Ibook won't start - weird icon

My ibook froze and when I rebooted it, the screen was blank. In the center was a small icon of a folder and a ? mark was flashing on and off with the finder icon (inside of this folder icon) as if it can't find the hard drive? The fan (or hard drive?) spins and it sounds stuck for a few seconds before that icon appears and no other noises are made. I've never had problems before and I'm studying abroad for another month in Bulgaria so going into a store or re-putting in my cds or even calling apple wouldn't work for me for right now. Any other suggestions? If not, what can I do when I'm home in the States in a month?
ibook g4

If you have a FireWire cable, you can try starting up your Mac in FireWire Target Disk Mode. (Hold the "t" key down at startup.) Then plug your Mac into hers with a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable. Your hard drive should appear on her Desktop. Then you can use her Disk Utility to verify/repair your hard drive. Note that it would be best if she was running the same version of Mac OS X that you have installed on your computer. For example, you don't want to try to repair a Mac OS X 10.4.x hard drive from a Mac with Mac OS X 10.3.x.
You can find out about FireWire Target Disk Mode here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
-Doug

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IPod crashed during updater - Won't start, weird icon

Hi!
I attached my iPod to my computer this morning to put more tunes on it. The computer recognized my unit, but told me I needed to update the software, so I did. After I clicked on Update, I was told to plug it in to an outlet to complete the update. Once I did that, the apple logo showed up and then I saw a new icon -briefly- that looked like it was directing me to connect to USB. I cannot find this icon in ANY troubleshooting or technical materials.
Now, my iPod won't start. I did the 5 "r" and tried to manually reset 8 times. It still won't start!!!
Help, please!!!!!!

If you have a FireWire cable, you can try starting up your Mac in FireWire Target Disk Mode. (Hold the "t" key down at startup.) Then plug your Mac into hers with a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable. Your hard drive should appear on her Desktop. Then you can use her Disk Utility to verify/repair your hard drive. Note that it would be best if she was running the same version of Mac OS X that you have installed on your computer. For example, you don't want to try to repair a Mac OS X 10.4.x hard drive from a Mac with Mac OS X 10.3.x.
You can find out about FireWire Target Disk Mode here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
-Doug

HT4059 I have a first generation iPad, iBooks won't start, anyway to reinstall it?

I have a first generation iPad, iBooks won't start, anyway to reinstall it?

If you are currently running iOS 5.01, you can update to iOS 5.1 over wifi (i.e., not connected to your computer).
 Cheers, Tom

IBook won't start up - black screen

Hi, wonder if anyone can help with this...
I have an iBook which is about 5 years old. It's always been fine up until this weekend when i turned it on as normal and it just won't start up. All i see is a black screen but it does for a while sound like it's trying to start up.
I left it for a day turned off then tried turning it on again - this time it looked as if it was starting with the grey screen & apple icon then half may through it froze and there are lines all over the screen in various different colours - this doesn't look like a good sign!
I've tried starting in safe mode and also by inserting the install CD and starting up holding C but neither register.
Any ideas???
Thanks in advance!
Abi

Hey AbiTWR,
.. starting with the grey screen & apple icon then half may through it froze and there are lines all over the screen in various different colours- this doesn't look like a good sign!
Unfortunately you're right about that. That's the classic symptom for a graphics processor chip that's coming loose. You could try the shim repair mentioned all over this board. Depending on the speed and size you basically put a shim under the board under the GPU.
Richard

Reset PMU and Now iBook won't start!

The battery on my wife's indigo iBook wasn't holding a charge more than 30 minutes (although the indicator often said it had 3 hours). So tonight I tried resetting the PMU following the instructions I found linked to in this forum.
After pressing the button, I put the battery back in and plugged in the laptop, but now it won't start! When I press the power button--nothing! Any suggestions?
The iBook is running Panther.

Nevermind. I got it to work.
But just in case this ever happens to anyone else, the problem was caused because the reset button had not returned to it's normal position after I reset it. Who knows--maybe I pushed it too hard. Anyway, I noticed this after turning on another light in the room making my visibility better. I pushed against it again with a paperclip and it popped down into place. Then I hit the power button and voila! it worked.
Case closed.

Macbook won't start - apple icon turns to circle with diagonal line/slash

My Macbook won't start. When I turn on the power, the apple icon appears but then after a while it changes to a circle with a diagonal line/slash, then it just shows a gray screen.
The last time I used the computer I did several software updates. Could this be causing the problem? Any suggestions for getting my computer operating again?
Thanks for any help/advice.

Yup, i encountered the same experience after a strange failed USB-loading, and a sudden shutdown of my macbook.
Luckily i manage to "safe-boot" (pressing "Shift" key once starting up the mac) my macbook so that i can save the necessary files before will lose them all.
After that i popped-in my SL Installation DVD, and did the reinstallation process. Fortunately, everything works as charm and everything is back to normal after Spotlight has done it's hard work.
Happy Apple user once again.

One more iBook won't start. Please help...

Hi,
I apologise for my English from the very beginning. Be patient please...
I see from older topics that I am having a rather common problem. I just got this iBook G3 900 MHz 12' 680 Mb RAM from Ebay. It lasted 5 days (working fine) and then it suddenly died.
I have already tried all possible key combinations for PMU resets and carefully read the help page in case when a portable won't start. No good.
Here are the synthoms more in detail: The battery would not charge (it has only 1 flashing light out of four and I was warned before it died that its charge level was getting low). The ibook now don't start, even with the power adapter hooked up.
If this can help, the ring light on the adapter cord is green when the battery is on, and removing the battery turns the light to amber.
I started reading Internet discussions and it sounded an DC in-board problem, and I've already found a replacement from a friend...
BUT...
I did a further test tonight taking the battery for an identical ibook of a friend and when I put his battery on mine, it started up and kept being up only for me to see that the battery level was getting low low low --- dead again. Now, my friend is pretty sure that his battery was at least half-charged but to me it seems very strange that my ibook would drain away all power from a battery in 10 seconds. Can it be a short circuit ???
Back on Internet, I have discovered these Apple discussions, so before beginning unscrewing the whole ibook to replace the DC-in board (I understand this is not the easiest piece to change) I wanted to have your advice on something I might have missed with my "diagnosis".
Could it be the "famous" logic board everyone is complaining about ? The ibook was bought in August 2003 so I am still eligible for the replacement. Could it possibly be ? I though that ibooks with such a problem did boot up...
Sorry. I wrote too much. Thank you in advance for any help you might be willing to give me...
ibook G3 900 MHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
No problems with your English whatsoever.
Have you tried your friend's adapter with the iBook? Was your iBook plugged into the adapter when it rapidly discharged your friend's battery? It could be an adapter problem. The adapter should show green when the battery is not installed, and amber when it is — exactly the opposite of what you are seeing. The amber light is supposed to indicate that the battery is charging. The green light means that it is NOT charging. When things are working right, the green light means the battery has stopped charging because it is completely charged. When things aren't working right, it just means the battery isn't charging — for whatever reason. Since your adapter is showing the lights the opposite of what it is supposed to do, it's an indication that it may not be working right.
These are the four most common possibilities when the battery will not charge:
(1) there is something wrong with your battery
(2) there is something wrong with your power adapter
(3) there is something wrong with your power input board (the part that contains the port where you plug in the adapter)
(4) there is something wrong with your logic board
To diagnose a bad DC-in board, you need to make sure it isn't the battery or the adapter at fault by swapping out first one and then the other, If it runs from a known good charged battery okay, but won't run from a known good adapter, then you are going to have to replace the power input board.
Usually, if it is a logic board problem, the iBook simply will not run from the battery. This happened to mine. The battery showed up in the battery status indicator. It was recognized by the computer and charged by the adapter (as shown by the battery status indicator). However, when I unplugged the adapter from the iBook, it was just like pulling the power cord from the wall on a desktop. The iBook immediately shutdown. Dead.
My husband’s problem was quite obviously the power input (DC-in) board because the adapter tip had broken off in the port. Often (and, sadly, in our case), this damages the power input board so that it no longer functions, necessitating replacement of the board as well as the broken adapter.
Your experience does not exactly match either of ours. It is my best hunch that if your adapter is not the problem, then it is the logic board and not the DC-in board at fault. However, this is not the problem covered by the iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program.
Since you already have the extra DC-in board, if it proves not to be the adapter at fault, you may want to try installing the DC-in board, in hopes that will correct the problem.
Good luck.

IBook won't start up in Mac OS X

Hi,
I have an iBook G3 with operation system OS 10.3.9 that I've been used for years. Recently, it just won’t start up in Mac OS X, the computer stops at the screen with a gray apple and a spinning gear. The last thing I remember doing is looking for physical address (Ethernet HW address) of the computer and didn’t change any setting. I don’t recall updating any program the last time I used it.
The computer passed all testes with “Apple Hardware Test” come with the computer.
I’ve tried everything that I can perform mentioned in "http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464". I once had the computer start up in safe mode to remove all login items as the document said and then I can never get into safe mode at all. I can now still boot into single-user mode but nothing worked.
I have two partitions (A&B), partition A has operation system installed. I used “TechTool Deluxe 3.0.2” to repair the disks, and partition B passed all testes and A sometimes passed all and sometimes failed on ‘Linear Read/Write, Random Read/Write, Read/Write Buffer’.
I can’t repair the volumes (both A & B) with disk utility using OS 10.3 install CD nor can I Archive and Install OS 10.3 on partition A, they both show the same error “could not unmount disk (-10000)”. I tried to erase partition B and it still showed “could not unmount disk”.
If possible I would like to save some files in partition A and I don’t care B at all. However, if necessary erase entitle disk and reinstall could be an option, though I don’t think that would work at current stage.
Any idea? Thank you in advance.
iBook G3 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Are you booting from the OS X Installer CD? You cannot repair a startup volume. If DU cannot unmount the volume it's because the volume is in use which suggests you did not boot from the OS X Installer Disc. I suggest you do that. After the installer loads select your language and click on Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu. You can repair both volumes this way.
The problem you describe at startup suggests that there are missing or corrupted essential system files. The only fix is to reinstall OS X. You can do an Archive and Install only if the hard drive is OK so repairing it is essential if you want to do an Archive and Install.
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

IBook won't start up all the way...

My iBook G4 has been great. But recently, I've experience a little trouble. Sometimes when it starts up, it seems to only startup part way.
Meaning, that none of my external connections work (iBook won't recognize any of my USB periferals like my printer and external mouse... and unfortunately my wireless internet connection is supported through a USB port, so when this happens, I can't log on to the internet!).
I've also noticed that when this happens, although I get my Mac OSX desktop, I don't see anything on the top-right-hand-side of the menu bar. So I do get my "apple" menu, and Finder, File, Edit, View, Go, Window, and Help on the left-hand-side, but nothing on the right (display control panel, volume indicator, Date/Time).
So, sometimes I start it and it starts up all the way and everything works fine. Other times I start it up, and I can't find my periferals, and I don't have anything on the right-hand sinde of the menu bar.
I have tried troubleshooting on my own by running Disk First Aid (everything checks out okay), and verifying and repairing my permissions. Doesn't help.
Any suggestions? Hopefully I can get some useful advice on this discussion board. If not, I will have to take it in for service.
iBook Power PC G4 933 MHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi mac824,
It sounds like some system corruption.
Download and reinstall the 10.3.9 Combined update. If that doesn't correct it, an Archive and Install should.

Help! G4 iBook won't start up

I had to shut down and restart my iBook two or three times in succession. On the final time, the iBook began to start up, but then there was a 'click' and it shut down completely. Now I can't get it to start up at all, when I press the start up button nothing at all happens. The battery is fully charged, I have tried it running off the mains, and have also tried holding down Shift etc. I can't start it up from the CD either, as it won't pull the CD in.
Can anyone help please?

Welcome to Apple Computer!
Here is an article that might help:
Troubleshooting: my computer won't turn on:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300552
It will recommend disconnecting all peripherals and resetting the PMU among other things. If nothing helps, please post back.
Good luck!

Idiot needs help-iBook won't start up

Ive read a few topics that are similar to my problem but not really clever enough to get it working.
Yesterday i was using my iBook (had it about 5 years now with no problems at all) and i had a grey/black screen come up that said 'restart computer' so i turned off the iBook,now it won't start up at all.
Ive tried removing and re-starting numerous times so far with no results.
Ive tried safe mode too,but i'm not getting a chime when pressing start,so don't know when to hold shift down.
At the moment when pressing start i get the Apple screen and the spinning gear,then it goes to MAC OS X screen and the loading bar,but when it reaches the end it just stays on that screen.
I really am a computer novice,its all above me even though i'm 44!!,i love my iBook and don't really want to get another one just yet,plus all of my photos are still in iPhoto on this laptop. All other items i have on desktop too i don't really want to erase,my iTunes is stored on an external HD so thats ok,but any help would be appreciated.
I'm just going to try and locate the original disc that came with it,to try re-starting with that to see if i get any joy.

HI,
i'm not getting a chime when pressing start
iBook,now it won't start up at all.
Not a good sign. Hopefully the startup disk isn't failing, but be prepared just in case.
Go here for help for Isolating issues in Mac OS X
Carolyn

Adobe acrobat won't start and icon missing

When I try to start acrobat it opens and then closes. I don't even get a chance to open a file.
I have tried to delete it but it won't. It says its uninstalling but never finishes. (Waited 30min with no change) restarted my Playbook and it still doesn't work.
At some point I lost my adobe acrobat icon, its has a space on my screen with the name but no icon.
Any ideas how to get acrobat working again?
Right now I'm thinking a security wipe is the only way.(And I don't want to do that)
Thanks
Solved!
Go to Solution.

hmmm, sorry I couldn't be of more help. Maybe try settings permissions to denied then try to delete. If that doesn't work then you might have to do a factory reset.. I am in the same boat, my video and games and freezing and am left with little choice but to try a total reset... I will let you know how it goes...

IBook won't start up, none of the website's advice is working

This iBook has 10.2 installed. I have previously tried reinstalling from those discs but it never worked. I found the original install discs that came with the computer so I have been trying yet again to fix it. I just can't give up. It gets stuck on the grey apple screen with progress gear f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I have tried starting in safe mode and it still gets stuck there. I was able to start up from the Hardware Test disc and that says everything is fine. I started up from the OS9 install disc but it won't let me erase and install. It gives me an error about the hard drive. I don't care at this point about saving anything on this computer - I just want it to work again. I will erase the whole thing and start over if only I can figure out how. I have a new(ish) black MacBook and I've heard something about booting up connected to another Mac, fooling it into thinking the broken computer is an external drive or something... I'm totally confused about that but I'll try anything as long as it won't mess up my MacBook, because it's my primary computer. Help!!! Thanks for reading.

My apologies. Susan is correct. S.M.A.R.T. status was not available prior to Panther (OS X 10.3).
Invalid B-tree node size
Volume check failed.
Under these circumstances, DiskWarrior has a chance of repairing the hard drive. It sometimes can do disk repair when Disk Utility can't.
Are you really as innovative as MacGyver? If so, you may want to upgrade the hard drive to a (much) bigger one.
Instructions on doing it yourself (but it's a task that would be challenging even to MacGyver):
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/50.12.0.html
http://www.powerbooktech.com/knowledge,name-Hard-Drive,type-6.htm
If you think you're up to it, you can find compatible hard drives at _Other World Computing_. You need an ATA 2.5 inch 9.5 mm high hard drive (NOT an SATA drive.)
If you don't think you want to tackle it, there are these hard drive upgrade services:
MacService
MCE Technologies
DT & T Computer Services
Good luck.

IBook Won't Start Or Charge, Is It Worth It To Fix Or Get New Comp?

I bought my iBook 12" G4 mid 2005 as a HS graduation present for college, I knew that they had problems with the power cables so when the first one that came with the laptop broke I forked over the $80 and got a new one. I had it maybe a month and now the power adaptor IN the laptop won't receive any power from the cable, therefore not charging the battery. I tried the PMU restart thing but that obviously didn't work and I know it isn't the new cable because the light still turns orange, so I was wondering...
How much is it to send it to Apple to have them fix it? And is it even worth it or should I just go buy a new laptop?
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4)
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4)
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4)

Can you get to an Apple Store? Or an authorized repair store? A good place to start would be to see if you can get a free estimate. If your computer is working well otherwise, it's probably worth a little money to fix it. Did you get Applecare? If so, the repair should be free.
Also, if you have a friend with an iBook, try their power cable to be sure that it's the iBook and not the cable--even a new cable could be defective. If you go in to get the iBook checked, carry in the power cable too.
Good luck!

My ibook won't start up!

A couple of days ago I put the lid down on my 900 MHz G3 ibook to send it to sleep and it turned itself off completely as it often does.
Now it wont start up. The OS X start up screen appears with the blue bar gradually filling up and the words "Mac OS X starting up" written below but instead of loading and moving onto Finder it just sits there with a full bar. I have left it doing this for several hours, several times but without any joy. The cursor is visable and moves around fine, no beachball.
I have been through the troubleshooting document and tried reseting the PMU etc but I either did that wrong or it didn't work as nothing seemed to happen.
If this has happened to anyone or if anyone can shed some light on it it would be hugely appreciated.
G3 ibook 900 MHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Hi, Matty.
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, so please be patient.
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.
If you are unable to start up in Safe Mode, then try starting up from the Mac OS X Install Disc by inserting the disc and restarting your computer, holding down the C key as the startup chime is ending. Then click 'Next' at the language screen and choose Utilities > Disk Utility and select the hard drive in the left column. Choose the First Aid tab. Click Repair Disk to test and repair the hard drive.
Once you have repaired the hard drive with either Safe Mode or the Install disc's Disk Utility, then start up normally and repair permissions from Disk Utility in the Utilities folder on the hard drive.
Good luck.

Ibook won't start - weird icon

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