Wow... so the HDD is dea. Well, I gotta move on. Thanks for all your help man!

I hope this does not confuse the issue.

I had an issue where my G5 on boot only showed me the No system icon.

'Disk utility' from the install DVD could not see the HD.
I could boot up from a external System, but the HD did not show up on the desktop.
I also noticed that the drive was making a clicking sound. One click a second. (It seemed like the drive was trying to be read but was on an extreme go slow)

'Disk Warrior', did see the drive, but came back telling me because there was an error with the HD, speed would be impaired.

Again I could hear 1 click a second. So I left DW doing its thing for the day.

When I came back DW had completed and I replaced the Directory.
Tried to Boot back into the HD. still no go.
But I was able to Target Disk the G5 HD onto my PB.

From the PB I used the Instal DVD to do an Archive install on to the G5 HD. this worked.

I then was able to boot up the G5 with no issue.

I do not no what caused this in the first place, and maybe the HD is faulty. I have had this issue twice in two years.

If you can get your hands on a DW, then that may work as it did for me.

Hey Mark,

Thanks for that post on my issue with my friend's iBook G4.

However, would you mind being just a little bit more specific as to what I'm to do? I have PC experience and am sure I can figure this out, but I've never worked or used a Mac. But I'd really like to try and see if I can help out my friend. Thanks again.

did you not get my reply to your private message?

..

**weird, I can not see the reply in my sent items???

Disk utility
The Disk utility that comes with the Mac is limited in what it can do.
There are other third party Disk Utilities that can reach parts that the Mac Disk utility can not.
One of them is Disk Warrior (DW) This does cost money to buy($99).
see here for more details


FireWire target disk mode.
FireWire target disk mode allows a Macintosh computer with a FireWire port (the target computer) to be used as an external hard disk connected to another computer (the host).

see here for instructions

Archive and Install

Archive and Install installation automatically moves existing system files to a folder named Previous System, then installs Mac OS X again.
It also preserves the Users folder and some other folders. Which means you do not lose everything.
see here for instructions

1,If you have a friend who has DiskWarrrior, and they are happy for you to use it then do so. If it can see the HD and repair it, then let it do so.

2,If you are able to use DW and it works, then Follow the instructions for the FireWire target disk mode.

The reason I did FireWire target disk mode was because although DW fixed some issues with the HD, the HD System still would not boot up.
The intention then is to mount the HD onto a second Mac as an external drive. And re-install OS X using the Archive install option.

If you can not do the DW part, try the FireWire target disk mode part any way. you never know.

3, Insert the Install DVD into the host Mac and run an Archive Install on the the target computer (iBook's HD, which is mounted on to the host Mac as an external HD )

If you do not have a second Mac, then You can try to boot up from the Install DVD, and see if it sees the HD (Again depending on if you can do the DW part and if it works)


Being able to do the above depends on you:

Getting hold of DW or a Disk Utility similar.
Having a Second Mac.
and being lucky.

You also do this at you own risk.

I went ahead and installed another HDD and once I boot off the Mac OS X dvd, when I go to the utilities menu and then the disk utility option, I do see the new drive over on the left, whereas before I wouldn't see the old drive.

But now once I run the installer, in the "select a destination" scree, no drive shows up so I can install the OS. What's going on? Thanks!

PS Also, now everytime I turn on the iBook, I hear the "chime" sound, but a static sound follows. Why is that?

I actually figured out (I think) the HD problem. I had to reformat it. Well, what I did was I went to disk utility, clicked the HD and chose the erase option. Then on that next screen I named it and selected the first option selected (I can't remember what it said exactly but the word "journaled" was within parenthesis) So I went with that and I type this, the install is running.

But, was that first option the correct one? What were the other ones in that drop down list for?

Also, the static sound after the intial chime still remains. I would think that it could've been that I didn't correctly connect the speaker wires, but if that were the case, wouldn't the chime sound break up?

Thanks!

It sounds like the choice you made was "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". That is the best choice for a drive that you boot from. Journaling increases the reliability of boot disks, and Mac OS Extended is the best choice for a drive connected to a Mac.

Trevor

Thanks Trevor! And regarding the static sound right after the "chime" upon startup... what could that be? I even dismantled the iBook again and checked the speaker connections and everthing is fine.

As I said, the speakers work just fine; it's just that burst of static that I get once I turn it on.

Sorry, I'm not sure about that. I've never heard a burst of static at startup from pure Apple hardware, so I couldn't say what it is.

I've heard bursts of static from external USB or FireWire devices connected to speakers before, and the static is an unfortunate side effect of booting up the device firmware. But I've never heard it from an Apple device with no outside peripherals.

Trevor

Well, thank you anyway for all your help. I could not have done this without your guidance.:)