Has my hard drive crashed?

[astewes]

Hi,
I own a Powerbook G4 with an 80GB hard drive. I got the computer back in late 2004, and it's been a great computer. Well, this past September, the hard drive began clicking one day when I turned the computer on, and right after the Mac folder/question mark icon started flashing. I've faced the music - this clearly doesn't look good. I have been using my work PC and am getting really tired of using it. Is there ANY way to fix my computer without replacing it?

If replacing it is the only option, what hard drive do I buy? Also, the cd slot drive is broken, so I guess I'd need an external cd drive to reinstall Mac OSX.

I am holding onto hope that this issue can somehow be fixed...

 

[Sherman Homan]

Best source of how to git 'er done is here:
http://ifixit.com
But if you are going to go through the expense of replacing the drive and presumably replacing the optical, you will be well on your way to a new laptop! And at the age of your 'Book, who is to say that the power inverter won't go poof next week.

 

[Dimwhit]

A clicking hard drive is never a good sign. But you could get a new hard drive for it pretty cheap. If you don't want to replace the optical, you could boot the powerbook into target mode and hook it to another computer, installing the OS that way.

 

[merl1n]

Hi,
I own a Powerbook G4 with an 80GB hard drive. I got the computer back in late 2004, and it's been a great computer. Well, this past September, the hard drive began clicking one day when I turned the computer on, and right after the Mac folder/question mark icon started flashing. I've faced the music - this clearly doesn't look good. I have been using my work PC and am getting really tired of using it. Is there ANY way to fix my computer without replacing it?

If replacing it is the only option, what hard drive do I buy? Also, the cd slot drive is broken, so I guess I'd need an external cd drive to reinstall Mac OSX.

I am holding onto hope that this issue can somehow be fixed...

If you are going to fix it yourself, here are some drives. You can replace both the hard drive and optical drive at the same time.

You did not state whether this was a Ti-PB or Aluminum PB.

Hard Disk
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Se....5+hard+drive&Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Price|0&N=6885

Optical Drive
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/powerbook/

 

[astewes]

It is a 12" Aluminum Powerbook...would the hard drive provided in the above link work?

 

[merl1n]

It is a 12" Aluminum Powerbook...would the hard drive provided in the above link work?

Yes, they are good for all PB Aluminums, no matter what size.

 

[astewes]

I've been also reading about installing mac OSX in target disk mode since my optical drive isn't working. the "how-to" guides I've been reading all say to use a double ended firewire cable and another mac - is it possible to us a double ended USB and a PC on the other end instead?

 

[merl1n]

I've been also reading about installing mac OSX in target disk mode since my optical drive isn't working. the "how-to" guides I've been reading all say to use a double ended firewire cable and another mac - is it possible to us a double ended USB and a PC on the other end instead?

No, PBs cannot be booted from usb. Firewire target mode means just that, "firewire". You need another mac to do that.

You would first put your PB into "Firewire Target Mode", then connect a firewire cable from it to another Mac and insert the Install DVD into that Mac. Run the installer and when choosing a disk to install it on you select your PB disk.

 

[Dimwhit]

You would first put your PB into "Firewire Target Mode", then connect a firewire cable from it to another Mac and insert the Install DVD into that Mac. Run the installer and when choosing a disk to install it on you select your PB disk.

The only downside is that you can't use the restore disks that came with the computer, since the computer you're installing from won't even begin the install. You'd have to use a retail copy of Leopard/Tiger/etc.