I am in dire need of assistance, Canadian apple support is closed for a holiday and the US Support will not help because I am outside US.

I have been through all the hoops on the mac site, but here we go.

I went to restart from classic to OSX.

A broken file icon appears.

I can not start from CD, it pauses and goes right back to the broken folder icon.

help? I am in dire need of assistance. I have files that are required for a major deadline 9:00 am tomorrow. This is prob as serious as it gets.

Thank you in advance.

Hello,

I am not certain what Mac you have, or what OS is your base.

If you purchased the Mac with OS 9 disks, you can boot from those CD-ROMS, and access your files. OS 9 doesn't have any knowledge of security, so you should be able to go in there and get your materials. If the computer doesn't want to cooperate, hold down the C key while the computer is booting.

If you purchased the Mac with OS X disks right away, there is a different solution. Boot with the OS X CD, and hold down the C button while it is booting. It will throw you into the OS X installer. Go to the Blue Apple Menu, and run the Disk Utility. Do a repair on your drive. Y ou might need to also repair the permissions. Restart and see if it works.


AND IF YOU ARE DESPARATE:

  1. Restart the computer. You may need to perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer.
  2. Immediately after the startup tone, press and hold both the Command (Apple) and "s" keys on your keyboard. The computer will displays a series of text messages, at which time you may release these keys. When startup is complete, the computer will display a command line prompt (#).The computer is now in single-user mode.

How to Use fsck From the Command Line

Once you have reached a command line, follow these steps to use fsck:

  1. Type the following at the # prompt: fsck -y
  2. Press Return.The fsck utility will go through five "phases" and then return information about the disk's utilization and fragmentation. If fsck alters, repairs, or fixes anything, it will display the message:

    ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

    Important: If this message appears, repeat the "fsck -y" command until this message no longer appears. It is normal for your computer to require several "passes" of fsck, because first-pass repairs may uncover additional errors.

  3. When fsck reports that no problems were found, type the following command at the # prompt: reboot
  4. Press Return.

The computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.

Good Luck with your repair. For the very few times I had to do this, I have been successful with the booting and using the disk repair. Whatever you do, DO NOT use an OLD VERSION of NORTON utilities on an OS X disk. I did that in the lab, and well, I am glad I did it in the lab.

Christian

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