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Bricked iBook G4 query

iZac

iZac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 28, 2003
2,596
2,782
UK
My friend thrust his old iBook G4 in my hands asking if i could recover the data on the HD. It has an unsettling clunking sound from the HD and wont start up. Ive attached it via target disk mode to no success, and booted it off my Leopard CD to find its not even formatted anymore.

a) is there any other method you know to easily retrieve the data from it? (ie not pulling the iBook apart, shoving it in a caddy and trying to run a recovery program on it)

b) if the hard disk is totally goosed, i take it the apple store will either charge a fortune to replace the HD or just refuse to take it outright?

Cheers!
 
Darth.Titan

Darth.Titan

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,905
753
Austin, TX
The hard drive is most likely dead. The only way to recover your friend's data is a (very) expensive data recovery service.

Yes it will probably be rather pricy to pay to have the hard drive replaced from Apple. If you're feelin' froggy you can replace it yourself, but I will warn you that the G4 iBook is a very difficult machine to do a hard drive replacement on. It damn near needs to be completely dismantled, and the take apart method is not simple. I've done it twice and it's definitely not for the faint of heart.
 
iZac

iZac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 28, 2003
2,596
2,782
UK
Thanks for the response and duly noted. I saw the take-apart on a site and realised that i dont have the skill to dismantle the little iBook. I dont think theres anything critical on the HD, so i guess its time for him to buy a new overpriced (in the UK) plastic macbook!

The cost of repair just isnt worth it on a 4/5 year old iBook!
 
C

cfitz7111

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2008
319
0
To take the info off the platters in the HDD means you have to ship it off to a clean room, where the take what info MAY be there and put it on another device.

The cost is several thousand of dollars, even if they do not find anything there.
 
California

California

macrumors 68040
Aug 21, 2004
3,885
90
You can try a trick I did with that same machine.

Take apart the ibook get the hard drive out, put it in a plastic bag and freeze it in the freezer for twenty minutes.

i was able to get information off the drive for about forty five minutes before it died altogether.

Can't hurt.

Heat ruins drives.

Cold can revive them.

Don't use it or try it again until you do this. If it is that important, you can try the thousand dollar platter deal with hd recovery experts.
 
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