[chryder2002]

My 2002 iBook G3 (dual usb, firewire, cdr/dvd) has had a sort of nervous breakdown over the past two weeks, and I was wondering if anyone could relate.

Briefly, changing my keyboard to French a while back made my finder tank on startup, and it never recovered, even after a reinstall of OS X and running disk utility. After starting up in OS 9 to recover data, the system crashed and would not start up (not from the hd or the reinstall disc), forcing me to get my files onto another iBook using firewire target disk mode. Then my iBook seemed almost dead, and I could get only a faint whirring, a faint beep, a click and then nothing when I tried to start it. Today I called apple service in France (where I'm living), and the rep got my computer to finally boot after having me take out the battery and power cord, hold down the reset button for 5 seconds, put everything back and then try starting holding down control and command. It stuttered for a solid minute, then booted in OS 9, which I was using when it last crashed. OS 9's disk utility verified and repaired the disk without problems, and I currently have the old 9 desktop up on my screen.

My question is, now what?

A friend recommended I do a low-level format after these Finder problems began to snowball. Could anyone tell me whether they think that's a good idea, or if it seems possible at this point? Do I need a new hard drive? I've read a few posts on this site about external firewire drives working well. Any advice or experience with these issues would be appreciated.

Thank you,

C. Ryder

[Mojo]

Have you tried running Disk Utility from your OS X CD? It might indicate a failing drive using S.M.A.R.T. or it might find other problems. (Your experience with DU in OS 9 would seem to indicate that the drive is o.k., but the symptoms are still worrisome.)

Doing a low-level format wouldn't hurt anything and it can be helpful to start fresh; if the drive is suffering a hardware failure then it won't matter what you do, software-wise.

For what it is worth, I have been told by a knowledgeable Apple-certified tech that he has seen a lot of iBooks with dead drives under four years old. The drive in my G3 600MHZ iBook failed after three years.

I'm not sure what you are asking about replacing the drive. Are you thinking of using only an external drive if the internal drive goes south? It can be done, but it does affect the iBook's portability just a tad...

As a back-up, a bootable (an important featute that should be verified before purchase) external drive is great. They can be had for around $100 and up. Replacing my G3 drive with an internal 40GB drive cost $180 at an independent, Apple-certified shop. I understand that Apple charges around $300 to replace a drive.

[chryder2002]

Thanks for the response.

Today I tried restarting with OS X off the reinstall disk, and it appears I'm back to my original problem: The Finder.

Whether I start from the disk or the hard drive, Finder just blinks and never boots. I get no hd icon or desktop folders, thus it's tough to access anything. Strangely, all other programs seem to work fine.

Despite the strange behavior of the iBook itself over the past week, the blinking finder still seems like an OS problem to me. What should I try before bringing it to a store?

I can't figure out how to do a low level format. Is erasing my hard drive in Disk Utility and then reinstalling the OS the same thing? In Apple's documentation about high vs. low level formats http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=21103 (which is rather confusing) they say to start from a disk other than the one to be repaired and use Drive Setup. My problems are a.) if I start from the reinstall disk, it only returns me to the installation screen (which I've tried twice already, to no avail), and b.) I don't know where to find Drive Setup. Perhaps it's not on my machine, but downloading it poses a problem (because of my non-functioning Finder). I had hoped Drive Setup was part of Disk Utility, but it doesn't seem so.

I get the feeling that there's some idiotic conflict that's created this mess. Thanks again for any advice.

[Mojo]

Use Disk Utility on your OS X CD. Ignore the install window that appears; go to the Finder Menu Bar and quit the installer application. Select Disk Utility from the Finder Menu Bar. In DU, select the drive icon and not just a volume icon under it. You will notice that the button options will change: First Aid, Erase, Partition, Raid, Restore. You can try using First Aid and see what happens. To do a low-level format: Select Erase, then Options. Select Zero All Data (otherwise known as a low-level format.)

After erasing, you can either partition the drive or go ahead and install OS X on it.

BTW, at the bottom of the Disk Utility window you will find the S.M.A.R.T. Status; does it indicate that the drive is failing?

[chryder2002]

Thanks Mojo–that was just the kind of walk-through I needed.

Before I got your response, however, I erased my hard drive volume and reinstalled OS X, and this seemed to fix the Finder problem. I wondered why the erasure was so quick, and figured I hadn't done a low level format. Now that my iBook's stripped down, I thought I might as well perform the llf and install the OS yet again, just to start over the right way.

I have a few more questions:

1.) What does it mean to partition a hard drive? Does it offer any advantages for the lay computer user?

2.) My Disk Utility doesn't show the S.M.A.R.T. status you mentioned. What is it? Any way to make it show up in DU? Can I assume my hd is essentially healthy from the Verify Disk function? It says "The volume Hard Drive appears to be OK."

3.) What's your opinion of Disk Warrior? It was recommended to me on another site. It's too late for me this time, of course, but is it a reliable tool once I get back to having a busy computer?

Thanks again for the advice. After so many years using macs it's great to learn a thing or two. I'm finally going to try being responsible in terms of maintenance.

[I was David B.]

Originally Posted by chryder2002

Thanks Mojo–that was just the kind of walk-through I needed.

I have a few more questions:

1.) What does it mean to partition a hard drive? Does it offer any advantages for the lay computer user?

This is one thing where you touch philosophy. I think it has no advantage. If you want structure, you can do it with folders. If you partition, sooner or later you come to the point where one partition is filled and the other still has space. What to do then?

2.) My Disk Utility doesn't show the S.M.A.R.T. status you mentioned. What is it? Any way to make it show up in DU? Can I assume my hd is essentially healthy from the Verify Disk function? It says "The volume Hard Drive appears to be OK."

You have to select the disk itself, not a partion. Then the smart status appears at the bottom on the frame.

3.) What's your opinion of Disk Warrior? It was recommended to me on another site. It's too late for me this time, of course, but is it a reliable tool once I get back to having a busy computer?

Disk Warrior already recovered a not readable disk for me and thus I am really glad I bought it. It also optimizes the catalog file and gives you a status of your drive. I would recommend to have something like that in your house. To buy it when you need it is too late most of the time.

[Mojo]

Here are responses to your questions that weren't answered above:

Partitioning is the creation of "virtual drives" usually referred to as "volumes" on a hard drive. It can be useful, depending on how a person uses their Mac. You can install or clone OS X on two or more partitions and switch to the "back-up" should the other develop problems. Some people still install OS 9 and it is typical to put it on its own partition. I did this at one time but I don't any more because OS X is relatively problem-free, I have dropped OS 9 and I use external drives. If you work with Photoshop or another app that uses a drive for "scratch" space, it is an excellent idea to create a scratch partition, which is empty space for the app to use while in operation. Otherwise the data on the drive can be fragmented, sometimes severely...that is generally not a good thing.

I do partition my large external drives, with individual volumes for the clones of my various Macs, scratch space and iTunes music/general backing-up. I'm using 200GB and 250GB drives in Firewire/USB 2.0 enclosures.

I am currently using a cloned system on an external drive because the internal drive in my G3 iBook is failing (after having just been installed last month!) If I didn't have the alternative system on another drive, the G3 iBook could not be used until the bad drive is replaced. Since I am using a cloned system it looks and functions exactly like my G4 iBook. When the G4 returns from Apple I will likely use the cloned system to update the G4 iBook, unless Apple left the drive untouched. In that case I may just copy the files that have changed while it was in the shop.

Your reinstall of OS X went quickly because you didn't perform a low-level formatting of the drive. Doing a low-level formatting will take some time, depending on the size of the drive. Since your system seems to be working fine, you will have to decide if you want to go to the trouble of the low-level format/install. You can install OS X as many times as you desire; just think of the drive as a blank slate that can be wiped-clean whenever it suits you.

I appreciate the usefulness and convenience of external drives and if a person cannot install a second internal drive then an external is the way to go. (It may be perferable to an internal if you want to share the drive with more than one Mac or have other reasons to have a portable drive.) Once you have your new OS X system set-up you can use an inexpensive utility such as SuperDuper! to create a "clone" or exact copy of your OS X volume. (CarbonCopyCloner is a free alternative, but I have had problems using it. Other folks swear by it.) If your iBook drive should die you can start-up using the external cloned system. Or you can copy the clone back to your iBook after reformatting a problem volume. All your custom settings will be preserved; this can save hours spent reconfiguring your system.

You can buy enclosure/drive combos or purchase the enclosure and drive separately, which is the less expensive way to go. Make sure that whatever you buy is "bootable" using OS X; some enclosures are not bootable and they may not make a point of telling you this. (Some previous-generation models of Iogear enclosures are not bootable.) Installing a drive in an enclosure is something most people can do, as long as they have a small phillips screw driver. It takes maybe five minutes to do and instructions accompany the enclosure.

Some enclosures feature button(s) for one-touch backing-up using an app like Retrospect Express which is included with the drive. The new Iogear models have this feature. SuperDuper! can also be used for back-ups (or you can just drag-and-drop.)

Very good deals on bare drives can be had, particularly at stores like Circuit City. I got a 250GB drive for $80 at CC and that is an excellent price. Costco currently has the same drive for $129 and that is also a very good price. Stick with drives that spin at 7200RPM and have an 8MB buffer; 2MB buffer drives are the bargain-basement models, but they are used in drive/enclosure combos, so be sure of what you are buying. (A fancy LaCie enclosure I purchased used a 2MB Western Digital drive.)

Consider buying more drive space than you think you will ever need. The price difference isn't that great if you consider the cost per gigabyte; a very large drive can be a real bargain when you look at it that way. (That 250GB drive cost around $.31 per gigabyte.)

The e-mail I received had a couple more questions that seem to have been edited-out of your last post. But if you are referring to Norton's Disk Doctor, I recommend not using it; Norton products do not enjoy the good reputation they once did. Stick with Disk Warrior, TechToolPro and Disk Utility.

[chryder2002]

Thank you very much for all that advice. Disk Warrior sounds wothwhile, and I had no idea external hd's got up to 250 GB (though actually I'm sure they come even bigger). The system cloning software is great to know about too.

I'm going to start looking around for a large external drive. Mojo, thank you for those vauable specs when it comes to picking one up. My hd is 20 GB, which I imagine sounds like saying I've got 64 mb of ram these days. I've never needed all 20, but with iTunes I'm filling up the space pretty quickly. Since I've pretty much transferred my entire music collection, I'm going to need a new home for all the MP3s.

Let me throw this question out there, if you don't mind: Now thay I've cleaned up my iBook and have some solid backup strategies (thanks to Mojo), what about day-to-day (week-to-week; month-to-month) maintenance? About the only thing I make sure to do is empty my trash. I would appreciate hearing about any tune-ups or cleaning people do with regularity. Perhaps there isn't much to do if (like me) you don't use a bunch of heavy software, but I imagine there are at least a few things I should check periodically.

Thanks once again.

[Mojo]

1. Repair permissions using Disk Utility after upgrading the operating system and installing software.

2. Regularly run a utility such as the free Onyx or Cocktail ($14.95).

I got an external drive when my iTunes music folder threatened to take over my G3 iBook's 20GB drive. THEN I got another external drive to back-up the growing music folder, just in case the drive goes south...

[Mojo]

In its ad in today's Sunday paper Circuit City has the 250MB 8MB buffer Western Digital drive for $100 after rebates. That is the best price I have seen since I purchased one for $80 last November.