iBook G4 woes

[Telp]

Yesterday, my iBook g4 was working perfectly. I unplugged the computer so that I could move it, and when I went to power it back up, nothing happened. It starts to boot up, the bell chimes, and the apple logo appears. Than, the wheel goes into an indefinite spin, and the computer makes no sound after that. This is an iBook g4 1Ghz processor, 756 MB RAM, and running Leopard. It has been working just fine up to this point. Any input on the matter would be great. Thanks.


-Telp

 

[WildCowboy]

I'd start by booting from your install disc and use Disk Utility to verify/repair your disk.

 

[Telp]

I'd start by booting from your install disc and use Disk Utility to verify/repair your disk.

I have done this. Everything checked out alright. I also tried resetting the PRAM and PMU.

 

[mkrishnan]

So just to make sure I'm understanding you rightly...

- The computer can boot fully and function (i.e. OS X boots up graphically so that the installer and disk utility and all are available) when booted off an install/restore DVD

- The HD can be mounted while booted off the DVD

- You did repair DISK (and not repair permissions) and the final indication was that the disk passed the fsck verification?

 

[Telp]

So just to make sure I'm understanding you rightly...

- The computer can boot fully and function (i.e. OS X boots up graphically so that the installer and disk utility and all are available) when booted off an install/restore DVD

- The HD can be mounted while booted off the DVD

- You did repair DISK (and not repair permissions) and the final indication was that the disk passed the fsck verification?

You are understanding correctly.

 

[Warbrain]

Let it sit without the battery in it for an hour or so. Let everything decharge. Then try it again.

 

[mkrishnan]

If that doesn't work, boot (off the HD) in Verbose mode and report back what's going on around the time of hang.

Note: By default, Mac OS X boots with a graphical boot screen. For debugging the boot process, it is often useful to disable this, revealing the text console underneath. This mode is known as verbose boot mode. To enable verbose boot mode, simply hold down command-v after the boot chime.

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/BPSystemStartup/Articles/BootProcess.html

 

[Telp]

If that doesn't work, boot (off the HD) in Verbose mode and report back what's going on around the time of hang.



http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/BPSystemStartup/Articles/BootProcess.html

Did that but I don't know what I am looking for. Any insight on specifics that I should be looking for?

 

[mkrishnan]

Erm... yeah, that's a toughie.

I'm assuming that, at some point, it stops giving updates on the screen and just sits there, analogously to the visual boot hanging at the spinning circle. It may either end with a line indicating a kernel panic or it may just give the initiation of the last successfully started boot item and then just never finish that item.

So what you'd want to do is just get down what the last few lines are.

Or better yet, get your camera or phone and take a picture of the screen when it reaches the hang point.

Alternatively, you may be reaching the point where you should cut your losses, backup your home directory, and re-install.

 

[Telp]

Erm... yeah, that's a toughie.

I'm assuming that, at some point, it stops giving updates on the screen and just sits there, analogously to the visual boot hanging at the spinning circle. It may either end with a line indicating a kernel panic or it may just give the initiation of the last successfully started boot item and then just never finish that item.

So what you'd want to do is just get down what the last few lines are.

Or better yet, get your camera or phone and take a picture of the screen when it reaches the hang point.

Alternatively, you may be reaching the point where you should cut your losses, backup your home directory, and re-install.

Before I took this to the apple store, the system hung after giving the airport ID, or somewhere around that. At the apple store, they attempted to reload the 10.5.5 combo update on it, and now, the system goes into, what i would presume to be an infinite reboot process. The last couple lines give...

Bot boot device
BSD root
CSRHIDTransition Driver
CSRHIDTransition Driver
USBF
USBF
CSRHIDTransition Driver

Then it says something else, followed by a kill all processess, a stream of code runs down the screen, and then it reboots.