[chasg]

Hi All,

Ok, I've just acquired this iBook that's really sick (got it cheap 'cause of constant kernel panics and even hangs during OSX installation, so it's gotta be hardware).

I'm trying to isolate what the problem may be, in hopes that I can resurrect it, but I'm stuck.

First step was to pull out all non-stock extras (an extra RAM chip and the Airport card). Then I zapped the PRAM, oh, 6 times or so.

Second: I put in my OSX 10.4 disc, intending to wipe the drive, but this is where I'm stuck: I get to the "Preparing Installation" splash screen, and it hangs (DVD spins down and then...nothing).

Any suggestions as to how to wipe the drive and/or isolate the fault? I'm wiling to replace the internal HD, but I don't want to go through the stomach-churning agony of opening up an iBook (makes my TiBook look easy!) if I don't have to. The HD is the last user-replacable part though, and if that's not the prob, then this thing is a doorstop, and that would bite (it's in immaculate condition).

And no, it's no longer under warranty :-/

Chas

[Dork.]

what type of iBook is it?

Do you have the original Hardware Test disc that shipped with it?

Is there a possibility it could be the DVD drive and not the HD?

Can you mount the iBook on another Mac vis target disc mode and install 10.4 that way?

[chasg]

Good questions (fast reply too!)

It's a G4 iBook, not sure of the CPU speed at the mo' because right after posting I remembered I could put it into Firewire target mode and mount it on my G5. I did so, and then rebooted the G5 with the OSX disc and I am now wiping the iBook's drive and putting OSX on (but I still have a really bad feeling about this...)

I don't have the hardware test disc, unfortunately, just the iBook and power cord. Too bad, I'd forgotten about those, but I'm pretty sure that she didn't keep hers anyways.

I seriously doubt that it's the DVD drive, as the kernel panics would happen even if there was no disc in the drive (they were pretty random, sometimes a minute after startup and with nothing done on the machine, sometimes it would take up to 1/2 hour to panic).

I can say that the machine hums along just fine in Firewire target disk mode, so that seems to indicate that it's not the hard drive (rats, this points to something on the motherboard).

Chas

[Dork.]

My next suggestion would be to beg, borrow, or steal a hardware test disc for the appropriate model iBook, or use some other form of diagnostic test. That would tell you if something major is wrong with the motherboard.

Doesn't the iBook have some on-board RAM? Maybe that's bad. I wonder is there's a way to disable it in Open Firmware....

[chasg]

Yeah, I'm going to have to look long and hard for one of those discs. I really need to know if it's the motherboard or not (again, don't want to swap out the HD just as a test)

Could be the on-board RAM (a whoppin' 128Mb! Whee!), sure hope not. Open Firmware fiddling, hmm, could be dangerous (worth a try though, better than a doorstop).

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Chas

ps. love the .sig! fyi: the other day I met Carol Cleveland who plays "Zoot/Dingo" in the movie, nice lady :-)