No shutdown query

With MacPro on OS 10.4.8, Mac will not shutdown, restart, or logout, from the apple menu.
Graley wrote on :

With MacPro on OS 10.4.8, Mac will not shutdown, restart, or logout, from the apple menu. There is no action wen I select those. It wil sleep, and all other actions are OK.

I have run disk repair from the install OS disk..."no repairs necessary". Repaired permissions. Have run Cocktail and MacJanitor to no result.

Any ideas very welcome.

I can shutdown by holding the power button

Fang the wonderdog replied on :

In article 455629f3$0$3047$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

With MacPro on OS 10.4.8, Mac will not shutdown, restart, or logout, from the apple menu. There is no action wen I select those. It wil sleep, and all other actions are OK.

I have run disk repair from the install OS disk..."no repairs necessary". Repaired permissions. Have run Cocktail and MacJanitor to no result.

Any ideas very welcome.

I can shutdown by holding the power button

Not a solution to this but you should be able to bring up the shutdown dialogue-box by using the CTRL-EJECT keyboard shortcut. From there the four options provided...

Restart - Sleep - Cancel - Shutdown

are accessed either with the mouse or via the...

R - S - ESC - RETURN/ENTER

...keys.

Obviously though there is something wrong. You have an external HDD you can install a fresh OS onto and see if the problem persists when booted from that? I'd boot from the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disk that came with your machine and run a full hardware diagnostic. If problems are found, get them warranty repaired.

Apart from the potential for a hardware fault, you could spend a lot of time diagnosing... a- Do the menus activate but no action? b- Does the above keyboard shortcuts work? c- After giving the command look for heavy usage processes to kill with Activity Viewer, d- does issuing a 'sudo shutdown -h now' command in Terminal work?

As diagnosis can be so time consuming, I'm a fan of slash & burn techniques when I just want it working. Sounds drastic but its a pretty sure method of getting functional.

1- Make a backup image of your HDD (keep it somewhere other than on the internal HDD, make sure to open it and confirm your stuff is there). 2- low level format your drive and reinstall the OS. 3- Patch new installation 4- once reinstalled and booted from new OS (using a basic new account, not your previous details), mount old system backup and then run 'Migration Assistant' to transplant your original user account and documents over from your current setup to your new install.

...well you did say 'any' ideas...

Many options, best of luck...

:)

Joe.

Graley replied on :

On 2006-11-12 22:22:44 +1000, Fang the wonderdog <SPAM_SPAM_SPAM@redacted.invalid_SPAM_SPAM_eggs_&_SPAM.null> said:

In article 455629f3$0$3047$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

With MacPro on OS 10.4.8, Mac will not shutdown, restart, or logout, from the apple menu. There is no action wen I select those. It wil sleep, and all other actions are OK.

I have run disk repair from the install OS disk..."no repairs necessary". Repaired permissions. Have run Cocktail and MacJanitor to no result.

Any ideas very welcome.

I can shutdown by holding the power button

Not a solution to this but you should be able to bring up the shutdown dialogue-box by using the CTRL-EJECT keyboard shortcut. From there the four options provided...

Restart - Sleep - Cancel - Shutdown are accessed either with the mouse or via the...

R - S - ESC - RETURN/ENTER

...keys.

Obviously though there is something wrong. You have an external HDD you can install a fresh OS onto and see if the problem persists when booted from that? I'd boot from the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disk that came with your machine and run a full hardware diagnostic. If problems are found, get them warranty repaired.

Apart from the potential for a hardware fault, you could spend a lot of time diagnosing... a- Do the menus activate but no action? b- Does the above keyboard shortcuts work? c- After giving the command look for heavy usage processes to kill with Activity Viewer, d- does issuing a 'sudo shutdown -h now' command in Terminal work?

As diagnosis can be so time consuming, I'm a fan of slash & burn techniques when I just want it working. Sounds drastic but its a pretty sure method of getting functional.

1- Make a backup image of your HDD (keep it somewhere other than on the internal HDD, make sure to open it and confirm your stuff is there). 2- low level format your drive and reinstall the OS. 3- Patch new installation 4- once reinstalled and booted from new OS (using a basic new account, not your previous details), mount old system backup and then run 'Migration Assistant' to transplant your original user account and documents over from your current setup to your new install.

...well you did say 'any' ideas...

Many options, best of luck...

:)

Joe.

Have tried some ideas with no luck so far. Ctrl-eject gets no response. terminal sudo also no response fsck in single user mode reports no errors all other menu items activate

Fang the wonderdog replied on :

In article 455777fa$0$5782$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

On 2006-11-12 22:22:44 +1000, Fang the wonderdog <SPAM_SPAM_SPAM@redacted.invalid_SPAM_SPAM_eggs_&_SPAM.null> said:

In article 455629f3$0$3047$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

With MacPro on OS 10.4.8, Mac will not shutdown, restart, or logout, from the apple menu. There is no action wen I select those. It wil sleep, and all other actions are OK.

I have run disk repair from the install OS disk..."no repairs necessary". Repaired permissions. Have run Cocktail and MacJanitor to no result.

Any ideas very welcome.

I can shutdown by holding the power button

Not a solution to this but you should be able to bring up the shutdown dialogue-box by using the CTRL-EJECT keyboard shortcut. From there the four options provided...

Restart - Sleep - Cancel - Shutdown are accessed either with the mouse or via the...

R - S - ESC - RETURN/ENTER

...keys.

Obviously though there is something wrong. You have an external HDD you can install a fresh OS onto and see if the problem persists when booted from that? I'd boot from the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disk that came with your machine and run a full hardware diagnostic. If problems are found, get them warranty repaired.

Apart from the potential for a hardware fault, you could spend a lot of time diagnosing... a- Do the menus activate but no action? b- Does the above keyboard shortcuts work? c- After giving the command look for heavy usage processes to kill with Activity Viewer, d- does issuing a 'sudo shutdown -h now' command in Terminal work?

As diagnosis can be so time consuming, I'm a fan of slash & burn techniques when I just want it working. Sounds drastic but its a pretty sure method of getting functional.

1- Make a backup image of your HDD (keep it somewhere other than on the internal HDD, make sure to open it and confirm your stuff is there). 2- low level format your drive and reinstall the OS. 3- Patch new installation 4- once reinstalled and booted from new OS (using a basic new account, not your previous details), mount old system backup and then run 'Migration Assistant' to transplant your original user account and documents over from your current setup to your new install.

...well you did say 'any' ideas...

Many options, best of luck...

:)

Joe.

Have tried some ideas with no luck so far. Ctrl-eject gets no response. terminal sudo also no response fsck in single user mode reports no errors all other menu items activate

What does Terminal say after you type (precisely as shown on the next line)...

sudo shutdown -h now

? Please let us know the Terminal's exact response to that command. Does it ask you for your password? Are you using an admin account?

Know anyone else with a working Mac Pro or Macbook? If so, get them to put their machine into Target Disk mode, attach it to yours and boot from their OS. This should at least prove to you that your machine is CAPABLE of shutting down graciously.

Whatever the result, it sounds like time to try booting from another cleanly installed partition, something wrong with your install. As I mentioned while it could be diagnosed and rectified its possibly going to be much quicker to cut your losses and erase-reinstall (after a backup).

good luck

:)

Joe.

Graley replied on :

On 2006-11-13 17:33:59 +1000, Fang the wonderdog <SPAM_SPAM_SPAM@redacted.invalid_SPAM_SPAM_eggs_&_SPAM.null> said:

In article 455777fa$0$5782$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

On 2006-11-12 22:22:44 +1000, Fang the wonderdog <SPAM_SPAM_SPAM@redacted.invalid_SPAM_SPAM_eggs_&_SPAM.null> said:

In article 455629f3$0$3047$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

With MacPro on OS 10.4.8, Mac will not shutdown, restart, or logout, from the apple menu. There is no action wen I select those. It wil sleep, and all other actions are OK.

I have run disk repair from the install OS disk..."no repairs necessary". Repaired permissions. Have run Cocktail and MacJanitor to no result.

Any ideas very welcome.

I can shutdown by holding the power button

Not a solution to this but you should be able to bring up the shutdown dialogue-box by using the CTRL-EJECT keyboard shortcut. From there the four options provided...

Restart - Sleep - Cancel - Shutdown are accessed either with the mouse or via the...

R - S - ESC - RETURN/ENTER

...keys.

Obviously though there is something wrong. You have an external HDD you can install a fresh OS onto and see if the problem persists when booted from that? I'd boot from the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disk that came with your machine and run a full hardware diagnostic. If problems are found, get them warranty repaired.

Apart from the potential for a hardware fault, you could spend a lot of time diagnosing... a- Do the menus activate but no action? b- Does the above keyboard shortcuts work? c- After giving the command look for heavy usage processes to kill with Activity Viewer, d- does issuing a 'sudo shutdown -h now' command in Terminal work?

As diagnosis can be so time consuming, I'm a fan of slash & burn techniques when I just want it working. Sounds drastic but its a pretty sure method of getting functional.

1- Make a backup image of your HDD (keep it somewhere other than on the internal HDD, make sure to open it and confirm your stuff is there). 2- low level format your drive and reinstall the OS. 3- Patch new installation 4- once reinstalled and booted from new OS (using a basic new account, not your previous details), mount old system backup and then run 'Migration Assistant' to transplant your original user account and documents over from your current setup to your new install.

...well you did say 'any' ideas...

Many options, best of luck...

:)

Joe.

Have tried some ideas with no luck so far. Ctrl-eject gets no response. terminal sudo also no response fsck in single user mode reports no errors all other menu items activate

What does Terminal say after you type (precisely as shown on the next line)...

sudo shutdown -h now

? Please let us know the Terminal's exact response to that command. Does it ask you for your password? Are you using an admin account?

Know anyone else with a working Mac Pro or Macbook? If so, get them to put their machine into Target Disk mode, attach it to yours and boot from their OS. This should at least prove to you that your machine is CAPABLE of shutting down graciously.

Whatever the result, it sounds like time to try booting from another cleanly installed partition, something wrong with your install. As I mentioned while it could be diagnosed and rectified its possibly going to be much quicker to cut your losses and erase-reinstall (after a backup).

good luck :)

Joe.

Now the response to that sudo command was immediate and fast. It shutdown. However after start up I could again get no resonse from restart or shutdown from the apple menu

Fang the wonderdog replied on :

In article 45582757$0$28200$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

8<----8<----(snip-snip)----8<----8<

Now the response to that sudo command was immediate and fast. It shutdown. However after start up I could again get no resonse from restart or shutdown from the apple menu

its good news that it can indeed shutdown :) but without further input from the group on other steps to rectify this prob' I'd still recommend my previously mentioned solution (re-posted below)... If ever a system demonstrates oddness I don't trust it until I know its freshly installed but I am a hard-case!

As diagnosis can be so time consuming, I'm a fan of slash & burn techniques when I just want it working. Sounds drastic but its a pretty sure method of getting functional.

1- Make a backup image of your HDD (keep it somewhere other than on the internal HDD, make sure to open it and confirm your stuff is there). 2- low level format your drive and reinstall the OS. 3- Patch new installation 4- once reinstalled and booted from new OS (using a basic new account, not your previous details), mount old system backup and then run 'Migration Assistant' to transplant your original user account and documents over from your current setup to your new install.

Fang the wonderdog replied on :

In article SPAM_SPAM_SPAM-423989.02000214112006@redacted.invalid, Fang the wonderdog <SPAM_SPAM_SPAM@redacted.invalid_SPAM_SPAM_eggs_&_SPAM.null> wrote:

In article 45582757$0$28200$5a62ac22@redacted.invalid, Graley OMIT.highrise@redacted.invalid wrote:

8<----8<----(snip-snip)----8<----8<

Now the response to that sudo command was immediate and fast. It shutdown. However after start up I could again get no resonse from restart or shutdown from the apple menu

its good news that it can indeed shutdown :) but without further input from the group on other steps to rectify this prob' I'd still recommend my previously mentioned solution (re-posted below)... If ever a system demonstrates oddness I don't trust it until I know its freshly installed but I am a hard-case!

8<----8<----(snip-snip)----8<----8<

Just had another basic thought, if your Mac Pro is within its free Apple supportline 90 day period, which it should indeed be ;) , you could try calling Apple to see if they can offer a procedure for remedying this apart from my slash & burn methodology.

Anyone else have any ideas on what the OP should try?

:)

Joe.

David Morrison replied on :

In article SPAM_SPAM_SPAM-423989.02000214112006@redacted.invalid, Fang the wonderdog <SPAM_SPAM_SPAM@redacted.invalid_SPAM_SPAM_eggs_&_SPAM.null> wrote:

Now the response to that sudo command was immediate and fast. It shutdown. However after start up I could again get no resonse from restart or shutdown from the apple menu

its good news that it can indeed shutdown :) but without further input from the group on other steps to rectify this prob' I'd still recommend my previously mentioned solution (re-posted below)... If ever a system demonstrates oddness I don't trust it until I know its freshly installed but I am a hard-case!

Yes, I'd second this. If it's playing up in one area, then there are probably other things that don't work that you haven't come across yet.

In the end, as Fang said, you'll spend a huge amount of time trying to work out what is wrong and (maybe) fixing it, and you still won't know if anything else is wrong.

Was this by chance the operating system that came with the machine?

I have found over many years that the pre-loaded operating systems from Apple are often flakey. First thing I do with a new machine is format the disk and reinstall the OS from the CD. Many fewer problems that way.

And some tips to save time when reinstalling:

  • Make a copy of all the installers you downloaded on a CD so they are ready when you need them.
  • Write down all the steps of doing a clean install as you go. This means that you don't waste any time trying to figure out what you answered the last time so you are back operating again as quick as possible. (Do the same for your applications and utilities.)

Cheers

David