IBook G3 Won't Boot By CD!

I have an ibook g3 and want to boot it by a cd but it wont. I press option on startup and goes to boot seletion screen, but theres no option to boot by the cd. The CD is in my drive and all. HELP PLEASE!!

Hello,
Which version of the iBook G3 do you own?
You can pick from this list http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html
Are you using a CD or a DVD disk? Some of these iBook don't have a DVD drive.

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IBook G4 won't boot using Install Disk

My iBook g4 won't boot from its original Mac OS X Install Disk (10.4.2).
When I try to start by holding down the 'C' key, the drive starts to spin up the disk, but then starts up from the hard drive.
When using the System Preferences to select the install disk as the start up drive, it shows in the preference pane, I can select it, but when it restarts, I get a flashing question mark before the computer continues by booting up from the hard drive.
I've also tried holding down the 'Option' key to run the Apple Hardware Test on the disk, but my internal hard drive is my only option when trying this.
I find it odd that the drive would work normally for all other purposes (reading/writing CD and DVD's), but will not start up from it.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions!

An update:
I tested the startup disk using an external FireWire DVD drive and received the exact same results as when attempting to boot from my iBook's internal drive.
Since it's definitely not the drive, I'd have to agree with you that my install disk is bad (although I'm still at a loss as how an undamaged install disk goes bad).
You mentioned that Apple Support would replace the disks for a fee. I went through the Apple Support page and which led me to a page informing me that I had to pay $50 to talk to them once about this issue. I'm hesitant to spend $50 on a call where they'll tell me I can purchase new 10.4 install disks for the discounted fee of $50+shipping for a total investment that's almost the cost of simply upgrading to 10.5.
Has anyone actually purchased replacement install disks from Apple? I'd be interested in knowing what you were charged.
Or is there another method of contacting Apple regarding this issue that won't cost me $50?

My iBook g4 won't boot up

My iBook g4 won't boot up.... I tried the option key and there is a reset option maybe and then it loads and after that the blue screen comes and after that only blue.

Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
It sounds as though it could be having hard drive problems. Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode? If not, I suggest that you give it a try. 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?
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.

IBook G4 Won't Boot - Anything!

Hey!
I have a G4 iBook that won't boot! It's a friend's. She brought it over, and it was showing the "question mark folder", so I figured I'd just boot from a CD and see what's happening, but no go. I tried to boot it in Firewire Target Disk mode, but nothing mounted, except one time I left the CD-ROM in the drive and it mounted.
So, it can't boot from the HD, can't boot from a CD-ROM, and it can't be started in Target Disk mode. Nor can I start it in Single User mode. I zapped the PRAM, but that didn't help. I figured the HD's shot, but that doesn't explain why it can't boot from a disk, right?
I'm stumped - any ideas, folks?

You will NOT be able to startup any Mac that shipped with Panther with a retail copy of Panther. The retail copies are for people who are updating. That iBook may require Mac OS X 10.3.4 or even 10.3.8 to startup and the Panther install CDs are probably 10.3.0.
If you don't have the original install disks, I would recommend making a trip to an Apple retail store. The Mac Genius there has access to all the install disks for every type of Mac. They can help you get a whole new set or let you borrow something like the Apple Hardware Test disk for that model iBook.
-Doug

IBook G3 won't boot hard drive

Hello guys.
Recently I got a whole slew of iBook G3s, broken and new, which I will eventually fix and sell (probably keep one) but I am still in the process of fixing them and have a few questions.
I have this hard drive that I'm almost certain works (I can install tiger on it without it crashing) but it refuses to boot to tiger. I know it's not the iBook itself because I have a different hard drive that boots great, even in other iBooks too. I'm figuring the mbr config is jacked up, and ive already tried option apple pr and reset nv ram, reset defaults, and so forth in the firmware. How do I make this darn thing boot? And yes, I have tried to boot directly from the cd, but when it restarts it just sits there with the two faced mac face and the blinking question mark. I bet I'm going to have to do some magic in the OF, but I don't know what to type, so yeah...
Thanks.

But you said:
+I'm trying to boot from the OS X Tiger CD, and I know there's nothing wrong with it because I've done a full install on another hard drive and it was fine.+
Are you saying it did boot off the CD and install, but now it won't boot off the CD?
By the way, Tiger normally comes on a DVD. There are a few copies on CD out there, but they are relatively rare. Is your copy of Tiger on CD or DVD? Have you used a retail copy of Tiger for the installation? If you used an Tiger install disc from another Mac, that may not work on the iBook.

IBook G4 Won't Boot - 'Disk Utility' sees no drive?

Hi everyone,
Over the past week, I've started to see my old iBook G4 (Late 2004 Model) acting odd. It started with a sort of generic "Mac OS X has encountered an error and must restart" type of message.
Now it won't boot. It gets to the Apple logo screen with the progress indicator, but never gets past that.
I put the Tiger disc in and rebooted, while holding down "C" -- and once I boot from the DVD, I'm getting varied results.
The first time it booted, it showed the HDD fine, but when I verified the disk, it mentioned that the disk needed to be fixed.
So I clicked "Repair Disk" and it went through a lot of HDD noises and such, then shut down.
When I restarted it, I can no longer see the HDD when I boot from the DVD. Yikes!
Any other steps I can take?

Hi Jason,
"The first time it booted, it showed the HDD fine, but when I verified the disk, it mentioned that the disk needed to be fixed. So I clicked "Repair Disk" and it went through a lot of HDD noises and such, then shut down." When I restarted it, I can no longer see the HDD when I boot from the DVD. Yikes!
Sorry to say this but it sound like hard drive failure. You could get DiskWarrior http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html It can repair the directory, but it can't repair hard drive failure itself.
Another suggestion is to take it in to a nearby Apple Store or Apple reseller:
http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/
You can even make a reservation at a Genius Bar ahead of time...
http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/
Carolyn

Ibook g4 won't boot, but hard drive seems fine

I have a ibook g4,800mhz. osx 10.4.8
On start up i get the folder & question mark. I have tried the following.
1) i booted with an os install disk. disk utilities reported the drive was ok it but couldn't see a disk partition so disk first aid had nothing to do.
2) next i ran disk warrior which had the same probably, it could see the hard drive, reported that the drive was functioning, but saw no partition.
3) finally i gave up and reformatted the disk, and re installed an os. this worked for 48 hours at which time the problem came back.
4) i can put the laptop in firewire mode connect it to a desktop and access the hard drive. I can format the disk using apple disk tools, i can install an new os, but after all this it still won't boot from the internal hd.
5) I reset the pram. also tried starting up with the option key down .. no hard drive is visible when i do this.
So the hard drive seems to work ok. Two different disk utilities see the hard drive and think its functioning ok. OSx installer runs without complaint, but the &$%! won't boot from the hd.
Anybody got any suggestions?

...this worked for 48 hours at which time the problem came back...
This is the time period that I was commenting on. If something was used during that time that corrupted the OS, it would cause the situation you are in.
If everything is perfect with the OS then something is wrong with the hard drive or the motherboard's interface to the hard drive.

Ibook g4 won't boot from install disks

Got an ibook g4 1.33 ghz combo drive from original owner w/install disks. I want to reinstall original system but it won't boot from install disk 1. Tried starting holding down c but ignores disk. Holding down option just gives me the HD. Install disk shows up on desktop and opens. Tried disk utility from install disk but it doesn't allow me to erase the hd. Is there anything else I can do? Thanks.

OK, so let us suppose that you have the correct disk, the possibilities are:
• the optical drive is not functioning properly. However, since the disk shows up on the desktop the drive is apparently reading it.
• the disk itself is the issue. It could the wrong disk, but let us assume it is not. It could be damaged so that it is no longer bootable, or it could dirty. I would begin by giving the disk a good buffing and see if that will encourage it to boot the computer.
Good luck.
cornelius

IBook G4 won't boot after 10.5 software update?

Hi,
I have a iBook G4 14" 1.42GHZ 768mb of ram which was running fine under 10.4.11. I updated to OS X 10.5.4 via a retail discs and it installed and re-started perfectly. All seemed ok so i ran software update and the installation seemed to go fine. However upon restarting it all i'm getting is the grey Apple screen & logo along with the spinning flower icon below it? If i boot of the installation disc it won't see the hard drive, just the Mac OS X discs? If i reboot holding the "alt" key it shows the discs as macintosh HD but it still hangs at the Apple logo. Disc Utility will also not see the hard drive. The iBook was working fine before this, is it just coincidence that the hard drive has died?
Any thoughts or advice welcome?
Thanks.

Is it possible that the hard drive was nearly full and installation of Leopard has filled it to the point of disastrous failure? It's generally recommended to keep at least 15% of total hard drive space free for smooth operation.
If this is a possibility, do you have access to another Mac with FireWire or a bootable external FireWire hard drive so you can pull some things off the drive to another location in order to free up some hard drive space?

IBook G4 won't boot past white screen gray apple.

I'm having problems with my iBook G4 booting up. It won't get past the white screen with gray Apple and clock thing turning. I successfully hooked the iBook to my G4 tower via firewire and can get files off of it as well as run a series of TechTool Pro tests and repair procedures. However, I still have the same startup problem. It never gets past the white screen with gray apple. It's stuck there with the clock continually turning. Is there anything else I could try before getting everything off and wiping the drive clean and starting over? I don't know if it's a hardware or software issue at this point. Thanks for any help you could suggest.
LW

You should at the very least backup your Home folder from it before attempting this, but it appears to be time for a relatively painless Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space and no Disk corruption, and is relatively quick & painless...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120

IBook g4 won't boot from CD or read CD but will boot from and read DVD

My iBook won't read from CD's anymore. I can put in my 10.4 Tiger DVD and it boots just fine and will mount just fine but when I insert a CD it will think for abou 10-15 seconds then eject it. I can't get it o boot with any diag tools on CD either. Any tricks

I've been having a similar problem. Can't boot from diagnostic disks (Disk Warrior, Norton, and can't use certain functions of Disk Utilities on Mac OS disk). What's more, I now have 3 partitions on my hard drive and I didn't partition it! I tried wiping the HD but I still ended up with 3 partitions. Permissions keep changing on my files. I haven't been able to access the other volumes to see what's there. I feel as though something on one of the other volumes has taken over the admin privileges for my iBook.
NAV finds nothing, but also tells me I haven't permission to scan certain files in the priv, usr, bin, and similar files.
Disk Utility repairs permissions temporarily, but only on the one partition I can access. When I try to use it to look at other vols from the CD, it shuts down and restarts my computer from the HD.
What's going on and what can I do about it? Apple claims it's impervious to rootkits et. al., but I'm beginning to think one has gotten onto my system.
Has anyone else heard of similar behavior and a way to remedy?

IBook G4 won't boot / patchy behaviour

I'd like some input on debugging a friend's iBook G4.
System specs: White 12" 1.3GHz, 512MB RAM (wired), airport card, stock tiger, no other peripherals.
Only extra drivers I could see installed were for an MS Bluetooth keyboard/mouse. No uninstaller apparent, and can't see specific drivers for these devices in relevant system folders.
System was booting to kernel panic screen, and with an urgent paid writing assignment she brought it to me for assistance. Occasionally (after power off?) the system would boot and run for a few minutes before kernel panic.
Response to special key combos is patchy at boot time. It's hard to get the system to boot into any special mode, seems like the keyboard only responds sometimes.
When I can get it to boot, safe mode runs consistently, while normal (unsafe?) mode kernel panics quickly.
We tested the disk for errors while booted off the 10.4 install CD. No issues.
We ran an archive+install but this behaved exactly as before. (Repeated to confirm. Same results.)
I did notice that plugging a USB mouse before boot would prevent the system from booting. Plugging the mouse in during or after boot produced two results; either a working mouse, or a non-working mouse.
Trackpad works intermittently. She reported that she had cleaned the trackpad (not sure if this was very recent).
My suspicion is that something has caused an issue in a USB device, possibly the trackpad, and that the kernel panics if the USB drivers are fully loaded (would explain it working better in safe mode) but isn't sensitive to the same odd behaviour when basic drivers only are loaded.
This is pretty much a best guess, based on me having tried to isolate the issue at various other points and failed to find anything else specific to work with.
We disconnected the trackpad connector, but this didn't improve the situation; still frozen if USB device connected at boot, and still boots to kernel panic otherwise.
Are there some specific drivers I could disable to test this theory? I don't expect this to help much, however, as driver issues are not indicated by the usb mouse freezing system at boot time.
She would be very pleased to have the machine working again. Any suggestions or input will be much appreciated!
Thanks

Our iBook G4 started having kernel panics about 2 weeks ago. It would panic at start up or after a few minutes of running, similar to your story. To cut to the chase I did the standard routine for a kernel panic down to archiving and installing with no luck (http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html ). When I checked the panic log after all this it seemed to indicate a problem with the airport. I managed to get it to boot and turned the airport off and the problem went away.
I took it in to get checked today thinking the Airport would be an easy fix. They ran a diagnostic DVD and told me the problem was with the CPU and was not fixable without replacing the whole board.
I did some looking today and this seems to be a common problem with this model. The best summary of the various threads is at http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBookG41.33GHz . The only solution I could find seems to be in French and has a scary photo of a flaming computer at the end! http://www.applintosh.net/readarticle.php?article_id=1
I got back to the store about this particular fault and if it applied to my ibook and they kindly replied
"Yes I am aware of people having problems with this, I pulled the top case of the machine off and disconnected all the peripherals as part of our process of elimination, it still only booted to a black screen when trying to boot our diagnostic hard drive(this was with the airport/Bluetooth card Disconnected) I then connected the optical drive up and booted our diagnostics disc up, it still failed the CPU test.
From having the diagnostic test fail and the fact that it would not even turn on when every peripheral was disconnected leaves me with a 100% guarantee that it can only be the main logic board.
19 out of the last 22 of the iBooks that I have seen that have had kernal panic issues and then we have found it to be a conflict with the airport card have all had faulty logic boards, we have tried new airport cards many of times with no luck. 1 was a faulty airport card but it was faulty from day one of purchase and the other 2 were because they had liquid spilt on the keyboard and it leaks down right on top of the airport card."
So I dont know if the problem is in the airport itself or the logic board but it would seem that in this model they are one and the same. More depressing news was to follow - logic boards cost $1600 NZ so it would seem a new computer is the more sensible option. Bit disappointing after just 2 and a bit years use.
The iBook itself works fine when the airport is off, even with an ethernet cable connected to enable internet access. Dont feel that happy though doing anything important with a computer with a faulty logic board though no matter how well backed up..
Hope this helps a fellow Kiwi. If you find anything useful out let me know. FYI the local stores I tried were Ubertech and Magnum Mac.

Dual USB iBook G3 won't boot

I am having this exact problem right now as specified in Auryn's thread (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1552105&tstart=0). My iBook doesn't boot up, it just stays at the grey Apple screen. It's a 600 MHz G3 dual USB iBook with 640 MB ram. It was running Panther 10.3.9.
I tried those steps outlined in this link (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50959) but it didn't work. I even went as far to take out the additional memory I added and still, no hope. It seems like it might be the logic board, ugh, what a hassle. Is there any other way to verify that it could be the logic board?
Oh, and one more thing to add. I did leave the iBook in sleep mode with the power plugged into the wall for about two weeks. Today I just barely started using it and it happened about two hours into use...not sure if that could be a probable cause to the problem, but yeah..
One thing I did notice is that when the grey Apple screen comes on, the centered Apple logo moves slightly down. It's weird, it's almost as if an error message is trying to appear above it or something. Is there anything I can do? Is my only hope left now to take it to an authorized center or trash it?

Are you able to start up in 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?
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.

Ibook g4 won't boot from HD or CD

I was given a G4 14" ibook. Best Buy told the person that gave it to me that the optical drive was bad. I have changed it with a new on and still all I get is the apple logo and the gear spinning on the screen. You hear the HD spin and get the gray screen with apple logo and gear, I boot it holding C and you hear the CD spin up and move back and forth but then it spins down and your still stuck on the same screen. I have also pulled the HD and tried to force a boot from the cd then I get the Folder with the ? on the screen. Does any one have any other suggestions. One person told me I need to update the firm ware but I don't know how to do that. i have also tried resetting the Power managenet as well with no different responce. Any help would be great. I am and old mac user that has been away for many years and was hopping this ibook would be my way to get back started again.
Thanks
Jason

Hi, travis!
Sorry to hear about your experience with your install discs. If you need replacement install discs, you might call Apple Software Support, explain your experience, and ask them to ship you replacement discs for the ones which were ruined. Normally, they'll do this for a nominal fee. You'll have to provide them with the Mac's serial number when you call, so have it ready beforehand. You might first insure that you register the Mac(s) online with Apple, if you haven't already done so.
The phone number is listed at the bottom right of this page for North American contacts.
BTW - The correct Apple Hardware Test disc for the DP FW800 Mac you have is version 2.0.1.
Gary

IBook G4 won't boot after updating to 10.4.10

I got a serious problem with my iBook G4 (Model A1005).
I had OS X update iTunes and OS X itself (to version 10.4.10).
The procedure took rather long, there was constant hard disk activity (not surprising) but then the system started to act somewhat weird: I couldn't start any new applications so I decided to give it a restart. However, it wouldn't shut down. After 30 minutes of waiting I gave it a hard reset by pulling the AC and the battery. Stupid move, I know, but I didn't know about cmd + ctrl + power back then.
So here's the actual problem: Whenever I turn it on, it goes from the first boot screen (Apple and spinner) to the second on and that's it. There's hard disk activity for a minute or so but that's it. The progress bar doesn't show any progress, there's no error message but I can move the cursor. I can turn it off by holding the power button, but that doesn't change anything obviously.
Any ideas?

When you interrupted the update process, you hosed the system. Reinstall the system from scratch as described here:
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070507084548849
No data will be lost.

My ibook G4 won't boot up - Please Help :(

I have a refurbished ibook G4 that I've had since December. Recently I've had issues where it would give me the blinking question mark over the apple folder on startup. I would just restart it a few times and it would bootup eventually. I restarted my computer today and i get to the grey apple screen and the turning wheel, but after about 20 seconds it goes black and shuts off completely. I held the option button on startup and it does show my harddrive to select, but it still dies when it begins booting up. Does anyone have an idea of what is wrong with my mac, and if so, how I could fix it?

Hi Neekonico and welcome to Apple Discussions.
The flashing question mark means that your iBook cannot find a valid start-up system.
For starters refer to:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
and follow the instructions from: "Try a Safe Boot", including "Try Disk Utility". If you do need to use Disk Utility as instructed, repeat the process if DU reports that repairs were made until you get the message in green that "The volume appears to be OK" or similar.
Note the prerequisites for fsck, if any of these apply you'll need to follow those instructions in place of "Try Disk Utility".
Post back with how things go or if DU reports that it was unable to repair.
Good luck,
Adrian

IBook G3 Won't Boot By CD!

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