Harddrive Dead?

I have an iBook G3 (made in late 2002) that I bought back in June from a Mac website (not an auction, a legit website). And tonight I think the harddrive died on it. The computer (the front left part of it) made these horrible clicking sounds and then the comptuter froze up. I tried to restart it but all I got was a blue screen. So I re started it over, and over, and over again. One time I got a finder folder and a flashing question mark--I know things are bad when I see that.
I don't have the recovery cd's---the place didn't send them to me. I called Apple just the day before about (what I thought to be) logic board problems with the comptuer but he (Kori/Kory) pretty much told me that my computer was too old for anything to be done to it.
Anita
iBook G3, eMac G4   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Hi, Anita. Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Try booting into Safe Mode. This will take quite awhile longer than a normal startup because it does a file check and repair of the hard disk.
If this works you will see your normal desktop. Once completely started up in Safe Mode, try to restart normally, and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Click on the top hard drive icon in the left sidebar and note the S.M.A.R.T. status at the bottom right of the pane. What does it say? If it says "Verified," you should be in good shape, as far as the hard drive is concerned, at least.
Select the named boot volume in the left sidebar, ("Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). What is the hard drive capacity and how much space remains available on it? Repair permissions on it.
See if you are able to do a little hard drive maintenance to help things out.
Let us know how things go.

Similar Messages

  • HELP - Harddrive dead?

    Hi
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    this morning, turned it on. running really slow. ran a hardware diagnostic (off the disc that came with the computer). Everything okay. Ran disc warrior. uh-oh. got a message that says: speed inhibited due to disk malfunction.
    eventually gets through the process. replace hardrive with disk warrior.
    except now it's running slower. look to see that S.M.A.R.T. Status says "Failing." Yep, screwed.
    so here's the two snitches. luckily, I have all or most data backed up. HOWEVER, I am 1) running an old powerbook g4 -- 800 mhz... bought it august 2002. -- will they even make an internal that the apple store can install? I can't install that stuff-- no experience. and I dont trust myself 2) I am editing a very important project on FCP 4.5
    so lets say that I splurged on a new powerbook... that means making a 4.5 work in 5.1.... will it? I tried to make 4.5 work in 5... and the timeline didnt show up. so what next use and xml? I have no idea
    PLEASE HELP ME. [email protected]
    I am so sad.

    Hi, gorociao. Welcome to Apple Discussions.
    You may want to try asking your question in the PowerBook Forum. You have posted in the iBook G3 (Dual USB) Forum.

  • Is the harddrive dead?

    hi, been handed an original 2006 MacBook to try to fix.
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    I try to reinstall the OS but again he harddrive can't be found.
    I can't run the hardware test either.
    am I missing anything?
    how easy is it to fit a new harddrive?
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    Hi Phil
    That does point to a likely issue on the hard drive. Luckily, MacBook drive replacement is very easy. Remove the battery, unscrew and remove the metal bar at the back of the battery bay, and slide out the drive. Remember to reattach the drive chassis on the new drive in the same way before you replace it. You'll also need to use the installation disk's Disk Utility to format the drive Mac OS Extended (Journaled) before you continue with the installation.
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  • Is my Harddrive dead?

    I have a 4th gen click wheel. I tried turning on my ipod, and the hard drive revs up..then a click, rev, click, rev, then
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    I can't even reset or reformat because i can only get this far. It's over 1.5 years old. Is it worth it to try to get it repaired, or just buy a new one?
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    Suggestions when you run into a problem of a Sad iPod icon or a folder icon with exclamation point with your iPod.
    1. Try these five steps (known as the five Rs) will conquer most iPod issues.
    http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
    2. Try to put the iPod into Disk Mode if it fails to appear on the desktop
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651
    Still can't see your iPod?
    Several things could keep iPod from appearing in iTunes or in the Desktop/Finder when you connect it to your PC/Mac. The most likely causes are listed below in logical order. Check each one starting from the top of the list to see if that is what's keeping iPod from appearing.
    3. Try to wait 30 minutes while iPod is charging.
    4. Try another known-good FireWire or USB through Dock Connector cable.
    5. Try another known-good FireWire or USB port on your computer .
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    7. Try to connect on a different computer i.e. a PC formatted iPod connect with a Mac computer or Mac formatted iPod with a Window base PC.
    8. Try to do a Erase (Disk Utility) on a Mac computer or a reformat with a PC (Disk Management tool) but ensure you choose the right Drive (your iPod not your Hard Disk of your computer).
    9. Try to run the iPod in “Diagnostic mode” . which can be accessed by pushing the “hold” switch into the “on” position and then “off” (into the original position). Then press the following buttons in the following order: “menu” plus “select” (centre button) then press “reverse” plus “select”. This will take you to the hidden diagnostic mode screen menu. It may take a few trials and pressing the buttons in the right way for this to work, so be patient and keep trying if you have to. The diagnostic mode will give you 7 choices which are: Memory, IO, Power, Status, SysCfg, Diskmode, and Reset. Don’t bother trying “reset” because in my case it didn’t work it just took me back to the same problem. Instead, choose “diskmode”, after which you should get an odd looking “ok to disconnect” sign on the iPod screen.
    If one of the above step helps to get your iPod to be recognized with your computer, do a Restore.
    But, if none of these steps address the issue, your iPod may need to be repaired. You can arrange for service at the iPod Service Website.

  • Is there a way to recover Thunderbird from a dead Harddrive?

    My Hard Drive died as the result of a liquid spill and (as the result) it will not reboot.
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    They removed it & attempted access it.
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    Does this answer your question or do you need more info.
    I will print this message and share it with them.

  • The harddrive makes weird sound and is dead!

    Hi
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    Have I destroyed my baby?
    This *****.

    yup. its dead. this just happened to mine, oh, a couple weeks ago. its probably not due to the magnet, though. when i took mine in they said it was most likely because of some kind of physical trauma the ipod had been through, sudden or over time, such as dropping or just being moved around a lot. if your ipod is under warranty, though, you shouldnt have any trouble getting a good-as-new replacement at the store. when i went there was a pretty long wait, but once i got there it proceeded very quickly. i must say, i expected some kind of long ordeal, but all that happened was i showed him the noise it was making and the sad ipod icon, he said "ok", did something on his computer real quick, and went into the back and got me a replacement. if your ipod isnt under warranty anymore i suggest reading whatever information you have on ipod support(i dont know if you saved the little booklets in the box or not, i did). i read it all before i went in, and most of it is just protecting themselves in case they treat you like crap(which may have been the reason i expected them to), so i wouldnt get your hopes up too much if your ipod is no longer in warranty.
    good luck

  • Harddrive is dead!

    My hard drive started acting up a few months ago. My husband has successfully backed everything up. We tried to re-install the operating system but it wasn't working properly still. So now we need to purchase a new hard drive. Does anyone have any suggestions about where to get one for a reasonable price? Thanks!

    Welcome to Apple Discussions, aahales.
    For hard drives, you can take a look at OWC here, who seem to be recommended by a lot of people on here.
    Be aware that the kind of drive you need for the PowerBook will be a 2.5" ATA, not SATA (which is incompatible with the PB).
    2.0GHz MacBook, 15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4,   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   Cube, 2xTAMs, iPod 4G & nano 2G, 1G & 2G iPs, AEBS, AX

  • My harddrive may be dead

    This is going to be a little complicated to explain, but please try and help.
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    I honestly doubt your drive is physically about to die. The most likely situation you have is major catalogue and b-tree damage which is causing your problems. As suggested, backup immediate, then format your drive, write zeros to it at least the once (in Disk Utility) and reinstall Mac OS X and software from scratch and finally, restore your data only from your backup.

  • 2nd Dead Harddrive... Who's to blame, Apple, or Seagate?

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    I've just been hit by the same MacBook/Seagate time-bomb, as have apparently countless others. Well, not exactly countless...
    When my original Seagate drive failed after about 6 months there was enough unbacked-up business data on it that it was worth paying to recover. So ok, I overnight the drive and the next day the cleanroom folks call to tell me that it's a complete goner with the same problem (rotational scratching all across all platters) as they've seen on between 500 and 600 drives on this same Seagate class in different capacities. Now, there are say 20 restoration outfits around the world about as large as the one I picked, so it's easy to feel that at least 10,000 such failed drives have passed through their collective labs. But wait, only about 1 in 10 failures (probably fewer) are worth the USD 1000 or so for recovery, so now we're looking at 100,000 failures, conservatively, in the last 6 months or so.
    This is very much like the Firestone Tire / Ford Explorer fiasco that killed a bunch of people, not just HDD's. Were the tire-failure-induced rollovers Firestone's fault because it made the tires, or were they Ford's fault for recommending the tires be slightly underinflated (and so ran hotter and the sidewalls more) for better handling? The real point was that it was kept a SECRET by both of them while people died.
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    Apple, I thought I knew thee. But now you've created a whole different kind of memory. You've killed Kenny.

  • Is my harddrive now dead?

    I was updating software this morning, following one of the automatic prompts, and the powerbook froze. I waited. Nothing. I turned it off and back on, to get the folder with the question mark. Oh dear. I run disk utility from the installation disk. No dice. "Invalid Key length" "The underlying task reported faliure on exit (-9972)". I start up in single user mode in teh hope that the '/sbin/fsck -fy' command might slice through the problem, but it just keeps looping a line saying it can't execute that command. Is it worth paying out for diskwarrior, or is this now kaputt. Fortunately I have a good backup schedule so I shouldn't have lost anything crucial. Would wiping and re-installing be my only other option?

    Mark:
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    In terms of backups, you present solution of backing up certain files to .mac may be sufficient for your needs.
    Cloning your entire HDD to an external firewire HDD does offer some distinct advantage.
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    cornelius

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    Last edited by rahanjam (2008-10-07 14:03:35)

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