[The Godfather]

Hi

Yesterday, my computer suddenly started act weird:

• sluggish opening and closing apps
• getting beachballs left and right
• getting stuck during Expose
• Finder windows refreshing after 5 minutes
• booting takes like 20 minutes
• it feels like a PearPC emulation
• CD burning fails every time because it is so slow
• I can't get anything done

More specifically, it feels like the hard disk has chewing gum inside. It doesn't feel like the CPU is overloaded (yes, I run %ps -x).

So, I felt like Ellen Feiss for the whole day that day. But not to the point of jumping out the window, since I got my work files on a Flash drive and my wife has loaned me her Dell. God bless this Dell. Anyway...

Repairing permissions did nothing for me.

Both the Disk Utility and fsck (refer to Single User Mode in the Apple KB) reported that my [b]keys were scrambled[b] and my Catalog B-tree needed to be fixed. I let fsck fix my B-tree and it reports I/O errors on my hard drive and that the operation could not be completed.

I am thinking I should bring my iBook to the local Apple Store so they can see it. I was wondering, what actions I could take in order to ensure a very good experience. I have heard of horror stories with Apple care, I don't want that to happen to me.

I need tips from the technical ones to the social ones. Do you think that having non-Apple RAM will make them refuse to honor their warranty? What are my rights when I am dealing with the Mac genius and when I am on the phone with the Apple servicing center?

The computer in question is a 12" iBook 800MHz with 30GB HD, 640MB RAM, AP Extreme, no bluetooth. Bought on April last year (Apple labor and parts still covered).

It would be very nice to have this problem fixed in little time, within this city and without paying a lot (though it would be even nicer to have a new iBook).

So, what you got? Do you think anything other than the HD might be fried?

[KeriVit]

I'd try the iBook forum before taking it in- maybe they have experience?

[ghporter]

This does indeed sound like an iBook thread.

For what it's worth, I'd back up the hard drive. It may require completely wiping the disk and starting over, so a backup would mean that you wouldn't lose all your data. Back up JUST YOUR DATA AND DOCUMENTS in one operation, then the whole thing in a second operation. It is quite possible that restoring a full backup in your case would give you back whatever the problem is, so the data-only backup is important.

Back up EVERYTHING now and then. Back up DOCUMENTS AND DATA FREQUENTLY.

[The Godfather]

Yes, it sounds like an iBook thread. I was hoping for a more general audience because my biggest concern is about Apple service and how to get the best experience out of them. Also, if I post this in both forum sections, I would get some flames.

I am 80% sure that my HD is kaput. It still works, although very slowly. I will try to squeeze my iPhoto directory through the network. Then I will try reformat and reinstall.

[Eriamjh]

Disk Warrior