Jaguar Probs on Pismo!

[Redjack]

These forums are so great for help so here's a dilly of a pickle:

I have a Pismo that I just got and initialized the HD and zeroed all data. I have a retail copy of Jaguar which I attempted to install on it. After installation (base install, no localized languages etc..) I reboot and it gets stuck at the gray Apple logo. The little "cycling" thing goes away and I'm left with a bad video screen...all the pixels get mucked up. I can't get past the screen and nothing will change it.

I reinitialized and zeroed again, used the Restore disc to install OS 9.04 and it booted properly. Apple Hardware test gave it all green lights. I installed 10.1 and it's working fine. Yet once I install Jaguar, it gets messed up. ALWAYS with Jaguar. Thing is, years ago, Jaguar worked fine on my Pismo (before it got stolen) so I'm stumped...is this a hardware issue? Hard drive issue? Compatibility issue?

 

[superpantoufle]

Thing is, years ago, Jaguar worked fine on my Pismo (before it got stolen) so I'm stumped...is this a hardware issue? Hard drive issue? Compatibility issue?

This is strange. Jaguar certainly does work on a Pismo. I have Panther working just fine on mine right now…

Just wondering, do you meet the minimum Ram requirements (128Mb according to Apple, 96Mbaccording to Wikipedia as a real minum to boot, and 256Mb according to most users…)?

 

[Redjack]

Yea actually, 384 MB to be exact...any ideas on what's going on?

Reason is I want to update to Jaguar so I can use a USB Wireless (have one lying around) thought it'd be neat, nifty, clever without resorting to Airport. Is there a workaround to use a D-Link USB Wireless G adaptor without having to go to Jaguar/Panther/etc?

 

[Christopher]

I remember Jaguar doing that to me with my iBook when it had insufficient ram. Are you sure the ram actually works?

 

[retrogmr]

What size is the hard drive?

 

[Redjack]

I've no idea the quality of the RAM but I removed the RAM chip and to my dismay it wouldn't even boot the Jaguar installer disc....

The HD is 10GB not that big, ever hear of this Jaguar issue? Also, I notice that it's just sluggish to boot OSX in general although system is responsive (due to RAM). You think there's something intrinsic to the MoBo or RAM or HD? The RAM and HD are replacable, I just worry about the MoBo internal wirings etc... Hardware test gave it a thumbs up

 

[superpantoufle]

Well... strange!

Two questions:

- Is your Jaguar CD fine? Have you tested it in another machine?

- Would another version of Mac OS X boot? Panther or Tiger?

 

[coius]

Here's a question. Has the L2 cache died on the processor card?

See if you can get a utility that allows you to test it. It may be that the Cache died.

Also, when bootin, hold down the "V" key after you hear the chime. That will make OS X boot into Verbose mode and you can see what's going on behind the scenes as it boots. It may give you some hints as to what is going on.

 

[Christopher]

Clean the disk too for chits and giggles.

 

[Redjack]

This is absolutely weird! I think maybe it IS the RAM because I just tried installing Jaguar 10.2.4 on ANOTHER Pismo this time with less RAM (64 MB) and it still does the video thing. It could be that the install disks are bad...happened on two separate occasions with the same Jaguar install disk. Or it could be the RAM...

I do have Panther, Tiger, and Leopard, one of these other guys might install but it could be the RAM.

Anyone have any 128/256/512 PC100 SO-DIMMs just in case it's RAM?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Sounds like a bad disc.

Try Tiger. It runs fine on my Pismo.

 

[Christopher]

Sounds like a bad disc.
Try Tiger. It runs fine on my Pismo.

I use Tiger because it supports modern things. [] ]'>

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Yep, same reason I use it. I much prefer pre-spotlight searches, too bad there's no way to get those back.

I don't remember any real hit in performance after upgrading from 10.3 to 10.4, maybe it was even a little better. It may not do as well with a limited amount of memory, though. I have 576 MB on this one (512 + 64).

 

[Redjack]

I think you guys may be right about a dud disk (THANKS Apple... actually I got it as a promo so it was technically free). But with the RAM, I still need RAM chips, I know I need to get 144-pin PC100 SO DIMMs, but what of the quality? I don't want Bad RAM chips and I'm not made of gold since these chips are hardly made these days, where can I get some good used chips besides eBay?

 

[Sludgedragon]

Yep, same reason I use it. I much prefer pre-spotlight searches, too bad there's no way to get those back.

I don't use Spotlight, it seems to give me too much irrelevant crap. I still use Find, works just fine on Tiger.

 

[Christopher]

I only use spotlight to search for programs. thats all its good for.

 

[Redjack]

Problem solved. I just installed Panther on the system and it boots past the upset screen I saw when on Jaguar. Very odd behavior as the last time I used Jaguar was on my Pismo (didn't get a chance to use Panther since my Pismo got stolen from me). It's been a few years but finally got this one and it's proving to be quite a beast.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Yep, same reason I use it. I much prefer pre-spotlight searches, too bad there's no way to get those back.

I don't use Spotlight, it seems to give me too much irrelevant crap. I still use Find, works just fine on Tiger.

Is "Find" an app or is it built-in to Mac OS? When I hit Apple + F, I get a Spotlight search which TAKES OVER the frontmost Finder window. I find myself wishing I had pressed Apple + N, then Apple + F.

Also the indexing is annoying and slows down my Pismo while it's going on. Forcing it to stop with Activity Monitor results in spontaneous relaunching. Once you go in and manually disable indexing, Spotlight fails to work properly.

Most of the time I just want to search file names, I rarely, if ever, have searched file contents.

 

[Christopher]

Go into System Preferences, click on Spotlight, then click on the Privacy tab and drag your hard drive to the list. It stop indexing forever with that hard drive. Also making Spotlight useless.