iBook will not boot (access denied symbol)

[crassusad44]

Hi

I have a problem with an iBook G3 900MHz that will not boot up. It shows the "missing system folder" blinking icon, so I tried booting it from a DiskWarrior 3 CD. It seems to work fine, the Apple logo shows up and stays up for a while. But after a minute or so a grey "access denied" (Ø) symbol comes up where the Apple logo used to be, the CD stops spinning and nothing happens. Anybody got any idea whats happening, and what the access denied symbol mean? I've checked the CD on a PowerBook and DiskWarrior works just fine...

 

[whocares]

Have you run Hardware test?
Have you tried booting from an Apple OS X CD?

 

[crassusad44]

Apple Hardware Test find no hardware failures, except for a missing HD. Booting from an OS X CD gives the same result as booting from DiskWarrior...

 

[dops7107]

Would a computer boot from a CD if the HD was missing completely? Even a perfectly normally operating machine: take its HD out and nothing will boot it up? I'm thinking perhaps the lack of HD may be the actual answer, since OS X is unlikely to be able to do much without a HD. But TBH I have not had to deal with this problem, so I might be speaking rubbish.

 

[crassusad44]

HD not missing only "missing"

The HD is still there... It simply will not show up in the Hardware Test; hence it's "missing". Sorry I didn't make that point clear. I talked to an Apple Support rep, but he hadn't heard of the problem...

 

[dops7107]

The HD is still there... It simply will not show up in the Hardware Test; hence it's "missing". Sorry I didn't make that point clear. I talked to an Apple Support rep, but he hadn't heard of the problem...

Um yeah, but a HD that is not recognised by the system is the same as an HD that is not physically in place. So maybe it is as simple as a dead HD?

 

[Linkjeniero]

Maybe the HD is fried. Do you have access to another mac? If so, you can use target mode via firewire to see if the disc can be read. Also, to see if it isn't something else, you could boot a Linux Live distro (those don't need an HD). You could try with Ubuntu, for example.

 

[crassusad44]

The HD is most likely damaged in one way or another, that's why I tried to boot from DiskWarrior. Normally DiskWarrior will boot any Mac without problem even if the HD is so damaged it has to be replaced. This is the first time I've not been able to boot a Mac with functional motherboard and RAM from a CD (have tried DiskWarrior 3.0.3, OS 10.2.x, 10.3.x and 10.4.x). And it's also the first time I've seen this symbol on startup. Something is preventing the poor 'ol iBook from booting up normally. I just don't know what it is...

EDIT: HD will not show up when in Target mode

 

[MegaSignal]

Your HD is gone

After reading the posts on this thread, IMHO, either your HD is inoperative or corrupted, or is not connected any longer to the main logic board.

Check connections; barring that, I would try installing on a new HD.

If you've got important information on the old HD, I'm sure there are companies out there that could retrieve the valuable (non-OS) information.

Hope this helps!