Ibook G4 grey screen, whirling cog, then nothing

The ibook has been very slow lately. Last night I tried sending a jpg file by email, it was taking more than 5 minutes, so I thought I would force quit mail. Computer wouldn't force quit, wouldn't shut down. So I unplugged and then removed the battery. Today I get grey screen and whirling cog. Have tried safe boot; resetting holding down option/command/P/R; inserting install disk and opening disc utility. Nothing works. Even removed 512mb memory module and air port card. Nothing. Am I dead? The machine is 5 years old.
If the machine is dead, is there a way to utilize the screen as an adjunct to another laptop or desktop?
Thanks
Ellen

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
What happens when you try to boot from the install disc? Do you still get the gray screen with the progress gear?
Do you get a startup chime?
I believe I have the same iBook that you do--the 800mHz with the 30 GB hard drive? I had the experience of mine running slow and freezing, and it ultimately proved to be a logic board problem due to a soldering failure. However, I was able to send off my logic board for a $75 reball, and it came back fixed and has been working perfectly ever since.
I can't say at this point if you have the same problem since your symptoms are a little different--I could always boot up and run for a while, for instance. I could always boot from a disc, and I always had good video. But I also think I caught my problem fairly early.
It could also be that your hard drive has gone south, but if it were just the hard drive, you should be able to boot successfully from a disc. I suspect a logic board problem. But I also think a 5 year old hard drive is ready for replacement, just on general principles.
It could even be both. While troubleshooting the logic board, I noticed that my hard drive was also failing. So I replaced it with a 120 GB drive for another $75. So for about $150, my ibook is fixed and working perfectly.
There is a lot written on this forum about logic boards and logic board shims. You might want to do a search and read about these and see if any of it seems like what you are dealing with. If you want to pursue this a bit further, please post back.
As to using the display as an adjunct, I don't know the answer to that. But I imagine that someone does.
Do you have data on the drive that you would like to try to recover? If so, please post back for instructions.
Good luck!

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Hello again my fellow smarter than me mac lovers. OK, here is my problem. I used my ibook all night last night at work. Used it this morning just fine. My teenage daughter was using it and she stated that it froze on a screen she was looking at on possible you-tube. She proceeded to turn it off (not restart), and when she turned it back on it only responded with a grey screen. After a few minutes of the grey screen, a small blue folder will flash in the middle with the "finder" face/icon on it and a question mark flashing. It stays there a few minutes, but no cursor to click on the folder ect. After several minutes of that, the screen will go black and the computer will turn off. I have tried to reset the PRAM and PMU, but no go. Do not have discs, as this was a buy this past summer refurbished. I love my ibook and really hope it can be fixed. If there are any suggestions, please let me know. If not, I guess we will take a trip to the apple doctor. Thanks again for any help you might have.
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<Edited by Moderator>
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Message was edited by: GG31568

IMac refuses to boot up - grey screen, first aid failed

Hope someone can help me...
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http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Ibook G4 grey screen, whirling cog, then nothing

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