The Computer won't Boot


his is one of the largest problems, for though it happens very rarely indeed, there are a huge number of things that could cause it. However, first of all, I have experienced all these problems immediately below before and these are easy to solve:

Before going any further, make sure you have rechecked all the obvious things. Are the power leads in? Is the monitor on normal contrast (esp. portable users)? Are all the inter peripheral (esp. SCSI) leads in correctly. Have you tried a different power socket? If the answer to all the questions is Yes, I have! then select your problem type from the list below.

roblems:


At this stage it is probably a good idea to try and get hold of a shareware program for MacCheck if you do not have Norton Utilities. The latter would be an even better idea but will set you back quite a bit more.

olutions:

The screen stays black, nothing happens.
Having, of course, already checked all leads going to and from the monitor and the contrast, this error is a problem. It is quite likely that the error is hardware oriented, and you should call in an apple authorised repair man as soon as possible.


he screen is black and there is a sound like a badly digitised rattling sound.
This error is definitely hardware oriented, and is most common on portable users, especially those with large amounts of RAM. It signifies that either the logic board needs replacing or that there is a RAM SIMM or DIMM which is not seated correctly. RAM really heats up when the computer is in use, especially if there is no in-built fan like in most portables, i.e. the DUO 230. This leads to melting of the casing or connections or even damaging of the chips or logic board. If you installed extra RAM yourself on a portable, it may be worth taking it out and retrying yourself. Check your warranty first though, this usually has that annoying side effect called invalidating it.

DO NOT try taking a desktop computer apart yourself, its more complicated, and especially in the all-in-one types with internal monitors, your little life might expire. Monitors always take weeks to discharge static electricity, and if you open up a desktop with an in-built monitor, then... well lets just say that its not advisable... the charge would probably be directly terminal. Get an authorised person to do it, its what they're there for.


he screen blacks out after a Happy Mac icon with an unhappy Mac icon and some music notes.
First, try unplugging all leads leading to external devices, especially SCSI leads. If the computer then starts normally, there is a faulty connection or lead, or alternatively, two or more devices in a SCSI chain have the same ID. Check around with various leads in to try an isolate the problem. If this fails, read on...

hat is really happening is an example of your Mac trying to be clever and trying to tell you what is wrong by music. Each set and number of chimes corresponds to an error number. Unfortunately, nobody usually has any idea what each set refers to. About half the time however the error is system and software oriented.

f you have just tried to boot off a bad/corrupted/old system it may happen. Restarting with the mouse button held down will fix this (by ejecting the disk/CD). Alternatively, manually force eject it by pushing a thin piece of metal down the tiny hole next to the disk/CD drive depending on the disk. (A straightened paper clip is ideal.)

lternatively, if it is the system on the hard drive that is down, try booting off a floppy, your installer disk (or copy of), or a disaster disk. Click here for info on making these. Sometimes holding down [Apple], [Alt/Option], [Shift] and [Delete] from boot to "Welcome to..." will make the computer boot of a disk it did not want to previously (for CD's or external drives only really) as it forces the computer to scan all connected volumes for systems. This does not unfortunately work too often.

ailing all this, its almost certainly a good idea to reinstall your system, but here is a small list of the more common chimes. N.B. these are all possibly or probably - never certainly - use carefully...

2 Chimes: Probably a problem with the seating of your RAM on the mother board. There may be one or more chips not in their sockets. Get someone aurthorised to dissect your computer along to have a look.

4 Chimes: Is usually the error gone through at length above. If the above dies not work, try reinstalling your system from the installer disks/CD

8 Chimes: Is normally a problem with the computer handling the RAM though often, the fault is a bad RAM chip, it can be due to a bad virtual memory setting or a defective copy of RAM Doubler. Again, it's best to reinstall your system.


he screen lights, but nothing happens.
This is another bad one. It indicates that there is something wrong with the system's boot blocks on the hard disk. Try booting off a floppy or CD. If you successfully boot there is a chance that the computer will not recognise the Hard Disk and ask you if you want to re-initialise it. DO NOT!

NEVER, EVER initialise your hard disk unless you know exactly what you're doing!

Failing to boot off either a floppy, or a CD (booting off a CD may involve holding down the [Apple], [Alt/Option], [Shift] and [Delete] keys as soon as the computer begins to start up) means a major problem. Unplug any extra SCSI devices or extra peripherals you have connected and retry. If the problem still occurs, contact Apple or an authorised repair service.

The boot blocks tell the computer all the essentials about what to do at startup and can be found (for anyone interested) using the Norton Utilities disk editor (under {surprise} boot blocks). Without these, the computer cannot load the drive or its own system properly. Occasionally they become corrupted (fixable easily with Norton) which can lead to trouble. If the computer boots from an external source and you have certain software installed. It may pick up the bad boot blocks or drivers and ask if you want to effectively reformat the hard disk. [No one ever said computers were clever.]

A good first step is (if you can still get to it) disk first aid, for immediate repairs, followed by HD SC setup and use the update command to reinstall the drivers on the hard disk. Then try rebooting from the hard disk. All should go well, if not, re-install the system using the disks/CD that came with your computer. If the failure to boot persists after this, contact Apple or an authorised repairer.


he screen lights, then you get a flashing "?" superimposed on a disk
This error shows that the computer is ok (hopefully) but that it cannot locate any system folder with an up to date or undamaged system on it. A quick cure for this is putting in a bootable floppy disk or CD e.g. the first aid disk. For help on making a disk for occasions like this, click here.

When the computer has booted, check to see if the hard disk registers on the desktop. If it does, it is simply a matter of repairing the drivers which can be done with Disk First Aid or with Apple's HD SC Setup. (If you use the latter then make sure that you click on the Update button and NOT the initialise button. After this reboot from the hard disk.

If the above does not work, or the Hard Disk does not register on the desktop then you want to reinstall the system on your Hard Disk. Reboot off the Install 1 disk or a copy of it or the System CD, whichever is applicable. It is only the system and finder that will want replacing, but you can do a full install if you want to be safe.


he screen lights, "Welcome..." appears, then possibly a few icons appear but nothing else happens.
This problem could quite easily be an extension conflict caused by some INITs on your computer. INITs? What are they? It could even be that one of these little programs has become defective. Try restarting with the extensions off (Hold down the [Shift] key during startup until the message "Extensions off" appears). If you would like more information on extension conflicts, click here.

If none of these attempts succeed, try booting of a floppy disk or CD. If you can, try reinstalling the system which should work. Otherwise, it's time to call a repair man.


ll the icons appear as normal, the desktop appears, but with nothing on it
Chances are here that you have a damaged desktop file. For more information on this, click here. If not, then again, the main problem is likely to be a damaged system file. Follow the instructions for the blinking "?" at startup by clicking here.

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