ibook 500MHz broken=(

buff · July 22, 2002 3:20PM

Hello again!

I posted a message about a month ago about the ibook, thanks for all the replys, unfortunatly I didn't manage to get back to you lot.

I still haven't had any luck with my ibook, I have taken out the extra ram that I put in about a year ago, I've purchased norton system works and tried to load the computer from the OS 9+10 CDs...

It loads to a certain point and then crashes...bus error...

I've had a mac for about 8 years now, and I've encountered many problems that I have always managed to resolve, but my ibook has been in the unusable state for months now...

I was dissapointed that norton system works didn't work, is there any other software anyone can recommend?

I do have a lot of important work on the hard drive, but if there is anyway of wiping the HD without being able to start it up, I will sacrifice the data and do that..

Thanks for any advice or ideas=) I am at the stage of literally trying anything, even if it means smashing the thing up and re-building it!!

cheers

salidar34 · July 22, 2002 3:31PM

Have you tried taking it to an apple certified technician or something to see if there is a hardware problem with it?

buff · July 22, 2002 3:37PM

cheers,

if possible I would like to avoid taking it into repairs, I have paid huge bills on numerous occasions, but I think I'm gonna have to sooner or later...

Hopefully someone has heard of a similar problem, I'm sure it can be fixed somehow

thuh freak · July 22, 2002 3:40PM

in my experience, bus error means out of memory, so i think that your problem might be that a RAM card is loose or not installed well (or, could b a bad card). You may want to check the RAM you have in the 'book, and try adding ur extra RAM again.

You should try (though you probably have a few times in last few months) to start into os9 with extensions off (perhaps even off a cd). Once at the finder you can navigate to the utilites folder of the disc and use the "Disk Utility" to format. But, if you get this far, you may want to just try a clean os9 install.

if you dont have any luck with that, you can try taking the hard drive out, and putting it into a different iBook (or putting a different HD into your 'book). See if other another comp has trouble with your drive, or if your comp can handle a diff' computer's drive. (of course, this would require access to another iBook). If the problem isn't on your hard drive, and not on your RAM, (and assuming you haven't affected any other parts of the comp) then you may want to check out ur warranty.

buff · July 22, 2002 3:56PM

I'll try putting the ram back in, although it worked fine for about a year, and there was no change when I removed it.

I have tried extensions off, even using the CD=)

I have heard of diskwarrior, which I might try next.

Unfortunatly I don't have a warranty, I picked up this ibook in japan just over a year ago, it was a shop window computer that was being sold for a very reasonable price. I had some trouble getting round the japanese OS, but managed to get hold of 0S 9 and 10, and it's been great for all this time, no problems, and then one day it crashed during start-up and I have never been able to get access to the HD to try and sort the problem out.

Unfortunatly I don't know of anyone with an i-book, but I think the next step would probably be for a professional to have a look at it <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />

alcimedes · July 22, 2002 4:01PM

do you have the hardware test CD that supposed to come with the iBook?

i would try to boot off of that and run some tests.

that CD will often boot when others don't.

otherwise, try and find a user with a similar model and borrow their Hardware test cd.

i think you need to run a full hardware test at this point, sounds like you've covered all the basics.

one other note though, you have reset the pram at least 3-4 times in a row, correct?

-alcimedes

buff · July 22, 2002 4:07PM

yeh I've reset the pram, I did it a while back, I'm not sure if I did it 3-4 times in a row? I remember it chiming lots of times, sorry if I sound vague, I've tried so many things with the computer, I can't remember half the stuff.

Thanks for the information about the I-book CD, I will make sure I find someone who can make me a copy of it, I didn't get any CDs with the computer itself, so this is new light for me!

alcimedes · July 22, 2002 4:14PM

yeah, each newer Mac comes with a hardware testing CD. helps a lot when trying to figure out if the problem is software or hardware.

otherwise, sometimes the pram does have to be reset multiple times for it to really take effect.

also, do you know anyone with a Mac at all?

you might be well off to try to connect to their machine via firewire in target disk mode, and see if you can at least read your data off the HD when it's set up that way.

you might also be able to install the OS to the machine that way without ever having to boot the machine up all the way. might avoid the system bus errors you're running into, depending on how soon they hit.

-alcimedes

josephg · July 22, 2002 10:41PM

I would really recommend checking the RAM too. That's what happened with my iMac--bus errors upon startup, and once I took out one of the RAM chips, it booted up fine. It had been working for quite awhile too, before going bad.

So if it isn't that RAM that you added, then it might be the original RAM.

Best of luck

buff · July 23, 2002 6:24PM

Josephg, I took out the newer ram, which came with the ibook, but I thought the original was built in?

alcimedes, my bro has a G4, which I can hook up using firewire...I've never heard of target disk mode...how does this work?

[ 07-23-2002: Message edited by: Buff ]</p>

alcimedes · July 23, 2002 7:20PM

in your case it would be pretty easy.

1. start up your bro's machine.

2. get a 6 pin to 6 pin firewire cable

3. hook up his machine to your machine (your machine should be off)

4. turn on your machine, holding down the "t" key.

you machine shoudl then start up in target disk mode, bypassing most everything on the machine. at this point, you should be able to run tests and get files off of your iBook.

i would recommend getting your files off first. nothing is more tempting that trying to fix a broken machine, but firewire is really fast, and you'll have your files off in no time.

then work on fixing it.

that way, if worst comes to worst, you can do a solid reformat/reinstall and not have lost much of anything.

let me know if it works for ya'

[ 07-23-2002: Message edited by: alcimedes ]</p>

josephg · July 24, 2002 12:01AM

Yeah--I wasn't sure if your other RAM was built in or not. But I'm guessing that regardless, it still could have gone bad. Kinda sucks if it isn't removable and it is the problem--would necessitate professional service.

I'm just very wary of RAM now, since a good chip gone bad gave me such a headache on my iMac. Luckily it was removable.

Hope you get this solved soon!

buff · July 24, 2002 6:57AM

I don't trust RAM either, I've had bad ram myself, and a bust HD..some will remember my long posts about the IBM deskstar I ended up freezing=) I never got it fixed, IBM replaced it...with another 'deathstar'..

It would be bad if it was the unremoveable ram, but at this stage I'm ignoring the ram.

I have a firewire cable, unfortunatly I need the other type, then hopefully target disk mode will work, thanks alcimedes, as soon as I've tried it, I'll let you know..

cheers all..

buff · July 24, 2002 9:06AM

I've put the ram back in, still no luck.

Can target disk mode be used with ethernet?

alcimedes · July 24, 2002 10:33AM

no, it has to be firewire.

for ethernet to work, you have to load the OS, which it sounds like you can't do.

any iPod firewire cable will work, or store bought 6-6 pin firewire.

it's a useful cable to have, might want to just pick one up anyway

ibook 500MHz broken=(

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