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ibook G4 not booting after installing new hard-drive

MacTavish84

MacTavish84

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2010
10
0
Scotland
Hey guys,
I'm new here and this is my first post :)
In all my years experience with apple products this has to be the most challenging yet. So the problem I'm having is my newly acquired "ibook G4 1.33ghz 12 inch" is having problems booting just after recently insatlling a brand new WD Scorpio Blue 160GB hard-drive. I installed myself with the very useful ifixit.com tutorial which ran through the process quite simply. Basically the background story here is, I was given the ibook by a friend of mine who didn't want it as she didn't have the patience, money and time to invest into having it fixed. Some three years ago she dropped it from her coffee table and since then the hard-drive started failing, getting louder and slower to eventually one day not switching on at all. She took the ibook to an Apple Genius bar in LA where they ran diagnostics and resulted it with having a failed hard-drive. She never had it repaired and has since been keeping it stored away as a spare. She was kind enough to gift it to me, I was well up for the challenge to repair it so here I am!! So, I bought a new hard-drive, successfully installed it and then the moment of truth, the ibook DID switch on, this itself was good news. But ever since I haven't been able to progress any further, as when I switch the ibook on it makes the apple start-up sound then goes to a white screen and says this:

Invalid memory access at SRR0: ff8486a4 SRR1: 00003030
Apple PowerBook6, 7 4.9.3f0 BootROM built on 07/05/05 at 11:14:11
Copyright............etc etc..

Then says:

To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return
To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return
Reducing system power . . .

ok
0 >

:confused: So if I type "mac-boot" it goes to a grey screen with a folder icon in the middle containing a little 'finder' face and a flashing question mark, and then if left for about 5 minutes or so it just switches itself off.
Of course it occurred to me that there is nothing on the new hard-drive so it can't boot from anything, I tried using my intel mac's start up disk which has OSX tiger on it, but this doesn't give any better results, I start-up holding C and I here the disk being read but it can't boot from it, it still goes back to the OpenFirmware screen as above.
My thinking so far is that maybe I need the original start-up disk which came with the ibook G4, and of course there is no guarantee that my friend will have this, so....... WHAT DO I DO????? :eek:

Guys I would appreciate any help you may have, whether form experience or simply trial and error methods, anything is more than helpful at this stage. Should also mention I have reset the PRAM and NVRAM and it's still the same. I'm gutted!!!!! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to read my post ;) Otto
 
PowerPC computers can't boot to Intel disks, and you wouldn't be able to install Mac OS X using another computer's restore disks. She doesn't have the restore disks that came with the computer?
 
Just Some Ideas

I have researched your problem and I can't find and exact match, but I did stumble across a couple of things that based on your post might be related. First i would make sure the new HDD is installed correctly.
Second thing I found was the firmware battery could be dead.

Did it boot before you changed the drive?

I will keep looking and let you know if I find something better. Sorry I couldn't come up with a better answer.

And the Intel disk thing is defiantly kicking your ass so the above comments are crap until you get a non hardware specific CD
 
I should mention that it's possible to boot to a restore disk designed for another computer of the same architecture (PowerPC vs. Intel), but you'll just get an error message saying that "Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer" once the installer has finished launching. It's a handy test in a pinch.
 
hamlinspahn said:
I have researched your problem and I can't find and exact match, but I did stumble across a couple of things that based on your post might be related. First i would make sure the new HDD is installed correctly.
Second thing I found was the firmware battery could be dead.

Did it boot before you changed the drive?

I will keep looking and let you know if I find something better. Sorry I couldn't come up with a better answer.

And the Intel disk thing is defiantly kicking your ass so the above comments are crap until you get a non hardware specific CD
Click to expand...

It never booted with the old hard drive, it just simply wouldn't switch on. As soon as I installed the new hard drive it then came on no problem, so something good has happened there. But of course it's like it can't see the hard drive, and because it's not formatted it obviously is a problem.

My friend just let me know that she doesn't have the original disks, so I'm completely stuck at this point. Any way of downloading something, or booting it form my imac?
 
Full Install Disk.

MacTavish84 said:
It never booted with the old hard drive, it just simply wouldn't switch on. As soon as I installed the new hard drive it then came on no problem, so something good has happened there. But of course it's like it can't see the hard drive, and because it's not formatted it obviously is a problem.

My friend just let me know that she doesn't have the original disks, so I'm completely stuck at this point. Any way of downloading something, or booting it form my imac?
Click to expand...

I really think the intel hardware os disk is your problem and you really have to get beyond that before you can even start questioning hardware. There are ways to get a full install disk but I'm not going to say how you should.
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3312627/Mac_OS_X_Tiger_10_4_8A425_GM___
 
I just found someone in my city selling on ebay OS Panther full installation disks for a G4 PowerMac tower they owned. Would this work for me? Also if I did try downloading that .dmg file from apple, would I simply burn the file onto a CD and then boot from it, when starting my ibook?
 
Power Mac

MacTavish84 said:
I just found someone in my city selling on ebay OS Panther full installation disks for a G4 PowerMac tower they owned. Would this work for me? Also if I did try downloading that .dmg file from apple, would I simply burn the file onto a CD and then boot from it, when starting my ibook?
Click to expand...

Not going to work if it is a restore disk. The hardware must be 100% the same on a restore disk set. If he did buy an upgrade disk for his PowerMac that disk would work provided it is newer than you iBook. A .dmg doesn't usually equal bootable but it might so worth a try but still wont get you around the OS X disk issue.
 
MacTavish84 said:
I just found someone in my city selling on ebay OS Panther full installation disks for a G4 PowerMac tower they owned. Would this work for me?
Click to expand...

If its a restore disc (grey disc) then no, if its a retail disc (black disc) then yes. If it is only a restore, you can probably get a panther/tiger retail disc for pretty cheap on eBay too, a retail disc should be what youre looking for, since finding the machine specific discs will be a hell of a challenge for that machine.
 
iBook G4 2005 model

I suspect that the panther 10.3 disk will work if it is a early or late 2004 iBook model, but the 2005 iBook model shipped with tiger 10.4 and since all OS X disk check for Apple hardware the 2005 iBook model might not be known to a Panther disk set. I don't want to make to much of this because it is completely possible that Apple included the 2005 iBook hardware definition in panther but is just as completely possible that Apple did not, and depending on the generation of the panther disk set the older it is the more unlikely a 2005 iBook would have been included in the hardware definition list. With Tiger, or even Leopard you are completely safe the 2005 iBook would have been included on both, but Tiger will run better on a G4 than Leopard. Having said that a few dollars is not much of a loss if the Panther disks you linked to aren't compatible. I hope I have been of some help.
 
guys I'd just like to say thanks with all the help, it's very much appreciated. ;)

So, lets say I did have a copy of OS X Tiger 10.4 on dvd, that should work, or I guess it's the first thing worth trying before I get hung up on hardware issues. Apart from the ebay listing I found, I also have a 'downloaded copy' available of tiger, I will try this and then get back to you all. Fingers crossed!!!
 
Good Luck

MacTavish84 said:
guys I'd just like to say thanks with all the help, it's very much appreciated. ;)

So, lets say I did have a copy of OS X Tiger 10.4 on dvd, that should work, or I guess it's the first thing worth trying before I get hung up on hardware issues. Apart from the ebay listing I found, I also have a 'downloaded copy' available of tiger, I will try this and then get back to you all. Fingers crossed!!!
Click to expand...

Yes that should work. I really hope it isn't a hardware problem that can't be resolved, my iBook was a really good machine, I loved it. Let me know if it works.
 
Ok! the version of panther on ebay is no good.
So, I burned an .ISO image of tiger 10.4.11 onto a dvd and inserted that into the ibook, booted up holding C and nothing happens, it tries to read and then just ends up going to the OpenFirmware screen as before. Maybe the I didn't create the image of tiger correctly? but I used toast titanium 7 to make an image disk, simple really. The burning software did give an ISO 9660 option which I don't know what that is, but I'm assuming what I did was correct :confused: Also, I don't know if this is a good way to test my tiger image dvd, but I inserted it into my imac which currently has the same operating system and tried booting the cd from my imac by restarting the computer and holding down C, it simply just ignored the dvd and booted directly from the hard drive. Do you reckon the dvd was burned wrong? Or is my imac simply not reading it as it's the same operating system it already has running, and the reason my ibook isn't reading it is because my ibook is dead and all this is simply a coincidence?
It's driving me crazy, been up all night :(
 
Please invest in a legal disc. You won't get much help here with a torrented disc image. It shouldnt cost you too much, try and contact Apple and see if they can help get the original discs to you. Isnt it better to know for sure with a proper disc?
 
Just Breath a Little

MacTavish84 said:
Ok! the version of panther on ebay is no good.
So, I burned an .ISO image of tiger 10.4.11 onto a dvd and inserted that into the ibook, booted up holding C and nothing happens, it tries to read and then just ends up going to the OpenFirmware screen as before. Maybe the I didn't create the image of tiger correctly? but I used toast titanium 7 to make an image disk, simple really. The burning software did give an ISO 9660 option which I don't know what that is, but I'm assuming what I did was correct :confused: Also, I don't know if this is a good way to test my tiger image dvd, but I inserted it into my imac which currently has the same operating system and tried booting the cd from my imac by restarting the computer and holding down C, it simply just ignored the dvd and booted directly from the hard drive. Do you reckon the dvd was burned wrong? Or is my imac simply not reading it as it's the same operating system it already has running, and the reason my ibook isn't reading it is because my ibook is dead and all this is simply a coincidence?
It's driving me crazy, been up all night :(
Click to expand...

The iMac would boot to the DVD if it was good it just doesn't care what it on the hard drive when booting to DVD. How to burn a good .iso in OS X

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/mac-os-x/burn-an-iso-file-using-mac-os-x-the-easy-way/

Once you get a disk that will boot on your iMac try it on the iBook. If it still will not boot on the iBook it is time to check the jumpers on the Hard Drive if they are wrong the DVD and HDD will not be available to the system but it will power on. Since the iBook is powering on and going thru the firmware this tells me there is likely nothing wrong with the logic board. I don't know how you set the HDD but I assume you copied what the setting that were on the one you took out making it correct. So take a break while the iso is burning again, I'll be here to help as much as I can via a forum so I'm in it with you.
 
Torrented Disk

forcefieldkid said:
Please invest in a legal disc. You won't get much help here with a torrented disc image. It shouldnt cost you too much, try and contact Apple and see if they can help get the original discs to you. Isnt it better to know for sure with a proper disc?
Click to expand...

I agree a legal disk would really make it easier to determine what is going on the torrent you downloaded could be bad. I also am a stickler for legal software, but in this case i believe you have a right to download since the iBook shipped with it on it and included a copy of the software, if it were some other software or hardware I would be out.
 
hamlinspahn said:
I also am a stickler for legal software, but in this case i believe you have a right to download since the iBook shipped with it on it and included a copy of the software, if it were some other software or hardware I would be out.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure the rules on these boards make that distinction, which would be my concern going forward down this route.
 
I think were good

forcefieldkid said:
I'm not sure the rules on these boards make that distinction, which would be my concern going forward down this route.
Click to expand...

You are probably right about the rules, but there are literally thousands of post about how to and where to get Jailbreak for your iPhone which doesn't fall into the grey zone like this.
 
forcefieldkid said:
I'm not sure the rules on these boards make that distinction, which would be my concern going forward down this route.
Click to expand...

Warez/Serials/Keys.
Do not post software serial numbers or keys or refer people to specific websites, software, or techniques whose purpose is to break or bypass software licensing methods, distribute cracks, or obtain or use commercial software or media in violation of its license and/or for copyright violation. Do not ask for or give such help.

from https://macrumors.zendesk.com/hc/en-us#Things_Not_to_Do
 
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