Mac OS X 10.4.7 Special Report: Problems starting up after update -- fixes

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 7:28 a.m. PT

4 min read

If you are having problems starting up after applying the Mac OS X 10.4.7 (i.e. startup stalls at the grey screen or another point before the desktop appears), first try the suggestions in our tutorial "Startup will not proceed after a system or security update; solving."

Failing those options, you may need to re-apply the Mac OS X 10.4.7 combo updater while booted from a separate startup drive via the following process:

Download and save the Mac OS X 10.4.7 combo updater (PowerPC or Intel).
Startup from an alternate boot volume, such as an external FireWire drive, or use another Mac to boot the problematic system in FireWire target disk mode (connect the two machines via a FireWire cable, and boot the target [problematic] system while holding down the "T" key)
Once booted from an alternate drive, select the problematic volume in the Finder, and "Get Info" -- either by pressing the Command-I keyboard combination or accessing the "Get Info" option in the File menu. Check the box marked "Ignore ownership permissions on this volume."
If you have a third-party disk repair utility like DiskWarrior, use it to re-build the directory on the problematic volume (this step may not be necessary)
Re-install the Mac OS X 10.4.7 combo updater on the problematic drive.
Re-attempt booting from the problematic volume (hold down the option key at startup to select the desired drive)

Alternatively, if you have an Intel-based Macs with Boot Camp and Windows installed, you can avoid having to use another Mac in the process.

Instead, boot into Windows, then download the Mac OS X 10.4.7 Combo Updater (PowerPC or Intel) -- it will be stored on the Windows NTFS or FAT32 partition.

Next, boot from your Mac OS X installation disc, and was your system is booted click the "Continue..." button. From the "Utilities" menu, open Disk Utility and use the "Repair Disk" function to ensure your drive integrity. Now, from the "Utilities" menu select "Terminal" and use the Terminal cp command to copy the Mac OS X 10.4.7 Combo Updater from the Windows partition to the Mac OS X partition. The command should like something like this, but will depend on where the combo updater is stored on your Windows partition, and what your Windows partition is named.