How do I restore from a TimeMachine backup if I can't boot into the OS? (kernel panic) UPDATE

[StealthMode]

I am running 10.5.2 Zephyroth install, everything was working till I deleted the wrong files.... and had to hit the reset switch...Now I have a kernel panic an can't boot.. Here is what I am talking about..
http://www.filelime.com/upload/files/IMG_7231.JPG

AMD Opteron 165
DFI nForce4 Ultra-D
2gb G.Skill
nVidia 6800GS (Q/E, C/I in Tiger and Leo)
120gb SATA (Leo)
250GB SATA (XP)
250GB SATA (TimeMachine)
500GB SATA (Files)
Buffalo Wireless NIC (Broadcom)

[StealthMode]

Ok, I'm dumb... I am restoring off the DVD, 20 minutes left!!! If this doesn't do the trick, I'll be back! ...

[StealthMode]

Ok, so I successfully restored, but now it won't boot from my drive, It hangs at Verifying DMI (what ever it's called) and if I have the DVD in the drive I get a com.apple.boot.plist not found... I'm stumped.

[StealthMode]

Ok, reinstalled EFIv8 and made my partiton bootable and I still am stuck with the blinking curser with no boot..... DVD in the drive I get the com.apple.boot.plist missing again.

[StealthMode]

Ok this is getting more frustrating.. I did the bless -device, I have reinstalled EFI 3 times, I have made remade the partition active numerous times.....Whats more aggravating is the fact that the diskXsY is always changing! One boot it is disk1s1, next it's disk3s1, and now it decides it is disk2s1..... I haven't changed anything in my BIOS or anywhere, I just reboot.... It's never the same it seems, or if it is, it changes. Very annoying.. Is there a reason this is happening?

[cgsheen]

I also tried restoring the entire system from a Time Machine backup by booting off the DVD and running the restore utility. I had the same problem: couldn't make it bootable. Not trying to "pour salt in wounds" but I ended up spending MUCH less time and hassle by just re-installing from scratch. And, you can transfer all your applications, user data, and files either in the initial setup or with the migration utility...

[StealthMode]

Nice, well thats what I am going to do. It will take me an hour now that I know which install settings work for me (took 2 days initially to get it right) so this should be back to normal I hope..

[peppi]

Hi,
are you running dual boot, i mean is there xp somewhere on that machine working?
I use macdrive on PC, so you can easily mount the mac partition whithin windows to backup/restore files
in case you made a mistake. Also good for modifying kext files with device id's...
Maybe an idea for the next experiments...
P

[StealthMode]

MacDrive has saved me a lot of headaches in the past. I use it all the time actually.