Sam Iam

Q: Do I need a new Hard Drive?

Last week my PowerBook G4 froze.  I tried to reboot, with no success, I just kept getting a grey screen, and that's it.  The machine did boot from the install disc, and I did run disc utility, which gave me a message of bad segments, that it could not repair.  I booted from the Tech Tool Pro disc, run and perform a diagnostic, and able to, I assume, repair, or reroute, around the bad segments in the hard drive, and was able to get the machine back up and running.

 

The same thing happen again yesterday, but I had no sucess trying the above 2 options, so I inserted the OS X install disc, and ran disc utility, erased the hard drive, and tried to reinstal the OS.  It looked like it was working, but it would get to about the 1/2 way point, then I got a message somewhere along the lines of the operation failed and I needed to restart?  I tried again, and once again it gets to the 1/2 way point and nothing.  Since I'm not to savy with hardware issues, I'm thinking that the hard drive is pootched, and I need to replace it.  Has anyone experienced this, and am I heading in the right direction on replacing the drive?

 

I know the original drive is a 100GB ata, i'm assuming a PATA-66, so would it make a difference if i replaced it with a PATA-100?  are the connections the same?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Powerbook G4 17", Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2GB ram

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 3:06 PM

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Q: Do I need a new Hard Drive?

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  • by old comm guy,Helpful

    old comm guy old comm guy Oct 27, 2011 4:03 PM in response to Sam Iam
    Level 4 (2,244 points)
    Oct 27, 2011 4:03 PM in response to Sam Iam

    Couple of things to consider.  One is (if you have the original install/restore discs) to run Apple Hardware Test on the machine, concentrating on the drive.  Also, you can do something of a test with Disk Utility from the Install Disc and doing an erase but selecting Security Options to Zero Out Data, which will at least to attempt a write to every location of the drive.

     

    Or, you could drop a new drive in.  You can check out the OWC ATA Laptop Drives page and filter on your exact PowerBook to see what is compatible.  Having just dropped in a WD 320 Gig drive from them, with relatively minimal pain, I think you can trust their compatibility information.

  • by BGreg,Helpful

    BGreg BGreg Oct 27, 2011 5:43 PM in response to Sam Iam
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Oct 27, 2011 5:43 PM in response to Sam Iam

    When you erased the hard drive, did you do a secure erase writing zero's to the hard drive? This helps in a situation like yours, as it rewrites the bad sector table on the disk.  However, if the drive is generally failing, the benefit may be short lived.

     

    If you can get to any usability, the program Smart Utility from http://www.volitans-software.com/smart_utility.php can provide good insight into the health of the drive. I agree, however, that it sounds like your drive is on the way out.

     

    You can use any 2.5" parallel ATA hard drive. There aren't as many available today as there were years back, as the manufacturers turned to making serial ATA (SATA) hard drives, which Powerbooks, unfortunately, can't use. Newegg.com has a pretty good selection, with user comments at http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%2060000344 2&IsNodeId=1&name=IDE%20Ultra%20ATA100%20%2f%20ATA-6 .

  • by Sam Iam,

    Sam Iam Sam Iam Oct 29, 2011 9:31 AM in response to Sam Iam
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 29, 2011 9:31 AM in response to Sam Iam

    Hey guys, thanks for the advice, I tried the secure erase and zeroing out the disc, but it gets to a point where it stalls (about the 29 minutes remaining mark), and then it does nothing, which leads me to believe the drive has failed.

     

    BGreg, you mentioned that any 2.5" parallel ATA drive will work, so i'm assumig that doesn't matter if it's an ATA-66, or an ATA-100.  The reason i'm asking is that I can find the 100's a lot easier then the 66's in stores here in my area.  I know I can get either online, but i'd rather get this fixed sooner then later.

  • by BGreg,Solvedanswer

    BGreg BGreg Oct 29, 2011 11:38 AM in response to Sam Iam
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Oct 29, 2011 11:38 AM in response to Sam Iam

    Yes ATA-100 is fine, both would work. Given the choice, I would want the ATA-100 (faster capability).

  • by old comm guy,

    old comm guy old comm guy Oct 29, 2011 2:49 PM in response to Sam Iam
    Level 4 (2,244 points)
    Oct 29, 2011 2:49 PM in response to Sam Iam

    Some candidates here that will work.  That OWC page even lets you filter on your exact machine.  The WD 320G  ATA-100 drive works fine in my TiBook, at least since this spring.

  • by Sam Iam,

    Sam Iam Sam Iam Nov 1, 2011 7:25 AM in response to Sam Iam
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 1, 2011 7:25 AM in response to Sam Iam

    Thanks for all the help guys.. bought a WD 250 GB drive, installed it, and transfered everything from my back-up now I'm up and running like before.

     

    Thanks for the help!