I'm new in this group; I'm rather new to having an Apple computer. If
I'm in the wrong place, or there's some FAQ saying I shouldn't post
this kind of question here, let me know. Until then, I plead
ignorance.

I've got OS X 10.2.6 on a PowerBook G3. Not long ago, it froze up as
the screensaver started while I was adjusting the screen brightness.
Generally, when it freezes up, my only option is to unplug the
battery, unplug the electric cord, wait, plug both back in, and
reboot. In the past, this has worked when the computer's frozen up. It
takes a bit longer to boot up, but still, it does.

This time, the computer turns on, the "I'm on" tones play, and the
screen comes up to the dark grey apple logo on a light grey
background. Then, nothing happens. I leave it, come back; it's still
sitting there.

At the moment, it's been on for 14 hours like this, and the HD isn't
spinning, the fan isn't going, the computer's not doing a thing or
making a noise. Yet, the apple logo is still on the screen (which is
still fully bright).

Pressing keys does nothing (even the ctrl-apple-delete sequence).
Pressing the on/off button does nothing. Neither does moving the
mouse.

I want the computer to boot up and be normal ... at the very least, I
want not to lose the data saved on it.

What should I do now?

In article <4d8f269b.0309021130.277151e7@posting.google.com >,
brandonbyers2001******.com (Brandon Byers) wrote:

> I'm new in this group; I'm rather new to having an Apple computer. If
> I'm in the wrong place, or there's some FAQ saying I shouldn't post
> this kind of question here, let me know. Until then, I plead
> ignorance.
>
> I've got OS X 10.2.6 on a PowerBook G3. Not long ago, it froze up as
> the screensaver started while I was adjusting the screen brightness.
> Generally, when it freezes up, my only option is to unplug the
> battery, unplug the electric cord, wait, plug both back in, and
> reboot. In the past, this has worked when the computer's frozen up. It
> takes a bit longer to boot up, but still, it does.
>
> This time, the computer turns on, the "I'm on" tones play, and the
> screen comes up to the dark grey apple logo on a light grey
> background. Then, nothing happens. I leave it, come back; it's still
> sitting there.
>
> At the moment, it's been on for 14 hours like this, and the HD isn't
> spinning, the fan isn't going, the computer's not doing a thing or
> making a noise. Yet, the apple logo is still on the screen (which is
> still fully bright).
>
> Pressing keys does nothing (even the ctrl-apple-delete sequence).
> Pressing the on/off button does nothing. Neither does moving the
> mouse.
>
> I want the computer to boot up and be normal ... at the very least, I
> want not to lose the data saved on it.
>
> What should I do now?

Restart with the Command-Option-P-R keys held down?


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On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 13:55:20 -0700, Jeepers wrote
(in message <moomesa-B0D45C.15551902092003@corp.newsfeeds.com>):

> In article <4d8f269b.0309021130.277151e7@posting.google.com >,
> brandonbyers2001******.com (Brandon Byers) wrote:
>
>> I'm new in this group; I'm rather new to having an Apple computer. If
>> I'm in the wrong place, or there's some FAQ saying I shouldn't post
>> this kind of question here, let me know. Until then, I plead
>> ignorance.
>>
>> I've got OS X 10.2.6 on a PowerBook G3. Not long ago, it froze up as
>> the screensaver started while I was adjusting the screen brightness.
>> Generally, when it freezes up, my only option is to unplug the
>> battery, unplug the electric cord, wait, plug both back in, and
>> reboot. In the past, this has worked when the computer's frozen up. It
>> takes a bit longer to boot up, but still, it does.
>>
>> This time, the computer turns on, the "I'm on" tones play, and the
>> screen comes up to the dark grey apple logo on a light grey
>> background. Then, nothing happens. I leave it, come back; it's still
>> sitting there.
>>
>> At the moment, it's been on for 14 hours like this, and the HD isn't
>> spinning, the fan isn't going, the computer's not doing a thing or
>> making a noise. Yet, the apple logo is still on the screen (which is
>> still fully bright).
>>
>> Pressing keys does nothing (even the ctrl-apple-delete sequence).
>> Pressing the on/off button does nothing. Neither does moving the
>> mouse.
>>
>> I want the computer to boot up and be normal ... at the very least, I
>> want not to lose the data saved on it.
>>
>> What should I do now?
>
> Restart with the Command-Option-P-R keys held down?
>
>
I would try doing whatever it takes to force a shutdown/restart, and try
restarting from the restore cd. To do this, you have the restore cd in while
restarting and holding the C key down. This should make the machine run off
of the cd which has a program called disk utilities. This may be able to fix
any problems without doing a re-install of the system software. You can do a
re-install of the system software without harming any data on your HD, but as
I have never had to do this, I don't want to advise on the proper procedure.
Hopefully Disk Utilities will fix the problem. There are other, better disk
utility programs out there, like DiskWarrior, and some of Micromat's products
as well.

Steve

I got back and my computer had been sitting on the grey apple-logo
screen for 24 hours, most of that doing so noiselessly. I unplugged
cord & battery, and din't hear any "powering down" sounds (fan/HD
slowing, etc). If nothing was moving, I spose this makes sense.

I tried holding down Command-Option-P-R as I booted, a few times;
nothing happened. The screen didn't turn on, but then one of the times
before it didn't turn on, either.

I tried a few times without holding down anything, and the screen
continues to not turn on. In the past, by shining a flashlight, I
could see if there was something on the screen. Doing it now, I see
that apparently there's no signal going to the screen at all.

In all these cases, though, I do hear some noise, and it seems to be
coming from the harddrive. I guess at some point that stops, but I'm
not sure when.

I actually don't have a restore CD. Nor can I find my OS X cd's, but
they're around somewhere. Would it be possible to create a restore CD,
on a separate computer? One that runs Windows XP?

Lastly I'm afraid I'm on a bit of a delay in reading posts. I'm using
Google Groups to post & read, as the computer I'm on doesn't seem to
have a news reader that has access to this group. So if I'm ignorant
of some more recent posts than what I'm replying to, forgive me.

In the meanby, thanks for the advice so far.

-Brandon



Steve <nobodyNOSPAM@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<0001HW.BB7A899503B70E12F0284600@netnews.comc ast.net>...
> On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 13:55:20 -0700, Jeepers wrote
> (in message <moomesa-B0D45C.15551902092003@corp.newsfeeds.com>):
>
> > In article <4d8f269b.0309021130.277151e7@posting.google.com >,
> > brandonbyers2001******.com (Brandon Byers) wrote:
> >
> >> I'm new in this group; I'm rather new to having an Apple computer. If
> >> I'm in the wrong place, or there's some FAQ saying I shouldn't post
> >> this kind of question here, let me know. Until then, I plead
> >> ignorance.
> >>
> >> I've got OS X 10.2.6 on a PowerBook G3. Not long ago, it froze up as
> >> the screensaver started while I was adjusting the screen brightness.
> >> Generally, when it freezes up, my only option is to unplug the
> >> battery, unplug the electric cord, wait, plug both back in, and
> >> reboot. In the past, this has worked when the computer's frozen up. It
> >> takes a bit longer to boot up, but still, it does.
> >>
> >> This time, the computer turns on, the "I'm on" tones play, and the
> >> screen comes up to the dark grey apple logo on a light grey
> >> background. Then, nothing happens. I leave it, come back; it's still
> >> sitting there.
> >>
> >> At the moment, it's been on for 14 hours like this, and the HD isn't
> >> spinning, the fan isn't going, the computer's not doing a thing or
> >> making a noise. Yet, the apple logo is still on the screen (which is
> >> still fully bright).
> >>
> >> Pressing keys does nothing (even the ctrl-apple-delete sequence).
> >> Pressing the on/off button does nothing. Neither does moving the
> >> mouse.
> >>
> >> I want the computer to boot up and be normal ... at the very least, I
> >> want not to lose the data saved on it.
> >>
> >> What should I do now?
> >
> > Restart with the Command-Option-P-R keys held down?
> >
> >
> I would try doing whatever it takes to force a shutdown/restart, and try
> restarting from the restore cd. To do this, you have the restore cd in while
> restarting and holding the C key down. This should make the machine run off
> of the cd which has a program called disk utilities. This may be able to fix
> any problems without doing a re-install of the system software. You can do a
> re-install of the system software without harming any data on your HD, but as
> I have never had to do this, I don't want to advise on the proper procedure.
> Hopefully Disk Utilities will fix the problem. There are other, better disk
> utility programs out there, like DiskWarrior, and some of Micromat's products
> as well.
>
> Steve

On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 23:13:44 -0700, Brandon Byers wrote
(in message <4d8f269b.0309022213.374d6abb@posting.google.com>) :

> I got back and my computer had been sitting on the grey apple-logo
> screen for 24 hours, most of that doing so noiselessly. I unplugged
> cord & battery, and din't hear any "powering down" sounds (fan/HD
> slowing, etc). If nothing was moving, I spose this makes sense.
>
> I tried holding down Command-Option-P-R as I booted, a few times;
> nothing happened. The screen didn't turn on, but then one of the times
> before it didn't turn on, either.
>
> I tried a few times without holding down anything, and the screen
> continues to not turn on. In the past, by shining a flashlight, I
> could see if there was something on the screen. Doing it now, I see
> that apparently there's no signal going to the screen at all.
>
> In all these cases, though, I do hear some noise, and it seems to be
> coming from the harddrive. I guess at some point that stops, but I'm
> not sure when.
>
> I actually don't have a restore CD. Nor can I find my OS X cd's, but
> they're around somewhere. Would it be possible to create a restore CD,
> on a separate computer? One that runs Windows XP?
>
> Lastly I'm afraid I'm on a bit of a delay in reading posts. I'm using
> Google Groups to post & read, as the computer I'm on doesn't seem to
> have a news reader that has access to this group. So if I'm ignorant
> of some more recent posts than what I'm replying to, forgive me.
>
> In the meanby, thanks for the advice so far.
>
> -Brandon
>
>


I've never bought OS 10 off the shelf (I'm assuming that your G3 didn't come
with OS 10 stock and that you bought a retail version) so I don't know what
the retail version comes with. The OE versions of OS 10 come with a hardware
utilites disk which should check the machine hardware, and a OS 10
install/boot disk which has Disk Utilites on it, software for checking OS 10
for corruption, and potentially fixing it. Hopefully whatever version of OS
10 you are using comes with these disks and you can check your machine for
hardware and software problems. Should you not have these, or should they not
solve the problem, I would be looking at either DiskWarrior, or the
appropriate MicroMat product. Their full zoot disk utility program is OS
7.5-9.2 only, but they do have some Lite utilities for OS 10. If none of
these work, you are probably looking at re-formatting the HD, but be aware
that this route will lose all data on the drive. Good luck.

Steve