle(a)michelle.org> wrote:

> In article <woof-B3FDFD.18243218012010(a)earthlink.us.supernews.com>,
> elmo <woof(a)woof.com> wrote:
>
> > We do not have the original disks. Google has not been helpful so far.
> > Any ideas?
>
> Buy Snow Leopard, and run Disk Utility from it.

it's a G5...

Cheers
Andreas

--
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EDV-Dienstleistungen, Hard- und Software, Internet und Netzwerk
Beratung, Unterstuetzung und Schulung
<mailto:andreas(a)MacAndreas.ch>, Fon: 044 / 721 36 47
From: Kevin McMurtrie on 19 Jan 2010 01:43
In article <hj3emo$e5e$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
Priam <priam(a)notsosure.com> wrote:

> On 01/18/2010 11:10 PM, Kevin McMurtrie wrote:
> > In article<woof-B3FDFD.18243218012010(a)earthlink.us.supernews.com>,
> > elmo<woof(a)woof.com> wrote:
> >
> >> My wife was given an iMac running 10.5x, and it ran fine for a while,
> >> but now, it won't boot. Specifically, it boots to the point that the
> >> screen shows blue, with a cursor stuck at the top left corner. There is
> >> also a cursor that we can move with the mouse on the screen. It will
> >> boot into safe mode, but I can't boot from there. I've run fsck and
> >> everything seems well, but to no avail thereafter. We do not have the
> >> original disks. Google has not been helpful so far. Any ideas?
> >>
> >> Thanks
> >
> > How old is it? The G5 iMacs and other products of that time suffered
> > from low-quality and counterfeit components. The most common problem is
> > failed electrolytic capacitors on the motherboard and inside the power
> > supply. If you have the tools, skill, and time to fix it yourself, go
> > for it. I wouldn't recommend paying for repairs on a G5 or older.
>
> Absolutely! I mean those Macs may be 3 years old. Scrap it!

It's a 5+ year old design and the extended warranty for the component
failures is over. I know from experience that it's going to be nothing
but trouble to keep it running. The capacitors can be replaced with a
couple hours of effort. A good hack can replace large SMT components in
a couple of hours too. Is it really worth it to keep taking it apart
for repairs? Probably not. I wouldn't fix it unless it was just a
software issue.
--
I won't see Google Groups replies because I must filter them as spam
From: JF Mezei on 19 Jan 2010 03:01
elmo wrote:
> My wife was given an iMac running 10.5x, and it ran fine for a while,
> but now, it won't boot. Specifically, it boots to the point that the
> screen shows blue,


command v as the machine powers up should put it in "verbose boot" mode
where you see the unix boot process in text mode. This may give you a
good hint of where it gets stuck. It may be waiting for a file to appear
and the file never appears.
From: Mike Rosenberg on 19 Jan 2010 08:53
Michelle Steiner <michelle(a)michelle.org> wrote:

> > > Buy Snow Leopard, and run Disk Utility from it.
> >
> > it's a G5...
>
> I had missed that. So, buy Leopard instead.

Oh, it was really easy to miss since the only way you would know is to
read headers.

--
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