2007 iMac won't boot...

[Joey Cupcakes]

... after upgrading from Tiger to Leopard. Did a straight upgrade from install (not an archive & install).

It gets to the login screen quickly, enter password and then endless beachball.

Started in single user mode and did fsck, restarted from install disk & repaired (no problems) and repaired preferences. Restarted with PRAM reset. Restarted in safe mode.

No problems booting from DVD.

ONE TIME I rebooted after single user mode and it worked, I used that opportunity to run the combo updater (downloaded today from Apple).

Next I will mount on my laptop and apply the 10.5.8 Combo updater again and cross my fingers.

I'm avoiding an archive & install because it's a family machine and has multiple user profiles including 2 kids, a huge PITA.

Any other suggestions?

[C(-)ris]

Look in console next time it boots up and see if there are any disk io errors or disk not ready errors. Also download and run SMART utility and see if it passes.

[Chakravartin]

After that, assuming that the drive checks out, try creating a new admin user account and logging in under that account.

(Can create a new admin user in single user mode or can do it with this method: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/01/tuaw-tip-...ut-a-disc/ )

[Joey Cupcakes]

Chakravartin wrote:
After that, assuming that the drive checks out, try creating a new admin user account and logging in under that account.

(Can create a new admin user in single user mode or can do it with this method: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/01/tuaw-tip-...ut-a-disc/ )

Good suggestion, but ran into the same problem. Stuck on blue screen before loading desktop (corresponding to splinning eheel after the login screen).

Next step, backup the disc and do an archive and install, I guess.

[Black]

Joey Cupcakes wrote:
[quote=Chakravartin]
After that, assuming that the drive checks out, try creating a new admin user account and logging in under that account.

(Can create a new admin user in single user mode or can do it with this method: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/01/tuaw-tip-...ut-a-disc/ )

Good suggestion, but ran into the same problem. Stuck on blue screen before loading desktop (corresponding to splinning eheel after the login screen).

Next step, backup the disc and do an archive and install, I guess.
Looks like the way to go.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1413

[Joey Cupcakes]

Black wrote:
[quote=Joey Cupcakes]
[quote=Chakravartin]
After that, assuming that the drive checks out, try creating a new admin user account and logging in under that account.

(Can create a new admin user in single user mode or can do it with this method: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/01/tuaw-tip-...ut-a-disc/ )

Good suggestion, but ran into the same problem. Stuck on blue screen before loading desktop (corresponding to splinning eheel after the login screen).

Next step, backup the disc and do an archive and install, I guess.
Looks like the way to go.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1413
Thanks for the link. Looks like I'm not alone.

[rz]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be updating my MIL's 2007 iMac from Tiger to Leopard in the not-to-distant future. If I have problems, at least I know there's a potential solution.

[C(-)ris]

Edit: Nice job Black. I've never seen that article before, but I think I have ran into that problem.

[Joey Cupcakes]

Black's page suggestion has an outdated klink. The file can be found here.