[simonmartin]

Hi,

A friend had ditched a dead iBook with me asking me to resurect it.

Whatever I do I can only get the flashing ? mark at bootup. It won't start from a cd, in Target mode or in single user mode.

I have disconnected the battery and left the thing for 24 hours, zapped the PRAM and reset the PMU.

I do get a chime at bootup before I get the ? mark.

If I boot with the option key down I get the two buttons indicating restart or continue but no actual disks to select.

Questions:

Have I missed anything? The only thing I can think of is to replace the RAM but I don't have anything to swap it our with.

Is there any way I can remove the HD and hook it up to my desktop Mac to rescue the contents before sending it for repair?

Thanks!

Simon

[Ambassadeur]

Removing the HD is not that easy but it can be done. Instructions should be handily around on the web, you could try xlr8yourmac.com for that (depends on the ibook model).
Then you could put it into an external enclosure and hook it up to your mac for data transfer - or maybe connect it to the internal bus (is that possible with a notebook drive? dumb question, I know). Good luck!

[simonmartin]

Originally Posted by Ambassadeur

Removing the HD is not that easy but it can be done. Instructions should be handily around on the web, you could try xlr8yourmac.com for that (depends on the ibook model).
Then you could put it into an external enclosure and hook it up to your mac for data transfer - or maybe connect it to the internal bus (is that possible with a notebook drive? dumb question, I know). Good luck!

Ambassadeur,

Thanks for that.

Sounds like a big operation to get an enclosure etc. Is it really tricky to get the drive out?

Simon

[Ambassadeur]

Hey Simon,

how hard it is to take the thing apart depends on the iBook model. I spent long hours with my clamshell ibook, but the white ones are supposed to be easier in that respect.
Have look over here, there should be links to take-apart-guides for G4 iBooks.

The enclosure was just my 1st thought, but I guess there could also be a way to hook it up directly to your IDE bus.

And if the drive is still working, you/your friend might keep it - and the enclosure would be handy then.

[tooki]

The white ones are not appreciably easier. It's still approximately 40 tiny screws which have to be removed and replaced in a very specific order.

Not for the faint of heart.

tooki