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User profile for user: telmomendesleal
telmomendesleal Author
User level: Level 1
17 points

ibook g3 not booting

I have this iBook G3 with both macos 10.3.x and macos 9.2.2. I switched it on a couple of times, it started up on macos 10.3.x and it seamed OK. Then I switched the startup disk to macos 9.2.2 and it does this weird behavior: it starts, shows the folder with question mark, after a while starts with the macos 9.2.2 and immediately after dims out the screen light to almost nothing and blocks when the startup loading bar is almost complete.


I've tried reset pram (Command-Option-P-R), force to boot from rom (Command-Option-X-O) and bypass (Command-Option-Shift-Delete). None did anything and it goes back to issue described above. The cd drive doesn't sound very healthy either.


Should I try anything else or is it time to new hard disk?


I have another ibook g3 and an iMac (both macos 9.2.2). Is it worth buying a firewire cable to try target disk mode?



Thanks in advance for your the help.

Posted on Oct 17, 2023 4:49 PM

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User profile for user: Jan Hedlund
Jan Hedlund
User level: Level 7
23,419 points

Posted on Oct 18, 2023 8:37 AM

Thank you for the information.


If you need to reset the power manager, the following could be found in an old Apple article 14449 (modified December 13, 2005):

For iBook (16 VRAM) and later models of iBook, there is no physical reset button.

  1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
  2. Reset the power manager by simultaneously pressing and then releasing Shift-Control-Option-Power on the keyboard. Do not press the fn (Function) key while using this combination of keystrokes.
  3. Wait 5 seconds.
  4. Press the Power button to restart the iBook computer.


FireWire target disk mode should allow access to the hard disk for inspection/repair/reformatting/re-installation/transfer purposes.

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User profile for user: Jan Hedlund
Jan Hedlund
User level: Level 7
23,419 points

Oct 18, 2023 8:37 AM in response to telmomendesleal

Thank you for the information.


If you need to reset the power manager, the following could be found in an old Apple article 14449 (modified December 13, 2005):

For iBook (16 VRAM) and later models of iBook, there is no physical reset button.

  1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
  2. Reset the power manager by simultaneously pressing and then releasing Shift-Control-Option-Power on the keyboard. Do not press the fn (Function) key while using this combination of keystrokes.
  3. Wait 5 seconds.
  4. Press the Power button to restart the iBook computer.


FireWire target disk mode should allow access to the hard disk for inspection/repair/reformatting/re-installation/transfer purposes.

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User profile for user: Jan Hedlund
Jan Hedlund
User level: Level 7
23,419 points

Oct 17, 2023 6:42 PM in response to telmomendesleal

Hi,


First of all, which exact iBook G3 do you have?

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html


Any difference between starting up with or without the battery in place?


Starting with the Shift key depressed?


A FireWire cable is not expensive, and FireWire target disk mode can be useful.


By the way, Command-Option-X-O is for booting the Macintosh Classic from ROM.

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,650 points

Oct 28, 2023 5:44 PM in response to telmomendesleal

Definitely try a Safe Boot using the Shift key. If Safe Mode works, then try booting while holding the Space bar which I believe will allow you to select which extensions will load on OS 9.x so you can figure out which one caused the problem if Safe Mode allowed it to boot.


It wouldn't surprise me if the hard drive could be causing a problem, but unfortunately there is not an easy way to check its health. You could try running the Apple Hardware Test by booting the second CD/DVD which originally shipped with the laptop.

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ibook g3 not booting

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