My iBook is booting straight to Open Firmware and not to OS

[impactnng]

When I boot up my iBook(I think its late 2001 version, I would really appreciate help on knowing what version it is as well as I am a new Mac User) It boots up to the open firmware screen:

Dault Catch@, code=300 at SRR0: 33e593c4 SRR1: 4003030
Apple PopwerBoook4, 1 4.2.0f4 BootROM built on 04/10/01 at 13:40:51
Copyright 1994-2001 Apple Computer, Inc
All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to Open Firmware, the system time and date is : 16:09:37 04/01/1976

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

I have already tried:
set-defaults
reset-nvram
reset-all

but the ibook still will not boot

I have also ran the most up-to-date Apple Hardware Test cd and both quick and extended tests showed no problems with the hardware.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I think I need to just reinstall the OS but would love any feedback or other suggestions maybe

 

[Nermal]

If you type mac-boot does it continue booting, or will it not get any further at all?

 

[impactnng]

If you type mac-boot does it continue booting, or will it not get any further at all?

I can boot it that way but it and can hear the hard drive spinning and reading, but it will never fully boot up. It will show a folder icon with an animated mac logo/question mark, but again, will not boot.

 

[alphaod]

Could be that your HDD is corrupt; have you tried booting into the Install DVDs and try to repair the disk?

 

[Sun Baked]

Boot volume error ... something messed up with the OS.

 

[impactnng]

Could be that your HDD is corrupt; have you tried booting into the Install DVDs and try to repair the disk?

I don thave the install DVD's that came with the iBook as I bought it used, I do have access to Puma and leopard(only two latest thats compatible) Is there a utility on one of those discs that will check/fix the HDD further than what the Apple Hardware Test checks?

 

[bartelby]

Years ago a mate had this problem due to a faulty Airport card.

 

[impactnng]

Years ago a mate had this problem due to a faulty Airport card.

The previous user said that they tried to install an airport card and then these issues came up, did you know what caused the problem or a fix for it? I'm starting to run out of ideas

 

[impactnng]

Could be that your HDD is corrupt; have you tried booting into the Install DVDs and try to repair the disk?

yes, I just ran the Repair Disk from the Disk Utility on the Panther Installation cd, it came up with the following error:

invalid leaf record count
(it should be 6 instead of 65_

it says that 1 volume could not be repaired

Any suggestions? I hope this doesn't mean that my hard drive needs replacing and that there may be a more definitive test

 

[bartelby]

The previous user said that they tried to install an airport card and then these issues came up, did you know what caused the problem or a fix for it? I'm starting to run out of ideas

In the case of my mate I removed the airport card. If there's not one in your iBook then I'm not sure.

 

[impactnng]

In the case of my mate I removed the airport card. If there's not one in your iBook then I'm not sure.

That was the first thing I did and it would still boot straight to open firmware and fail to boot after command: mac-boot

I ran the disk repair and now I have actually been able to start the re-install of Panther successfully, we'll see if it can actually finish.

I still worry about the problem I stated in the previous post, that an issue wasnt resolved (invalid leaf record count: it should be 6 instead of 65)

Would a faulty airport have caused all this and continue after removing it? This my first issue and experience with a Mac lol

 

[Nermal]

If Disk Utility couldn't repair the volume then you'll likely have more problems later (if not immediately). Your best bet, if the system successfully boots, would be to back up everything important then reformat the drive (which would build a new, and hopefully problem-free, directory structure).

 

[impactnng]

I've tried reinstalling the OS (panther 10.3.9) and tried formatting the hard drive, but the installation is still freezing periodically. The Repair Disk option in Disk Utility does not show any errors but the OS installation still will not complete.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[rjt1000]

Any ideas anyone?

I would try to install the OS to an external firewire drive and see if it installs properly and will then boot the machine. Perhaps a friend has one you could borrow? If not, the techs at an Apple retail store will have one they use for testing. If that works, it would seem you need a new hard drive.