Kernal Panic on bootup

[Atomskk]

Hi, I have a Powerbook G4 with mac os 10.4. Yesterday my computer was acting kind of sluggish so I decided to do a restart. I went to apple, restart, but when the computer started back up I got the kernal panic error. I have restarted about a million times and its still there. This is the first time I have ever gotten one of these errors. I did not make any changes to system files or folders that I can remember, and I did not mess with any hardware. I opened up the computer to make sure the ram didnt come lose or anything, but its fine. I dont know what to do. I used Google to find help and tried all the keyboard commands it sugguested when booting up, but nothing worked. I didnt damage the computer itself, I didnt drop it or jostle it or anything, so I dont see how it could be a hardware problem. The thing is, I think i need the installation disk in order to get any further, but I dont have it!! I bought this computer from a friend when he got a new one for college and he didnt give me any software. He has since moved away to attend university so I cannot ask him for help. I have another friend with a mac, would it be possible for me to use their installation disk? I just need to boot up to get into the disk utility. This is so frustrating. My entire life was on that laptop, I must get it working again, im so distraught. Please help me!

Also, if I were to go to the Genius Bar, how much would it cost me for them to repair this problem? This laptop is no longer under warrenty.

 

[baggss]

I think if you go the Genius bar they may fix it for you. If they can boot it from the disc and run disc utility there and fix it you'll be OK. If you need a system reload they may charge you though. It never hurts to call and ask.

 

[Atomskk]

About how much would it cost maximum? I only have like 40$ Did I lose the stuff on my hard drive?

 

[baggss]

Odds are the stuff on your Hard drive is fine. A clean system install will not wipe everything unless the Hard Drive has to be reformatted. I have no idea how much it will cost, but the consultation at the Genius bar is free and they will tell you up front if there is an associated cost. You really have nothing to lose here and have the potential to get this problem fixed for free.

 

[Brown Study]

See if this works. Restart the computer while holding down the Command/Apple key and the "S" key. When the type stops flowing, type fsck -fy, with the space, at the bottom where the cursor is, and hit return.

After fsck -fy runs, run it again. Then type reboot or exit, and hit return.

 

[Atomskk]

I got to the black screen with the white text, but after the text stops flowing I cant type anything. It says:

Kernel Version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.9.0: Thu Feb 22 20:54:07 PST 2007; root:xnu-792.17.14~1/RELEASE_PPC
panic: We are hanging here...

Then I cant type. The cursor block is there but it isnt blinking. What should I do?

 

[Brown Study]

Without the install DVD, you're probably out of luck. But even if you had the DVD, the machine might not be able to load it.

I think your only recourse is as baggss says: Take the computer to an Apple store or some other computer-repair facility that has a clue about Macs. Maybe a Genius could load the thing with a DVD and run a fix. If that's all it takes, it wouldn't be expensive.

 

[MinaMACMan]

Hello,

I am Verrrry new to Mac... I am actually still waiting for my first Mac to arrive

But I have a lot of experience with Unix and Linux which are the base for Mac OSX.

Anyways, it could be something to consider Usually from what I've seen when Kernell Panic Errors occure there could be a problem with the Bios Setup, which normally can be fixed through the software.

Now Keep in mind I never did this on a Mac. But what I'd usually do On Boot Up b4 you get the Error hit Whatever Button that is Equivilant to SETUP. you know like on PCs where it says "Hit F2 for Setup"

and when you enter there try to get on the phone with someone that has a working system who can go to the same page on theirs and let you know what it says.

Again its a shot in the Dark, but it might help and save ya a couple of bucks

Cheers and good luck

 

[baggss]

There is no BIOS on Macs (even the Intel ones, hence the need for Bootcamp to run Windows) and the Firmware is not user accessible.

If the OP had the discs he could start from them. If the Kernal panic persisted, then it would be a hardware issue, if not then it would be software.

 

[Atomskk]

So I took my laptop to the Genius Bar. He booted it up with an external harddrive and that worked just fine. He then looked around and discovered that my internal harddrive suffered from a fatal error and would need to be replaced. So he slaps a bill on the counter for 398$ for replacement, recovery attempt and labor which i CANNOT pay. Im a struggling college student, I cant afford stuff like this. I refused.

So what i can do easily is buy a cheap third party harddrive and install it myself (no problem). The only thing is, how can I recover data? There was so much I did not want to lose. The hard drive will not mount, the guy at the genius bar tried. Is it impossible to recover anything? The guy said he could "try," how would he do it?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[CaptSaltyJack]

WOW, more like Ripoff Bar. $398???? I wouldn't trust those guys. Are you going to take his word for it that the drive wouldn't mount? I wouldn't, but that's just me.

Get a HD enclosure for laptop drives ($20-$40'ish).. remove your MacBook drive (assuming that's possible for the user to do, don't know as I've never owned a MacBook), slap your drive in there, and plug the enclosure (USB or Firewire) into another Mac. See if it shows up and you can access the files. If you can, that guy was full of crap. If not, he was right, your HD died. Assuming you're in the US, I'd just visit newegg.com and grab a new laptop drive and pop that sucker in, boot your OS X disc, and reinstall.

Genius Bar...whatever. Even if that guy was right, $398? A 160GB Seagate SATA laptop hard drive is $124.99 on newegg. Screw that guy.

I'll watch this thread and try to answer any questions if you have any. Keep in mind I'm a Windows user switching to Mac soon, so I won't be able to help with anything Mac specific. But I do know my hardware pretty well.

 

[dtravis7]

That is WAY too high as far as I am concerned. Do what CaptSaltyJack said and get a case and try to mount the drive. You can get a brand new Hard Drive for your Powerbook for $100. It's not that easy on the Powerbook but there are tutorials all over the net on how to do it. Put the old drive in the lowest priced USB case you can find and see if it mounts. If so get your data.

Edit, Someone kept saying MacBook so I had my post wrong. The Powerbook uses a 2.5" IDE Laptop drive.

 

[CaptSaltyJack]

I just realized this is a PowerBook G4. Make sure you know what HD type is in there.. may not be SATA (I don't know how old the PB G4 is). Just make sure you buy the right hard drive enclosure. If you're not familiar with what it is, it's basically just a box with a plug inside of it.. you put a hard drive in it, close it up, and then it lets you plug your drive into a computer via USB or Firewire. Very handy.

 

[doki_2]

Hi,

I have the same.
Sorry abouththe bad news. Look at this.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/05/03/apple_grilled_over_ibook_g4_logicboard_deaths.html

Good luck.
doki_2

 

[karudzo]

$398 for hard drive replacement, including parts, and most of all data recovery (if successful) is very reasonable. Data Recovery can run into $1000s.

 

[CaptSaltyJack]

Ah, so they were quoting for data recovery too. That is reasonable.