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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > PowerBook will not boot

PowerBook will not boot
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EvanV
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Sep 29, 2006, 10:51 AM
 
Hey guys,

Had a freeze up yesterday and could not do anything, so just hit the power button and restarted. Ever since then, I cannot get the damn thing to bootup. I get to the white screen with the circular loading bar and it sits there for literally 20 minutes. After it loads, it goes to a black screen with a white typing bar (looks a lot like DOS). I have tried booting from a CD with no luck...

Anyone have any ideas???

BTW, It is a 1.25 Ghz PowerBook (2003ish) -- 2GB RAM.
     
EvanV  (op)
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Sep 29, 2006, 11:59 AM
 
OK so now I got it to boot from my Tiger disk.. However, when I try to format, it cannot find my harddrive (it shows it as listed.. 60 GB free, but wont let me select it) and just has the scrolling circle in top right corner. Any other suggestions???
     
amazing
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Sep 29, 2006, 01:24 PM
 
Sounds like the HD is going bad. Did it make noises recently, grinding, etc?

Try running fsck to see if it sees the HD. You hold down apple-s during startup until you see scrolling white text on black background. Release the keys, type "fsck -fy" at the prompt, hit return. Of course, this won't work if the HD is dead.

Only other suggestion: hook it up in firewire target disk mode to another Mac. This might allow you to use the Tiger disk to do an "archive and install" from the second Mac, or it might allow you to do a backup. You do have a somewhat current backup, hmmm?
     
EvanV  (op)
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Sep 29, 2006, 02:41 PM
 
amazing,

Thanks for the tips. I let it sit at that screen for like 15 minutes and it finally allowed me to do a format. I had to leave for work before I could see the results though, but it looks the HD is not responding for some reason.. I had a backup on my iPod from a while back, but wish I could have backed up some files from this but that is OK..

If it is the HD, is it easily replaceable?
     
tintin220
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Sep 30, 2006, 11:05 PM
 
If you have warranty, Apple should take care of it. Good thing at least you have a backup on your ipod.

A similar thing happened to me today. An idiot friend of mine didnt read instructions when installing FrontRow on my pb and screwed things up. Then he tried to fix it without telling me and deleted a bunch of system files. As a result, I lost all my files and my entire portoflio.
     
EvanV  (op)
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Oct 1, 2006, 08:21 AM
 
Nah, I dont have any warranty left.. Is there a place online I can buy a faster/bigger HD and swap it in the PB? Sorry, I have not been on these forums for ages, I don't know what is going on in the Mac World except that there are no Core 2 Duo MBP
     
Velocity211
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Oct 1, 2006, 09:19 AM
 
You can check newegg.com for any ATA-6 notebook hard drive.
iMac 24" | Core 2 Extreme 2.8GHz | 4GB RAM | 500GB HD
PowerBook G4 15" HR | 1.67GHz | 2GB RAM | 100GB HD
R.I.P 1995 Toyota Supra NA-T
     
EvanV  (op)
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Oct 3, 2006, 07:16 PM
 
Hey guys,

Still NO luck whatsoever.. I got it to reformat and re-install, and then it says installation cannot be completed.. I tried about ten times, it worked once.. So I get in, download all the updates, restart and it wont boot again so back to reformatting/install os x etc.. Anyways, I did the fsck -fy command and here is what I get :



You'll also notice it says I have 2040 MB Ram, then it says going back to 512 like there is an error.

I did run the Tiger DVD and on the installation you can see Utility Disk. In there I hit verify and repair disk and it said its fine, but in fsck -fy it says it needs minor repair.. So my question is, is it my HD or is it my computer in general that is messed up? I have not had a problem in 3 years until last week. Please let me know if anyone knows how to fix this!

Thanks,
Evan
     
brokenjago
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Oct 3, 2006, 07:46 PM
 
I hear Disk Warrior can repair the Volume header, as well as disk utility. I believe you can open disk utility in the OS X installation process. Try it out!
Linkinus is king.
     
EvanV  (op)
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Oct 3, 2006, 07:58 PM
 
Hey brokenjago,

I have tried that thru the OS X Installation Process, and it said everything was fine (both VERIFY and REPAIR)?

I really dont know what to do now. I am afraid if I buy a new HD, it wont even be a problem with the HD at all (looking at 120GB 7200RPM for 150 or so).
     
brokenjago
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Oct 3, 2006, 09:41 PM
 
Well, if you buy a new HDD and install it and it doesn't work, you can always return it and lose nothing but your time...

At least you can if you buy it at Fry's Electronics.

I doubt it's anything but a problem with your HD, unless you dropped it or something shortly before you had these problems.
Linkinus is king.
     
EvanV  (op)
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Oct 3, 2006, 10:23 PM
 
To tell you the truth, I have never brought it outside or even took it off my desktop until last week. So it was in my bag (incase padded backpack).. Worked fine at school, then I installed the new MSN 6 and thats when the problems started... Another problem is I live in Canada, so I am trying to find something equivalent to Fry's or Newegg.com to order a HD off of.
     
amazing
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Oct 4, 2006, 03:19 PM
 
EvanV: if you've tried reinstalling the system software with no success, the only stuff remaining is trying to backup any recent stuff. That's why I was suggesting trying firewire target disk mode (FTD) but to do that, you need access to a 2nd mac. Meantime, if everything recent is easily recreated, then that's not a big deal.

For instructions on replacing the HD, go to pbfixit.com and print out the instructions, including any helpful hints on keeping track of the screws. If you're not very handy with tools and very small parts, you might be better off paying an Apple Service Provider to replace the HD. There's reports that CompUSA charges $30 US to replace the HD, and you might find similar low price in Canada, though I suspect it might be more like $80. Still, opening the PB is sufficiently complex and delicate that it could easily be inadvertently damaged. Even $100 is little enough to pay for peace of mind.
     
EvanV  (op)
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Oct 14, 2006, 10:54 PM
 
Hey guys,

Just an update.. bought a new 100GB 7200RPM Seagate HD.. Installed it myself with the guide from pbfixit.com and it works!

Thanks a lot guys... and the install was a piece of cake and I dont know anything about that sort of stuff (never opened a computer in my life)...
     
amazing
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Oct 15, 2006, 12:52 AM
 
Congratulations on doing it yourself--that confidence will translate into other areas as well!
     
   
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