02-05-2010, 11:30 AM

Im trying to investigate further details regarding the current status/condition of my ibook and had a few question that hopefully you guys can help me with.

1. I just replaced the LCD display lid with a new cover (the original was marked and scratched up a bit) and noticed the tape around the actual LCD screen and shield area has been cut/removed before. Is this an indication the LCD screen has been repaired or replaced?

2. Under the "about this Mac" the disk drive lists the following info...is this the original disk drive, or has it been upgraded to a super disk drive?

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845E:

Firmware Revision: DMP2
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

3. I notice when first booting up the ibook (and opening some apps), there is some minor clicking noise. I would assume from the HDD. Is this a good indication the hard drive is beginning to fail?

Thank you in advance for your input and help guys. I don't know anyone who's up to speed on Mac products. I figure this forum is my best source for info.

02-05-2010, 11:35 AM

I would reckon that the screen has certainly been replaced or removed at some point, yes, going o what you say.
That is possibly the original drive, it depends on exactly which iBook it is, what spec originally.
Clicking hard drives are generally a sign of wear, but not a definitive. It could just be a noisy drive.

02-07-2010, 11:26 AM

yeah, the lcd has been swapped or at least looked at, the drive could be either, i have a brand new hdd i put into my ipod, clicked first use, works great though, same with the bigger one i put into the macbook,

if it clicks and then you see errors of sort, then it may be on it's way out, or, your holding the laptop at a funny angle? moving it around at the time of instense loading?

if it clicks and nothings wrong then suspect nothings wrong, i suppose,

does anyone know if you can acces "SMART" data from drives on a mac? don't they have a life expectancy read out?

02-07-2010, 11:40 AM

Generally a clicking sound coming from your hard drive is a bad omen. It could be a small hiccup in read/write or it could be a horrific hardware happening. So my advice would be to backup and files you have on the hard drive, because hard drives are not supposed to click!

However, some hard drives are particularly fussy when it comes to being on a level playing field. In that they are very sensitive to non-level surfaces, so my advice (if you aren't already) would be to shut down your computer, and boot it on a desk or other hard surface rather than a lap or bed.

Good luck!
Ekim

02-07-2010, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by ~TheProxy~

does anyone know if you can acces "SMART" data from drives on a mac? don't they have a life expectancy read out?

Under the  menu select About this mac

In the window that appears select more info

Under the info for the drive (under ATA) it will show the SMART status of the drive if the drive supports SMART

02-07-2010, 01:32 PM

When I bought the ibook, I was told it was a newer HDD. However, I assume there is now way to prove just how new it is. Since it's already pushing over 4 years old (produced early 2006) would it be a good idea just to have a new HDD put in, for peace of mind? I had an estimate for a new 120GB HDD and fresh OS X 10.5 install for $150.00
Seems like a decent deal.