Have to fix sisters iBook. Bad HD?
 

Hey guys, my sisters iBook G4, 12 inch, just took a crap. I can boot it up and it makes the startup chime, but then the Apple logo comes up on the screen and the little thing starts spinning below it for about 5 seconds, then just stops. I am thinking it's a hard drive issue. I booted the computer up from the restore disks and did an erase and install. I chose not to install anything extra, no iLife, no anything. It installs, reboots and does the same thing at the bootup screen on a fresh install. I already got her personal stuff off in target disk mode with my MacBook before doing any of this.

So what do you guys think? Bad hard drive? (it has a 40GB in it now)

If you guys think it's the hard drive then I will go ahead and get a PATA 80GB off of tigerdirect.

Thanks guys!

I think it could be possibly the HD.

Could you connect to it using FireWire Target Disk Mode and look at the logs in /var/log? For example, /var/log/system.log would be helpful.

To get to the /var directory on a drive connected using FWTDM in the Finder, use Go > Go to Folder > when it asks "Go to the folder:" type in
/Volumes/NameOfSistersBootDrive/var/log
...where NameOfSistersBootDrive is, of course, the name of the iBook G4's boot drive. If there are spaces in that name, enclose it in quotations. If both the computer that this iBook G4 is attached to and the iBook G4 have the same drive name (like Macintosh HD, for the most common example of this) then the one connected over FWTDM will have a '1' suffixed on the end of the name, so you'll need to go to /Volumes/"Macintosh HD 1"/var/log/.

Copy/paste the system.log here for us to see.

Trevor

Ok, I got it all hooked up and am browsing the computer, but there is no system.log file in that location. Only these:

-CDIS.custom
-cups (folder)
-fax (folder)
-httpd (folder)
-install.log
-ipfw.log
-lastlog
-OSInstall.custom
-ppp (folder)
-sa (folder)
-samba (folder)
-secure.log
-wtmp

I don't think it would matter if I just did a fresh install on her computer and tried to boot it up a few times would it? I don't know if this helps, and I think it is normal since I didn't install iLife or anything extra at all, but it never asked me for installation disk 2.

Huh. OK, I guess that the system.log hasn't yet been written in the boot sequence before the failure occurs, or something like that.

Let's try looking at the boot messages directly on the screen, instead of trying to read them from a log then. Boot while holding down Command-V (for verbose mode). This should show the boot messages on screen instead of hiding them behind that gray screen that usually happens during boot. Tell us the last messages shown, or anything that is repeated, or anything that looks unusual.

No, at this point it wouldn't hurt to do a fresh install, or to attempt to boot it a few times. All of her personal data has already been backed up and the drive erased when you did the Erase and Install that you told us about in post #1 above, so you should be able to do whatever you want to her hard drive without worrying now.

Trevor

Too bad I didn't have copy and paste right about now, but here we go, I'll just type the whole thing! I don't have anything to do right now and I'm not too good at picking something unusual out in something like this...

Here it is: (I don't know if I needed the first part, but why not? Help on some typing skills)

standard timeslicing quantum is 1000 us
vm_page_bootstrap: 123201 free pages
mig_table_max_displ = 70
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

using 1310 buffer headers and 1310 cluster I0 buffer headers
Extension "com.apple.driver.KeyLargoATA" has no kernel dependency.
Firewire (0HCI) Apple ID 31 built-in now active, GUID 001451ff fe346afc; max speed s400.
CSRHIDTransitionDriver: :probe
CSRHIDTransitionDriver: :start before command
ADB present :84
Security auditing service present
BSM auditing present
disabled
rooting via boot-uuid from /chosen: 768DCC98-D3EB-3C7E-A4F8-39CDE21737CA
Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>I0ProviderClass</key><string ID="1">I0Resources</string><key>I0Resources</string><key>I0ResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
CSRHIDTransitionDriver: :stop
Got Boot Device = I0Service:/MacRISC2PE/pci@f4000000/AppleMacRiscPCI/ata-6@D/AppleKauaiATADeviceNub@0/I0ATABlockStorageDriver/I0ATABlockStorageDriver/FUJISTU MHV2040AT Media/I0ApplePartitionScheme/Apple_HFS_Untitled_1@3
BSD root: disk0s3, major 14, minor 2
[HCIController][start]
[AppleUSBHCIController][stopIsochPipeRead] - mInt1IsochInPipe = 0 - numReadsPending = 0
[start] 1
Checking disk
Mounting local filesystems
kern.sysv.shmmax: -1 -> 4194304
kern.sysv.shmmin: -1 -> 1
kern.sysv.shmmni: -1 -> 32
kern.sysv.shmseg: -1 -> 8
kern.sysv.shmall: -1 -> 1024
Resetting virtual memory
starting virtual memory
Removing /mach.sym /var/tmp/folders.* /etc/nologin /private/_tmp_ /var/_run_ /private/var/vm/swapfile0
\mach.sym
Configuring kernel extensions
Jettisoning kernel linker.
Aug 25 10:17:39 kextd[25]: registering service "com.apple.KernelExtensionServer"
Resetting I0Catalogue.
Matching service count = 0
Matching service count = 1
Matching service count = 1
Matching service count = 1
Matching service count = 1
Aug 25 10:17:41 kextd[25]: 307 cached, 0 uncached personalities to catalog

That's all of the code on the screen. I thought the bolded part near the beginning looked a little weird...? Or is that normal? As you can tell... I'm not the best at looking at this kind of stuff and figuring out a problem, I'm learning as I go though!

Can anybody tell what the problem is from this code?

Sorry, I don't see any problems in those messages. Maybe someone else will see something I don't.

There wasn't anything below that?

Could it be the hard drive then that is the issue?

Maybe, but it's a very strange issue if it is.

If no one else sees anything particularly in your boot messages, then I'd try as the next step booting to your OS X Install disc, selecting Disk Utility from one of the menus, probably the "Utilities" menu, selecting your boot hard drive, going to the First Aid tab, and clicking "Repair Disk" (not Repair Disk Permissions).

Let us know if it finds any errors, and if so, what they are.

Trevor

Ok, so I did that and clicked on "Repair Disk", it runs, then says at the end, 1 HFS volume checked. No repairs were necessary.

This doesn't look good.

Any other ideas you may have?

That makes me think even more that the real issue is not the hard drive.

Are you positive that the Install disc you are using is valid for this computer? It's not a gray-colored disc marked for a different type of Mac, is it?

Trevor

Yes they are the same disks the came with the computer and they say iBook G4. They are not replacement disks and do not have a single scratch on them

Well...you could try replacing the drive. The hard drive in an iBook G4 is old enough now that you'd have a more trustworthy drive if you replaced it, anyway. And of course, a new drive would be larger and faster.

I'm not convinced that that is the problem, but I also don't have any other good suggestions.

Trevor

Ok, sounds good. Thanks for the help!:)

One more question... Would this hard drive work in my sister iBook G4?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136099

Do you recommend anything else or should I shoot for that?

No, that won't work. The drive you linked to is a SATA drive. You need an ATA (also called IDE, EIDE, or PATA) drive.

The other attributes that your drive needs to have: 2.5" (wide), 9.5mm (tall).

Trevor

Ok, thanks. I will start hunting down one of those.

Ok, sorry to keep this post going on, but here is one more drive to make sure... Will this one work in her iBook G4?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136129

Thanks:)

That looks like it should work for you just fine. Newegg doesn't seem to list it's dimensions anywhere, but searching for that model on other sites shows that it's a 9.5mm tall drive (which 95% of 2.5" drives are anyway, but it pays to make sure).

Trevor

Ok, Thanks!

Ok, I just made the final decision and made the order for this hard drive:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...548&CatId=2675

Please tell me that is the right hard drive... :eek:

Yes, it's right.

Trevor

Ok, thanks. I will let this thread be over now haha!

Please let us know if the new hard drive fixed the problem. I'm very curious about that.

Trevor

Ok, it's on it's way in the mail now, I'll get the iBook tore apart when it gets here and pop the new one in and tell you how it goes

Wow, your not going to believe it guys. Got the hard drive in the mail, tear the ibook apart (hour process... how does this case come off? 15 minutes later... I see...) then I notice the pins don't match up... $H!T! I'm done with it. I put it back together and I'm selling it on craigslist saying it needs a new HD. What do you guys think? $100?

She ended up getting a new MacBook Pro 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM anyways, so this turned into kind of a side project...

Bummer... Bought a SATA drive instead of the needed PATA/IDE drive? She'll be much happier with the new MBP. I'd ask a bit more than $100. Just the LCD display is worth $140.

Did you not buy the drive from Tiger Direct back in post #22?

Trevor

Yes I bought the PATA drive from post 22, but it didn't fit. I guess it wasn't the right drive :(

I wonder if they SENT you the wrong drive, because the drive in post 22 is the right drive for an iBook G4. Does the information on the sticker on top of the drive match up with the information in the Tiger Direct website listing?

Trevor

I didn't check. I already sent it back in the mail... I am done messing with it... It's a dinosaur anyways and needs a new battery. 1.33GHz PowerPC... Who needs that anymore? haha

Just as a reference, I'm typing this now on a Power Mac G4/ 1 GHz. It continues to work just fine (although granted, I'm not getting as long life on the battery as I used to.)

Trevor