iBook acting up

[rye9]

Ok, so I got my iBook almost 3 years ago exactly... Xmas 2005, the last model they produced. And for those almost 3 years, it worked perfectly. Now, last week my iBook froze for the first time ever, and it just happened again today, forcing me to hold down the power button and restart. Why would my iBook all of a sudden start freezing on occasion, and is this a sign of something worse?

 

[dmw007]

If the problem is hardware related, it could be the HDD is starting to act up, the RAM is going bad, or the Logic board is failing. You could take your iBook G4 to the nearest Apple Store and have a genius check it out to be sure.

Out of curiosity, have you "verified & repaired" permissions lately in Disk Utility?

 

[d_and_n5000]

Ok, so I got my iBook almost 3 years ago exactly... Xmas 2005, the last model they produced. And for those almost 3 years, it worked perfectly. Now, last week my iBook froze for the first time ever, and it just happened again today, forcing me to hold down the power button and restart. Why would my iBook all of a sudden start freezing on occasion, and is this a sign of something worse?

I'd bet on the hard drive starting to take a dive. It's been three years, and it's not outside the realm of possibility for that to occur. I'd make a backup, stat.

 

[rye9]

To the first poster, yes I repair them probably biweekly. And did so just as I turned it back on after it failed. And I guess if it happens one more time before I go back to college in a few weeks I'll go to a Genius Bar... even though it's about an hour away =/

And how do I "make a backup"?

 

[dmw007]

To the first poster, yes I repair them probably biweekly. And did so just as I turned it back on after it failed. And I guess if it happens one more time before I go back to college in a few weeks I'll go to a Genius Bar... even though it's about an hour away =/

And how do I "make a backup"?

Sorry for the drive, but it might be worth a shot.

As d_and_n5000 has said, the HDD is probably the most likely culprit. Does the HDD seem to make a grinding noise when starting up?

You could burn some files to a CD/DVD, your iTunes songs/videos are probably already stored on your iPod(s), or if you have an external HDD or large capacity flash drive you could back up your iBook G4 that way.

 

[huntnboy04]

My iBook started doing the same thing, the day finals started... One day it worked the next it froze, and does before I can do anything on it. One day it was left in my car in 30 degree weather, turned it on and it was on long enough that I did the verify in the disk utility, it said it was verified, then it froze.

I hear no grinding noise, but from what posters have said it might be the HDD, so would I just purchase any 2.5" HDD? Also I would like to buy some more RAM, is there any particular RAM I would need to buy? Thanks.

 

[dmw007]

My iBook started doing the same thing, the day finals started... One day it worked the next it froze, and does before I can do anything on it. One day it was left in my car in 30 degree weather, turned it on and it was on long enough that I did the verify in the disk utility, it said it was verified, then it froze.

Sounds like your HDD is going bad as well.

I hear no grinding noise, but from what posters have said it might be the HDD, so would I just purchase any 2.5" HDD? Also I would like to buy some more RAM, is there any particular RAM I would need to buy? Thanks.

What model iBook G4 do you have? Some 14" iBook G4s used PC2100 DDR SDRAM and some used PC2700 DDR SDRAM (which is normally backwards compatible with machines that call for PC2100 DDR).

As far as HDD goes, you need a 2.5" ATA/PATA/EIDE HDD (not SATA). Pretty much any brand will do. As an added bonus, if you opt for a 5400rpm or 7200rpm HDD, you should notice a nice performance boost over the stock 4200rpm HDD.

*EDIT* Here is a link for some RAM for the various makes of the Apple iBook from www.datamem.com (great company!!).

 

[huntnboy04]

Thank You dmw007, not sure what model (number?) I have, but it has a ATA drive, I think. I think i can figure it out through the website.

 

[dmw007]

Thank You dmw007, not sure what model (number?) I have, but it has a ATA drive, I think. The iBook was bought late 2004, 1.?? Ghz, 256mb RAM. The model number on the under side is A1055.

No problem!

Based off of your model number (A1055), you should have a 14" 1.33 GHz iBook G4. Your iBook uses PC-2100 DDR (266MHz) SDRAM - although PC-2700 (333MHz) SDRAM should also be compatible, but it will run at a reduced speed (266MHz instead of 333MHz). Your model only has one available slot for memory expansion, so buy a 1GB stick of RAM for maximum performance (256MB soldered onto the logic board + 1GB stick = 1.25GB total).

*EDIT* - You can verify that this is your machine by clicking on the Apple logo, select "About this Mac", and then check to see the specs of your machine (i.e., 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4).

 

[huntnboy04]

Awesome, thanks a million, I should have done this RAM thing a long time ago.

 

[dmw007]

Awesome, thanks a million, I should have done this RAM thing a long time ago.

No problem huntnboy04, here is a link for installing the RAM in your iBook G4 in case you wanted some instructions.

 

[rye9]

As d_and_n5000 has said, the HDD is probably the most likely culprit. Does the HDD seem to make a grinding noise when starting up?

I thought I'd note that today when I updated my software and restarted, the HDD didn't seem to make any out of the ordinary noises... fortunately.

 

[rye9]

I also noticed that almost every time, if not every time it freezes and the cursor disappears... it's using Mail. Could it just be Mail? I'd love to just fix that and not think my HDD is going...

 

[hhlee]

maybe mail is trying to access something on your hd - did you try checking your s.m.a.r.t. status in disk utility?

 

[BlueRevolution]

And how do I "make a backup"?

This... is a problem. Are you still operating without a backup?

For the record, my iBook has its 8th birthday this summer. It's still going strong with Tiger, albeit a little sluggish at times. The drive isn't sounding too good, but all important files on the iBook are also instantly synced with my iMac and thus backed up in at least three places, so I'm not concerned. ~/Documents is empty.