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General discussion

My iMac won't log in and the bluetooth keyboard won't work

Aug 13, 2005 8:32PM PDT

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has had any trouble with their iMac G5 keyboards? My existing white bluetooth keyboard won't respond (last night it appeared to work fine and it had almost a full battery level). When I turn the keyboard on, it flashes a yellow/green light. I have tried replacing the batteries and it still won't work.
The second part of my problem is that when I use my Dad's black, wired Apple Pro Keyboard to log in to my username, after I have clicked log-on the system locks up with a lollypop/beachball symbol.
I have defragmented my computer using Drive Genius and also checked for bad blocks, as well as repairing/rebuilding my hard disk. I also repaired Disk Permissions for my hard disk.
Last night, I installed Limewire and downloaded a few files. I also went to the Terminal to edit (Applications/Quicktime/Contents/Mac OS/Quicktime)or something and I changed some values. This might have contributed to my problem. I also used Netinfo (Applications/Utilities/Netinfo-I think that's what it's called) to change the root users password. I changed it to 1 I think and saved the settings. I also changed the log-in screen to show username and password fields instead of just the pictures.
I am sorry that this is such a long post, but I thought I should go in to depth about this problem, can anyone help me? I really don't want to install Mac OS 10.4 AGAIN!?

Discussion is locked

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understand
Aug 13, 2005 10:46PM PDT

Does your version of this software support Tiger? I note that they have different versions for different OS's. A defrag of the HD is not considered necessary with OS X as the system will perform that function when a program is installed. It also manages the file allocation much more efficiently than the average PC.
Poking around in the Terminal is fraught with danger unless you know exactly what you are doing. What were you trying to accomplish in there with QuickTime? The word "or something" is particularly worrying.
To change passwords on the machine, booting from the OS CD and using the Password Application is the usual, recommended way.
In the absence of any further advice, from other posters, I would suggest that you re-install the OS using the Archive and Install feature. This will place a new, good, copy of the system on the drive and preserve all your documents and other stuff.
One further piece of advice, stay out of Terminal

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My friend convinced me to...
Aug 14, 2005 5:13PM PDT

Ok, I'll admit it. I looked for the crack for Quicktime 7 Pro. I had to go into the Terminal to make it work. The crack would only work with a build of Tiger that I didn't have. I downloaded it with Limewire.

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OK
Aug 14, 2005 9:51PM PDT

See what messing with Terminal does for you? There is NO need to go to the Terminal window for QT Pro.

Now back to the Archive and Install.


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well i was thinking...
Aug 15, 2005 6:22PM PDT

I WAS thinking of installing linux, since my Dad won't let me have the Mac OS X install CD back. I will try booting in Safe Boot mode (holding shift on startup) then I'll try Apple Hardware Test. Then I'll try Linux, what do you think?

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The choice
Aug 15, 2005 9:51PM PDT

is entirely yours.
If you can find a version of Linux that runs on that machine, and that is what you want to do, go for it.
The Apple Hardware test does exactly that, it tests hardware. You have a software problem. The AHT also needs to be the boot disk to run its diagnostics.


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Good news
Aug 17, 2005 1:39PM PDT

Well, last night I snuck behind my Dad's back and I got Mac OS X Archived and Installed again. Login went fine, no lock ups thank god but it still seemed a little slower than ususal. Thanks for the help. Btw Yellow Dog Linux and Debian Linux will both work on Mac hardware. I will try installing Yellow Dog because it's GUI, wheras Debian apparentely is CUI. If I have Mac OS X installed will I have to partition/partion my hard-disk? What does this mean?

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Partitioned
Aug 17, 2005 11:26PM PDT

It means that your HD will loose ALL its data and the drive will be wiped clean.
You cannot partition a Mac disk, unless you use a special utility, without destroying data.

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Question
Aug 18, 2005 1:15AM PDT

If you are asking what a partition is then I'm not sure you should be playing with Linux.
However, if you were asking about partitioning a Mac, see my other answer.


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