Blue Screen of Death & Can't Reinstall OSX?! Help!!

apoc_metal · 05-13-2007, 11:48 PM

Hey everyone,
Critical Info:
Machine: MacBook Pro 2.33Ghz 2GB RAM
OSX 10.4.9 with all latest updates, then 10.4.8 combo installer over that

So, I managed to really screw up my whole system, and then in the process of trying to fix it, made it much worse. The last thing I did was use Pacifist to install the 10.4.8 combo update over my 10.4.9 system. (Initially my problems stemmed from stupidly running Monolingual). It went fine, but when I went to reboot, it froze at a light blue screen (before showing the "MacOS" loading bar...) I tried booting in safe mode... no dice

I started up off the OSX Install discs that came with the machine, and was hoping to do an archive and install... But then the installer loaded, thought for a while, and gave me an error message: "Alert: This software cannot be installed on this computer." with two buttons, "Startup Disk" and "Restart". I tried setting the startup disk to the install cd, but it just repeated the whole process again. And I ran disk utility just for giggles (no problems to repair).

SO, I guess the only thing I can imagine working short of a complete erase-volume-and-reinstall (which would be not-good since I don't have a recent backup... If I had to I guess I'd mount this HD via FW on another machine and back stuff up that way, but thats a last resort) would be somehow to mess around in Terminal to either a) Force the install, or b) Fix things enough that the Apple installer will behave itself.

I tried briefly to get Pacifist to open via the command line, but it complained that the commandline tools it needed were missing. Next step would be to reconfigure the PATH variable to include my HD (right now its using the CD) so Pacifist can find the tools?

SO, as of right now my machine is Kaput!!! Any advice?!

hayne · 05-13-2007, 11:56 PM

It sounds like your system is messed up (you should never install an older version on top of a newer) and you need to erase the disk and reinstall.

But first you need to do a backup. Mounting the hard drive via "target disk mode" is the easiest way.

So go ahead and do your backup.
Don't fiddle any more - you are likely to make things worse!

apoc_metal · 05-14-2007, 12:35 AM

Hallelujah! I have worked a miracle!!!
I decided to try one last thing... I had already downloaded the 10.4.9 combo update (tried installing that one first, when that didn't fix things I went to 10.4.8... etc..)

Anyways, booting from the CD,
I used Disk Utility to mount the combo update DMG, then quit Disk Utility and opened terminal to run installer.app (included on the dvd)

Code:

>>/Applications/Utilities/Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Installer

Then I navigated to the install package on the mounted 10.4.9 image and... it installed!!! And then booted normally!
I have no idea why the update would install and not a fresh install of OSX, but at least the machine works now!

ANyways, I'll prolly still do an archive and install just-in-case.

I love when stuff like this works!

JDV · 05-14-2007, 09:14 AM

Congratulations! Hayne's comment about not installing an older patch over a newer one, however, is to the point. If you find some patch is giving problems, you're best (though not painless) approach is to to an archive-and-install and then download the latest known-good combo patch. That will (or should) keep things in decent working order. But in this case--all's well that ends well!

Joe VanZandt

05-13-2007, 11:48 PM	#1
apoc_metal Prospect Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 30	Blue Screen of Death & Can't Reinstall OSX?! Help!! Hey everyone, Critical Info: Machine: MacBook Pro 2.33Ghz 2GB RAM OSX 10.4.9 with all latest updates, then 10.4.8 combo installer over that So, I managed to really screw up my whole system, and then in the process of trying to fix it, made it much worse. The last thing I did was use Pacifist to install the 10.4.8 combo update over my 10.4.9 system. (Initially my problems stemmed from stupidly running Monolingual). It went fine, but when I went to reboot, it froze at a light blue screen (before showing the "MacOS" loading bar...) I tried booting in safe mode... no dice I started up off the OSX Install discs that came with the machine, and was hoping to do an archive and install... But then the installer loaded, thought for a while, and gave me an error message: "Alert: This software cannot be installed on this computer." with two buttons, "Startup Disk" and "Restart". I tried setting the startup disk to the install cd, but it just repeated the whole process again. And I ran disk utility just for giggles (no problems to repair). SO, I guess the only thing I can imagine working short of a complete erase-volume-and-reinstall (which would be not-good since I don't have a recent backup... If I had to I guess I'd mount this HD via FW on another machine and back stuff up that way, but thats a last resort) would be somehow to mess around in Terminal to either a) Force the install, or b) Fix things enough that the Apple installer will behave itself. I tried briefly to get Pacifist to open via the command line, but it complained that the commandline tools it needed were missing. Next step would be to reconfigure the PATH variable to include my HD (right now its using the CD) so Pacifist can find the tools? SO, as of right now my machine is Kaput!!! Any advice?!

05-13-2007, 11:56 PM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 32,473	It sounds like your system is messed up (you should never install an older version on top of a newer) and you need to erase the disk and reinstall. But first you need to do a backup. Mounting the hard drive via "target disk mode" is the easiest way. So go ahead and do your backup. Don't fiddle any more - you are likely to make things worse! __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

05-14-2007, 12:35 AM	#3
apoc_metal Prospect Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 30	Hallelujah! I have worked a miracle!!! I decided to try one last thing... I had already downloaded the 10.4.9 combo update (tried installing that one first, when that didn't fix things I went to 10.4.8... etc..) Anyways, booting from the CD, I used Disk Utility to mount the combo update DMG, then quit Disk Utility and opened terminal to run installer.app (included on the dvd) Code: >>/Applications/Utilities/Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Installer Then I navigated to the install package on the mounted 10.4.9 image and... it installed!!! And then booted normally! I have no idea why the update would install and not a fresh install of OSX, but at least the machine works now! ANyways, I'll prolly still do an archive and install just-in-case. I love when stuff like this works!

05-14-2007, 09:14 AM	#4
JDV Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Chicago, Illinois Posts: 3,191	Congratulations! Hayne's comment about not installing an older patch over a newer one, however, is to the point. If you find some patch is giving problems, you're best (though not painless) approach is to to an archive-and-install and then download the latest known-good combo patch. That will (or should) keep things in decent working order. But in this case--all's well that ends well! Joe VanZandt