I'm not sure if this is the correct forum or not, but it said general/basic help so i'll try anyway. Sorry if it's not.
i must say that im new to the world of MAC's, my PowerBook G4 (12inch) was my first taste of mac computing, and i must say that it's won me over.
However, im having major technical problems with my G4 which render it almsot useless. I have no Tech Plan coverage and at this point i dont think its worth it to spend too much money to invest in repairing it. So i figured i'd ask here on the forums ( visist the site frequently).
About a year ago my G4 had an accident, it pushed off of a table (small children). Suffered a dent by the power connecter, however it still works and functions. Cd-Rom makes a minor grinding, however works no problems.
After about 6 months the real problem started to occur. When booting, i'd get a folder with a question mark in it, or a circle with a slash through it. Sometimes it would work normal as well. Figuring it was an HDD issue, i purchased a new hard disk, and replaced the 'thought to be' defective one. Reassembled and the system worked perfect good as new. about a month went along and the same problem happened again. Basicly i randomly get a circle with a slash in it when i try to boot up (system also locks up if coming out of stabdby/hibernation). OSX successfully loads approximately only 40% of the time. To get it to work, i usually have to *shake* the laptop or hold it upside down and tap it, sometimes it loads successfully when i try this.
Any suggestions any of you could possibly offer on what the problem could be and a ways to fix it would greatly be apprecited... as i'd like to hold on until leopard to purchase a new mac.
i must say that im new to the world of MAC's, my PowerBook G4 (12inch) was my first taste of mac computing, and i must say that it's won me over.
However, im having major technical problems with my G4 which render it almsot useless. I have no Tech Plan coverage and at this point i dont think its worth it to spend too much money to invest in repairing it. So i figured i'd ask here on the forums ( visist the site frequently).
About a year ago my G4 had an accident, it pushed off of a table (small children). Suffered a dent by the power connecter, however it still works and functions. Cd-Rom makes a minor grinding, however works no problems.
After about 6 months the real problem started to occur. When booting, i'd get a folder with a question mark in it, or a circle with a slash through it. Sometimes it would work normal as well. Figuring it was an HDD issue, i purchased a new hard disk, and replaced the 'thought to be' defective one. Reassembled and the system worked perfect good as new. about a month went along and the same problem happened again. Basicly i randomly get a circle with a slash in it when i try to boot up (system also locks up if coming out of stabdby/hibernation). OSX successfully loads approximately only 40% of the time. To get it to work, i usually have to *shake* the laptop or hold it upside down and tap it, sometimes it loads successfully when i try this.
Any suggestions any of you could possibly offer on what the problem could be and a ways to fix it would greatly be apprecited... as i'd like to hold on until leopard to purchase a new mac.
