iBook HDD failing?

RedCroissant · Apr 3, 2014

Hello to all and to all a "hello."

I think my iBook's HDD is failing but not sure yet.

These are the symptoms:

1. Slow boot
2. Sometimes boots to folder/? icon
3. sometimes boots to "not allowed" symbol
4. When holding down "option" it sometimes does not show the HDD
5. Takes a very long time to launch some applications
6. DU could not verify the disk due to "file system corruption"
7. Freezes when attempting to verify disk permissions
8. About this Mac is not working

9. And actually right now everything is freezing. Ok then.

What does everyone think? I really hope it's not the HDD bc I absolutely cannot afford a new one.

Well, thanks in advance for any help!

BaddestArvai · Apr 3, 2014

RedCroissant said:
Hello to all and to all a "hello."

I think my iBook's HDD is failing but not sure yet.

These are the symptoms:

1. Slow boot
2. Sometimes boots to folder/? icon
3. sometimes boots to "not allowed" symbol
4. When holding down "option" it sometimes does not show the HDD
5. Takes a very long time to launch some applications
6. DU could not verify the disk due to "file system corruption"
7. Freezes when attempting to verify disk permissions
8. About this Mac is not working

9. And actually right now everything is freezing. Ok then.

What does everyone think? I really hope it's not the HDD bc I absolutely cannot afford a new one.

Well, thanks in advance for any help!

Thats what it sounds like too me. I would maybe check the connection before coming to any conclusions.

Altemose · Apr 4, 2014

RedCroissant said:
Hello to all and to all a "hello."

I think my iBook's HDD is failing but not sure yet.

These are the symptoms:

1. Slow boot
2. Sometimes boots to folder/? icon
3. sometimes boots to "not allowed" symbol
4. When holding down "option" it sometimes does not show the HDD
5. Takes a very long time to launch some applications
6. DU could not verify the disk due to "file system corruption"
7. Freezes when attempting to verify disk permissions
8. About this Mac is not working

9. And actually right now everything is freezing. Ok then.

What does everyone think? I really hope it's not the HDD bc I absolutely cannot afford a new one.

Well, thanks in advance for any help!

Try starting from your Tiger disk and verifying it that way? It sounds more like OS issues since About This Mac will not appear. It may be RAM actually.

Is this a G4 or a G3?

RedCroissant · Apr 4, 2014

I think it is failing.....

I just connected it via TDM to my iMac and used Disk Utility just to run a quick verification and repair. This is the message I received from each operation:

Verify Disk:
Checking file system
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Invalid key length
The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely.

Repair Disk:
Volume repair complete
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

Intell · Apr 4, 2014

It may not yet be dieing, just very corrupt. I suggest backup up your files and completely wiping it and seeing if it still acts strangly.

RedCroissant · Apr 4, 2014

Weird...

Ok then....SO I took the advice from DU.

I erased it, reformatted it, and then ran the verification/repair and now....

The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.

jrsx · Apr 4, 2014

Sounds like it's just a corrupted drive to me.

RedCroissant · Apr 4, 2014

jrsx said:
Sounds like it's just a corrupted drive to me.

So would you recommend replacing the HDD or just continuing on as though everything is fine?

Right now I am running Apple Service Diagnostic on the machine and I guess we'll see what that comes up with.

jrsx · Apr 4, 2014

I would do what others said, and reinstall your OS, if you have not already done so. If things still act strangely, a new drive may be needed.

iamMacPerson · Apr 4, 2014

First troubleshooting steps I take when presented with an issue like yours is:

Restart
Reformat
Reinstall

If none of those work, then the HDD is bad. Reinstall the OS, and you should be good.

RedCroissant · Apr 5, 2014

iamMacPerson said:
First troubleshooting steps I take when presented with an issue like yours is:

Restart
Reformat
Reinstall

If none of those work, then the HDD is bad. Reinstall the OS, and you should be good.

I initially reinstalled the OS and that's when the problems began and what led to my creating this thread.

That being said however, I have since erased the HDD and then ran Apple Service Utility on the machine and it passed every test. I then reformatted and reinstalled Leopard and it seems to be working almost normally. There is the occasional failed start up, but it is primarily working normally at this stage. I also tested its abilities for video out to my HDTV and that worked just fine (after I installed Screen Spanning Doctor of course)!

iamMacPerson · Apr 5, 2014

RedCroissant said:
There is the occasional failed start up, but it is primarily working normally at this stage

Could be a loose connection somewhere, although I highly doubt it. Drive might still be on the way out, but at least it works. I've had a bunch of drives die recently, SATA and IDE. Like the one in my 2nd PowerBook G4 12" (1.5GHz), it will spin, you can format and install the OS, and it will even achieve a SMART verify, but it takes ~3 minutes for OS X to boot.

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

Awesome update!

Thanks to eyoungren for sending me a HDD for my iBook!! It's installed and running as we speak! "Luckily," one of my kids had trouble sleeping so I stayed up (since I was up anyway) and took care of it.

I am so glad that I took apart a few iBook G3s before this one though, otherwise I probably wouldn't have done it. As it was with being ultra late here (started taking it apart at 10), my son being sick and wanting to help me, and me trying to find extra screws that were missing and making sure everything was perfect, it took me just over 1.5 hours from start to finish with a working iBook G4 running Tiger.

It will be running Leopard tomorrow though!

Cheers to you, eyoungren!!!!!!!

eyoungren · Apr 11, 2014

No problem! Glad I could help!

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

I just wiped the "new" HDD and am installing Leopard 10.5.1 as we speak! I am so glad that I didn't sell my family pack installation dvd!

I plan on keeping PPC Macs in y life in the future and it's a great way to introduce kids to computing and stuff without spending a ton of money. Once I get back on my feet financially, I'm going to find a slew of PPC Macs and make sure each of them has a fully functional machine of their own. How awesome would that be? Yes, they're 6, 4.5, and 3, but it's at least old enough to start typing the next great american novel or to type funny things into terminal using the "say" command.

eyoungren · Apr 11, 2014

RedCroissant said:
I just wiped the "new" HDD and am installing Leopard 10.5.1 as we speak! I am so glad that I didn't sell my family pack installation dvd!

I plan on keeping PPC Macs in y life in the future and it's a great way to introduce kids to computing and stuff without spending a ton of money. Once I get back on my feet financially, I'm going to find a slew of PPC Macs and make sure each of them has a fully functional machine of their own. How awesome would that be? Yes, they're 6, 4.5, and 3, but it's at least old enough to start typing the next great american novel or to type funny things into terminal using the "say" command.

My son's first computer was one of the iBook's I traded to you. The one with the bad airport antenna. Used to haul it back and forth on our Starbucks runs and plug him in to my PowerBook to share internet. Now, of course, he has his own PowerBook.

I like the fact that because prices are down I can afford to max out a PowerPC Mac like I could NOT if it was brand new.

Seriously, if this was 2001 the kind of upgrades for my QS that I have would be in the thousands of dollars. Just the Mac alone, but the dual CPUs? And the Cinema and Studio displays? Video cards. Yeah, I enjoy being able to do this now. Part of the reason I stick with PowerPC.

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

eyoungren said:
My son's first computer was one of the iBook's I traded to you. The one with the bad airport antenna. Used to haul it back and forth on our Starbucks runs and plug him in to my PowerBook to share internet. Now, of course, he has his own PowerBook.

I like the fact that because prices are down I can afford to max out a PowerPC Mac like I could NOT if it was brand new.

Seriously, if this was 2001 the kind of upgrades for my QS that I have would be in the thousands of dollars. Just the Mac alone, but the dual CPUs? And the Cinema and Studio displays? Video cards. Yeah, I enjoy being able to do this now. Part of the reason I stick with PowerPC.

Really? That's awesome! I know my middle son was helping me remove the screws from the hard drive bay and was really enjoying it. He saw the logic board and said that it was "time to fix the city."

I don't think I'll ever get a tower PC Mac again, but I like the idea of getting a few powerbooks once people really think that PPC is dead.

Oh, thousands indeed!

eyoungren · Apr 11, 2014

RedCroissant said:
Really? That's awesome! I know my middle son was helping me remove the screws from the hard drive bay and was really enjoying it. He saw the logic board and said that it was "time to fix the city."

I don't think I'll ever get a tower PC Mac again, but I like the idea of getting a few powerbooks once people really think that PPC is dead.

Oh, thousands indeed!

Yeah, it was the first computer I actually gave him. He used mine up until then. Then I gave it to his sister but she has the bad habit of trying to make everyone else work the computer for her. It usually ended in tears. So, I had to take it back until she's ready. Maybe soon.

I wasn't big on the towers until the QS came along. Always wanted one. That's why I was after you for it once I heard you were selling it. The QS is the only Mac tower (other than the 9600) that I've ever wanted. The G5 I have here at work I will take again just because it's a G5 when I get it back, but actually wanting onenot so much. Although if I could find a Quad at some point for a decent price. But other than those two it's all about the 17" PowerBook for me.

I took the iMac G5 off your hands because it puts a computer in the family room and I knew my wife would really like the design. She actually "wowed" when she saw it because it wasn't what she was thinking I'd come home with.

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

Awesomeness

I now have the iBook running 10.5.8, all the apps that I need my PPC Mac to run the way that I want:

Geektool
AppCleaner
iWork/iLife '09
screen spanning doctor
developer tools installed for the "purge" command
Perian quicktime components
VLC
Flip4Mac
RealPlayer
Temperature Monitor
AIM for Mac
Carbon Copy Cloner
Monolingual
TenFourFox
Leopard WebKit

Nice!!!!! Now if I can get my hands on an iSight camera, I'll be a super happy camper. I revet now trading my other one for an iBook that ended up not working very well.

Altemose · Apr 11, 2014

RedCroissant said:
I now have the iBook running 10.5.8, all the apps that I need my PPC Mac to run the way that I want:

Geektool

AppCleaner

iWork/iLife '09

screen spanning doctor

developer tools installed for the "purge" command

Perian quicktime components

VLC

Flip4Mac

RealPlayer

Temperature Monitor

AIM for Mac

Carbon Copy Cloner

Monolingual

TenFourFox

Leopard WebKit

Nice!!!!! Now if I can get my hands on an iSight camera, I'll be a super happy camper. I revet now trading my other one for an iBook that ended up not working very well.

What iBook did you trade? Is this your 14" that isn't working?

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

Altemose said:
What iBook did you trade? Is this your 14" that isn't working?

Actually I misspoke. I sold the iSight along with my Power Mac G5 because I thought that I wouldn't need it anymore since I had the 17" iMac G5 with iSight (which later started having the display issues and then the superdrive issues). The I got an iMc G5 with no iSight and of course the iBooks with no iSigh camera.

Altemose · Apr 11, 2014

RedCroissant said:
Actually I misspoke. I sold the iSight along with my Power Mac G5 because I thought that I wouldn't need it anymore since I had the 17" iMac G5 with iSight (which later started having the display issues and then the superdrive issues). The I got an iMc G5 with no iSight and of course the iBooks with no iSigh camera.

Ah I see. How many iBooks have you owned?

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

Altemose said:
Ah I see. How many iBooks have you owned?

I'm on my 6th right now.

Altemose · Apr 11, 2014

RedCroissant said:
I'm on my 6th right now.

Wow! I am on my second with a big thanks to you!

RedCroissant · Apr 11, 2014

Altemose said:
Wow! I am on my second with a big thanks to you!

Yeah, I love these machines. I'm just sad about some though because in the moment I forget what my computing needs are and such and I end up buying/selling stuff that I do or don't need and then I end up going through that vicious cycle again.

For instance, my first PPC machine was a 12" 1.33Ghz iBook G4 with 1.5GB RAM and a 60GB HDD. Awesome machine and everything worked perfectly (I got it after having to sell my 2009 iMac for financial reasons). After that I got a 14" 1.42GHz iBook G4 (that was mistreated and I had to fix it even though that turned out to be a temporary repair job that ended up in a non-functional FW port, and then a failing KB).

I then acquired 3 iBook G3s in a trade plus a some of none from another member here (which is one of the ones that you got) for a PowerMac G4 with a display KB and mouse that he has now turned into a beast of a machine.

My current one I received from another MR member for free and it works like a charm. Well the HDD was failing but 10 years is pretty good for an original HDD in an iBook. It now has a new HDD thanks to the same guy that got the PM G4 from me and now it's rolling along wonderfully and it's all set to go!

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