IBook G3 flashing question mark/won't boot from disc

I recently bought a used iBook, and I knew that the hard drive was bad. No big deal, just replace the HD and reinstall OS X, right? Not quite. I'm still getting the flashing question mark, and the CD won't boot. I reset the PRAM, etc. Still nothing. Held down alt/option at start up. It recognizes that the OS X disc is there, but still won't boot it. It just shows me a smiling computer with a spinning rainbow CD looking thing in the upper left corner. At this point I'm thinking it might be a failed optical drive, or the ribbon might not be seated properly (Entirely possible, since the retard that owned this before obviously took it apart at least once. Half of the screws are missing). Am I correct in this assumption, or is there something else I should be looking for?
Edit: I have 256MB of RAM, a combo drive, and am using a 10.1.3 disc.
Message was edited by: InVenereVeritas

Well, that iMac has a G3 processor and I see it's running OS X, so if you can get the iBook working, that is about what you can expect from it.
There was a later G4 processor (in iBooks and iMacs), and the end of the PowerPC iMacs had a G5 processor in them, but that processor ran too hot for a portable — a main consideration in Apple's decision to switch to Intel processors.
Surfing the web may be a trifle difficult with it, depending somewhat on the speed of your internet connection.
The MacBooks are a phenomenal improvement over the iBooks (even the iBook G4). There's no way around it — the Intel processors are just so much faster. I wince a bit when I hear someone say they're basing a future purchase decision on the performance of such an old model as this. It's simply not an accurate representation of what modern Macs are like.
Comparing Mac OS X 10.2.4 to Mac OS X 10.6.7 is a bit like comparing Windows 98 to Windows 7.

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AnneZ,
Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
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My Mac Mini (Core Duo 1.67) will not boot, which is annoying considering it is under two weeks old.
I get a flashing question mark on a folder icon on startup and it progresses no further.
It does however start from CD unaided (without having to C-poweron).
Apple Hardware Tools (D-poweron) says everything is OK.
The reinstall CD starts and I can get to the part that asks me to install OS X, and/or use the disk checker. Both the installer and disk checker tell me the machine has no hard drive - it just doesn't see a hard drive as present.
Zapping the cmos (alt-command-p-r) didn't help.
I then gave up and handed it to the office IT people. They took the drive out (it appears to be a standard 2.5" 60GB fujitsu SATA hard drive, also used by PC laptops) and shoved it in a PC. The PC detects the drive and can view the contents (via low level disk diagnostic software; Windows XP itself just says "I don't do Mac filesystems, want me to format this for you so I can use it?")
IT guys think it's a drive controller failure, or a loose connection (though they can't see one) or some weird firmware corruption. We can't upgrade the firmware as the mac wont boot and we couldn't find a bootable firmware upgrade CD.
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... Both the installer and disk checker tell me
the machine has no hard drive - it just doesn't see a
hard drive as present.
All the indications are that the logic board has failed, and after discovering the drive wasn't recognised, your first action should have been to contact Apple since the system is new. Unless your work IT people are Apple authorised, having them open your system and work on it will certainly have endangered your warranty should Apple have any indication that such work was done on it.
I think your best course of action to have this resolved is to contact Apple and explain the symptoms that you see - the flashing question mark at startup, that you are able to boot to a valid CD, but reinstall of MacOS results in an error indicating no hard drive is present. They will likely lead you through a couple of basic troubleshooting steps to confirm that you have a hardware failure that can't be resolved, then advise you on your options which will to some extent depend on where the mini was bought and whether there is an authorised service provider or Apple store in reasonable reach.

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Hi Holly
Welcome to Apple Discussions
"Ouch"
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If your in the States see this link > http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
If outside the States use this link > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1434?viewlocale=en_US
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Flashing question mark, keeps forgetting start up disc

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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.
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Edward Durrant wrote:
My question is, do I need the harddrive in for the laptop to function relatively normally?
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