IBook G4 Freezes at Blue Screen During Startup.

iBook G4 933 MHz
Mac OS X 10.4. Tiger
640MB RAM
40GB internal ATA hard drive
Computer boots but then quickly locks up.
If I immediately restart, then the iBook hangs at the blue screen before the Mac OS X progress screen appears.
If I remove the battery and unplug the power cord then allow the computer to sit for at least 30 minutes, able to fully boot, but then the machine quickly freezes up.
I assume the problem is heat related?
I have so far:
- Totally disassembled/reassembled
- Reset PRAM
- Reset NVRAM
- Reset PMU
- Unable to do target disk mode
- iBook freezes same way when booting to Mac OS X install DVD
Able to boot to shell command line mode no problem.
FSCK reports no issues with the HDD.
Sometimes during startup a fan turns on briefly, but not every attempt to boot.
Yes-- I know about the 'solder' issues with iBook G4 logic boards, but I do not think the above is related. The VGA works fine.
Thanks for any assistance that can be rendered.

After a month, I have been notified by Superior Reball that the logic board has been repaired. I promptly made payment of $35 and the board was shipped back to me on June 17 via USPS Priority Mail Delivery Confirmation. I have received the tracking number and anticipate receiving the package by June 20.
In my situation, well worth the wait for only $35.
Even though I chose to totally disassemble the iBook, Superior will do the disassemble/reassemble for $75.
I would not have done it by shipping the entire iBook, though. With the higher shipping cost, insurance, having to send out the hard drive with no back up, the higher repair cost, etc.-- in the end a prohibitive expense. I could probably buy a used iBook G4 for no more than $200, to put things in perspective.
In summary, Superior Reball had a great price, good enough communication (they answer the phone, but not e-mail) and it looks like fast return shipping. It took a lot longer than the ad states, so I am applying the old 'price, speed, quality-- choose any two' rule here.

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Message Edited by SuperstarDiver on 09-02-2008 08:51 PM

OOPS!!
Thanks for the PM, I made a mistake and inserted the wrong link
This is the correct link which I meant to post. It's a link from this site which you may want to add to your favourites.
Sorry
Andy ______________________________________
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Hi Jennifer,
Ok, so...what's going on today is that Leopard will open to the login screen (sometimes I can log in but generally not), but then the cursor is frozen, as is the keyboard (can't type to login or use shortcuts) and even a usb mouse doesn't work. The only thing I can do is power down with the off button, and upon restarting, if I get past the login, get the message "Computer was restarted after Mac OSX quit unexpectedly" or something like that. (Just restarted from frozen login screen and got blue screen again.)
Wondering if it's Leopard or my wonky install (we started up in target mode, with the install disc in the drive, and opened the installer on my mac, then chose the broken mac hd to install to. Seemed to work, but may this be related to the driver issue you mentioned?) We did it this way (after doing a zero-out erase) because it wouldn't even start up from the install disc itself.
It sounds to me like this method of installing is okay. If you did not have the correct drivers, you could never get as far as you do in Leopard. I am wondering why you install with the disk in your Mac and not in the iBook.
Anyway, have reset the PRAM, still no luck. On the apple page regarding this procedure they mention a power management unit reset for ibooks...would this correspond at all to our problems? Is it something I should try or steer clear of?
Okay. Resetting PRAM was a long shot, but worth trying. I would steer clear of trying to reset PMU. That is related to sleeping, waking and such things and your problems do not seem to be related to that. Also, I have never reset PMU, but from what I recall, it sounded a bit tricky.
Am now attempting to reboot from backup. And yes, when I open Startup Manager, the internal hard drive DOES show up. If that means anything. Have a bootable backup (created with SuperDuper) which also shows up, but when I try to start up with it, I get stuck at blue screen (still.)
As far as the iBook hard drive is concerned, this is a good sign. I am thinking that perhaps the hard drive is okay and the problem is something else.
So, since the iBook originally came with Panther, and Leopard is really yet another unknown to throw into the loop, if I do another erase/install, I'm thinking Panther is the way to go? (Unfortunately we shared a family pack Tiger with a friend, and haven't got a hold of that install disc yet, otherwise I'd try Tiger, since it's what it was running and so is what the backup is, too.)
From what I have seen in the forums, when people are having startup problems, the last resort solution usually works. That is, they take the install disk that came with the machine (Panther in your case), erase and zero out the hard drive and then re-install. That usually seems to do the trick. What they have probably done is either replaced some corrupted piece of software or fixed a directory problem on the disk. In your case, you have already done most of this except not with the Panther disk. So, I think it is worth going through this effort with Panther. If this actually worked, then you could worry about how to update your software to where you want it to be. If it does not work, I would consider this more evidence that there is probably a hardware issue.
If this doesn't work (and would probably have to try in target mode again if the install disc won't open...) should I buy Tech Tool or Disk Warrior or just send it in for repair? I suppose there's a point at which I'll have to admit defeat!
Not sure that I caught this before. You imply that the install disk will not open if it is inserted into the iBook. Is this a problem that showed up when the blue screen business started? When you insert the disk into the iBook and then reboot that computer from the disk (pressing the C key during startup), do you get something on the desktop?
If, when repairing the hard drive with Disk Utility, you had received a message that the disk was not repaired, then a stronger utility would be a reasonable choice. But, that does not seem to be your situation. So, if it were me, I would probably not buy Tech Tool or Disk Warrior at this point. I do think that it is possible that these utilities might be able to do more troubleshooting than you can do with Disk Utility and the Apple hardware CD. Tech Tool in particular has some hardware testing capability. So, if money were no object, you might buy that and see if it can give you more detailed diagnostic information. Of course, these are purely my opinions. I could be totally wrong on any of this.
Oh yeah, I don't know if I mentioned this earlier or not but all the restarts yesterday were accompanied be a brief "whooshing" sound (like a fan) for a second or so, and once I got both that sound and a "boooooop" issuing from the innards. Not sure if this means anything or not, but thought I'd mention it. Maybe the hard drive is melting! (Also I get further along the startup route after it's been turned off for a while.)
This is worth mentioning and I overlooked it in your previous posts. The "booooooop" sound got my attention. When the computer is started up, one of the first things that is done is that there are some hardware tests performed. Apple does use some sounds to indicate certain problems. You can learn a little more at You hear "breaking glass" or "musical beeps" when you turn on your Mac. I don't know if you are hearing one of these sounds or if they are unrelated. But, I think that the "boooooop" sound in particular might be trying to tell you something.
Let me sum up my opinions (which could be dead wrong). I still suspect a hardware problem. However, maybe the hard drive is okay. I think it would be worth using the Panther CD to do another erase and install on the iBook. If you still do not have a working computer, it is probably time to seek professional help. (However, if you get to this point, it is conceivable that you could be having some problems with your RAM chips. If you have worked with RAM chips before, you could try to play games with them: reseating them and removing them one by one- if you have two chips. But, if you have not done this before and are do not have some familiarity with working on hardware of this nature, perhaps you should just leave this alone.)
If you need to seek some professional help, you might be able to try one of these options - If you have AppleCare, you should definitely give them a call. If you live close enough to an Apple store, you could take your computer to the genius bar and see if they can help.
Sorry that you are having such a hassle,
Rich

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I have an iMac desktop. Recently I've had trouble with a prolonged blue screen during start up (approx. 10 mins) before it finally takes me to the login screen. Any ideas why this is happening?
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Hi Jeff,
Open console in Applications>Utilities, check the system log for the date/time of the last problem Startup for clues.

Quick blue flash during startup

My macbook pro is making a quick blue flash during startup when it's at the apple logo. Not blue as in blue screen but a transparent type of blue I would say and it's just for a moment. Is that a symptom of something? It started a couple of months ago. I have no other problems with my macbook pro. I might add that this is not a real problem for me as a user, but I am a bit concerned about it, that's all. (I can look away if I want to and feel better about it)

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Here is a test that is supposed to be better at detecting RAM problems:
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Also, check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your drive with Disk Utility.
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Dear all,
Two days ago, after installing the new Java update/airport update and restarting, I encountered a 'blue screen' on startup after getting past the mac symbol and swirling cog. I cannot say whether the updates were the cause (doubtful) of if my cheap USB mouse that was still plugged it caused it or whether i have the dreaded 'bad sectors.' The cause aside, here is what i've tried to fix the issue:
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2) Disk Utility - Verification of Permissions (a few needed to be done) All repaired
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I backed up most my data from the LAST crash, but recent music/1000 photos and others have been backed up altho i've been meaning to! Help!
I'M PANICKING now can no longer get in SAFE MODE!!
Please help Mac911!!!!
Charlie
G3 iBook 800mhz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Update:
So, I managed to do ALL that you said, EXCEPT, the reboot and work fine business.
I created the admin account which works fine. So now I can see three user accounts (looks like there as already an admin type one).
The one I created works fine, only, I can only access/see the login screen through a safe boot, (otherwise blue screens...) . I can get into the admin account fine, but when restarting and logging in as my original user account it won't boot. Something is very wrong in MY user account. I think at this point my data there is still retrievable somehow for a backup, clean start. but i haven't reached that point yet.
Anyone have any clues what migt have caused the error in my user login?
One of the things I tried (too hastily now i admit) first was to remove the recently added updates from the extensions folder. has this exacerbated the problem? Can i put them back without logging in as me??
remember from my first post system profiler says software/extensions integrity 'kext has no receipt' and dependency errors: 'com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily and com.apple.kernel.iokit; no valid version found' - whereas in my newly created admin account it appears AOK.
is this the source?
any ideas anyone?
sorry lots of queries here but i am ever hopeful.....
All yours,
Charlie
G3 iBook 800mhz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

IBook G4 Freezes at Blue Screen During Startup.

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