IBook G4 Gets only so far on StartUp then goes to blank blue screen

Question

I've been trying to trouble shoot this, following Apples recommendations but so far, no help.
When I turned on the computer the screen was all blue with the cursor. There weren't any graphics or icons.
I inserted Software restore disk, Force Shut it down, and started it up, holding down the C button. The screen showed some progress, eg; (can't remember exact words) checking ...software, checking ....network, etc. and then it just goes all blue again.
I wanted to try the Hardware Test disc but now the Software restore disck it won't eject. Help!
I let my son use the laptop for a while and he may have downloaded a whole bunch of jpegs of cartoon art--might that be the source of the problem? I hope I don't have to take it to Apple because it's a Fall 2003 ibook, and I'm sure I'll have to pay $$$. Is it even work repairing in since it's "so old"?
Thanks

Answer 1

To eject the disc, start the computer and hold the mouse key down when you hear the start up chime. The install disc should eject.
It sounds like several things may be going on here. Your son may have downloaded so many cartoons that it used up the free space on the hard drive and now there isn't enough. This could very easily happen if you have the 30GB hard drive, as it's really small. Computers will do strange things when the hard drive is too full. So that might be a problem.
The Software Restore disc is for restoring the software after you have done a clean install of the OS. It's not something you want to put into what might be a full computer. So this might have caused some problems.
If you can get the software disc out and boot off the Apple Hardware Test, by all means run it and see if anything shows up in the form of an error code. However, I suspect your problem is not hardware, but software, and that should be possible to fix without costing anything but some time and effort.
Do you have any important data on the iBook? If so, you need to try and rescue it. If you have another Mac you can use, you can use Target Disk Mode and get your data off the hard drive that way.
Once your important data has been rescued, the next thing to do would be to insert Install Disc #1 and navigate to Disk Utility. You will see two hard drive icons on the left--choose the one that names the manufacturer and go to "First Aid". Verify and repair if necessary both permissions and the disk. Repeat until both are verified.
Then you can choose to do either an erase and install or an archive and install. If the problem was a too full hard drive and all the data has been saved, you might as well do an erase and install. This option will erase everything that is on the hard drive, so you want to be sure you have saved everything you want.
You probably have the same sort of CD set that I do--3 Install Discs, 1 Apple Hardware Test, and 8 Software Restore discs. If you upgraded to Tiger, you might also have the black retail Tiger disc.
If so, you can reinstall the OS by just using the Tiger disc. If you want to save a little hard drive space, you can do a custom install and remove all the languages and printer drivers you won't need. If you are still running Panther, you can use the three Install discs that came with the iBook.
Once you have restored the OS, you can use the 8 Software Restore discs to reinstall the software that came with the iBook. If you have any other software like a later version of iPhoto, you can install that too.
This will make it like a brand new computer. You will need to set up your internet access and everything just like you did when it was new. And you will have to update all your software. It's definitely a lot of trouble, but it could well fix the problems you are having.
If you have access to an Apple Store, the genius bar could probably walk you through saving your data and how to do the erase and install. If not, please post back with more questions and we will try to help.
Good luck!