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lumix · 05:21 AM

I have an Ibook G4 model powerbook 6.7 with a 1.42 GHz CPU
Out of the blue, it froze so I rebooted. It goes as far as showing the apple logo with the spinning circle.
The circle keeps spinning but goes no further.
I booted from CD and ran disk utility and tried repair. It gave me error, invalid node structure. Volume check failed.
So I erased the hard drive and ran the fix again. This time it says no repairs were necessary.
Then I tried to reinstall the OS from the CD's that came with the i book.
It runs for a few minutes then says an error occurred, try installing again.
I tried several times to install but keep getting this error.
Do I need a new hard drive?

If it is the hard drive, can I go to someplace like best buy and get a drive off the shelf or do I have to buy a drive specifically made for this ibook?

amazing · May 2, 2009, 08:38 AM

Sounds like the HD is bad. You need a PATA/IDE replacement, not SATA. You can find great prices at zipzoomfly.com or at newegg.com for example:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10010105

Next, if you're at all handy with small screws and intricate directions, you can replace it yourself (remembering not to force anything). Go to ifixit.com and download the appropriate guide. Print out 2 copies. One copy you will use to tape all the tiny screws to, at the exact location they came from. The other copy is your guide.

You can tell from the amount of screws that you're going to be dealing with that this is a real pain, but just take it slowly and methodically and it can be done. You could also buy that drive and take to a Mac repair shop to have it done (get an estimate!)

First thing I'd do, though, is try to boot from an external firewire HD. Do you have access to one, perhaps thru a friend?

lumix · May 2, 2009, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by amazing

Sounds like the HD is bad. You need a PATA/IDE replacement, not SATA. You can find great prices at zipzoomfly.com or at newegg.com for example:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10010105

Next, if you're at all handy with small screws and intricate directions, you can replace it yourself (remembering not to force anything). Go to ifixit.com and download the appropriate guide. Print out 2 copies. One copy you will use to tape all the tiny screws to, at the exact location they came from. The other copy is your guide.

You can tell from the amount of screws that you're going to be dealing with that this is a real pain, but just take it slowly and methodically and it can be done. You could also buy that drive and take to a Mac repair shop to have it done (get an estimate!)

First thing I'd do, though, is try to boot from an external firewire HD. Do you have access to one, perhaps thru a friend?

Thanks for the help and advice. I browsed the ifixit.com guide and it looks like something I can do with no problems.
Looking at hard drives on zipzoomfly it says I need an ATA not SATA . You mention that I need a PATA/IDE drive.
When I boot from DVD and go to utilities, someplace in there it list the computer properties. It says "connection Bus ATA."
Am I right to assume that I need an ATA drive?
I

Simon · May 2, 2009, 12:31 PM

In this case ATA = PATA = IDE. SATA will not work in an iBook.

lumix · May 8, 2009, 07:35 PM

I replaced my hard drive today. Took about 3 hours playing with all of those little screws and installing the software.
It went without any problems. (although I do have 3 screws left over)
I put in a 160GB 2.5" Seagate Momentus 5400.3 ATA Notebook drive with 8MB Cache.
Thanks amazing for your help and advice and thanks Simon for the clarification.

amazing · May 9, 2009, 09:09 AM

Congratuations! Even with 3 screws left over, doesn't it feel great to have successfully completed such a complicated repair?

The iBook that I originally replaced the HD in is now back in my hands again, with the dreaded video problem. I'm gonna try reseating the video chip with a heat gun! An even more complicated repair...