Problem with a recently bought ibook

With the install DVD for the operating system, you could try & boot the

computer from that, and use the Utilities in the Installer men to see if

you could repair the disk; or if you don't really have much personal

content in the computer, totally erase and install the OS X to see if a

better experience could be had with no previous user content involved.

{And if there is an Admin password from prior owner, you may have

to look into (search google mac os x) about how to reset the Admin

password in Leopard 10.5 without system discs. This can be done

in the Terminal; but the DVD install disc is better all the way around.}

There is a chance that some of the performance and other issues

outside of whatever is on the HDD that you did not install, so it

could be removed, may be the amount of RAM installed. And if the

hard disk drive has little or no free (unused capacity) space in the

hard drive, the system will run sluggish.

For powerPC mac, you can get some other browsers that work OK

and have a more modern or recent update status than Safari 5.

One of them that does OK is iCab (license $20, runs w/o it) and

another, TenFourfox, that does not use Flash. Plus a PPC version

of SeaMonkey (not on site with intel version) does OK.

So the issues really are a matter of troubleshooting issues in a

hands-on way, have access to a retail Leopard 10.5 install DVD,

and check on the system configuration to see what is has and

if the bottleneck of performance can be improved.

The iBook G4 (mid-2005 is last build version) shipped with Tiger

10.4 installed and with complete backup software on DVD, to

include an assortment of applications, these are not included on

a retail DVD of the system; only system applications are in OS X.

You may be able to locate a source for the 10.5 retail DVD, and

then the other Combo update is a download to finish it, 10.5.8.

Not sure if your performance questions can be resolved without the

system install DVD; as you may need to reinstall completely, and

a secure erase (one-pass overwrite zeros) then reformat takes it

back to an empty drive ready for a new system to be installed.

•Mac Performance Guide - thesafemac:

http://www.thesafemac.com/mpg/

•FAQs about Mac OS X:

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/faqs.html

Hopefully this helps...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

How old is your iBook?

Were you able to identify the iBook, from info

found in About this Mac, found beneath the 

icon in the left side Finder menu? Additional

info can be found by clicking on More Info.

Info from http://mactracker.ca (download) or

http://everymac.com could tell you more about

a specific build year model or series, if you

can narrow down the details to one year.

Does the Leopard 10.5 disc have a gray label?

If so, that would be a disc a different computer

and those won't work outside of the model build

it was intended, for the most part it.

However if the DVD has a large X on purple &

black background, that's retail disc for all Macs

that can use Leopard; so that it should work...

My older G4 Macs from 2005 & before can use

the retail Leopard 10.5 install DVD, and I don't

believe the issue is in reading the disc, but if

you needed to make dual-layer disc, they won't.

(& older SuperDrives didn't record dual layer)

You may have to see if a cleaning disc for an

optical drive or dvd player can work to clean it

since that may be part of the problem. Unless

there is an actual failure.

(FireWire) Target Disk Mode with the iBook G4

is FW400 so that is the cable type needed, as

the USB won't work to connect TDM. If a

second machine also has FireWire ports, then

a correct cable with ends matching each Mac

would need to be acquired to do this task.

Not sure what else you could do, in an attempt

to make the optical drive work. Since USB is

way slow in those, external USB optical drives

would not support booting from the DVD.

Ideally the optical drive would be replaced, but

according to the http://ifixit.com guides show

the job is difficult; so that may be impractical

unless one is going to upgrade more while it is

open. A larger hard drive could be put in, too.

Perhaps someone with other ideas will reply.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Your model iBook G4 is the same as mine, with 'combo' CD/DVD optical drive.

Plays DVD, records CD. Nothing different than original stock, in this one...

So it should work.

Mine is running Leopard 10.5.8 and used the retail DVD, then downloaded the

OS X Leopard 10.5.8 upgrade with Software Update, to the final level.

Some have suggested to reset the PRAM (NVRAM) using the four keys on

startup to force this to occur; and let the computer start sound ring 3 times.

"...to reset or 'zap' the PRAM - hold down the Opt + Apple + P + R keys immediately on

startup - Continue hold the keys till you have heard three bongs. Test the drive again."

•My Optical Drive ejects discs after I insert them - iBook G4 12" 1.33GHz - ifixit.com:

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/6415/My+Optical+Drive+ejects+discs+after+I+in sert+them.

However, some suggest that you reset PMU (power management unit)

•Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

Sometimes one or both may help peripheral or accessorie be seen by the system;

so I'd try both. Rarely do these resets cause an issue, but check settings after a

PRAM reset in case Date Time etc are different as a result.

Hopefully these ideas will gain traction in iBook & make him want to go.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Could be the lens in the optical drive needs a cleaning disc put through

it a few times. Not sure which kind is best, but it should be a dry one...

Since it's been years since I've used an optical cleaning disc in a Mac

there likely are a few which would be seen as better, esp. in slot-load

drive models where you don't want some odd thing stuck inside there.

You can more or less tell which version optical drive the iBook G4 has

by looking into System Profiler; or Disk Utility may show it, click on the

item if it appears in Disk Utility to see what other info shows there.

Some rules about trying to use FireWire and Target Disk Mode should

be looked into, to see what details need to be in place for it to work;

however it does work best if you have a similar Mac so you can try to

use the other Mac in more than one way, either as an optical drive or

as the alive computer that sees your iBook as an external hard drive.

Older Macs than these mid-2005, to 2004/2003/2002 can use Leopard 10.5

retail DVD. The main limitation of Leopard for installation other than a

built-in optical drive, (combo or super) is min. processor spec, at 867MHz.

SafeBoot is what you get with a Shift - key on startup, if it was done right.

Not sure if that would help, since reading the DVD may be a dirty lens deal

Since these iBooks are old enough to find little comfort in an official Apple

Store (in US & Canada) where some can do a diagnostic or help available

with a Genius, service and troubleshooting options can vary, or cost money.

Had you looked into the iFixit.com site for Mac and portables, to see what

kinds of effort may be involved in swapping out an optical drive? Was there

any feedback from trying to contact who you bought the computer from?

The iBook G4 shipped with a Tiger install DVD set, two gray discs, and those

should have been included with the machine; they have little value elsewhere.

So it appears there is little else I could say or do from this end, however if there

is a school or university, or other options (an Apple user group?) in your area

where some persons are likely to know enough about powerPC Macs and how

to troubleshoot, repair, or maintain them, that may somewhere ask for help.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Well, the person who upgraded the iBook G4 from an earlier OS X used

an OS X 10.5 DVD install disc. There are a few work-arounds, one is to

use Target Disk Mode (FireWire400) with another FW equipped Mac; the

path is tedious and may not work.

Also if the install DVD has any smudges, scratches, or surface artifacts

that could affect its readability.

My iBook G4 (mid-2005) 12" 1.33GHz with 40GB HDD, 1.5GHz RAM, and

Leopard 10.5(.8) installed from retail DVD, seems to go OK. A screenshot

from System Profiler, stock Combo optical drive info, appears above.

These likely shipped with a few optical drives, and the task to replace or

upgrade one can be a job in itself. The http://ifixit.com guides are helpful.

A school or university computer lab, or internet technologies instructor,

may know of someone who as good skills; if you can't find any users or

hobbyists who can help resolve this issue, near where you live.

PS: if you could get the disc to stay in the drive, but then if it spits out

on attempt to start up from the DVD, (C-key held) you could try the Opt

key, then choose it from a Startup manager. If you could get that far.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

I have and use both old laptop Macs and PCs, and to my experience the optical drives are nearly all more or less bad on my Macs while all are working on my PCs, so I wouldn't be surprised, but it needs more testing.

Many commercial videoDVDs are double layer, try some of those.

If the optical drive is faulty, you could get a 10.4 Tiger DVD instead, it's single layer, I believe most PPC Macs stay on 10.4.

Or you could get a second hand external firewire DVD drive. I've gone for that solution with one LaCie and one Dell SEM10QE, both boot well, but you may need to upgrade the optical drives inside, but this is much much easier than working on the iBook, and for the iBook you may have problems getting a spare optical drive that will fit. All of these optical drives are IDE not as todays SATA drives.

The powerPC Macs with a processor under 867MHz can't directly use

the OS X 10.5 Leopard installer from DVD; there had been a few work-

arounds and a notable patch to trick the slower CPU PPCs into loading

the Leopard 10.5 installer. The other trick was to use a clone on a FW

HDD that had been installed to a similar yet faster CPU Mac, then put

a copy/clone into the slower one.

{However Tiger 10.4.11 is still vastly superior as a fine system that was

around long enough to see detailed care and by the last step update

(with full reinstall, to remove other patched steps) remains a great X.

The ability to run older OS 9 applications in Classic is why some older

Macs are staying with Tiger; esp when they can't dual-boot 9 directly.}

With marginal machine limitations, some users were able to over-clock

the processor so it would run a little faster; to be seen as 867+MHz.

Not all are capable of this, since methods of over-clocking vary...

But there are some G3 Macs that can run Leopard 10.5 if they have

the correct hardware. (Some towers with upgrade G4 card do well.)

Been several years since I had a working FW optical superdrive.

Several known reputable vendors of replacement internal optical

superdrives for iBook G4 exist, & one of them is OWC macsales.

Most of my FW boot-capable HDDs are for use with clones. Each

that can be, is partitioned, & hold as many clones, as partitions. A

FW optical drive with its own power supply can be a fair boot drive.

Just so long as it's been pre-tested to be sure, before a crisis need.

Nice of you to add to the discussion.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂