Won't take discs and won't start

Question

Level 1

0 points

Won't take discs and won't start

My iBook G4 is 1 year and 2 months old - unfortunately my warranty JUST ran out. I have never had a problem with my computer before....it was sleeping the other night and it woke me up because it was so loud. It was making wierd noises/crackling sounds. I forced a shut down. Now, when I start it up, it goes to the Apple screen with the wheel turning...and then the wheel just suddenly stops. And it all of a sudden won't take any CD's or DVD's, so I can't even install OS or run hardware tests.

I called Apple support...they think it might be the logic board but it' going to cost $700 for them to fix. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks!

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 13, 2006 8:08 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

myhighway

Level 5

7,270 points

Jul 13, 2006 9:23 AM in response to J2kimbal

I'd guess the hard drive failed, and furthermore, those would be the two options. I'm not familiar with a logic board failure being a loud event, but perhaps someone else can offer their experience about that.

Reply

Answer 2

myhighway

Level 5

7,270 points

Jul 13, 2006 9:32 AM in response to J2kimbal

If it is the logic board, you would most likely still have your data on the hard drive. Without knowing exactly which iBook you have, I'm not sure the repair is financially worthwhile considering that you may be able to purchase an Apple refurb with full warranty for not much more. In that event, you could pull out the hard drive and sell the damaged remains for enough on eBay to put you ahead of the repair cost. They'll frequently go for $200 and up in that condition, as long as the display was in good shape.

Reply

Answer 3

J2kimbal Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 13, 2006 10:45 AM in response to J2kimbal

It's an iBook G4...is there anyway for me to test and see which problem I have? How will I know if it's the logic board or the hard drive?

Reply

Answer 4

Susan M

Level 2

330 points

Jul 13, 2006 12:18 PM in response to J2kimbal

Have you tried to start up in Safe Mode? Go here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393

Give it a try; it might work.

Susan

Reply

Answer 5

Jul 13, 2006 1:30 PM in response to J2kimbal

Do you have access to another Mac with FireWire? If so, you may be able to run the Disk Utility from that computer on your iBook's hard drive since you can't use your CD drive on the iBook. You can use FireWire Target Disk Mode to access your iBook's hard drive from another Mac. If you can't startup in "target" mode, then it's more likely that your logic board is having trouble than your hard drive.

-Doug

Reply