Ibook will not Boot - goes to DOS, error message inside

Hi Dewdrops,

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

To get that DVD out, shut down your iBook by holding the power button down. Restart and at the same time hold down your mouse/track pad button until it ejects.

You can check out the health of your hard drive from your other mac. Start your iBook in Target Disk Mode and open Disk Utilitiy from your host Mac. Select the Target Disk (your iBook) from the volumes list to the left (the upper of the two firewire disks, not the sub-volume), then click "repair disk". this could straighten things out or at least let you know if the HD is repairable.

Good Luck!

Randy

Well, what does this mean, indeed. I can only imagine that the volume selection is grayed out because the directory is a mess or the HD is damaged. I'm glad that you were able to finally eject the DVD.

Is it possible that you have with you Apple Hardware test or DiskWarrior. If you could boot from either of those it could really help with your evaluation. Do you know someone locally who owns a retail version of Leopard? IF so borrow it for the evening.

Another thought would be to boot your iBook in T mode, and see if you could change your startup disk in system preferences to the target drive, then click the restart button. That will be evident when you got to System Preferences>Startup Disk, after the drives are found (hopefully) click the restart button in the lower right of that pane. If the Target drive is not recognized I would think that your HD is toast.

There maybe another member who could shed more light on your issue, but give that a try.

Well, Maybe not so gloomy. A new and larger hard drive is a very nice thing! If you're handy at all with small screws, patient and good at following directions, you can replace the hard drive yourself. It's not that difficult. Just give yourself lots of time. I don't know if you have the 12" or the 14" 1.33 ghz model but here are the repair links for both of them:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-iBook-G4-14-Inch-933-MHz-1-33-GHz- Hard-Drive-Replacement/189/1

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-iBook-G4-12-Inch-1-33-GHz-Hard-Dri ve-Replacement/703/1

Make sure that you have that you have the tools that iFixit recommends. Don't try to fudge it with substitutes.

Search online for a 2.5" IDE, ATA, Ultra ATA, PATA (all the same). The largest volume drive available is the WD 320 GB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136345&Tpk=western%20di gital%202.5%22%20320%20gb%20pata

IF you decide to go this route, let me know and I can give you more info. Or maybe you'd rather just spend the bucks to ave a shop do replacement. In any case, I think you'll enjoy having a new HD.

Randy

Drewdrops,

That is a link for a SATA (Serial ATA) drive) which will not work. You need a PATA or Parallel ATA drive, also called ATA, Ultra ATA or IDE drive. The drive in the link you sent is also a 3.5" drive. You will need a 2.5" notebook drive for your iBook.

After you get the new HD installed, you will have to boot from your Leopard install DVD, go to Disk Utilities again, select the drive in the list of volumes and click on the 'partition' button. select 1 partition (unless you would like more than one volume), make sure that "Mac OS Extended (Journelled)" is the format selected and then click 'partition'. You can then quit Disk Utility, and continue the installation. If you click on the 'options' button in the first install pane, you will see the button, pre-selected, that says 'installs OS X for the first time'. That is the correct choice.

After the install is complete, you'll get the welcome window, set up your account, and get going on your iBook. Immediately go to software update in System Preferences and begin installing the myriad of updates. After each install and restart, return to software update again and again untill it finally says that "you are up to date". This entire process can take hours, but stick with it. One more thing that is very important.... After you are finished with updates, open Disc Utility in the Utilities folder that is within your Applications folder and drag that icon down to the dock. Open it, select your HD volume to the left (the upper one with numbers, not the sub-volume) and then click "Repair Disk Permissions". Apple recommends doing this after each time you install updates and generally at least once a month after that. The instructor in an OS X class that I once took, said that you should repair disk permissions every week.

To me, all of you symptoms would point to a failed hard drive and a replacement would most likely take care of the problem. Are there ever any guarantees, though?

Is there an Apple Store close to your location? You could make an appointment at their "Genius Bar" for a free check-up. They will look at your iBook, tell you what is wrong and how much it will cost to repair it at their facility. You are not required to have it repaired there. It's just s service they offer. Look at the bottom of the Apple Store or Support page. I believe there is information about making an appointment.

Let me know how it goes.

Randy

Yes, That one will work.

Randy

Yes, this Western Digital 320 GB is a good one. It's the one I have in my iBook and works great with lots of storage space.

The only G4 iBook that doesn't support Leopard is the 800mhz model (minimum leopard processor speed is 866mhz, although there is a work-around). Is this the model you have? If so, Tiger is your max OS, which is fine. Also, You have to be using the retail version of Leopard or Tiger for your iBook. Those OS weren't around when your iBook was made, so a computer specific version of Leopard (probably for a MacBook) will not work. What does the label on your Leopard install disc say, or look like?

Randy

Those discs are from an Intel Mac. Your iBook is a PowerPC Mac. They are different platforms. They will not work. You can always try by putting in the disc and booting from it by holding the C key. It may boot, but most likely it'll either start to boot from it and crash, or it won't even boot from it. Most likely, you will need the Retail Leopard DVD to install Leopard (you can also use CPU drop-in DVDs/Upgrade DVDs but the EULA would be violated on these.)