What the ****s wrong with my mac??

[Nighthawk]

So iTunes wasn't woking, so I tried downloading it again. I put the old itunes and all files with iTunes inthe title in the trash, but didn't empty it.

Downloaded a new one, and installed it, and my computer started acting funny. Suddenly there werethree desktops or document folders listed in the finder, and when I clicked on them they disappeared. I restarted and I got a basic sttart-up with myscreensaver gone and no files in the finder except the ones in thelogo-based ones you get with the system, pictures, music, etc. All my art files and music files were absent, all my internet bookmarks..

I could search for files and they are still there (apart from the music ones) , but I can't open or move them. Get info shows a nice preview, so I hope the files are still around but out of bounds for some reason.

I tried to use disk utility but that had gone missing too. Permissions problem?

Next I downloaded Disk Warrior and tried that, and lo and behold now my dock is missing and it won't retsart or let me see what's in the trash.

Anyone got an idea of what I could do? I am running 0SX 10.3.9 (though the disk warrior was 10.4 something, did tha **** it up further?)

Help help help.

 

[SmoothTalker]

Sorry, I can't help you as I avoid macs like the plague and therefore don't know too much about them.

However, I love the irony here.

 

[Potbelly]

What kind of mac?

I have an iBook G4 that logged in, but had only like half the stuff on my desktop. I triied rebooting but everytime I did that there was less and less. I salvaged what I could and finally the whole thing just wouldn't turn on. i took it to the apple store to the genius bar and got a free consulation (thats what they do there) and I was told my logic board was fried probably due to moisture. I used to put it in the bathrooms when I took a shower for music so that must've been it. That happened when that ibook was 3 years old.

I got a new ibookg4 and it's been around 3 years now, same thing hasn't happened because I just got a waterproof shower radio haha. Much much cheaper.

Take your mac to your nearest genius bar, or check out the apple.com support forums. Very helpful.

Any PC/windows users whocome in here talking smack are just fooling themselves. You guys know you experience this kind of stuff weekly. I switched over to the mac because my PC crashed and I lost a lot of stuff.

Anyways, right now I recommend backing all your **** up and going to a mac store to find solutions. If you have apple care you can get just a brand new computer free of charge, and just sync your backed up infor back in.

 

[Potbelly]

by the way, I have OS 10.4.11

I believe 3.9 is....not tiger. I think 3.9 is panther or something, but that was definitely the OS my crashed mac had. If this is old, get a new mac with leopard and a bunch of better features. Once this one breaks...or in 2 years I will definitely be upgrading to a new mac. I was actually thinking of getting a PC laptop this time w/windows, but I just got a pocket PC smartphone with windows mobile and it is so fvcking sh1tty....I battle with it everyday....gotta reset that thing like...at least twice a day. I basically stirpped it of everything but a phone/calendar and it works ok now, but damn...

hope this helps man. Definitely back your stuff up though. Check the dock settings and make sure it didn't reset itself to hide on the side or something. Soemtimes the sound justresets itself to 0 for me.

last piece of advice, if you do get a new mac, time machine + external HD will make sure you never ahve this problem

 

[Nighthawk]

Potbelly, thanks. I'm on a Powermac G4, should have mentioned that. Good advice though, I'll check if the london Apple store can help, but I bought it used and don't have installation disc or any warranty or apple care.

I'm looking at buying a replacement machine (with leopard), but still want access to these lost files. Haven't made any progress on fixing it yet, but any more advice welcome. Except for the inevitable 'get a PC.'

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

It sounds to me like somewhere in the process of updating iTunes you defaulted to updating to 10.4 This may have happened in order for iTunes to have updated itself since the later iTunes updates are dependent on the OS being updated. You're on a G4 so obviously it's not an Intel-Mac so there is the possibility you updated iTunes with the Intel side updater. The reason you can see your old files now is because once you updated, your user account may have defaulted to a new user rather than the one you were used to starting up with. This will let you see all the files, but your bookmarks, address, email etc. is dependent on the old user's acount preferences which didn't load because you logged in as a new user.

Again, I can't know anything for sure, I'm just speculating from what you've described, but if you can do so I'd advise you to update to Leopard now. We could back track through all the things you did, but there's really no sense in doing that since Leopard will be what Apple produces updates for in the future. Leopard is a great update and will re-organizie things for you. I've been using it now for a couple of months and I love it.

Also, troll the user discussion forums here:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=758

See if you can find anything similar to your current problem.

 

[Potbelly]

The Apple Store guys here in the states offered to back everything up for me and get whatever they could off the HD. I believe your London store is capable of doing the same.

Again, if you have an external HD, link that up and do a backup onto that. There are many free ware programs out there for mac to do backup. After doing that you can just play around with your mac worry free.

If you can't use the spotlight function to find your files, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Again, if you have an ipod that's cool, just get a freeware program to transfer music from ipod back to mac.

 

[Nighthawk]

I have an external hard drive, but the current wacky mac won't let me open, copy or move my files.

If I get a new mac I may be able to drag them off. In the meantime I'm going to pour boiling hot coffee on it and see if that helps.

 

[TooColdUlrick]

i thought macs never ever ever had any problems of any kind... ever?

 

[meitenesrigas]

Potbelly, thanks. I'm on a Powermac G4, should have mentioned that. Good advice though, I'll check if the london Apple store can help, but I bought it used and don't have installation disc or any warranty or apple care.

I'm looking at buying a replacement machine (with leopard), but still want access to these lost files. Haven't made any progress on fixing it yet, but any more advice welcome. Except for the inevitable 'get a PC.'

I know a guy from London who has had Mac problems. He takes it back to the Mac store he bought it at and they try to help him. That is probably your best bet.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

i thought macs never ever ever had any problems of any kind... ever?

funny how these problems came up after the Intel processor switchover,...hmm,..

 

[SmoothTalker]

Actually Potbelly, in over 10 years of using a computer, I've never had a serious crash/infection/glitch that cost me more than perhaps half a page of writing. And I honestly can't remember the last time my computer hung, (and I use a PC 5+ hours a day), that hasn't been a problem since win2k or at the latest XP.

I've honestly tried both, and think macs suck. Just my opinion, backed by years of personal experience. But if you want to pay a serious price premium for the logo, and then have only one or two possible choices for every piece of additional (overpriced) hardware, that's your choice..

Oh and Rollo, A, I doubt this has anything to do with Intel, and B, even if it does, it was Apple's own idea to switch, and lets not forget, Steve Jobs can do no wrong. Therefore, see A, it must be true.

 

[Potbelly]

Actually Potbelly, in over 10 years of using a computer, I've never had a serious crash/infection/glitch that cost me more than perhaps half a page of writing. And I honestly can't remember the last time my computer hung, (and I use a PC 5+ hours a day), that hasn't been a problem since win2k or at the latest XP.

I've honestly tried both, and think macs suck. Just my opinion, backed by years of personal experience. But if you want to pay a serious price premium for the logo, and then have only one or two possible choices for every piece of additional (overpriced) hardware, that's your choice..

Oh and Rollo, A, I doubt this has anything to do with Intel, and B, even if it does, it was Apple's own idea to switch, and lets not forget, Steve Jobs can do no wrong. Therefore, see A, it must be true.

hmm ok you prefer windows good dfor you man. i could care less. oh look a speck of dust! gtg

 

[D!ck Ramsey]

You should not be draggin itunes to the trash..thats just askin for trouble.

Go to your apple menu, choose software update and run the updater.

If this problem just showed up out of nowhere, it could be a hardware issue.

Either way, you should definitely back up your sh!t

As far as Mac vs PC, I use both all the time. My PC crashes more often and is a hassle to configure. The Macbook just works.

Apple also has the best OS around, you get a clean simple interface, with the power of unix underneath if you want to get your hands dirty. Vista is trying really hard to be OS X, and failing miserably.

This is just my humble opinion, so I hope you PC butt-lovers don't turn this into a flame fest.

 

[Nighthawk]

Update for anyone following this exciting thread... I bought a new mac and I'm very happy with it. But my plan to drag or copy the files from my old one cannot be completed as I cannot mount the disk via my external hard drive, nor install Leopard on it because the installation requires restart and restart does nothing anymore.

I realise I'd have more chance solving this problem on a computer site, but I can't be bothered to register. Any suggestions gratefully etc.

In other news, UK TV chef Gordon Ramsey is gay. Can I say that? He slept with a gay guy my ex worked with. Sue me if it's not true, you big-mouthed bully, closet case kitchen-boy. (Or mods close this dull thread)

 

[D!ck Ramsey]

Have you tried using Target disk mode?

1. Shut down your old mac.

2. Connect it with a firewire cable to the new one (already booted)

3. Boot the old mac while holding down the "T" key

4. Screen of old mac will show firewire symbol, release T key

5. Your old mac should now be visible on your new mac's desktop

6. Drag and drop at your leisure

 

[ValleyDJing]

It just works dude.