Weird iBook Hardware Problem...please help!

[e²Studios]

mkrishnan-- i realize in hindsight that made me sound pretty stupid...the 'thinking' comment. obviously i was at a loss for words there and came up empty. I wouldn't say I've done a lot with respect to taking computers apart, but I'm relatively mechanically inclined and have installed ram, cd drives, etc in Wintel towers. I think I'm hesitant because I don't know how buried things are inside the iBook and wouldn't want to risk damaging anything.

I was thinking that if I attempt the repair myself that I'd get a pack of small bags and label the screws in groups...the phillips-head ones from the outside of the case, the allen ones from the outside, etc. Just get super anal-retentive about the job. Here's my other concern-- do I basically have to take the entire thing apart, or is the drive relatively accessible once I get the case off? Any good online guides for removing the case and getting access to the HD (perhaps with photos)?

Thanks!

I gave you a guide with photos earlier in this thread.
Click here to take it apart

Ed

 

[mkrishnan]

mkrishnan-- i realize in hindsight that made me sound pretty stupid...

Sorry, I shouldn't have commented on that. If you're mechanically-inclined, it can be done with the help of a guide like the one Ed linked. But as you'll see from the guide, it was designed with compactness more in mind than upgrading. And as far as the screws thing, as you read above, it really is bad. If you do this, I'd honestly recommend that in addition to the manual, you consider taking photos with a digital cam while you're taking it apart.... And also numbering the screws to match the photos....

 

[CaptainCaveMann]

Called Apple and they wouldn't help me unless I paid them, since I'm out of warranty and didn't buy Applecare.

What else makes noise inside a computer, other than hard drives? I had an HD that died once on a Dell and that was making a very specific HD sort of noise. This is almost like the system is 'thinking' too hard. I guess that makes it an HD sort of problem, but at the same time it works when I turn it sideways a little so something is still working. When it's turned sideways it makes no noise at all and acts normal. I've done some backing up of essential documents but need to figure out a way to get my media files and stuff off of this machine.

Any other repair options using software? I don't have DiskWarrior and DiskUtility couldn't repair the volume. I also got an error code from the Hardware Diagnostics but couldn't find any info about it online.

It just seems weird that it would work perfectly when turned a bit to one side or tipped up a bit...i realize the data could be lost soon but it's just a bizarre problem.

The tilting makes sense because when bearings or bushing get worn out they get un even on the surface and begin to wobble when they rotate. Auto shop taught me that.

 

[sjcaguy]

This will undoubtedly reflect my ignorance, but I need to know-- there's no different in the Mac vs. PC hard drives, are there? In other words, the Toshiba MK6025GAS is the same no matter what, right?

Hopefully I can zip down to my local Fry's and pick up a hard drive and some tools (need the Torx driver) to get this done. Found a great online guide with a LOT of detail and photos...
Check it out

I think I'm going to attempt this myself rather than pay the local Mac guy $100 per hour to do the job.

If I don't need the EXACT drive, can I get one that will fit the enclosure, or should I get the exact same one?

 

[zach]

No difference, no.

And yeah, you can get a different drive.. I believe there are even iBook certified 7200 RPM drives (which, oh yeah, would make a significant performance improvement).

Find the silver lining in every cloud

 

[iBunny]

I am going to take apart my iBook 14' and Put in a 7200RPM High end Hard Drive. But not until I get out of Iraq. Too dirty here, and too clusered to carefully take aparty my book and then put it back together. I would say that if you are the paitent type, and have a few hours of nothing to do, you could do it no problem.

Hopefully the Hard drive is the problem. (Not hopefully but you know what I mean) I think that its the easiest and cheapest to replace. And you can do it all yourself.

 

[sjcaguy]

Hopefully the Hard drive is the problem. (Not hopefully but you know what I mean)

Thanks for everyone's help here. I discovered that CompUSA would do the hard-drive upgrade for a flat fee of $30. After starting to remove the case myself and feeling really not up to the task, it was a relief to get a reasonable price quote-- a family friend referred me to a local Mac guy and he charged $100 per hour for the work. I think it took the guy at CompUSA ~5 hrs, so it was definitely worth it.

PLUS (and this is the main reason I replied here) he upgraded me to Tiger for FREE. I picked it up and was expecting to have to do the OS reinstall, and he handed it to me and said "Enjoy Tiger. I put it on there for ya."

So, all in all, a good situation. Picked up an enclosure at Fry's and managed to recover all my data. I read somewhere that cooling the drive during recovery can help with a failing system, so I sandwiched the enclosure between two ice packs (with a towel around it) and got all my stuff off.

Found an old laptop HD from my old Dell lying around and now have a 40GB backup drive thanks to the enclosure.