My iBook G4 startup

When I try to start up my iBook G4 I see a gray screen, a grayer apple and a continually spinning progress wheel. I've tried Disk Utilities>First Aid>Repair Disk several times. At first the response was
The volume Macintosh HD was repaired
HFS volume repaired
1 volume cold not be repaired
Then I tried to verify disk, I got
1 volume checked
0 HFS volumes verified
1 volume failed verification
Then I tried to repair again, I got
Repair attempted on 1 volume
O HFS volumes repaired
1 volume could not be repaired
Repairing disk failed with error Could not unmount disk (-100000)
Any suggestions, short of reinstalling system software? I have applications for which I do not have the original disks!
Thanks for any help!

Diskwarrior from Alsoft.com about $100 make sure you get Panther version

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etc...
The only command it listens to is Shift to turn extensions off. My keyboard works fine and none of the keys are stuck. I've never seen anything like this, what could it possibly be?

If there's a firmware password set on the computer, it needs to be removed first. This can be tested by pressing the Option key and seeing whether a padlock appears or the command is ignored.
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IBook G4 Startup Problem-Won't go past Apple screen

I've been using my iBook for two years with no issues...until yesterday. I'm very much a novice technical wise, so I'm going to give as much detail as I can to describe how things transpired.
It had been a while since I'd checked for software updates, so I took advantage of being at a friend's house who has Roadrunner (dialup is the only option I have where I live...very rural area) and installed an update for OSX. It seemed to install fine and prompted me to restart as usual, which I did. I stepped away for about ten minutes to let it do its thing, but when I returned, it was stuck on the Apple screen (light gray) but without the progress wheel. I let it sit for awhile, hoping it would do something, but to no avail. I powered it down, let it sit, and turned it back on...still just the apple screen. As soon as I got to work this morning I started searching through the forums to find a solution. Below are the things I've tried based on suggestions from other threads and the results, but still, I haven't successfully gotten past the Apple screen.
1) Pressing power button then holding the "apple"-opt-p-r keys simultaneously until I hear the startup chime three times. I heard the chimes, but it still goes back to Apple screen with no progress wheel.
2) Used Disk Utility from my OSX install disc to repair the disk, but no repairs were necessary.
3) Tried restarting in Safe Mode, but it just went back to the Apple and the progress wheel never appeared.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!!

Hello
I have a ibook G3 and it happened to me to!! I didn't realize that it could have been software update!! Ok well my story is that I was doing my normal on my iBook( myspace, ichat and itunes) well I thought hey I havent updated in a while so I software updated it. It asked me to restart just like you and what do you know it got stuck on the gray apple screen. I reinstalled Mac os x Panther 3 times, and every time after it was done installing I would run software update and restart it just like it says. Until I reed this, well you helped me, I'm just not going to update until after the holidays when I get Tiger.They might be doing this to get us to buy Leopard. Well thanks but for you I recomend you getting a external hard drive and try to get everything you can out by starting up from classic. Sorry and... well... thanks for helping me!

IBook G4 Startup Error!!! URGENT!

Hi everyone... ok lets start.... i was listening music when my iBook fall down from the table... then my screen turned into black... when i pressed the BLOQ NUM button it turns on and off and that mean that my laptop was on... then i turn my laptop off manuay cause i cannot do anything... immediatly i turned on but if freeze when the image of the APPLE LOGO is... i let my laptop in that state like 1 or 2 hours and nothing happens, then i tried to repair my Hard Drive with the Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger but an error message appears and it says: The Volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired ERROR: The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972) and then i try to restore the OS with my RESTORE CD No1 but it says AN ERROR OCCURED DURING THE INSTALL and it close.
What is hapening??? please somebody tell my!!
Thanks for your attention and sorry for my English hahaha!

You'd have to try using the booted OSX installer disc number 1 and use
the Disk Utility accessed therein, found in beneath the "Installer" name
once the machine is running from the installer disc. You'd hold down
the C key on startup and attempt to start the machine from disc.
[You may be able to see if a third-party bootable disc tool like Disk
Warrior, or others can repair the error; but hardware damages may
have resulted from the impact of the computer hitting the floor. Other
disk repair options include using the tools in your boot/install disc.]
You could see if a "disk repair" could be done using this Disk Utility, but
it sounds like you may end up losing data from the hard drive due to the
error message and the cure I suggest; unless you could access the iBook
somehow maybe from another Apple computer with Firewire ports and try
to use their "Target Disk Mode" to enter into your computer's drive as
though it were just an external hard drive, and drag or copy data to a new
folder inside that other Mac.
If you can save any data, that'd be good; then you could (while booted from
that OSX installer disc #1) go ahead and use Disk Utility again and now consider
using disk utility's optional tools to zero-data (erase, destroy) all data
on the
hard drive by writing zeroes over it; hopefully allowing a new full install of the
system from the OSX installer after a Reformat (using HFS+ format) and then
go about running the installs so the machine could hopefully have an all new
system (like it was when new, losing all things you had on there) and if the
damaged error section of the drive was only a low-level problem; with all these
steps hopefully having resolved that part of this situation.
A hardware failure or other damages could have resulted from impact.
I see this is an older post, so I hope you have discovered options by now.
Best of luck.
PS: when doing these kinds of things with a portable computer,
it is best to have the AC power adapter attached and then there
is less chance of running out of power before anything is learned.

IBook makes startup chime, then nothing

iBook charges battery. 700mhz/256mb/20 combo with additional RAM
I have reset PRAM, NVRAM and PMU
I press the power button, I hear hard drive start, start chime, then nothing. Something is still spinning in there...so I hold the power button down, it powers down and then the same thing happens when I try to power it up again.
I have re-seated RAM and tried booting w/o the additional RAM.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

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. Select the named boot volume in the left sidebar, ("Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). Repair permissions on it.
See if you are able to do a little hard drive maintenance to help things out.
Can I boot from a CD or something...?
Which version of the OS is installed? Do you have an install disc for that version of the OS? You could try booting from that if you have the proper install disc.

New RAM in iBook prevents startup

Hey everyone,
My little 5+ year-old iBook G4 (933MHz) is so old, but still working fine, so I decided to buy 512MB of RAM from OWC. I'm trying to make it last until OSX 10.6, haha. I made sure the new RAM is EXACTLY the same as my old RAM (PC2100 DDR 266MHz 200 Pin), just bigger. I even compared the two when I installed it.
On startup, I get nothing but the chime. The screen stays black. I don't even hear the HD spin up. I have no idea if it's on or not, so I just pull the battery. When I put my old memory back in, it works fine, with or without the airport card.
I thought if memory was bad, it should still boot, since it has 128MB built in. So I can't tell if it's being recognized or not (well, obviously it's being recognized, it won't start up!)
Any clues as to what the problem might be? I guess I can exchange the RAM, but it would be for exactly the same type.
By the way, this iBook had its logic board replaced by Apple about 2 years ago, if that affects anything.

I agree with Duane. Since your computer runs fine with the original RAM but doesn't even boot with the new, there's not much else that would be the issue.
Also, I've noticed that if a computer doesn't like a RAM module, it won't boot--even if the second one is perfectly fine. Make sure you've got the RAM seated properly and if it still misbehaves, exchange it for another module.
You may also want to double-check that you've got the right RAM, just in case.
~Lyssa

My ibook wont startup - whatever i do!!

i have been having a problem starting my ibook g4 (panther) for a few days now while trying everthing i know or could find to get it to work without erasing the hd. The problem is when i turn it on i hear the chime and then it goes to the blank grey screen with the grey apple logo and spinning wheel and wont move onto the login window. So far I have tried to start in safe mode; do an archive and install (which i cannot do due to a lack of avail space); i have done a hardware test and everything is ok there; i have started up in single user mode and cleared the login window preferences but still no luck. I have also tried to delete some movie files in single user mode to give me more room but i keep getting a message saying "read only file"
I fear i will have to do an erase and install of osx as i have no space left. I am by no means a mac expert and what i have done so far is a result of alot of digging through forums and google. I have a ipod 4gb and thought i may be able to use it somehow to put osx on it and boot from there as i dont mind loosing the music.
If anyone can explain how todelete files in single user mode or use my ipod to reinstall osx your assistance would be very greatly appreciated.
many many thanks in advance and sorry for the extra long post,
rossco
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I know this is long...
I've been having a similar issue for a couple of days now. I have different hardware and software (powerbook G4 OSX 10.3.9), but the symptoms are close enough. When I try to boot up, it gets stuck on the grey screen with the grey apple logo and the spinning gear. I have tried:
*Starting in safe mode
*Doing an archive and install (which I can't do due to the automatic updates I've installed).
*Using the OS install disk to run disk utility. Disc Utility fails trying to "rebuild catalog B-tree"(By the way, I have no idea what the crap that is).
*Booting in single user mode and using fsck to repair the issue, but it ends up stopping right where Disk utility does. And I also get the error, "disk0s9: I/O error"
I know you can boot in Firewire target disk mode, but I do not have another Mac (I tried it with a PC but the PC didn't know how to read it).
I think that may work for you, providing you know someone with a mac that will be kind enough to let you use some disk space for a bit. Here's some info on Target Disk Mode
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
Also,
When you boot in Single user mode it says," If you want to make modifications to files run '/sbin/fsck -y' first and then '/sbin/mount -uw /'"
Have you tried deleting the files after running those commands?
I really don't want to lose the data on my hard drive (like other people do:)) And of course I don't back up! pffft!
Someone help me!
Sorry, I know this is a tough read!!
powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)
powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

IBook slow startup, ?- mark flashing

How do I fix my iBook that takes up to 10 min. to start. Sometimes it flashes a ? mark, and other times goes into a black screen with window saying to restart. I have run the fsck keys, and always get an "ok" message. Starting with the "x" key sometimes works. I have also tried PRAM as well.
So one thought is to throw out the small disc/partion that has OS 9 classic on it???
The best part of all this is--- I have ordered a MacBook Pro! The worst part is-- MacMall now says that it may be the 17th of Mar.when they can let me know the shipping date (ouch)this ibook may not last that long.
Thanks for any sugestions John H.
iBook 2USB ports 500 MGz Mac OS X (10.3.9) 13.5 GB HD--6.2 GB left. 384 MB memory

Links to articles dealing with the flashing question mark:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
http://www.bombich.com/mactips/openfirmware.html
You may want to follow some of Trav's Tips on maintenance:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=971817&#971817
With OS X 10.3, you should probably use Safe Mode instead of fsck.
Apple says:
If you use a Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) formatted volume, such as with Mac OS X 10.3 or later, you probably won't need to use fsck. If you do use it for any reason, please be aware that benign error messages can appear.
I do not recommend trashing OS 9. It can be useful in troubleshooting situations and can be very difficult to get back if you decide you want it.

Ibook g4 startup problems

Hi everyone
so i have this ibook thats having a bit of a problem turning on. i get the horrible flashing question mark folder when i try to boot up. i know it's an issue with the computer not being able to see the hard drive, i just don't really know why its doing that, the person i got it from said the hard drive had just been replaced. when i boot it up in target disk mode and connect to my g5, the hard drive won't show up. and if i boot from an installation cd, it shows there's no hard drive.
i was just wondering if it could be anything other than a bad hard drive, i don't want to buy a new one and have it do the same thing. i stripped it down to make sure it was connected, and it is, but the computer just acts like there isn't one there.
another thing i'm experiencing is sometimes when i boot up, the screen stays black. no full blast fan though.
any help at all would be greatly appreciated. i've done some reading around but haven't had any luck with my case

argyle265 wrote:
I had similar rpoblem with an imac G3 and it was incorrect jumper settings on the HDD.
at least for the G4s, there isn't any jumpers to set as that is intergrated into the HDD connection cable which plugs into the drive & covers this.
Please see my posting, hope it sheds some light on yours as well - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1967320&tstart=0

Help ibook g4 startup trouble

i just recently bought an ibook g4 refurbished from apple.com. it is my first mac, btw.
but ive had it for not even a day and i get a message that says "YOU NEED TO RESTART YOUR COMPUTER" in several different languages. so i hold the power button to shut it down. but when i try turning it on nothing happens except the sound of a fan coming from it.
i seriously dont know whats going on with it. the only thing ive downloaded on it was AIM. i havent dropped it or anything either. it was working fine right out of the box. is it because its refurbished??
any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Check out this FAQ, and see if any of this applies to you.
Try reinstalling your operating system with the discs that came with your iBook, and if you're still having problems, give Apple a call, and let them know that you most likely have a hardware defect in your iBook.
They are required to repair this for you at no cost.
Brian

Ibook 12" startup issues...

Looks like I'm not the only one, but can't find good answer to exact problems. This is my daughters computer, fortunately my MacBook is here to get on line......
Everything was fine, then it wouldn't "see" the cable modem, so I suggested a power cycple....now:
ibook won't start up. grey screen with spinning gear goes to blue screen, "Starting Mac-OS X"
The blue bar fills from left to right and then.....nothing.
Tried to start in safe mode. Then all I get is the grey screen with the apple and spinning gear for a LONG time......then blue screen and Mac OS-X start up....blue bar fills left to right and then......it just sits there.
Tried resetting PMU (With computer off held shift/ctrl/option/powerbutton, released and waited 5 seconds)
Any ideas?

Was able to put the patient in target mode, connect to PowerBook started on it's own HD and then it showed up as a drive on the finder. Backed stuff up just in case and did a OS reinstall off the syustem disc.
First start was coughing and spurting, reset PRAM, second start was proper but sloooow. After some crunching and resetting of clocks and parameters all appears to be working reasonably well.
I am my daughters hero......

Unkn ibook wont startup

Hello all
I am trying to troubleshoot my daughters ibook. I don't know which Ibook it is other than it is a white, 600mhz with tiger on it. It does not have the pmu reset button on the left side by the video/audio. I cannot get it started, so I can't get any other specs. I am pretty mac savvy, but know nothing about ibooks.
Here is has happened so far. They had it freeze up on them the other night wile using garageband. When they tried to restart, they only got as far as the spinning gear. I told them to go online on their sis's computer to trouble shoot. What they found is that they should,t be using garageband on this g3. They did get it to start the next night, and managed to get a bunch of the music that was bogging it down off of it, but it hasn't started since. I brought it home to troubleshoot and I have tried the following:
resetting the pram . nothing happened
reseting the PMU with the shift-control-option-power set up. No go.
I am so clueless about this ibook...I didn't even know the difference between the green and orange light on the power cord.
Help anyone?
sj

OK - here's what's up so far.
-It will not boot in Target Dick Mode.
-It will not boot to the CD (Tiger Install Disc 1)
-Resetting PRAM didn't work
-Resetting PMU didn't work.
-The cd is not spinning up when I try to restart, disc in it or not.
-The only way I know that the power is happenenig is that the battery did charge up full and the green light under the screw in the keyboard lights up when F5 (speaker volumn key is depressed.
-No chime.
Additionally - about the chime - yesterday, twice, when I had the case closed and the ibook was turned upside down, I was holding it in one hand (by the corner where the power button is) and it chimed like it was trying to turn on. When I righted it up and flipped the lid open - of course nothing was happening.
I feel another headache coming on. My daughter bought this used from a dealer on line that was reputable enough to offer a two year warranty, but of course - she didn't have the extra money to buy it. I have been fixing my kids toys since they were old enough to break 'em, and they think I can fix anything. Dumb me.
I have never had a copy of the Apple Hardware Test, but I thing there is one at my daughter's house that came with her imac. Are they machine specific? Version Specific? And will it even load since this CD isn't spinning up?
They had cleaned off the stuff they needed - burned it to CD - all except their song lyrics - very important - since they are song writers. I susspect tho, that although they trashed the stuff they took off, they may never have emptied the trash. Can an overstuffed hard drive behave in this way - and is there any hope?
sj

I can't use my iBook

Hi all,
I previously made a post " my ibook wont startup - whatever i do!!" and explained that the only thing effective that i could do was boot into single user mode. I did this and attempted to delete some files so i could do an archive and install (as i had v little space on hd).
FIRSTLY, I have tried to delete files by typing "su" and by typing "chflags nouchg,noschg <name of file here>" and then "y" for overide but it tells me that it is a read only file. Can someone please give me link to a good tutorial on how to use single user mode? ie how to get into my user account and delete files in there (my user account id the administration account).
SECONDLY, I just tried to boot into verbose mode and it stopped. here are the previous lines so that you may be able to tell me what is going on:
Creating RAM Disk for syslogd
hdik: IOKit timed out waiting for driver to load: error e0002d6.
hdik: attach fail: error e0002f0
syslogd: cannot create /var/run/syslog: Read-only file system
syslogd: child pid 113 exited with return code 1
Creating RAM Disk for Crashreporter
hdik:IOKit timed out waiting for driver to load: error e0002d6.
Launching Crash Reporter
com.apple.SecurityServer: database /vardb/CodeEquivanceDatabase opened READONLY (R/W failed errno=30)
com.apple.SecurityServer: error writing entropy file /var/db/SystemEntropyCache
com.apple.SecurtiyServer: Entering service
This is where the system has now stopped. no keystroke changes anything and all i can do is force the computer to turn off by holding the power button down.
If anyone has some advice on how i can fix my computer without completely erasing hd i would be very very much appreciative.

How big is your external hard drive? Is it a FireWire hard drive? You might plug in your external FireWire hard drive to the iBook then startup from the Tiger install disk and install Mac OS X 10.4 on the external hard drive. That way, when you startup from the external hard drive, hopefully your iBook's hard drive will appear on the Desktop and you can copy some of your files out of the iBook to the external hard drive.
-Doug

I'm using an iBook G4. I'm having a problem with a lengthy Microsoft Word (2003) document crashing. It keeps telling me that there's a problem and then working and working. I have to do a forced shutdown.

I'm using an iBook G4. I'm having a problem with a lengthy Microsoft Word document. It keeps freezing when I try to make a change in it. The computer is working and working. Then I have to use a forced shutdown. And it starts all over again. Suggestions?

Is there sufficient free space on the iBook's startup disk (typically called Macintosh HD)? The OS and apps use free space to write temporary files, and it free space becomes too low, it can cause the Mac to bog down. Low free space also makes whatever free space is left fragment into tiny pieces scatter all over the hard drive, making the problem even worse. If it more than 90% full, you should free up some space.

Question mark folder, but can use it as startup disk for other machines

I have an old iBook G3 which I have put a new hard drive in, reformatted and installed Tiger. I installed Tiger off another iBook as the combo drive in this book is currently broken. When I attempt to boot the computer I get the folder with the alternating question mark and finder face. However, if I put my iBook in Target Mode, I can use it to boot my other iBook and a PowerMac G4 no problem.
I have tried resetting the PRAM, tried holding down the X key, tried holding down the option key (the boot volume does show up, but when I choose it nothing happens).
I'm completely lost as to what to do. I don't really need this computer, but I was going to keep it around for my friends' kids to use when they come over. Any help would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks!

Oh yes, I know, I did that too. Let me recap:
I have put the iBook G3 in Target mode, put the Tiger disc in my G4, installed Tiger to the G3. The computer completes the install and setup just fine and enters into the OS without issue. I then shut it all down, disconnect the firewire cable and reboot and G3 gives me the flashing folder/question mark.
I have put the G4 in Target mode with the Tiger disc in the drive and attempted to install to G3. No joy there either. And, actually, now that I think about it, I can't remember if I could ever get it to choose the install disc as a boot option...
If I hold down the option key, my drive shows up as a boot volume, but it will not boot. I can click on the drive, but nothing happens.
I have zapped the pram, as well as following all the other advice given on the Apple site, and still nothing.
If I put the ibook in Target mode, connect it to another computer and hold down the option key on the other computer, the iBook's startup disk shows as an option and, if chosen, successfully boots the other computer (so clearly the issue is not with the hd or with any physical connections within the computer).
This is making me insane! I appreciate any and all help on this.
Thanks!

My iBook G4 startup

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