italiabella

Q: Hello Apple Community. I need help with a freezing powerbook G4

Hello!

 

I'm new to Apple laptops. I purchased a Powerbook G4 867 MHz 640 MB used and I'm starting to have some problems with it. My powerbook freezes at random intervals and I cannot even move the mouse. I have to hold down the power button to restart it. It runs fine before every freeze and it seems like after it freezes the fan runs very fast.. it sounds like a fan at least. This Powerbook came with no CD's at all, I have been trying to download various software to fix it but that's when I run into my next issue. I receive a "mounting failed" error upon every download. When I double click on the file it says "cannot open because this file is still be downloaded."

 

I really like this computer and would love to get it working right. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I don't know the most about mac os x so if you could be please be detailed as I cannot always locate programs on here.

 

Thank you guys!

PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 6, 2012 5:38 PM

Close

Q: Hello Apple Community. I need help with a freezing powerbook G4

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Aug 6, 2012 7:30 PM in response to italiabella
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Aug 6, 2012 7:30 PM in response to italiabella

    Well... that is an older system, as long as you don't want to watch internet video's, it may work for you. First thing I would do is to reset the PMU and the PRAM. Next thing I would want to do is to run the Apple hardware test. See if the Powerbook image located here will work. If not, if you can put your hands on a copy of TechTool Deluxe (might even be on your system) that can do similar hardware testing.

     

    It would be good if you could put your hands on at least a retail version of OS X 10.4 Tiger, as certain operations, like repairing the hard drive, require that you boot from another source. Or, if you have an external backup drive that you can use for your system, you can initialize it for Mac OS extended (journaled) format, use a program like SuperDuper to make a bootable copy of your hard drive, then boot from it. Note it can only connect via Firewire if you want to be able to boot from it.

     

    In the meantime, you can bring up Disk Utility, in applications/utilities on your hard drive, and do a verify disk. If this notes issues, you'll either need the retail OS X mentioned above or a bootable backup to repair (or you can buy Disk Warrior which can also likely repair a hard drive problem, as long as it's not a hardware issue). Usually people try Disk Utlity repair first before investing in Disk Warrior. 

     

    One source for OS X 10.4 Tiger retail disks would be hardcoremac.com. Don't get an upgrade disk, either, as they may require you to be on the prior operating system.