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jamesl · May 23, 2005, 05:32 AM

As you will know, the HD in my ibook has died. Im not very happy, as Ive only had it for 14/15 months. What is the likely hood of apple replacing the drive if i phone them up?

Thanks, James

Ambassadeur · May 23, 2005, 07:01 AM

Depends on where you live and what the warranty laasare over there.

But why don't you just give it a try? Tell them it started to behave weirdly some weeks ago (i.e. within a year of purchase) and you just hoped it would go back to normal and did so, but the problem came back now (just an idea...)
In the worst case, they just say no. Anything else is an improvement.

Plus, you can always swap out the HD by yourself. Look on xlr8yourmac.com for instructions and recommended replacement drives.

Good luck

jamesl · May 23, 2005, 12:06 PM

Does anybody know a direct telephone number for apple technical support, as I have only got tyheir standard one, which takes an age to get through? I live in the UK!

jamesl · May 25, 2005, 05:22 AM

Well Apple basically didnt want to know anything about this. They said that I am not covered - end of story!

Would there be a possibility that Hitachi (the harddrives manufacturer) would replace it, as surely they offer longer than a years warrenty on hard drives installed in machines?

Any ideas?

Ji Eun · May 25, 2005, 10:37 AM

same problem, same time frame here.
i'm also out of warranty, and the DIY HD replacement looks a tad too technical for me.
apple japan wants abour 400 USD to replace the HD, so i'm looking at buying a new machine (and getting applecare at some point!!!!!) and dumping this one via net auction.
good luck!

discotronic · May 25, 2005, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by jamesl

Well Apple basically didnt want to know anything about this. They said that I am not covered - end of story!

Would there be a possibility that Hitachi (the harddrives manufacturer) would replace it, as surely they offer longer than a years warrenty on hard drives installed in machines?

Any ideas?

The drive is an OEM and the warranty is covered by Apple. Hitachi won't cover it unfortunately. If you had bought the hard drive directly from them you would have a longer warranty.

You are probably better off picking up a drive yourself and doing the installation. It would be cheaper and if you are tech savy at all you shouldn't have a problem installing it. Just make sure you follow a set of directions if possible.

tooki · May 25, 2005, 02:25 PM

I strongly urge you to not replace the drive yourself. Disassembling an iBook is a daunting task, involving about 40 tiny screws which must be replaced in a specific order. It is not something even the mechanically inclined hobbyist is likely to get right.

tooki

jamesl · May 25, 2005, 02:52 PM

Surely if i follow the insstructions on the net, putting the screnws down onto a piece of paper, i couldntt go wrong?

Ambassadeur · May 25, 2005, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by jamesl

Surely if i follow the insstructions on the net, putting the screws down onto a piece of paper, i couldntt go wrong?

Of course you could go wrong. There's never any guarantee. And Tooki has a good point. You really risk doing grave damage to your ibook.

Thus said, if you are somewhat technically experienced and not afraid of that task and really want to risk it: Instead of putting the screws on a piece of paper (where you would mix them up FOR SURE!), try printing out the intructions with pictures of all the details and then while disassembling, use some sticky tape to attach the screws to the pictures, right on the spots where they came from. This way, you always know where any screw came from and where it belongs when putting it back together. (This advice helped me big time while working on my ibook)

But again: You really risk losing the whole ibook instead of just the money you'd have to pay apple for the repair (and the HD is included there).

Randman · May 25, 2005, 03:44 PM

Another reason laptop owners should seriously consider AppleCare.

discotronic · May 25, 2005, 04:07 PM

Tooki has a point. If you have never taken a laptop apart the iBook is not the one to start on. I have to say that the iBook is one of the most challenging I have ever taken a dive into.

If you are comfortable doing something of that nature you should be good to go. Just make sure you follow proper ESD procedures and have a good system for keeping track of all the screws you take out. The last thing you want to do is give your logic board a nice little shock. Also, be careful of the ribbons. They are very thin and if you tear one you are asking for trouble.

Mojo · May 25, 2005, 08:15 PM

You can also look for an Apple certified repair shop, which should charge considerably less than Apple. (My 40GB replacement cost $180 vs. $300 at Apple.)

For what it is worth, I have been told by a very experienced iBook repair person that he has seen a lot of iBook drives die within 3 years...

Ji Eun · May 29, 2005, 08:56 AM

i found the service manual (incl take-apart guide) for the 12" G4 800, it's a 4mb pdf.
after a half hour going over this thing i'm pretty sure i will either have a certified tech do it or sell the machine for like 400 bucks. (any takers?) looks insanely complicated and there are about 25 thousand dozen steps where you can fatally screw the machine. good grief >___<;;
http://www.whoopis.com/computer_repair/iBookG4.pdf

scottiB · May 29, 2005, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

Another reason laptop owners should seriously consider AppleCare.

Seconded.

My iBook/700 had the HD die after 2 years. I had AppleCare and the drive was swapped and back to me within 72 hous of sending it in.

jamesl · May 31, 2005, 05:17 AM

I have ordered a new drive, and am currently awaiting delivery!

Anyway, somebody mentioned about booking from the apple disks. Previously, the system refused to even acknowledge the fact that a disk was inserted. Now, i get the mac os install disk appear as a possible booting drive, but when i choose this, i get the grey screen, with an apple on it, with the spinning grey circle for around a minte. This then changes to a circle with a line through it, with the circle spinning at the bottom of the screen. Does this mean it cannot boot from the install CD? OR am i doing something wrong?

artaxerxes · Jun 1, 2005, 07:56 PM

Now that is weird.

My 14 month old UK iBook just coughed up its 60Gig hard drive. Luckily I sprang for Applecare with a month to spare.

I will keep an eye open for other stories - just incase its worth persuing. There might of been a bad batch. Likely just coincidence though.

You could - in the short term - spring for a firewire external drive and use that until you feel confident enough to dismantle the iBook. That would get you up and working straight away.

edit

Normally you have to press 'c' before the post bong to get it to boot from a CD. That it does it now itslef suggests it doesn't find the HDD volume at all and tries the CD automatically.

jamesl · Jun 2, 2005, 03:43 AM

Hi artaxerxes - sounds llike you have got exactly the same fault that I had, where it was automatically looking for the CD to boot from.

How come you have still got applecare n a 14 month old ibook? I thought it was a year from when you purchased it?

I have now installed my own hard drive, 40GB, it took me 2 hursm but works a treat now!

Gamoe · Jun 2, 2005, 05:32 AM

First off, shame on Apple for not wanting to help you out. It's just two months out of warranty... surely it's supposed to last longer than that?! They could at least offer you some sort of discount.

Secondly, I agree that getting AppleCare (that is, if Apple sells it in your state!) on your 'book would have been best, but considering that that is no longer an option, unlike others here, I don't see why you couldn't consider replacing it yourself.

Don't be so afraid of messing up your iBook. Maybe you could have another person help you put-- just to keep track of the screws and where they go. But, replacing the HDD is not the enormous task others would have you believe. I did it, and I'm no "pro".

Even if you do mess up in a step or two a misplaced screw won't be the end of your iBook, and probably won't make much difference. As long as you have some patience, you should be okay. If money is no object to you or you just have no time or patience, then by all means, just give the problem to Apple to deal with. But, if this is not the case, you could save quite a bit by just doing it yourself.

artaxerxes · Jun 2, 2005, 09:33 AM

I bought the 2 year extension to my AppleCare in the last month of the 12 month Applecare period. Which spread the cost for me (and since it was the same price was actually a saving in real terms).

I am definetly going to invest in a firewire external drive now though so that I suffer zero down time and use the internal as the back up. External drives tend to be faster than the 4200 in there.

I hope you took the oppurtunity to upgrade yours to a 5400 or even a 7200 - you will see a great boost in speed if you have.

jamesl · Jun 2, 2005, 10:02 AM

Yeah, i have upgraded ot to a 5400, and the speed is now quite a lot faster.

Overall, im pleased with the outcme of it!

Ji Eun · Jun 5, 2005, 09:17 AM

gabriel, your 500 is substantially easier to replace the HD on than the G4 800 we're talking about

Gamoe · Jun 5, 2005, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by jamesl

Yeah, i have upgraded ot to a 5400, and the speed is now quite a lot faster.

Overall, im pleased with the outcme of it!

Congrats, jamesl-- And more power to you!

Originally Posted by Ji Eun

gabriel, your 500 is substantially easier to replace the HD on than the G4 800 we're talking about

Oh?