iBook G4 wont boot

[sidewinder]

Ive got an iBook here that was brought in a while ago because it hung on bootup. Ive completly wiped the disk and installed OSX, and when I was doing all the registration stuff again, it hung

So now whenever I boot it, it gets past the grey apple screen but hangs on the plain blue screen before the login box

Ive tried booting in verbose mode to see what it hangs on, but all the text dissapears when the blue screen kicks in

It does boot in safe (or at least it did, im trying now and its still hanging) and I ran disk utility to repair permissions, it did a few but hasnt made any difference

Is it just the HD going or is there anything I can run on it?

[sidewinder]

Right, now it boots every time, but approx 30 seconds after login, it crashes, first the pointer can be moved, then eventually that cant be moved either and it completely hangs

I was going to try a new HD but halfway through taking the thing apart, which is the most ridiculously overcomplicated laptop dissaembly ive ever come across, I realised I didnt have enough room to keep the mountain of screws and parts in order, so gave up

[Ric_]

Could also be the RAM. Never taken an iBook apart but I suspect that it's easier to change that than the HDD.

[mac_shinobi]

apple care ?

[GrumbleDook]

Does it do the same when booting from an install disk? That would point to hardware (check 3rd party RAM and the the airport card is seated corectly). If not then it points to software ... and I would first reload via the install disks ... if that still causes issues do a clean build from an OSX Client disk.

[mac_shinobi]

kingswood aka Paul on this site is good with macs, maybe he has a good suggestion...

@ Tony or Paul

Where the heck is that other thread that was here a few days ago gone to, the one about having issues joining a mac to a domain and Paul posted that long thing of things to try out to remedy it.

Just that info is handy

[GrumbleDook]

Now for Forum Navigation 101 ...

You are in the 'Mac' forum ... and at the bottom of the thread there will be a link that say 'Forum Index' followed by - > then a link that says 'Mac'.

If you click on the bit that says 'Mac' it takes you to the root of the Mac forum ... if you click on the link that says 'Forum Index' it takes you to the root of the forums ... ie, the forum index.

if you go to the Mac forum and look at the 3rd thread from the top ... why ... isn't this the thread you were after?

Perhaps using the search tool would be handy too? It's amazing what tools they put on forums now!!! ;-)

[mac_shinobi]

It was all changed around since I last tried to use the forum so was unsure of where it was :P LOL

[sidewinder]

Does it do the same when booting from an install disk? That would point to hardware (check 3rd party RAM and the the airport card is seated corectly). If not then it points to software ... and I would first reload via the install disks ... if that still causes issues do a clean build from an OSX Client disk.

No it doesnt crash from the install discs, goes through the whole installation fine

Shouldnt be any 3rd party RAM, just the same 256 that came with it
Will check the airport card though

Also what do you mean by a client disk? How is that different to an install disc?

[GrumbleDook]

The disc that comes with it is a restore disk ... you usually get 2. You can also get the discs that install just the OSX Client ... it is always handy to have a set of these. I tend to build machines based on a clean install rather than the restore discs ... it really helps stops them being bloated.

[sidewinder]

Yeh thats the only 2 discs we've got, the restore ones

If I was to get hold of someone elses client disc, would it still be legal to install it being that the laptop has a licence for osx?

[GrumbleDook]

One of the strange things about Apple OSes is that they are licenced to the machine really ... without being a lawyer and based on current practice in a number of places ... if you have the restore discs for 10.4 and you use the client install discs ... then there is no issue. If you put on a newer version of the OS (eg an eMac came with 10.3 and you put 10.4 on) then that would be a no no ...

But since making a clean build is something Apple support have asked me to do when making support calls to them I can see no reason why it would not be an acceptable practice.

I'll email someone at Apple to ask.