04-23-2007, 02:30 AM

alright i have a ibook g4 and i have been using a program called sleepless to keep it form falling asleep as i downloaded overnight. i had the screen open all the way however. well one morning i woke up and it was making very loud noises and was frozen. so i crashed it and when id try to start it up it would make the horrible noises again and show the folder with the question mark in it. i tried everything and my only answer was to reinstall my os which i did. it worked for awhile and then happened again. instead this time it stalled at the loading login window part of startup. i've recently realized taht if i leave it for a day or so and start it up it works for awile while making hard "thinking" noises.

my question is
is this the harddrive or possibly a logic board

i don't want to pay for someone to look at it.

it makes the noises when loading stuff and then i have to wait for the wheel to stop spinning before it lets me do anything else.

thank you very much and all help is greatly appreciated

**forgot to add i have repaired disk permissions and the disk...i have tried all repairs it seems like something is getting overheated and thats what causes it to have problems. i am able to use the computer but after about 10 minutes, it gets the spinning noises and takes longer.

04-23-2007, 03:08 AM

That really sounds like the HDD is failing. The ? when booting, the Busy wheel and the noise. I could be wrong but with what you have said it sure seems to be that. The only other thing that could be making that kind of noise is the cooling fan, but the boot errors to me seem more like the HDD.

04-23-2007, 03:18 AM

thanks for the reply. i also think its the hardrive. it seems like its struggling and loud. i think i am just gonna replace it. any other input is appreciated!

04-23-2007, 03:40 AM

Originally Posted by bencarman

thanks for the reply. i also think its the hardrive. it seems like its struggling and loud. i think i am just gonna replace it. any other input is appreciated!

What OS CD do you have? If you have it I would run the Apple Hardware Test and see what it says about the drive. I bet it will find issues. Is yours a newer G4 ibook with an install DVD? If so the hardware test is on the DVD. You boot with the DVD in the drive and hold down the Option key till the menu pops up. If it's not a DVD, not sure.

Here is an excerpt from the ibook G4 manual:


Using Apple Hardware Test
If you suspect a problem with your computer hardware, you can use the Apple
Hardware Test application to help determine if there is a problem with one of your
computer’s components, such as the memory or processor.
To use Apple Hardware Test:
1 Disconnect all external devices from your computer except the keyboard and mouse.
If you have an Ethernet cable connected, disconnect it.
2 Insert the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 that came with your computer.
3 Restart your computer and hold down the Option key as it starts up.
A list of available startup volumes appears.
4 Click Apple Hardware Test and click the right arrow.
5 Follow the onscreen instructions when the Apple Hardware Test main screen appears
(after about 45 seconds).
6 If Apple Hardware Test detects a problem, it displays an error code. Make a note of the
error code before pursuing support options. If Apple Hardware Test does not detect a
hardware failure, the problem may be software related.

For more information about Apple Hardware Test, see the Apple Hardware Test Read
Me file on the Mac OS X Install Disc 1.

04-23-2007, 01:52 PM

done a hardware test and it said it was fine. later today i will do the hardware test while its making the noises too see if it comes up with a harddrive problem

04-23-2007, 09:53 PM

alright so i did a few hardware tests after running the computer for a few hours... no problems found. although during the hardware test, when its testing the memory the screen turns different shades of green and then turns into different colored pixels. and then when those weird screens go away, the hardware test is done with no problems. wondering if anyone else has had this problem or knows if it is just the harddrive. also i felt under the keyboard and its very hot to the left of the airport card.

thanks!

04-23-2007, 10:32 PM

Have you run Disk Utility's SMART test?

04-23-2007, 11:12 PM

the SMART status didnt appear so i tried smartreporter and it says my drive seems to be ok. but at this moment the computer isnt making such loud noises.

04-23-2007, 11:22 PM

getting sick of this as the laptop has been out of commision for about a month now. anyone know if this is the harddrive failing me for sure? i am past the point of saving it i am willing to just buy a new one

thanks

04-24-2007, 01:34 AM

Without being there everything I said above is guessing but it sounds like the HDD or the Fan like I said. Nothing else can make that noise except maybe the CDROM drive. You ran the hardware test and nothing is showing up so it's a hard one to call from this end. To me it still sounds like the HDD from the question mark you got at bootup.

04-24-2007, 02:29 AM

ALRIGHT NEW UPDATE!!

i have been using the ibook today and it is working pretty good now but after about half an hour it overheats and freezes with the spinning wheel. either than that it is just a bit noisier than usual.

04-24-2007, 02:32 AM

Here is a question, how do you know it's overheating. Is that just a guess or is there evidence of overheating? Also, what does the noise sound like when it happens? Grinding? Clicking? Buzzing?

04-24-2007, 01:42 PM

Are you still using your sleepless program? Couldn't you have gone into system preferences and just set "put the computer to sleep" for never? How many gigs are left on your hard drive? If it's under 3 that's where I'd point my well chewed finger.

04-25-2007, 10:00 PM

i think it's overheating because i detached the keyboard and right to the left of the airport card was very very hot. once that part gets hot, the computer starts making spinning and grinding noises. and the spinning wheel comes on for a long time and most of the time will just keep doing that until i crash it.

also i am not using sleepless anymore and since i have reinstalled my os, i still have 15 gigs left

i am on my ibook right now but in the next half hour im sure it will start acting up again

thanks

04-25-2007, 10:07 PM

I will check mine later and get back to you. I forget what is to the left of the Airport card. I know the Hard Drive is on the opposite side where the battery is. The only two parts that can make a noise like you are describing are the Hard Drive and the fan.