GuyWithApple
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iBook doesn't start up - almost everything tried and AirPort-Card

Hello,

 

I got some problems with my iBook G4 and hope, anyone can help me.

 

Under the Keyboard it says:

IBOOK 12.1/ 1.33 / 512 / 40 / COMBO/ APX/ BT-DEU

 

The Model Number is A113.

 

I bought this iBook used from eBay and wanted to use it as a separate Computer. Because WIFI somehow didn't work and the iBook always just said "No AirPort-Card installed" I thought, I open it up and look, if there is one. Bluetooth somehow worked before.

After some time, I finally reached the space she was there and nothing looked too bad. All the antenna cables were plugged and it looked like everything should work.

 

After I screwed it together, I wanted to turn it on and a problem that was sometimes there, happened again:

 

I press the power button and the startup "chime" sounds. The DVD, which is still inside, rotates, but it happens nothing else. The screen remains black, the fan can not be heard, and the hard drive does nothing. When I turned it off and on again, it often worked again.

Now it's doing nothing, no matter what I do.

What has happened only twice in four days, is that I have turned on the iBook and then a white screen that says something and you can only enter:

"shut-down" or "boot-up". If you want to boot the computer, is just a folder with a question mark.

 

I don't know what to do and ask for urgent help.

iBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 21, 2014 2:36 AM

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GuyWithApple

Q: iBook doesn't start up - almost everything tried and AirPort-Card

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  • Helpful answers

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Oct 29, 2014 9:04 AM in response to GuyWithApple
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 29, 2014 9:04 AM in response to GuyWithApple

    >folder with a question mark<

    That's the classic symptom meaning the computer can't find an OS to boot from. Usually means the HD is bad.

    >"No AirPort-Card installed"<

    Just the Wi-Fi section of the card can fail.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Oct 30, 2014 11:32 AM in response to GuyWithApple
    Level 6 (14,234 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 30, 2014 11:32 AM in response to GuyWithApple

    Is the DVD, still within the optical drive, a System install disc #1?

     

    If so, try a restart or startup with the C key held down to see if

    the DVD will be seen by the computer as a startup volume.

     

    You may be able to use the booted installer to select a startup

    volume, or use its Disk Utility to repair or verify the hard drive.

     

    The HDD may be bad, or sectors of drive data somehow damaged.

     

    You may have to find a USB mouse and attach it, then press & hold

    the mouse button down while the computer attempts to start, in order

    to remove a non-system CD or DVD from the optical drive.

     

    Hopefully you have a system DVD, perhaps a retail copy of OS X 10.5.

     

    There may be other things needing attention in that iBook. A bad

    cable to the hard drive &/or the optical drive could effect startup.

     

    You may be able to get a working wi-fi + bluetooth card from one of

    the online resellers of these kinds of parts. The Mid 2005 iBook G4

    uses that one card to do both, and it's on the logic board. In some

    cases, a noted 'kernel panic' could happen with bad wireless cards.

    So that would be another matter a late model iBookG4 may see.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!