Trouble booting iBook Clamshell 466mhz and Installing OS X

So I recently bought a used graphite 466mhz iBook on Craigslist for very cheap. When I got home and tested it out, it booted right into a folder with a question mark. Thinking that meant that perhaps I just needed to reinstall OSX (The person I bought it from said the harddrive had just been formatted but no OS installed yet), I proceeded to try and install Tiger.
The problem I had was that my Tiger DVD/CDs would not boot when I went into the option boot menu. The discs would show up along with the main harddrive, but after clicking on the disc drive and clicking the arrow to boot them, the disc drive would spin a little and the option boot menu would refresh itself, and it just kind of got stuck in this loop. I click the disc drive, click the arrow, and it would refresh.
So now I figured maybe the disc drive was faulty, so I hooked the computer up to my G4 Mac Mini in Target Disk Mode, and used its DVD drive. On the iBook, the same option boot problem ocurred. The discs would show up in the option boot menu, but selecting them just made the menu refresh.
I decided to flip this setup, and instead set the iBook into Target Disk Mode, and then installed OS X from the Mac Mini onto the iBook (as the iBook listed as an external firewire drive). This installation went smoothly.
Now the problem is that after successfully erasing, partitioning, then installing the OS from the Mac Mini onto the iBook, the iBook still boots to a folder and a question mark.
Disk Utility says that the harddrive is alright, and I simply don't know what to do.

I had the same problem myself a couple of weeks ago. There is nothing wrong with and it's pretty common so don't worry.
As far as i know there may be two diffrent reasons, why it happens. For me it was the two ones combined.
1. The previous owner haven't upgraded the firmware.
- To do so, install Mac OS 9 and upgrade it too 9.1 (Updates exists here at apples homepage). Then you download the firmware update. (That also exists here).
Link to Mac OS 9.1 update
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75103
Link to firmware update
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75128
2. There isn't enough memory in the computer to run Mac OSX. You need at least 256mb (for tiger, 10.4). You can at max add a 512mb memorycard to it. (apart from the built in 64mb) so 576mb totaly.
Hope this helps you and congratulations, it's a wonderful computer!

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Trouble booting iBook

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Welcome to the Forum.
Could be a failing HD. Insert your installation disc and restart holding down the 'C' key. Once booted up, open Disk Utility from the options menu and run verify disk. See if that gives you any indication.

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Hi Paul,
Should I use a utility for copying files? or just the finder.d
Finner won't work, Best way to get an exact bootable copy of your old drive to the new one is with Carbon Copy Cloner...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
Have you Formatted the new Drive yet?

TS2570 Macbook Pro won't boot + Rescue files + Wipe and Install

How it started: I was browsing the internet and when I clicked on a link the Macbook Pro froze so I waited 15+ min for it to get back to normal, since it didnt I decided to turn it off by holding the power button down for a fee seconds. After I turned it on again it showed a grey screen with the apple logo and it was stuck there forever.
What I have tried:
- Disconnect peripheral devices - All disconnected, still the same
- Safe Mode - It starts the same then it turns off by itself
- Reset the NVRAM / PRAM - Computer restarted with the gong and a white screen and apple logo, but it was stuck there forever (after this step I didnt see the grey screen again, instead it started showing the white screen every time I turned the Macbook on)
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- Boot DiskWarrior (3rd party) from DVD - Downloaded and burned the DVD with my PC, inserted it in Macbook Pro, tried booting it (C key while booting), I left the Macbook stuck there all night and nothing happened.
Seems like I will have to do a Wipe & Install to restore the HD, but I teally want to rescue all my music before that. Any suggestions? I dont have a Time Machine backup.

You need this link to recover your data
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Also read this
My computer is dead, is my personal data lost?
And this link to fix your machine.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
- Disconnect peripheral devices - All disconnected, still the same
check
- Safe Mode - It starts the same then it turns off by itself
check
- Reset the NVRAM / PRAM - Computer restarted with the gong and a white screen and apple logo, but it was stuck there forever (after this step I didnt see the grey screen again, instead it started showing the white screen every time I turned the Macbook on)
PRAM holds the splash gray screen image, white screen is the same thing basically without the gray screen
- Disk Utility - Tried to repair the HD but it couldnt.
Did you try the Macintosh HD partition?, that's where your problem is
- Reinstall OS X - Once I get to the screen where it tells me to choose an HD I cant continue because it doesnt show any HD to choose.
Should be Macintosh HD partiton, since to use Disk Utiity your command r booted from the Recovery HD partition
Since you were able to boot into Recovery HD to use Disk Utility, that means the drive is working that just OS X on the Macintosh HD partition isn't booting.
If your using a external boot disk like from 10.5 or 10.6, don't.
There is one more thing to try, hook up a Ethernet cable to your router or modem (must be reset, power off/on) and use command option r keys upon boot, this (if your machine is capable) will install Recovery HD from Apple's servers instead of from the boot drive, it takes longer.
BTW your signature says you have 10.8, but this was posted in 10.6 forums.

Where can I get a new adapter for my iBook clamshell model M6411?

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Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
It looks like this one should work:
http://computerlogin.com/sales/productfilePHP/Y_Apple_Clamshell/200/Y_Apple_Clam shell_z_0033.php
I'm not familiar with that seller. Other World Computing has a replacement adapter:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Micro%20Accessories/ACADPTG3/
It's more than double the price, but I'm sure that they are a reputable merchant.
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http://www.ifixit.com/Apple-Parts/PowerBook-G3-Micro-Accessories-AC-Adapter-New/ IF113-044
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Punted. Copied everything I thought I would need to the external drive, then did an Erase & Install of OS X Tiger. Applied all updates, no problems logging in. Copied all the original User/username files and folders and restored a few apps.
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Laptop like ibook clamshell

okay so i know you guys released that colorful laptop back in 1999 called the ibook clamshell g3, and yeah i know it has horrible hardware and stuff. So right now, I was wondering if there is any laptops out there like that one that have like the transparency and the colors that that one had..... either that or i will purchase that good ol laptop..... best regards,
Tom Hancock

The best of the Clamshells have Firewire, and are upgradeable to Mac OS X 10.4.11. Firewire offers bootable backup capability through a port that is at least 20 times faster than the old USB 1.1 that is found on it. The downside is the Clamshell never did come with a decent size screen for Mac OS X.
Some people like running Mac OS 9 (predates Mac OS X) better on the Clamshell, but few browsers work well anymore on Mac OS 9, except possibly WaCOM Mozilla.
Be sure if you get it, to get the original discs pre bundled with it. After the iBook Clamshell, Apple released a long line of white iBook G3, and G4s, then some white and black MacBooks, whereas the rest of their notebooks after the Powerbook G3 Firewire were all aluminum or titanium colored. Before then they were black as well. There is an option for current Apple notebooks called Colorware
http://www.colorware.com/p-250-macbook-air-13-inch.aspx
Suffice it to say you might not always get the warranty you expect on these, but if color is what you want, you can get it on a more modern Apple notebook that way. I would not get the add on color shells on Apple notebooks after market. Those can cause them to overheat.

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toyvin wrote:
Can I just copy the installesd.dmg to a DVD or flash drive to install it on the other 2 macs?
If this is possible, do I have to do anything special? Can I install from the flash or DVD or do I need to copy onto the target mac first? Although both other macs are backed up using time machine, I'm a little nervous about just launching an installation without really knowing what I'm doing.
No, you can't just copy the InstallESD.dmg file to a DVD or USB thumb drive IF you want to boot from those media and install Lion. You can follow the instructions here to burn a bootable DVD or restore a bootable USB thumb drive. You have already completed some of the steps. Just follow the steps to create a bootable DVD or USB thumb drive. The bootable media allows you to use Disk Utilities or the other Mac OS X Utilities if you need to prepare the volume you're installing on.

Want to uninstall Vista and install XP?

Open Boot Camp Assistant and restore start up disk to a single volume? Then run Boot Camp again to install XP?
Thanks,
Andrea

Andrea:
You are right that is the procedure in a nutshell.
For confirmation to the above please click [HERE|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15554.html].
Once the HD is restored to a single OSx volume then yes you can run Boot Camp assistant again and install Windows again.
Axel F.

Can't boot iBook with install disc

Hi All,
I've inherited an old clamshell iBook that freezes every time I try to boot from the install disc.
The iBook came with 0S9.2 installed and everything seemed to be working OK. I then tried to upgrade it using a retail Jaguar disc and it froze on booting up. Now it won't even load OS9 but instead gives me a blinking folder with a question mark.
When I try to install from the Jaguar boot disc, I get the Apple logo and then it freezes right there. I tried zapping the P-Ram a few times and that didn't fix it. I tried holding Option key when loading and got to the screen where it lists boot options. I chose OS X and it after the logo comes up, it freezes.
Have also tried re-seating and completely removing the RAM. No difference.
When I go into verbose mode I get some kind of kernel panic error freeze and the keyboard won't let me input anything.
I reached the open firmware screen and it says Powerbook2,1 4.1.7f4 so I think that means my firmware is fine for OS X.
I unfortunately don't have access to an OS 9.2 disc so can't boot into that from disc. I think my 9.2 system folder needs to be re-blessed or something like that but have no way to reach it.
Any suggestions?

Ok, well, I believe that in order to re-bless the OS 9 system folder, you need the OS 9 CD. (I'm not an OS 9 expert, but that's what I've seen online).
However, if you install 10.2 (or 10.3) on the computer, it should boot right into it and you don't even "need" OS 9 any more.
I'm starting to think you have a hardware problem of some kind, and the first place to check is the RAM. OS X is more finicky than OS 9 was with RAM, so do you have another memory module you could install to check? Or perhaps another clamshell (like was suggested) to try your RAM in?
Do you have an Apple Hardware test disk? My next suggestion would be to get one and to run the test and see what (if any) hardware is having problems.
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So could it be cd drive? Hard drive I know it was upgraded. or am I not waiting long enough If the wheel is spinning does that mean its working?

The CD drive may have difficulties reading the CD. Try to clean the lens which is located near the middle of with tray with alcohol or clean the CD. If you own a firewire CD / DVD drive you may the installation this way (press alt after powerbutton to choose the firewire drive as boot drive)

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Folks, hi, newbie to this forum but at wits end.
I have a MacBook Pro 17inch mid 2010 model. I added the OMG disk doubler and ditched the internal dvd, so I now have 2 X 500GB hard drives, one of which has the OSX. This disk in trouble and Disk Utility says that it needs repairing, but i need to repair after booting from an different disk.
So, I added a usb dvd drive and put in snow leopard. It would not boot via holding down 'c' and the option key only saw the current drive. No problems I thought, I will install onto the second hard drive and boot from that. The process got a fair way though (20 mins) and the computer crashed. I checked that it is GUID, tried again, and ditto. So, I made a new partition that was nice and clean -- and ditto. Stuck about now, I tried to format a usb hard drive -- ditto. Hmm, didnt want to, but out came the second drive and in went the old dvd drive -- same issue -- could not boot using c button and the option key did not recognise the snow leopard install. Out came the drive and I went to the apple store -- they told me that the Snow Leopard I had brought was an upgrade and that I needed a Box Set. $169 later and - you guessed it -- the dvd is the same, no start on c, not recognised on option, and the computer crashes if I try and install to the second hard drive or an external drive.
Help anyone??

when i go to system prefs- startup, the dvd does not show up in the list of startup drives. The apple salesman said that the OSX install disk I purchased was not a start up disk / full install but rather an upgrade only disk. That is why he said to use the box set as a 'full install' - but both appear to not start up or be able to do a clean install. I just end up with a set of files call Mac OSX install files.

Why is my mid-2010 macbook pro having trouble booting and crashing?

I have a mid-2010 13 inch macbook pro that has recently began to have severe problems. It started after I shut it down one night and woke up to the sound of my mac's fans running loudly and my computer running extremely hot. Apparently, it must not have finished shutting down that night and something went wrong with it when i closed the lid. Ever since then, the computer will either take a long time to boot up (the apple symbol will take up to a minute to appear, and then up to several more minutes to go to my desktop) or it will display an error (either the folder icon appears instead of the apple logo, or the apple logo appears and then after a minute or two is replaced by the circle slash). Once i'm in, the computer seems to function normally, but anytime it needs to access the disc there might be another delay, or the computer will freeze, forcing me to shut it down again. The most common time this occurs is when I am waking the mac from sleep. In addition, the cpu would run hot (~85) which would imply i was doing high cpu activity, except i was usually doing very little, activity monitor showed low levels with sudden intense spikes whenever i did something.
I've run several diagnostics to try and determine the problem, but none identified an error:
booting computer from different computer/startup disk - runs fine (apparently. gave my mac to someone else to try this test, could not see results for myself)
Thorough Apple hardware test: no problems found
disc utility: disc/discpermissions verified and repaired with no issue.
PRAM/VRAM reset: actually sped up the lagging of the system once it reached the desktop and intense cpu thing but booting problems still persisted.
archive and install: some of the time it would fail to install in the middle of the installation, forcing me to start again, but once i completed it, issue still persisted.
clean wipe of drive with restoration from time machine: computer speed better but still trouble when booting.
Clean wipe of drive without migration of data: computer running and booting quickly, but occasionally still received circle slash instead of apple logo.
At this point, i don't know where the source of the problem lies. The computer is old, but has never had an issue until recently. The problem is inconsistent, and all testing implies it doesn't exist, which makes its diagnosis extremely difficult. As it is a 2010 mac, it is clearly out of apple care and warranty so i cant go to a genius. I have a weak battery (80%) and my screen lid is a little loose from frequent use, but those are the only blatant problems i'm aware of with my mac.
Any suggestions? I can gladly provide more info as needed.

When you have the problem, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.
These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
          View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.
Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.
Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Trouble booting iBook Clamshell 466mhz and Installing OS X

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