iBook Crashes At First Reboot

[Dronecatcher]

Ok...I've just bought an iBook from ebay, 1.33/512Mb 12" and run into problems straightaway. Turning it on, it started a self install of Leopard (from an image on a separate partition) but on first reboot got the dreaded crash screen (attached). After a few unsuccessful restarts I decided to install Tiger (which is what I'd have done soon enough anyway with only 512 RAM) but got exactly the same crash - goes through the install but crashed when booting from the hard drive. Tried again but this time zeroed out the drive to hopefully flag any bad sectors - same result. Tried again but this time got the garbled screen, so zapped PRAM, removed battery, held power button for 10 secs - back to normal screen but still crashed at first reboot.
Next, put iBook into target disk mode and ran DiskWarrior from my G5 over it for any disk errors but all appeared fine, so installed Tiger from the G5. All went well, with the G5 booting into Tiger from the iBook drive.
Restarted iBook and again, crash at boot.
Any ideas? The target disk install would indicate the hard drive is healthy but the iBook can't start from it - is there some hardware conflict that only occurs when booting from the hard drive?
I did try booting from an Apple Service Disk (2.5.8) - which I thought was applicable to this model but it refused to launch.
If it's beyond help it's a really shame because it's a great laptop.

 

[MatthewLTL]

put it back into TDM via the G5, Install a program on the iBook called Onyx, once that is installed go thru the settings and change the boot to Verbose mode, this will show a bunch of words on the screen instead of the Apple logo and you can see the cause then.

 

[bunnspecial]

No need to go to that much trouble to boot into verbose mode-just hold down command+v when starting.

In any case-without checking the specs-I think this generation iBook has 256mb on board, which would mean that yours has an added 256mb stick. I'd try removing it and then booting into Tiger.

 

[Dronecatcher]

put it back into TDM via the G5, Install a program on the iBook called Onyx, once that is installed go thru the settings and change the boot to Verbose mode, this will show a bunch of words on the screen instead of the Apple logo and you can see the cause then.

Gave that a shot - what this does though is set the boot options in the host machine, so it was the G5 that was starting in verbose mode.
I'd tried doing target disk in reverse, trying to start the iBook from the G5 disk - same crash again.

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No need to go to that much trouble to boot into verbose mode-just hold down command+v when starting.

In any case-without checking the specs-I think this generation iBook has 256mb on board, which would mean that yours has an added 256mb stick. I'd try removing it and then booting into Tiger.

Yes, tried that from open firmware - I see text for a fraction of a second then it freezes displaying a no entry sign in light grey over dark grey.

This model is the last generation - it has 512 on the motherboard, however, I've yet to check whether there's another board installed that's giving the grief - I'll be checking that next.

 

[catzilla]

Do you have a retail disk to try?

 

[Dronecatcher]

Gave that a shot - what this does though is set the boot options in the host machine, so it was the G5 that was starting in verbose mode.
I'd tried doing target disk in reverse, trying to start the iBook from the G5 disk - same crash again.

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Yes, tried that from open firmware - I see text for a fraction of a second then it freezes displaying a no entry sign in light grey over dark grey.

This model is the last generation - it has 512 on the motherboard, however, I've yet to check whether there's another board installed that's giving the grief - I'll be checking that next.

A little progress..whereas open firmware verbose crashed, command v does get me a text output...no need to decipher what the "hang" message means!

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Do you have a retail disk to try?

Yes, tried with retail Tiger and Leopard. Also tried a Ubuntu live disk, that worked fine - problem is between the hardware and hard drive it seems.

 

[Dronecatcher]

If anyone speaks Unix, this is the dialogue at halting (attached)

 

[bunnspecial]

I just checked the specs, and it looks like the 12" 1.33 has 512mb on board, so it wouldn't have any RAM installed in the expansion slot(there goes that theory).

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I don't "speak unix" so can't read anything into that.

With that said, you might try booting into single user mode(command+s) and, assuming it boots, run fsck by typing /sbin/fsck -fy

 

[Dronecatcher]

I just checked the specs, and it looks like the 12" 1.33 has 512mb on board, so it wouldn't have any RAM installed in the expansion slot(there goes that theory).

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I don't "speak unix" so can't read anything into that.

With that said, you might try booting into single user mode(command+s) and, assuming it boots, run fsck by typing /sbin/fsck -fy

Yes, that works - reports disk ok but when I continue to boot in single user the system hangs. Guess there some motherboard damage somewhere?

 

[LightBulbFun]

That Looks like its caused by the iBook G4s Built in Wifi Card its a Known problem with this model of ibook G4 Try removing the wifi card from the logic board it should stop the kernel panics

 

[Orizence]

I also agree that it is the Airport card as this has caused trouble in a iBook I had to work on for a customer It usually isn't the actually an Airport card issue but actually a Logic Board issue, so at the trade of a working computer you will have to use ethernet

 

[Dronecatcher]

That Looks like its caused by the iBook G4s Built in Wifi Card its a Known problem with this model of ibook G4 Try removing the wifi card from the logic board it should stop the kernel panics

As this was sold to me by a dealer - and was presumably working for him last week, is there any chance that the airport card has come loose in transit? Guess I wont know unless I take it apart then put back together - I'll pick my time for that as I suspect it will be a pain to get to the motherboard!

 

[Dronecatcher]

Thanks everybody for your help and advice on this - I really appreciate it.
LightBulbFun and Orizence, looks like you're right - from what I've read online it is the airport issue that so many have already suffered with. I dug deeper to see if I could disable the card in software as I'm still reluctant to crack that case open and found someone who had success booting their iBook by putting pressure on the case near the option key, then overwriting the airport kexts in the System Extensions folder. I did the same apart from I moved the kexts instead of replacing them with duds and so far it appears to have worked through a few restarts. As to whether it's the missing kexts or the pressure under the keypad has bent the card connector a little, I wont know until I turn it on again later. Worse case is I'll have to open it up and remove the card.
On the bright side, the iBook only cost £16 and appears to have a nearly new battery plus I have a wireless USB bud that can provide the airport cover when needed!

 

[128keaton]

Thanks everybody for your help and advice on this - I really appreciate it.
LightBulbFun and Orizence, looks like you're right - from what I've read online it is the airport issue that so many have already suffered with. I dug deeper to see if I could disable the card in software as I'm still reluctant to crack that case open and found someone who had success booting their iBook by putting pressure on the case near the option key, then overwriting the airport kexts in the System Extensions folder. I did the same apart from I moved the kexts instead of replacing them with duds and so far it appears to have worked through a few restarts. As to whether it's the missing kexts or the pressure under the keypad has bent the card connector a little, I wont know until I turn it on again later. Worse case is I'll have to open it up and remove the card.
On the bright side, the iBook only cost £16 and appears to have a nearly new battery plus I have a wireless USB bud that can provide the airport cover when needed!

Wow thats totally reasonable, a new battery costs that much

 

[Dronecatcher]

Wow thats totally reasonable, a new battery costs that much

Absolutely! Such a shame that mine happened to be the one that developed a bad Airport card during delivery - the seller had three up for grabs and according to feedback, the others are working fine.

 

[bunnspecial]

If your postal service across the pond is anything like here, I'm always amazed when anything arrives intact

Back in January, I bought two G4 Cubes from two separate sellers. Both were advertised as working, and shown booted up. When I received them, one of the two would only boot up to a folder with a blinking question mark.

All manner of bad scenarios went through my mind, but I finally tore that one down to the point where I could get to the hard drive, and found that the cable had worked lose during the trip to me(and also learned in the process that I really didn't have to take it apart to the extent I did to get to the hard drive cable ). I honestly have no idea how it happened, as the seller(a regular to this section) packed it very securely, and the hard drive screws were plenty snug so it shouldn't have moved around during the trip.

 

[Dronecatcher]

If your postal service across the pond is anything like here, I'm always amazed when anything arrives intact

Back in January, I bought two G4 Cubes from two separate sellers. Both were advertised as working, and shown booted up. When I received them, one of the two would only boot up to a folder with a blinking question mark.

All manner of bad scenarios went through my mind, but I finally tore that one down to the point where I could get to the hard drive, and found that the cable had worked lose during the trip to me(and also learned in the process that I really didn't have to take it apart to the extent I did to get to the hard drive cable ). I honestly have no idea how it happened, as the seller(a regular to this section) packed it very securely, and the hard drive screws were plenty snug so it shouldn't have moved around during the trip.

I'm guessing in your case, it would have been the prolonged vibration of a long journey in the delivery van maybe? My iBook was tightly wrapped in cardboard with no packing so any impact on the parcel would be transmitted directly into the iBook...some people have no sense. The problem with ebay now though is you lose money if you return an item, which I think some sellers play on by trading faulty items as working.

 

[weckart]

I'm guessing in your case, it would have been the prolonged vibration of a long journey in the delivery van maybe? My iBook was tightly wrapped in cardboard with no packing so any impact on the parcel would be transmitted directly into the iBook...some people have no sense. The problem with ebay now though is you lose money if you return an item, which I think some sellers play on by trading faulty items as working.

I have had two perfectly good laptops destroyed by ridiculously optimistic packaging by sellers. The TiBook in a jiffy bag with the battery removed and thrown into the bag to bash against the rest of the laptop was the nadir.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I have had two perfectly good laptops destroyed by ridiculously optimistic packaging by sellers. The TiBook in a jiffy bag with the battery removed and thrown into the bag to bash against the rest of the laptop was the nadir.

They didn't add a "Fragile" label too did they? Do people really think, "yes, this fragile sticker will really give my package preferential treatment..."

 

[bunnspecial]

I tend to go as low profile as I can when shipping pretty much anything.

One of the great things about printing postage online(through Paypal) is that I can hide the actual shipping cost, so a 6 oz. package that cost $20 to ship due the $1K in insurance on it doesn't stand out. I never mark "fragile" or anything of the like on a package.

Above a point(usually about $1K in value) I will go to registered mail, but other than that I think that discreet is best. Back in 1950s, the Hope Diamond was mailed to the Smithsonian in a plain brown box via registered mail-I figure if it's good enough for the Hope diamond it's good enough for whatever other piddly valuables I have to mail.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I tend to go as low profile as I can when shipping pretty much anything.

One of the great things about printing postage online(through Paypal) is that I can hide the actual shipping cost, so a 6 oz. package that cost $20 to ship due the $1K in insurance on it doesn't stand out. I never mark "fragile" or anything of the like on a package.

Above a point(usually about $1K in value) I will go to registered mail, but other than that I think that discreet is best. Back in 1950s, the Hope Diamond was mailed to the Smithsonian in a plain brown box via registered mail-I figure if it's good enough for the Hope diamond it's good enough for whatever other piddly valuables I have to mail.

Sounds like you're more trusting than me
I've been selling on Ebay for years, in all that time I've only sent an item unregistered once - sure enough, on day 5 (I'd specified 5 days delivery) the buyer complained it hadn't turned up and demanded a full refund. Any quibbling and he'd have spoilt my 100% feedback...just not worth the risk.

 

[weckart]

Do like the Germans do and specify bank transfer or cash on collect as the only payment methods. No eBay guarantee with either of those.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Do like the Germans do and specify bank transfer or cash on collect as the only payment methods. No eBay guarantee with either of those.

I know but whichever payment method you employ it still doesn't stop people from leaving bad feedback.