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Help needed with Mac

Discussion in 'The Alternative OS' started by Sunaru, Feb 18, 2013.

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  1. Sunaru TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 52

    Okay. Here is what happened. I tried to install Windows 7 on my Mac with Boot Camp. When it restarted, and went to setup, it couldn't find the install.

    I read somewhere that when someone was installing Win7 on a laptop, they had to switch the USB ( I was using a USB drive ) to a 2.0 port. I tried to use http://xoneforum.allen-heath.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5294&title=macbook-pro-usb-30-issue-fixed to get USB 2.0 on my iMac.

    About a few hours later, I couldn't use my USB drive on my Mac and figured it was because of that. I told myself to change it back to 3.0 later.

    Today, when I turned on my Mac, both my Apple keyboard and Apple mouse wouldn't connect to the computer. I then tried to use a USB keyboard and USB mouse, but I figured that because of the USB 2.0 and 3.0 stuff, it wouldn't work.

    Now, I'm going crazy. My mom thinks I got a virus because of downloading stuff, and it's nowhere near because of that. PLEASE help me I beg of you guys.
    Sunaru, Feb 18, 2013
    #1

  2. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 11,891   +117

    I don't know man. Suppose worst case if you don't get help, is you can boot from your OS disk/usb drive and do an 'archive and install' of OS X. It will keep all your stuff and give you a fresh OS. That seems like a major overkill for this problem.

    You implied you knew how to undo what you did, but for some reason didn't... What is that reason?
    SNGX1275, Feb 19, 2013
    #2

  3. Sunaru TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 52

    I don't have an install disk/usb drive.

    I was being lazy and was gonna do it later. I turned it back on today, and now I can't use USB drives to use a keyboard or a mouse.
    Sunaru, Feb 19, 2013
    #3

  4. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 11,891   +117

    I guess your mouse and kb aren't bluetooth? Could you borrow a bluetooth keyboard from someone?

    You could boot into single user mode, I think, as long as you don't have open firmware password. Then you should be able to undo what you did from the command line.
    SNGX1275, Feb 19, 2013
    #4

  5. Sunaru TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 52

    Both my bluetooth and USB kb/mouse sets don't work.
    Sunaru, Feb 19, 2013
    #5

  6. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 11,891   +117

    They should work early enough in the boot to get you to single user mode, whether they continue to work as it boots into single user I don't know. I'm not familiar with Macs new enough that they didn't come with their own DVD/USB OS install media, but I thought the newish ones had a way to boot up and reinstall the OS by downloading it as you go, so you didn't even need a DVD/USB.
    SNGX1275, Feb 20, 2013
    #6
     

  7. Sunaru TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 52

    I'll try to boot into single user mode when I get back to my Mac. Right now, I don't have access to it. About not needing your own DVD/USB OS install media, I think you're talking about Recovery Partition.
    Sunaru, Feb 20, 2013
    #7

  8. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 11,891   +117

    SNGX1275, Feb 20, 2013
    #8

  9. Sunaru TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 52

    Well, I don't think any of this will matter anymore, because my parents have brought in the iMac for repairs and I have no idea what the repair guys are going to do.

    My mother just would not stop talking about stuff that I've done that could have broken the Mac, and I can't tell her why something isn't working because I don't know what isn't working for the repair guys. They can't use the USB ports? They can't use the Bluetooth keyboard/mouse? I don't know.

    If possible, could you tell me how exactly a Mac user would get malware? Do they have to enter their password before they get the trojan/virus? Can a simple file such as a movie get you infected? I'd like to tell my mom that it is only because the USB ports won't work, but I don't know if the repair guys were trying to use a wired keyboard/mouse. Instead, I'll just have to tell her why it isn't what she thinks (e.g., games, movies, music, Java).
    Sunaru, Feb 21, 2013
    #9

  10. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 11,891   +117

    Just recently there was a reported attack called "Pintsized" that supposedly circumvents Gatekeeper. This was a targeted attack (meaning not involving the general public, more like a 'proof of concept' attack), it is the first one that I have heard of that DID NOT require the user to enter their password.

    So it is extremely unlikely that your problem is malware related in any way.
    SNGX1275, Feb 21, 2013
    #10

  11. Sunaru TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 52

    Thanks for the info. Now if only my mom would stop thinking that OS X is like Windows and actually listen to me. She thinks that I'm stubborn, but it's the other way around.
    Sunaru, Feb 21, 2013
    #11

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