i have an ibook g4 with a grey screen no apple blank

There are several ideas and things to try, in a row, here:

•Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570

Sometimes if the system on the HDD is corrupt or damage

has occurred to the sectors or system parts of the drive,

that won't be seen beyond a certain point, at startup. So it

won't get past there. It may start from system OS X DVD.

You may be able to run 'repair disk' or other tools from an

OS X install DVD's menu options, from the booted disc.

Items to attempt may also include PMU reset, perhaps not

effective yet not destructive. Could flush out a few issues.

To be used as a sinking ship last-gasp before throwing in

the life-ring, the PMU reset can do only a few things. But

if your iBook has a Gray screen, that's something alive.

•Resetting PowerBook & iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1431

On rare occasions, some have tried the 'throw everything at it'

method and hoped something sticks. The list of things to try

is long enough in the first support link, about Gray screen...

Hopefully something in there helps.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Did you try to start the computer in SafeBoot? Hold the Shift key down just after you hear a startup tone, and keep holding it down until you see the desktop appear. This will try to get past an early startup error in any system files, and if it works, the iBook would be running in a reduced system version. But you could see any system log files in Console, (utility) and also see what System Profiler says, etc. You may be also able, if you can get into the computer with Safe Boot, to run its Disk Utility, and the check disk feature; also run 'repair disk permissions'. If this does not work, you'd need to have a correct system DVD that can boot the iBook.

If you have the system install-restore DVD, you could start the computer from that disc and perhaps be able to check the hard disk drive from the Installer's version of Disk Utility (check disk, repair disk, etc are availble in the Installer's version of Disk Utility, in an OS X version install disc, without actually re-installing anything.)

With a system DVD, in the optical drive, you can restart the computer while holding the C key down, this also takes a lot of time and if the optical drive is working, you will hear it struggle through loading data and whirling about trying to make sense of this mission forced upon it. And it may balk, and in an older Mac, it may fail.

Also, if you have a second older Mac, you could see if your tired iBook could start in Target Disk Mode where it may appear to a healthy Mac (attached by FireWire cable) as an external hard disk drive; you could use the healthy Mac's Disk Utility to see about fixing or investigation of the tired iBook's hard disk drive. There are several options one could go through to attempt to make a failed Mac work, using Target Disk Mode.

If you had a suitable external hard disk drive that could be seen as a bootable volume to the iBook, (in FireWire enclosure) you could see about starting the iBook with a system DVD, and then choose to install a new system in the external hard disk drive - should be a self-powered drive, so it has power before the iBook, because it has to be present before the iBook even knows it is awake; there are rules for external drives used as boot volumes - and if the computer started from the System DVD (to run Installer's Disk Utility) it can also be used to install a new system to an external HDD. You can then have the ability to further troubleshoot the main issues with these tools, to see what is right and what is wrong with the iBook.

I'd suspect the failure to keep running past the point in time you refer to (startup, then black screen, then restart, etc) may be an error in the system software on the internal hard disk drive. Only troubleshooting can tell, so to test that with a system DVD intended for that computer model, or a retail disc install of a later OS X that can be run in the iBook you have (nothing newer than OS X 10.5.8 will run in any PowerPC Mac) may help.

What do you have in the way of OS X system discs?

That is a more likely method of troubleshooting, if

you have access to correct & supported DVD media.

Not any disc will do, so this can be a tedious process. Hopefully you have some options available in the form of correct system installer discs, for the computer or retail versions of suitable vintage that support that older hardware version. Discs from other computer models will not work.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Do you have the original install-restore DVD that shipped with the computer? OR another correct retail disc of later version OS X and any additional applications, such as iLife, Apple Works, etc? If you do not need anything at all on the computer, and try to 'reset' or erase/install, you would lose everything.

So, if you have a disc that can boot the computer, that could allow you to use tools available first, without installing anything. Troubleshoot the issues, the hard disk drive, and see if you can repair it.

If you do not need anything that is on the computer, you could try what I first suggested, as I said a process that could deal with causes of the problem. The Disk Utility in the booted OS X system install disc, may be able to fix the hard disk drive. Or you may get an error message saying the hard drive cannot be repaired. So it is good to have some direction.

You may have to get a new hard disk drive and install a new system on it.

There are instructions on how to remove/replace a hard disk drive online at

the (iFixit's portable computer repair guides) by an independent source here:

•iBook repair guide - iFixit.com:

http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iBook

Depending on if the hard disk drive has a problem (bad sectors, corrupted data) you could use secure erase option in the Disk Utility, which over-writes Zeros on the hard drive. This alone could take some time, maybe an hour, depending on the capacity or size of the hard drive. A 'single-pass' overwrite would be adequate; then you'd have to reformat the hard disk drive in Apple Partition Map, and be sure HFS+ (journaled) is selected.

Then you could run the Installer as such, this after using its Disk Utility from the booted install disc's menu options. That is where the tools are for handling the disk items including format, erase, etc.

If you do not need anything that may be on that computer's hard disk drive, you could use the Disk Utility on the Install-restore disc (DVD) Installer, and it will remove your access to everything in the computer.

Depending on if you have the original install-restore DVD set for the computer, which included the applications as new, shipped with the computer, and want to go through re-installing everything, go ahead. The DVD will install the original stuff, whatever it may be; but make sure the DVD is the correct software to run the computer; or you may lose everything.

And it may still have issues. It is an old computer and they wear out; the first things to go can be battery, ac adapter, display components, hard disk drive, optical drive, logic board, wi-fi and bluetooth (as available) card, RAM chips, and the like.

Most any reply or suggestion is conditional, this is because the outcome is not necessarily predictable; nor is the expectation of the owner. If you were to try & fix it, little or no information has been given in detail on what model it is. And, it is an old computer, time is no on its side.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂