colterphoto1 Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 I bought an iPod and was trying to update my iMac where my music is stored. It was on OS 10.early with iTunes 1.4. It looks like I needed a much later iTunes to communicate with the iPod, so I tried to load a purchased copy of OS 10.3. This apparently was unsuccessful as the installation had 'errors', and after restarting and trying to update OS10.3 to latest version, it copied files for hours, then locked up while installing some of the updates. So now if I try to shut down and restart I just get grey apple screen with rotating clock and it never loads OS. HELP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Michael, I don't know MAC from Cheese..............but an Authorized carry in Store close to you is Comp USA, in Castleton Sq.........(I KNOW)..............just figured it was closer than taking it to the Keystone Apple store................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Michael, If you have just purchased MACOS 10.4, I think that comes with phone support for some amount of time. EDIT: Just re-read that. Guess there would be no support by phone for 10.3. There is the Apple support forum. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Here is the Mac disscussion form.............maybe it will help.......... http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=739 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Michael, I would suggest that you start up from the install disk and bring up the disk utility to repair permissions. That might help. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian_Dude Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 What you do is..... take the mac to the mac store and try to get money for it and then go to a computer store and build yourself a custom pc because it is better. As you can tell I am very biased against macs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Bump for Michael..............ANY other Mac Experts out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Is your music stored on a separate drive, or is it on the same drive as the system? If it is separate, it sounds like you will have to do a full (clean) install which will erase everything else. My knowledge of Macs died with System 9.03 and a regular use of Norton Utilities which worked much better on the Mac than on the PC. I was quite Mac knowledgeable from System 6 (3.5" floppy) to 9. I assume you were trying an upgrade overtop of 10.2 or so. Macs typically wanted you to upgrade the basic system they gave you, then go through the steps to the latest version of that system, 10.3x. It used to take a while but it worked. As I said above, if the music and system are on the same drive, ouch, maybe somebody else out there has a better idea. Sorry, but I am not familiar with the 10 plus systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottF Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 The Apple Stores have a "Genius Bar" staffed by a few experts at the back of the store that will answer Apple product support questions in person and for free at the store. You can make an appointment online (strongly recommended) as this support is very popular given it's availability and price. I think the closest Apple Store to you is: 8702 Keystone Crossing Blvd. Indianapolis, IN 46240 (317) 574-8601 I've carried in desktop and laptop computers (current models and not) before and they have helped me work through OS and application problems/questions. If the hardware is broken, they won't fix it there but will send it off if that's what you want(not free unless under warranty). I've never had to send anything off before though. Haven't noticed any service from Microsoft like that for their computers or was I just not noticing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 14, 2007 Author Share Posted July 14, 2007 Thanks guys. Yes I have a PC- two of them. When photography first went digital all the album design software was PC so I had to buy new computers. I have nearly 50 GB of music on this machine- erasing the HD is NOT an option. I believe in bricks and mortar, but the Mac store where I bought my machine locally is not in business anymore, I suppose that erases any hopes of free support. They're all over the place offering some MacClub or whatever support for big $$$$. I'll try their Forum (praying it's 1/10 as good as this, restarting from the 10.3 disc, don't know what else to do. ALWAYS ALWAYS back up everything to another HD before tampering with system I hate computers and digital music right now. ARRRGGGGHHHH[:@][8o|][:'(][:@][8o|][:'(][:@][8o|][:'(][:@][8o|][:'(][:@][8o|][:'(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 14, 2007 Author Share Posted July 14, 2007 The Apple Stores have a "Genius Bar" staffed by a few experts at the back of the store that will answer Apple product support questions in person and for free at the store. You can make an appointment online (strongly recommended) as this support is very popular given it's availability and price. I think the closest Apple Store to you is: 8702 Keystone Crossing Blvd. Indianapolis, IN 46240 (317) 574-8601 I've carried in desktop and laptop computers (current models and not) before and they have helped me work through OS and application problems/questions. If the hardware is broken, they won't fix it there but will send it off if that's what you want(not free unless under warranty). I've never had to send anything off before though. Haven't noticed any service from Microsoft like that for their computers or was I just not noticing? Thanks Scott, I'll say a prayer that I can find someone that helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Michael, Does your iMac have Firewire? The reason I ask is that there is a function called Firewire target mode. That allows another Mac (with Firewire) to connect to the hard drive of a Mac that will not boot up. The operating Mac can use the other Mac like it is an external hard drive. Would possibly allow you to transfer all the files to the other Mac. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 What you do is..... take the mac to the mac store and try to get money for it and then go to a computer store and build yourself a custom pc because it is better. As you can tell I am very biased against macs.... Emotional rants aside, I would love to hear just how the Mac, which is the latest incarnation of the Intel Roadmap (including the latest non-proprietary next generation extensible firmware interface BIOS designed by Intel for the 64 bit Itanium) is any less a PC than your alternative. In fact, it can do things your PC can't do without a bit of tweaking and hacking. Your bias is your psychological hangup. Nothing less, nothing more. Its superfluous to the evaluation of the machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Yet the Mac has crashed and burned... I hope you get things sorted out Mike. If it were a PC, I would just put in a new HD as the primary and start from scratch. You can then just copy files off the old (now secondary) HD. I dunno if you can do that in your machine or not, but it's usually the easiest approach and having a little extra space never hurts. I think using Apple tech support is going to be your best line of action. Due to the value of the information on your computer, I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money on real tech support. This is not a time to do things cheap or find the best deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Yet the Mac has crashed and burned... Fundamental design makes them virus resistant. They are not people proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy4300 Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 The OS is hosed. I don't know what iMac you have so giving advice is a hit and miss thing. But, since erasing the hard drive is not an option, Get an external drive as someone above suggested, either FireWire if your machine supports it or USB. Start up from the Apple StartUp DVD. Format the new HD and load the latest OS on to your new drive. The latest OS BTW is 10.4.10. Restart your machine, it will startup from the disk that has a good OS on it. The other HD with the hosed OS will now be visible as another HD and your music should still be there. I think you can take it from there. BTW, I retired on 3/01/07, and as I sit here writing this on my PowerMac I thank my stars that I am not forced to use a PC any more in the office. I've loved the Mac since 1985. Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Ditto. And for the PC folks who are still a bit leery of the Mac, it is a FULL BLOWN PC!!!!!! Put aside those 15 year old misconceptions!** But it natively runs their OSX version of Unix (basically Free BSD) in a version your mother can operate! Also, VMWARE is now available for OSX to run any OS that runs on the X86 platform concurrently (at the same time!) with many advantages over Parallels (which is quite fine, so this is not a complaint about that!). The Mac is a great machine if you ONLY are looking for an elegant Windows machine. So you might think of it as a Windows machine with some great bonuses! **I get a kick out of the old misconceptions. They are more expensive. Not anymore!!!!!! And even when they cost ~ $300 more, they included integrated audio, video and true plug and play and full systemwide SCSI - something you still only get in full blown servers! Anyone ever figure the cost to try to add this technology to a PC? You couldn't do that then or now for $300! But then Apple chose to sell image rather than to educate consumers, something of which they are still guilty! And as far as being incompatible, this is my favorite! Yup, Apple had the unmitigated audacity to switch to the radically left field networking technology called TCP/IP in 1993 which made it incompatible with Windows (who kept their flaky proprietary NetBIOS until they dumped it in 2003) while the Mac adopted the standard for the rest of the industry! But then, Apple was soundly criticized consistently for almost 4 years by the PC press for replacing the floppy drive with a recordable CD drive!!! So I guess you have a choice, lead or follow and complain. So tell me, who was out of step??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 15, 2007 Author Share Posted July 15, 2007 The OS is hosed. I don't know what iMac you have so giving advice is a hit and miss thing. But, since erasing the hard drive is not an option, Get an external drive as someone above suggested, either FireWire if your machine supports it or USB. Start up from the Apple StartUp DVD. Format the new HD and load the latest OS on to your new drive. The latest OS BTW is 10.4.10. Restart your machine, it will startup from the disk that has a good OS on it. The other HD with the hosed OS will now be visible as another HD and your music should still be there. I think you can take it from there. BTW, I retired on 3/01/07, and as I sit here writing this on my PowerMac I thank my stars that I am not forced to use a PC any more in the office. I've loved the Mac since 1985. Lou I know this now- one computer, one operating system. Why does it seem that there is no way to successfully update an OS? The instructions did not give any inkling of the dangerous journey I was about to embark on. Wish I'd never seen the iPod, it's still in it's box. I'm taking the damned thing back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Colter - I'm so confused as to why you're having problems. I thought you recently bought an iMac. Sounds like you have older gear. I'm also confused about what iTunes version you're running. 1.? I have 7.? And - You don't need PC's. Just load up VMware Fusion for free and you can run your PC stuff on the same SCREEN as your mac stuff. No hoops to jump through. Works flawlessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 I wish I had a better idea as to exactly what happened...something was obviously not right (as if you need my insight to ascertain this! [] ), as an update is normally extremely easy. BTW, VMWare Fusion is not free. But currently you can pre-order it for $39.95, half of its formal release price of $79.90 estimated by VMWare to be the end of August 2007. A no-brainer in my book. http://www.vmware.com/request_processor?nextPage=/vmwarestore/newstore/category_fusion.jsp&action=CATALOG.GETGROUPS&application=store&ProductGroupCodes=FUS-1.0 Info: http://www.vmware.com/beta/fusion/index.html Edit: VMWare is not free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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