Problem With DiskWarrior 4...

[Mayo]

I believe that I experienced my first kernel panic... LOTS of type on the screen and a logo in the background telling me to restart my G5 iMac.

I had left my office after inserting the new DW CD and holding down the "C" key while restarting.  When I returned the fans were spinning madly and the screen was as I describe it above...

It happened both times I tried to start-up from the CD.  Does "unresolved kernel trap"mean anything to anyone?

Has anyone else had this problem with DW?  I'm off to the Alsoft Web site to see what I can find out.

[krissel]

Definitely a kernel panic.  I remember reading about DW doing this on occasion. Are you sure you have the right version for your Mac?

[RHPConsult]

I inquired of the gang at the AlSoft booth at MacWorld. They said 4 was for Intel Macs, or more precisely, they said Intel Macs required a later edition of DW, and I think that's "4".

Presumably it's in the mail as I write this.

I'd give them a call, Mayo.

They have a highly responsive Tech Support.

[Mayo]

Hmmm... According to what I found at Alsoft it should work just fine, unless I missed something...

DiskWarrior 4 System Requirements

[MamaMoose]

First, go into Disk Utility and repair Permissions. Then Verify the boot volume. If it passes verification, then load DW 4 and reboot holding down the C key and see if DW will boot.

If disk utility says there is a problem withyour boot volume, then reboot while holding down the Command+S keys. You will be in Single User Mode (SUM). When the line of white text stops scrolling, enter fsck -fy and then Return. This will now check your boot volume for errors. If there are none reboot. When that is done, then reboot holding down the C key and try to boot DW 4.

If however, SUM says it found some errors and repaired them, then retype fsck -fy until it says all is OK. Reboot and try to load DW 4. If that doesn't work, I do not have any other suggestions, Sorry.

By the way, what version of OS are you using. It may be that it requires OS 10.4.x. Just a guess.

MamaMoose

[Mayo]

I repaired permissions; apparently nothing needed to be fixed. I then tried verifying the volume and DiskUtility indicated that the volume header needed minor repair.  I booted from the G5 CD and repaired the volume header.

Attempting to boot from the DW CD resulted in another kernel panic...  

I'm running 10.4.8.

[pendragon]

Mayo,

If you’re up to it, you might try:

1. Insert and load the DW 4.0 CD normally, i.e., no restarting via “C” key.
2. After the CD mounts (if it does), go to System Preferences/Startup Disk and select DW as the startup volume.
3. Restart. Any better or do you still get the KP?
4. If DW then becomes the startup volume, run DW as normal.
5. If you have more than one startup volume, install DW on each so that you can then run DW & cross test the other volume(s).

FWIW (musings and mutterings):

1. I have been running DW 4.0 since it was first released on a PPC and Intel machine (both 10.4. without problem.
2. As others have said, DO NOT run DW 3.x on your Intel machine.
3. As I recall, when I first ran DW 4 from the CD, the CD took about 5-6 minutes to load. If memory serves (a big IF), I used the above technique. Alas, I’m just not certain. And even if that does work, I do not know why the “C” key technique does not.
4. Since I now have DW 4 on all volumes, the launching time is a second or two.
4. DW 4 is significantly faster, but how well it fixes problems, I dunno--haven’t had any (yet).

If you are still unable to get DW to run without a KP, a call to Alsoft is definitely encouraged. It’s my bet they will put things to right.

[Mayo]

Received this morning from Alsoft:


If you're unable to start up your computer from our DiskWarrior CD,
please try the following:

(1)  Make sure you are waiting between five and ten minutes to start up
from the DiskWarrior CD.  If you have only allowed "a couple of minutes"
for the DiskWarrior CD to load, please try starting up from the
DiskWarrior CD again.

(2)  Clean the DiskWarrior CD with water and mild soap (such as
dishwashing liquid).  Dry it off with a soft, non-scratching cloth or
paper towel.  Please do this, even if the surface looks clean.

(3)  Unplug any peripherals (i.e. scanners, printers, hubs) from your
machine and try booting again.

(4)  If you have a Desktop computer, make sure you are using the Apple
keyboard/mouse and that they are plugged directly into the computer (not
into a monitor or USB hub).  If you are using a wireless keyboard and
mouse, make sure you are using BlueTooth devices that are supported by
Apple.  You can learn more about this at the following link:

  http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86651

(5)  Try zapping your PRAM by holding down Command, Option, "P", and "R"
keys while starting your machine.  Continue to hold these keys until the
computer makes the Startup chime three times.

(6)  Reset Open Firmware.  Instructions for doing this are as follows:

--a--  Start up the computer while holding down Command, Option, "O",
and "F" keys.

--b--  At the command prompt type "reset-nvram", without the quotes,
then hit the return key.

--c--  At the prompt type "reset-all", without the quotes, then hit the
return key.  The machine should reboot.  Afterwards, restart and try
starting up from the CD again.

Five to ten minutes just for the CD to load?  That's a new one on me!

I might have to disconnect all my peripherals, including my Macally keyboard and Kensington trackball? (All I have connected are two external drives via USB 2.0)

I'm going to save all this potential fun for later...

[krissel]

I was going to suggest removing peripherals as I read down the post. That's a common problem in your situation.

However, if you have an external drive or an alternate partition to which you can boot, install Diskwarrior app on that volume. Then boot to it and run DW from there on the problem drive. I don't boot from the DW CD for repair, always DW from another volume, it's also faster that way.

[kelly]

Diskwarrior 4 User reports

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/diskwa...s.html#storytop

[Mayo]

Thanks for the user-report link; I'll read it later.  A quick glance indicates that others are having problems too... Doing a SuperDuper! back-up before using DW seems like a wise move...

I can't boot from my external drives because I haven't had the mother board replaced and my Firewire ports aren't working... I haven't been able to face having to work on my 12" iBook instead of the iMac's 20".

And I still haven't messed around with the DW CD.  I'll read the user-reports first and then set aside some time to experiment.