Reader Reports 
Kimeldorf's First Aid
A Troubleshooting Guide For Os X Running On An Imac 800 (Flat Panel)
Part 2 of a 6 Part Series
By Martin Kimeldorf - Kimeldorf@attbi.com
With contributions from Andy Muir, Pat Gallagher
Introduction
These notes were compiled after one month of working with my Imac, navigating OS X
and troubleshooting the complexities of MS office, Adobe Distiller and other third party
software. I ended up having to restore my hard drive twice. I researched first aid
methods consulting books, articles, with input from authors and experts online.
These are personal notes and should be taken as suggestions only, rather than as
expert advice. I am not a computer expert, just an author and teacher. Use my
first aid notes at your own risk, nothing is guaranteed. In fact, I have found
out that well-intentioned advice about a cure can sometimes be worse than the
original disease. Back up all critical files before trying anything in this
document!!
FALSE SYMPTOMS
Some problems, as Dave Pogue points out in his book, are not problems in OS X. if you
can't trash a file or preference it may be because you don't have Administrator access
or it is at the Root level.
EVERYDAY PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
These have simple solutions, often within the machine itself. This gives symptoms and
common solutions
Program Runs in Endless Loop or Screen Freezes--Spinning Ball
- 1. Quit Program
- 2. Force Quit Program (using Apple Command or + Option + Esc keys)
- 3. Log out and restart computer.
If you can't log out
Hold in the ON/OFF button and it will eventually turn off the computer. This is akin to the
old days when we had to insert paper clips in tiny holes.
MID-LEVEL PROBLEMS
These problems are a bit more involved and therefore require more time. Your program
may become unreliable, quit, or act in inconsistent manner.
Program Acts Quirky
- 1. Quit program and restart
- 2. Force Quit Program
- 3. Log out and restart computer
- 4. Remove the preference plist file(s) for the program at the User, 3 level.
- 5. Remove any similar files at the second level (or Main level). Then restart and new preferences are created.
- 6. Run disk first aid
- 7. Log on as another user to see if the problem goes away.
If the issue is resolved logging on under the new user id, then you can try to work
in this new environment. This will mean re-installing all your documents under the
new user. Note that when software is installed, it is put in the /Applications/ folder
which is available to all users. So when a new user is created, the installed
software is already available to other users old and new.
When a user is deleted from the System Preferences, it asks who would you like
to assign the users files to and it will list all other users and 'Administrator'. The
old user name and folder will appear as "deleted whoever" folder inside the
Users folder. You should be able to drag docs and applications from this folder
into your new user folder (as long as that user's stuff was assigned to you and
not the Administrator).
For some reason, when you select Administrator, even users that have
administrator access will not be able to view (or delete) that persons files. You
would have to be logged in as root to do so. To trash the old deleted folder you
must boot in OS 9 and trash from there. It can be found in the user folder.
THE BIG BANG, BOMB, SAD FACE, PANIC ATTACK ETC ETC....
Sometimes you'll find problems seem to grow, or worse, the computer starts and can't
find the hard drive. Yikes, it may be time to do the following.
Run Disk First Aid, repeatedly to get maximum benefit
This program does a good job of finding problems and can repair most.
Option 1--Boot from the OS X CD and run Disk First Aid
Run at least 6 times or until you get the message "Appears OK"
Option 2--Run from the command line
This works well if you don't have a CD or if you can't get the tray to open you can work
at the "command line" or root level with raw UNIX code. This runs the Disk First Aid
without having to boot from external CD
- 1. Restart computer holding down the + S keys.
- 2. At the prompt for log in, type exactly: fsck -y (it must have a space after fsck).
This starts the first aid. You may have to run it several times before you get all
OK sign.
- 3. Exit by typing reboot and hitting return.
Look For Part 3 Tomorrow
|
