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Troubleshooting Tips for the Macintosh
In every case, before you start working on a problem, take a look at the area surrounding the Macintosh. Ask yourself the following questions.
 | Is the area around the Macintosh clean? (Any food or drink spills?) |
| Are cables being smashed, crushed, or disconnected by backpacks, books or by the CPU being moved? (Hint: The CPU sometimes crimps the cables behind if pushed too close to the back, and the cables can be pulled out if the CPU is pulled too far forward on the table.) |
| Do you see any cables not connected to anything lying on the table or the floor? |
| Is there a zip drive connected to this Mac? How about a scanner? |
| Are the power lights on on the monitor and the CPU? |
| Beside what you have been already been told, what is your first indication there is a problem? (Hint: If the floppy drive won't read disks, use disks you know are good to test the drive, for example the boot disks. ) |
| Write down any error messages you see, they will be needed later. |
| Do you notice any odd sounds? Are they coming from the monitor, the floppy drive, the scanner, or the zip drive? |
| If smoke or sparks are flying from the Mac, turn it off. |
If these troubleshooting steps don't work, e-mail CAOSS@asu.edu and give them the following information:
| Site |
| Desk number |
| ASU Property Control number and/or Silver Tag Number |
| Type of Mac (StarMax, PPC7200/200, Quadra 650) |
| Original error or why you started working on the Mac in the first place. |
| Troubleshooting steps you have taken. |
Won't boot
Freezes during bootup.
| Take notes. |
| Make sure external equipment (Zip Drive or scanner) is properly connected and turned on. |
| Restart by pressing Command(Apple)+Control+Power Key |
| Zap PRAM by holding down Command(Apple)+Option+P+R while booting until you hear the beep. Zap the PRAM again. (It is necessary to zap the PRAM twice.) |
| Boot up with extensions off, set the date and time. |
| If it doesn't boot now: |
 | Boot with a bootable floppy disk. |
| Open 'Operator Systems'. |
| Double click on 'Disk First Aid'. |
| Select the HD volume and run repair on it. |
 | If there are a lot of errors in the repair report, run 'Apple HD SC Setup'. |
| Select 'Initialize' on the menu. |
| If the HD volume does not show up on the desktop, run 'Drive Setup'. |
| Copy a new system folder down to the hard drive. |
| Reboot the mac and set the 'Sharing Setup' |
| If the Mac still doesn't boot, e-mail CAOSS@asu.edu. |
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Sad Mac
| Restart by pressing Command(Apple)+Control+Power Key |
| Make sure external equipment (Zip Drive or scanner) is properly connected and turned on. |
| Zap PRAM by holding down Command(Apple)+Option+P+R while booting until you hear the beep. Zap the PRAM again. (It is necessary to zap the PRAM twice.) |
| Boot up with extensions off, set the date and time. |
| If it doesn't boot now: |
| Boot with a bootable floppy disk. |
| Open 'Operator Systems'. |
| Double click on 'Disk First Aid'. |
| Select the HD volume and run repair on it. |
| If there are a lot of errors in the repair report, run 'Apple HD SC Setup'. |
| Select 'Initialize' on the menu. |
| If the HD volume does not show up on the desktop, run 'Drive Setup'. |
| Copy a new system folder down to the hard drive. |
| Reboot the mac and set the 'Sharing Setup' |
| If the Mac still doesn't boot, e-mail CAOSS@asu.edu. |
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AppleTalk Errors
The following error is displayed while logging onto a Mac:
"An error occurred while trying to start up your AppleTalk Connection. The built in LocalTalk port will be used instead."
| Check cable connections, especially the ethernet cable. |
| Check the lights on the FriendlyNet Adapter--both should be lit |
| Log on |
| Under the Apple, select the Control Panels |
| Open AppleTalk |
| Change the top selection from 'Printer port' to 'Ethernet' |
| Make sure the bottom selection changes from '' to IT (sitename) |
| Save this and close AppleTalk |
| Open Chooser |
| Make AppleTalk Active |
| Select AppleShare |
| Select IT (sitename) |
| Select Applications in IT (sitename) |
| Click on OK two times |
| Still in Chooser |
| Select KeyAccess |
| Select Information Technology |
| Select IT Keyserver |
| Click on 'Logon' |
| If the Mac still doesn't boot, e-mail CAOSS@asu.edu. |
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Keyboard or mouse doesn't work
| Shutdown the Mac. Do not attempt to connect or disconnect cables while the Mac is powered on. |
| Make sure the cables are plugged in all the way and secure. |
| Boot with extensions off, does the mouse or keyboard work now? |
| Check the control panel settings. |
| Make sure external equipment (Zip Drive or scanner) is properly connected and turned on. |
| Restart the Mac by pressing the power key on the keyboard. |
| Test the mouse and the keyboard. If that didn't work, shut down the Mac. |
| Swap the keyboard with another Mac and restart the Mac. |
| Test the mouse and the keyboard. If that didn't work, shut down the Mac. |
| One at a time as for the keyboard, test with different mouse and cables shutting down the Mac every time you disconnect or connect cables. |
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