[Dexsta]

Hi
Sorry if this has been addressed before but it's taken me a while to find this page and don't want to lose it !

My daughter has an iBook G4 which has run perfect since new. The other day it started running very slowly and kept freezing on downloads. She rebooted after a freeze and nothing happened except for the Apple logo and the spinning wheel thingy. She did a control command (I think) start and still nothing. She was advised on the Apple site to do a reset PRAM start (wwhatever that is) and now it won't even boot to the Apple logo. All she gets is a greyish screen with a flashing folder of a happy face and a question mark. Not being a Mac user I have no idea what is wrong with it and can only assume that a System Folder is either dead or badly corrupted. Anyone any ideas how she might get it to boot without having to do a total re-install and lose everything.

Many thanks
Dex

[seanc]

Sounds more like the hard drive has died to me.

If you can get to another Mac, put the iBook into Target Disk Mode by pressing T after the chime, then hook up a 6 pin Firewire cable between the two Macs, this *may* enable you to rescue the data if the drive hasn't died completely.

[kick52]

if the hd has died, good luck, because the hd's are a bitch to replace.

i'm holding back on getting another one because i'm scared i'm gonna break it. :/

[Dexsta]

Hi
Cheers for the reply. I'll ask if any of her mates have one. It does seem like a HDD issue thinking about it cos before it "died" on her, last week the drive was buzzing and making a real weird noise. Now with just the happy mac icon it barely spins. Makes a few sluggish attempts and goes silent. Shame it isn't in a caddy like my Dell, just looked at the instructions to remove HDD and it looks quite a drawn out affair. Think I'll pass this one up, case looks too easy to break !!
Cheers for your help anyway.

Dex

[mfbernstein]

If the drive is damaged, I wouldn't try and boot the machine (risk of accelerating complete drive failure). If a friend has a Mac with Firewire, Target Disk mode should do the trick. If not, you (or somebody) will need to take the drive out of the iBook and stick it in an external enclosure. You can then hook it up to your PC and copy the files off using MacDrive.

If the iBook is under warranty, once you have your data, you can have Apple replace the drive. If not, replacement drives are cheap, but the procedure is certainly nontrivial. However, if you plan on keeping the iBook, the drive will have to be replaced, one way or another.

[kick52]

yeah. you can send your ibook off to be repaired by other people if you cant do it yourself.

though if you stick to the instructions, and take your time without forcing anything, so should be fine..

i rushed a bit on doing my imac and chipped the processor card. sh*t. luckily, it didnt touch any electrical stuff, so yay.

[Dexsta]

Thanks all for the advice and info, appreciate it. If I were to have a go myself (being pressured by daughter trying to save money here!) is the hard drive just a normal everyday laptop drive like I have in my Dell or is it a different sort for an iBook ?

Many thanks

[seanc]

It's a standard laptop drive like the one you have in your Dell.

If you follow the guide carefully and don't rush anything you should be fine, those cases are very strong even though it seems like what you're doing to them might make them snap.

[mfbernstein]

It's a 2.5" IDE (ATA) drive, any standard manufacturer (Seagate, Western Digital, Fujitsu) will do.

If you are going the external enclosure route for recovering the data, it may be worth the extra $$ for one that includes FireWire: such an enclosure can be used to boot the iBook from.

When disassembling, be careful to keep your screws organized: there are a lot, and its easy to misplace them, or use the wrong ones. Of course, make sure to avoid static discharge when operating.

[Dexsta]

Okey dokes. Game on then I reckon. It's the picture of the "big screwdriver" that look's scarey ! Think she's getting the new drive of eBay so I'll let you know if I manage to succeed or kill it totally Might be on eBay next week under iBook G4 with cracked case !

Thanks everyone for the quick responses and the advice.

Dex

[frdmfghtr]

I wouldn't get a drive from eBay unless it is truly "brand new" and not just "new to you."

Here's the webpage I used to replace the drive on my 12" iBook G4:

iBook G4 12" Disassembly: Installing Hard Drive Replacement - iBook Parts

There is a tool missing from the tools list: PATIENCE!!!!! It took em a full two hours to do it, but a gross excess of patience will help keep things on track.

There's a screw guide in PDF format that I HIGHLY recommend printing before you start; as you remove the screws, place them on the guide. That will help keep track of them as they come out.

Follow the directions, have patience and a full afternoon to devote to the task, and you can do it. Heck, take digital pictures before each disassembly so you can refer to wire positions, etc. on reassembly.

[Dexsta]

Hi
Well hopefully the one she's got from eBay is new-new as it's advertised new from a power seller and came vac-packed.....60gb for £35 which I thought was a pretty good price seems I got one for my Dell 2 years ago and cost me nearly £90

Cheers for the ifix link. Instructions are far better than the ones on the Apple site and the screw guide is a great idea. All printed and ready to go. Got me spudger at the ready eventhough I've never heard on one. Could be an interesting 24 hours in this household. Not sure if it will be as quick as I would like cos the daughter now tells me she can't find the OS disc which isn't very helpful. Got the envelope but no disc.

[Dexsta]

Jobs a good un !!!! Managed to strip the old one out in 45 minutes but putting it back together again took an hour and a half. Looks like it's had a drinks spill at some point in its life as the bottom shield is badly stained (unless of course it's the heat that's caused it) and there's quite alot of white corrosion around parts of the alloy chassis. Manged to clean it up ok and it's running so hopefully it will now behave itself for the forseeable future. I stuck the old HDD in a USB caddy and hooked it upto a PC to try and salvage some/any of her work but it's not happening at the mo. Just get an error message telling me the USB device is not recognised. I'll keep on trying and hopefully it may yield something when it's ready to ?
Anyway, cheers everyone for your help and advice, it was much appreciated. The screw guide was worth it's weight in gold cos without it I don't think I could have ever remembered where they all went.

Now I know where to come with a problem I'm sure I'll be back at some point when she gets in a muddle with it !

Many thanks

Dex

[mfbernstein]

Good work on replacing the drive.

Do you have MacDrive (free, full-featured demo available) or something like it installed on the PC? WIndows doesn't recognize Mac format disks by default.

[Dexsta]

Thank you. No I haven't got Macdrive installed so will go now and find a Trial Version and see what I can do ! Didn't realise it wouldn't recognize the drive. I'll let you know how I get on. Cheers for the info