[Pianomankw]

So im in Switzerland for a few weeks right now. (im from america) I was relying on it for communication but now ive found an internet cafe because my ibook suddenly started freezing one day when i took it out of my bag. I restarted it and restarted it but it keeps freezing within about 2-3 minutes of booting all the way up. Less if i try to do something in the 2-3 minutes. I dont know what to do now...Ive reset the pram and am about to reset the pmu but i doubt that will do anything. What do you think i should do....i dont have any tools with me to open it up or anything.
I should also mention that I have the harddrive running out of a firewire harddrive enclosure. Does anyone know what the problem would be???

[amazing]

Have you got the install disks with you? If so, "archive and install."

Beyond that, need more details, such as model and why you're using an external fw bootup HD. Did you install something just before this started, or did it get dropped?

Whereabouts is Switzerland? Here's a link a Swiss user groups, also a good way to meet people

Apple - User Groups - Find a User Group

[Pianomankw]

thanks for the quick response.....i have an ibook g4 12" 800 mhz....i was carrying it around in my bookbag for about 2-3 days but it was never dropped....i had used it perfectly the day before.....i didnt install anything...just checked my mail and listened to some music....im using an external harddrive because either the cable from the harddrive to the logicboard is broken or part of the logicboard it self is....so it would never recognize a harddrive inside the computer....i just dont see what the problem could be....i went through airport security and used it all on the airplane and the next two days...it worked fine....but then i just took it out the next day and it was messing up....

[Biest]

Here are the most probable things that happened:

1. RAM loose or broken
2. Logic Board fried

the same "symptoms" came up with my PowerBook when both the RAM and the Logic Board fried

[amazing]

Taking the RAM out and re-seating it might help. Again, it could be the external HD has gone bad. It could also be the firewire cable has gone bad.

Also, please describe the symptoms of the freeze. Is there a flashing question mark, etc?

Main question still remains as to whether you have the install disks with you. If so, start up off the install disk and see if the external HD is visible in Disk Utility. If so, do an archive and install and see if that restores the iBook.

If you don't have the install DVD with you, how about a friend, etc? That's a reason why I gave you the User Group info--people at a user group are extraordinarily helpful and you might walk away from the user group meeting with a restored iBook.

[Pianomankw]

hmmm...ill try to reseat the ram and get back to you on that one...

Basically the freeze is not like normal symptoms of a bad logicboard....it boots up fine...everything loads...has absolutely no problem recognizing the harddrive....its just that after about 3 minutes it will just freeze....at first its just the mouse over the dock wont make icons move and nothing will open...and then after another minute the mouse will stop....

If you try and do something like play music, it will open up itunes at first and then you can play the music but after about 2 minutes, it freezes to the point where the mouse wont move but the music still plays.....this is super weird...

does anyone think the fsck thing would work...i was going to try that because i read it somewhere but then when i got back to where im staying...i didnt write down how to get to that black screen....can anyone tell me directions on how to do that if that would work???

[amazing]

Given that the system gets that far, and that you don't have the install disks, there's 2 things to try:

1. As you say, you try fsck. To do this, you hold down the command and "s" keys during startup (command = Apple key.) Once you get to the black screen with scrolling white text, you wait for the prompt, then you type "fsck -fy" and hit return (this is if you have journaling turned on.) You keep repeating this until it says "OK." This procedure is the same as running Disk Utility. Then you type "reboot" and hit return. This might solve the problem.

2. You hold the Shift key down during startup, which runs fsck and turns off all startup options. You hold the key down until you get to the login screen. This is called Single User startup. Since you seem to have a startup conflict, this might do it. If the System starts up, go to the Accounts Pref and disable all startup options and software. Then go to the Startup Disk Pref, re-select the correct System folder, and do a restart.

3. Have you install disks sent over to you or go to a Mac shop or user group in Switzerland.

[Pianomankw]

well i reseated the ram an it improved it...i think....it now doesnt freeze for about 10 minutes, but i think that might have actually been because it was sitting in a really cold floor for a while....i turned it back on and it stopped after like 2 minutes again.
I was about to do the fsck thing, but i didnt write down the command-s thing. I had it mistaken for command-c....ill try that and get back to you...

[Pianomankw]

ahhh...i did the fsck thing and it didnt really do anything. It kept saying unknown command or something and then it would OK. i tried it different ways but it would do the same thing. Now when i try to start it up it automatically goes the the command prompt thing and it will never find the harddrive. i havent moved it or anything since the last time i used it. SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!!!

[amazing]

fsck probably didn't work because you're not using a journaled Mac OS. Try just typing the command without the "f" (fsck -y) and you might have to put in the whole shebang, namely "/sbin/fsck -y"

Did you try booting using "safe mode?" That's where you hold down the Shift key during startup. Be aware that this startup requires a LOT more time, sometimes like 5 minutes, so you have to be very patient. When you come to the login screen where it asks for user name and password (which you'd better know) there'll be "Safe Mode" written in red at the top of the window.

By the way, if you want any more more help, need more info:
1. what version Mac OS, what ibook, how much RAM, how much empty HD space.
2. the fact that the OS froze after it was running for awhile seems to indicated that there might not be enough empty HD space. You need to have at least 5 GB empty HD space for OS X to be "comfortable."
3. How long are you in Switzerland? Can you have your Mac OS install disks Fed-Ex'ed to you?
4. Are you going to school in Switzerland? Any tech support available?

Lastly, bring your iBook to the Internet cafe so that you can run the commands right then and there. You can also go to Apple - Support to get your own answers.

[amazing]

Also, how about taking it to a Mac repair shop in Switzerland? They'd probably have it fixed in 15 minutes?

[Pianomankw]

thanks a lot for this info...i dont want to have to take it to an apple store because theyll charge me an arm and a leg just to look at it and diagnose something...
i have an ibook g4 800mhz 12" with 640mb of ram running OSX Tiger. It now has about 10gb left on a 40gb harddrive. It has been running with these specs since i bought it used back in March.
Since i did buy it used...it did not come with any of the install discs, therefore, i cannot get them fedexed to me.
I am not going to school in Switzerland, but i did contact the tech support at my school at home. I asked if they can just reinstall Tiger on it. They said that they have to have someway of confirming that it came with Tiger on it. I told them it did, but im not even sure about that. It might have come with Panther on it. I dont think they have Panther though....they might, and it if they dont, they might be nice and buy if for me. But I dont even know if thats the problem. Ill try those other commands you told me and ill also try to bring the ibook to the internet cafe....i just stay all the way across town and it gets quite heavy after carrying a nonworking computer around all day....ill see what else i can do....anymore suggestions??

[amazing]

next suggestion is to use the user group above to find out how close you are to a user group meeting. They'd be enormously helpful, with lots of expertise in the meeting.

[Pianomankw]

I looked at those last night...theyre all to far away from where i am....im going home on Sunday....im just going to wait until then to do anything major.....keep the help coming please....i need all i can get....

[RTFM]

Your logic board is bad. But this is specific to the ata-bus off your hard drive. Or some chip related to the hard drive's ata bus. That's why you can boot without a hitch off an external fw drive, or your DVD OSX installation. This has been my case. I initially thought to be an hd problem, replacing 2 HDs in a row. I went with the closest logical step up. replacing the ata mini ribbon that connects to the internal drive. Same deal. I later tried the same drives I thought damaged with special adapters for my desktop mac. And guess what? They all work fine. and I was able to recover all files. Hell the drives weren't damaged at all!
Contrary to popular belief. The Logic board failure extends beyond the video chipset. It's failure of bad solder points that crack over time. And it could be ANY chip. That's why it works when you apply pressure down on the case. Basically you're joining the bad solder points by force.

Apple is cooking up numbers saying that only a minority of users are experiencing these problems. Instead of saying that only users who bought extended warranties are the ones complaining about this problem.

iBook G4 logic board Petition

[misecia]

i had a similar problem a few years ago with my iBook and then it went dead completely, turns out that the harddrive was screwed try putting it in another machine (if you have access to one) and see if it happens there too.