Unable to Restart Consistently

I have been experiencing apps "not responding" and have then used Force
Quit. After trying that for a while, I have tried to Restart. My Intel
iMac (10.6.8) sometimes restarts but usually goes through the shut-down
procedure all the way to the blue screen and then freezes. I have to
push the stop-start button to shut down the machine, then push again to
start back up.

Disk Utility says my HD is ok.

What causes the failure to restart?
Many thanks for help.
Don

In article <jollyroger->,
Jolly Roger <> wrote:

> In article <120220122159219374%>,
> Don Tuttle <> wrote:
>
> > I have been experiencing apps "not responding" and have then used Force
> > Quit. After trying that for a while, I have tried to Restart. My Intel
> > iMac (10.6.8) sometimes restarts but usually goes through the shut-down
> > procedure all the way to the blue screen and then freezes. I have to
> > push the stop-start button to shut down the machine, then push again to
> > start back up.
> >
> > Disk Utility says my HD is ok.
> >
> > What causes the failure to restart?
> > Many thanks for help.
> > Don
>
> You say it gets to the blue screen and freezes, but what makes you think
> it's frozen and not just taking a while to complete the final steps of
> shutdown? How long have you let it sit at the blue screen?
>
> The next time the shutdown gets to the blue screen and doesn't go past
> that, make a note of the exact time. Then view the /var/logs/system.log
> file for entries indicating errors _on or around that time_. If you
> don't understand the messages, feel free to post _the relevant time
> stamped lines_ here for diagnosis.

Thanks for suggestions.
This morning I have twice let the machine sit at the blue screen for
over ten minutes before pushing the on/off button.
Regarding /var/logs/system.log, I am unable to find it. Where is it,
pls? Something is wrong with my search procedure. Using Spotlight, when
I plug in search term "system.log" I get nothing. When I plug in
panic.log, which I can see in my Logs folder in my Library folder, so I
know it exists, I get "No results."
Thanks for help.
Don

Jolly Roger wrote:
> In article <140220121254158712%>,
> Don Tuttle <> wrote:
>
>> This morning I have twice let the machine sit at the blue screen for
>> over ten minutes before pushing the on/off button.
>> Regarding /var/logs/system.log, I am unable to find it. Where is it,
>> pls? Something is wrong with my search procedure. Using Spotlight, when
>> I plug in search term "system.log" I get nothing. When I plug in
>> panic.log, which I can see in my Logs folder in my Library folder, so I
>> know it exists, I get "No results."
>> Thanks for help.
>> Don
>
> Viewing Crash, Console, and System Logs
>
> 1. Open /Applications/Utilities/Console.
>
> 2. From the Console menu bar, select File > View System Log. Typically,
> you must be logged into an administrator account to view the system log.
>
> NOTE: You cannot use the Console application to view the system log from
> a non-administrative account. Instead, do this:
>

Why not do this?

Open terminal.

Type:

sudo open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app/

Type your password.

--
]DF$
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/

In article <jollyroger->,
Jolly Roger <> wrote:

> In article <dog_cow->,
> (D Finnigan) wrote:
>
> > Jolly Roger wrote:
> > > In article <140220121254158712%>,
> > > Don Tuttle <> wrote:
> > >
> > >> This morning I have twice let the machine sit at the blue screen for
> > >> over ten minutes before pushing the on/off button.
> > >> Regarding /var/logs/system.log, I am unable to find it. Where is it,
> > >> pls? Something is wrong with my search procedure. Using Spotlight, when
> > >> I plug in search term "system.log" I get nothing. When I plug in
> > >> panic.log, which I can see in my Logs folder in my Library folder, so I
> > >> know it exists, I get "No results."
> > >> Thanks for help.
> > >> Don
> > >
> > > Viewing Crash, Console, and System Logs
> > >
> > > 1. Open /Applications/Utilities/Console.
> > >
> > > 2. From the Console menu bar, select File > View System Log. Typically,
> > > you must be logged into an administrator account to view the system log.
> > >
> > > NOTE: You cannot use the Console application to view the system log from
> > > a non-administrative account. Instead, do this:
> > >
> >
> > Why not do this?
> >
> > Open terminal.
> >
> > Type:
> >
> > sudo open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app/
> >
> > Type your password.
>
> That runs Console as root. I'll leave it to you to think about the
> potential implications, but consider that since you don't have the
> source code for Console, you don't know exactly which parts of the
> system it touches (as root) while running. Nobody is saying you can't do
> it, but particularly for someone not familiar with Unix security, it's
> probably not the best idea, which is why I don't bother mentioning it.

I have put a Console alias on my desktop

Since I was hoping for a faulty re-start, so that I could get helpful
log information, I of course had several successful re-starts in a row.
Finally had a re-start failure. I went to Re-start in Apple menu at
about 19:05. So the information below starting at 19:06 is I suppose
relevant. I see "Improper shutdown detected" at 19:06:53. Would that
have resulted from holding down the start/stop button to shut down?
I guess most of the following information is start-up stuff.

Thanks for help.
Don

Feb 15 19:01:33 Macintosh-5 FontCacheTool[4047]:
ATSFontGetPostScriptName failed: error -984.
Feb 15 19:01:33 Macintosh-5 [0x0-0xbb0bb].com.microsoft.Excel[4044]:
Wed Feb 15 19:01:33 Macintosh-5.local FontCacheTool[4047] <Error>:
ATSFontGetPostScriptName failed: error -984.
Feb 15 19:06:48 localhost com.apple.launchd[1]: *** launchd[1] has
started up. ***
Feb 15 19:06:53 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown
detected
Feb 15 19:06:54 localhost blued[17]: Apple Bluetooth daemon started
Feb 15 19:07:06 localhost mDNSResponder[18]: mDNSResponder
mDNSResponder-258.21 (May 26 2011 14:40:13) starting
Feb 15 19:07:06 localhost pcscd[35]: Non-smartcard device launched
pcscd [Vendor: 0X4B8, Product: 0X10F]
Feb 15 19:07:06 localhost mDNSResponder[18]: Adding registration domain
rb3banjo.members.mac.com.
Feb 15 19:07:07 localhost configd[14]: network configuration changed.
Feb 15 19:07:07 Macintosh-5 configd[14]: setting hostname to
"Macintosh-5.local"
Feb 15 19:07:07 Macintosh-5 fseventsd[57]: event logs in /.fseventsd
out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (70547 24 70660)
Feb 15 19:07:07 Macintosh-5 fseventsd[57]: log dir: /.fseventsd getting
new uuid: BF728135-12AC-4365-B99E-3365BF25D1E6
Feb 15 19:07:07 Macintosh-5 bootlog[64]: BOOT_TIME: 1329350803 0
Feb 15 19:07:17 Macintosh-5 awacsd[37]: Starting awacsd
connectivity-35.3 (May 26 2011 14:39:20)
Feb 15 19:07:17 Macintosh-5 com.apple.usbmuxd[46]: usbmuxd-263 on Nov
14 2011 at 18:58:10, running 64 bit
Feb 15 19:07:17 Macintosh-5
/System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow[
53]: Login Window Application Started
Feb 15 19:07:17 Macintosh-5 configd[14]: network configuration changed.
Feb 15 19:07:18 Macintosh-5 com.apple.SystemStarter[47]: Starting Cisco
Systems VPN Driver
Feb 15 19:07:18 Macintosh-5 com.apple.SystemStarter[47]: Starting
Macaroni
Feb 15 19:07:18 Macintosh-5 kextloadlogger[96]:
/System/Library/Extensions/CiscoVPN.kext
Feb 15 19:07:19 Macintosh-5 MacaroniTool[99]: Starting Macaroni daemon