Serious hardware (HD) issue here?

der kopfder kopf
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Okay. The lovely experience with my new ibook is getting stale quickly. It is still wobbling along on three feet and now, it may very well be that my harddisk has gone south.



Apparently there is no crying smiley for this situation, or an apathic smiley, sobbing in a corner, pulled into foetus-position. Anyway.



Yesterday, after awaking my G4 iBook from sleep, it froze. I restarted it using the well-know ctrl-cmd-power technique. On restarting, it showed me nothing but a grey screen (not even the dreaded question mark).



After running disk utility from my firewire installation, and finding that some problems can not be fixed, I manage to reboot and use my computer all yesterday (though somewhat erratic, with e.g. frequent stutters while watching a DVD-rip from the HD, which should play more than fine on this computer, seeing it can play hiccup-free on my old g3 600 ibook).



Today, I decide to just backup and format. So I format, zeroing all data as I go along. Then I try 'repair disk' just to make sure, but it says it can't unmount the disk (though I didn't boot from it). I restart and try again. No problems found, this time. Just to make REALLY sure I pop in the hardware test CD that came with the machine. Ooooops.







Readings: Airport - not installed / printplaat (motherboard, I guess) - no problems encountered.



As soon as (the second really) it starts gegevensopslag though (i.e. data storage), it gives me the following gruesome report:



Code:


Error code***Error code***

2STF/8/3: ATA-100 ata-6-Master







which does make a lot of sense to me (seeing my specific problems). I don't fully know what it means though. Does anybody do? I'm calling AppleCare tomorrow, I'm feeling queasy already for the runaround the could very well give me (like with the rubber feet thing), but what else can I do?



I was just wondering: might this be something as simple as an ATA connector that's gotten a bit loose somewhere? Or something that might be fixed by resetting the PMU (however that may be done on this machine)? What are my options before I enter the bureaucratic merry-go-round which I have come to know AppleCare as?



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    I'm slowly regaining my composure now. I had a long walk outside in the nice winter air (I'm a bit of a winter man, myself), and decided I should try resetting the Power Management Unit before giving up (if that is indeed what PMU stands for). So I searched around support.apple.com for a very little while and quickly found the procedure explained. I did the deed, and proceeded to another hardware test, which, lo and behold, returned no errors.



    I am still puzzled as to how this all came about. Especially since the S.M.A.R.T readings for the drive returned no warnings (if, at least, that is what Disk Utility means when it says S.M.A.R.T status: verified).



    So I'm still gonna be putting in a call to my friends over at AppleCare ( ) tomorrow.



    Are there any more things I should be mindful for?
  • Reply 2 of 9
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    If you've been checking the SMART status and it always said verified than you should not have a problem with your HD. Diskutil would have caught that. It's most likely a problem with your logic board if resetting the PMU fixed it. I would most definitely call up Apple Care and see what's up. Good luck!
  • Reply 3 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Fate keeps slinging me some sand in the face. Trying to install Panther on what I thought was an okay HD, it stops halfway, says there's an error and that I should try again. So I go back to booting off firewire. Disk Utility now says that, hold on, S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported. The hardware test now returns the same error I had previously. I guess this is the point where I start worrying.



  • Reply 4 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Situation as it is now: my worries about AppleCare weren't fully justified. They were actually very forthcoming and helpful. Tomorrow or so my machine will be picked up, and if the problem turns out to be serious, they will replace it no questions asked (considering it a DOA machine - the problem arguably manifested itself within the first 14 days after purchase). If it is a small issue, like a wire come loose, they will fix it instead. In either case, help is on the way.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Faster still. Somewhere between now and two hours from now, my first G4 will be on its way to Brussels, to receive treatment, or to be declared clinically deceased.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    For the 1.5 people still reading this thread: my iBook got picked up by state-owned De Post (yay for monopolies!) six or seven hours ago. I'm all back to normal again. Happy this got dealt with, at least, though a final solution has not yet been reached. I guess I should get word thursday or friday, and see a fully functional iBook G4 by next week.



    BTW: I am so getting AppleCare!
  • Reply 7 of 9
    pensievepensieve Posts: 661member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by der Kopf

    For the 1.5 people still reading this thread: my iBook got picked up by state-owned De Post (yay for monopolies!) six or seven hours ago. I'm all back to normal again. Happy this got dealt with, at least, though a final solution has not yet been reached. I guess I should get word thursday or friday, and see a fully functional iBook G4 by next week.



    BTW: I am so getting AppleCare!



    Good to hear you're not regretting the decision too much. Hopefully you won't be without your computer too long. You know what I think the problem is, though? You haven't named it yet. Give it a name and you'll both be on great terms for the rest of your computing lives together.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pensieve

    You haven't named it yet.



    Well, actually, I'd named it potjesvlees, which is Dutch for... something bizarre. Maybe that's the reason it crapped out though.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    I just got a call from the Apple people. They just threw in a new drive entirely, and kind of (I hope there's no reason to doubt them) assured me that that fixed the problem. And that all their extensive tests on the motherboard didn't turn up any malfunctions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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