New harddrive installation problem

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doggod1111

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So I just completed an upgrade of an old G3 Ibook 14" 700mhz, replacing a dead LCD and installing a new (hitachi 7200rpm travelstar) harddrive.

I was under the impression that I would start it up with a software restore disc in the optical drive and be able to format the HD and then install os X. When I boot up with the disc in the drive (and holding down the "c" key) all I get is a gray screen with a small folder in the center that alternates between a "?" and the Mac faces logo. Also worth mentioning that maybe one of 10 times I try to restart it I get a 4 second +/- long beep and the light below the trackpad (by the lid latch release) flashes rapidly 10 or so times - I'm assuming this is an error code of some sort...

So, before I tear it apart again trying to find the problem does anyone have any ideas. The optical drive is defenitely spinning up, and it sounds like the hard drive is spinning up as well...
 
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doggod1111 said:
So I just completed an upgrade of an old G3 Ibook 14" 700mhz, replacing a dead LCD and installing a new (hitachi 7200rpm travelstar) harddrive.

I was under the impression that I would start it up with a software restore disc in the optical drive and be able to format the HD and then install os X. When I boot up with the disc in the drive (and holding down the "c" key) all I get is a gray screen with a small folder in the center that alternates between a "?" and the Mac faces logo. Also worth mentioning that maybe one of 10 times I try to restart it I get a 4 second +/- long beep and the light below the trackpad (by the lid latch release) flashes rapidly 10 or so times - I'm assuming this is an error code of some sort...

So, before I tear it apart again trying to find the problem does anyone have any ideas. The optical drive is defenitely spinning up, and it sounds like the hard drive is spinning up as well...
Click to expand...

Just needing more info.....was the iBook hd working prior to the lcd screen failing? Or have you just purchased it and the hd needing replacing along with the lcd? How did you format the hd?
 
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doggod1111

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The HD was a replacement- the original was failing. It has NOT been formatted yet (by me). I was under the impression I would be able to boot from either the install or restore disk and use the disk utility to format it...
 
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doggod1111 said:
The HD was a replacement- the original was failing. It has NOT been formatted yet (by me). I was under the impression I would be able to boot from either the install or restore disk and use the disk utility to format it...
Click to expand...

I have not yet been down the road of replacing hd's but I'm pretty sure I've read on this forum before that all hard drives come pre-formatted....

I found this and this
 
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doggod1111

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UPDATE: If I hold the option key while starting up I get the blue screen with a "forward" arrow and a "reload" type arrow- but neither does anything when clicked. At least I now know the keyboard is functioning.

Still cant boot from a disk. Disc spins up so optical drive is powered and presumably hooked back up properly...

Anyone know which key to hold down to boot using another mac as an external hard drive(by connecting the 2 by firewire) I've done this in the past but can't remember the key...
 
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doggod1111 said:
UPDATE: If I hold the option key while starting up I get the blue screen with a "forward" arrow and a "reload" type arrow- but neither does anything when clicked. At least I now know the keyboard is functioning.

Still cant boot from a disk. Disc spins up so optical drive is powered and presumably hooked back up properly...

Anyone know which key to hold down to boot using another mac as an external hard drive(by connecting the 2 by firewire) I've done this in the past but can't remember the key...
Click to expand...

Press the letter 'T'
 
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doggod1111 said:
UPDATE: If I hold the option key while starting up I get the blue screen with a "forward" arrow and a "reload" type arrow- but neither does anything when clicked. At least I now know the keyboard is functioning.

Still cant boot from a disk. Disc spins up so optical drive is powered and presumably hooked back up properly...

Anyone know which key to hold down to boot using another mac as an external hard drive(by connecting the 2 by firewire) I've done this in the past but can't remember the key...
Click to expand...


On the "source mac" with the good operating system hold T and you'll see the firewire symbol on it. On the "destination" system Hold opt and select it from the blue screen and hit the next arrow.

I would make sure the ribbon from the CD rom is on the logic board completely and on the back of the drive. If its partially connected it could get power but not read. Also try another bootable CD. just in case. The long beep and flashing sleep light is the logic board going into programing mode to update the firmware. check all the keys on the keyboard and make sure nothing is stuck down.
 

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