HELP! Is it the hard drive or installation?

[matteo_man]

Hi I recently started to get some problems with my iBook 1Ghz G4 (safari wouldn't open, address book would quit etc) so I decided to reistall the OS from the disks supplied and then it all went wrong...

I get so far on the installation and it stops saying "error during installation please restart" I have completely erased the hard drive using disk utility and zero'd it, verified it and everything works ok but when I go to install it fails? I also purchased a copy of Tiger for my iMac and tried to install this to see if it was the disks supplied with the ibook and that didn't work either? All I get now when I turn on the computer is a blue/grey screen with folder icon and a flashing question mark in it!!! I know there is a program called Disk Warrior that might help but I live in the UK and it costs about £70 so i don't want to buy it and find it won't do anything.

Any advice more than welcome...

 

[iphix]

Hrm, sounds like the logic board is going bad on it? I could be wrong though.
Are you still under Apple's warrenty?

 

[D3v1L80Y]

If you are getting a folder with the "?" on it, it means that Mac OS is looking for a valid system folder to start from and can't find one. If the computer is able to boot from a CD by holding down the "C" key, but not on its own, then you likely have a bad hard disk and not a logic board issue.
The fact that you can make it through the install process up to the actual copying of files and installation onto the hard disk seems to back this up.
If you have any warranty left, give Apple a call and they should replace it for you. If not, then you should be able to get a new drive and replace it yourself and be good to go.

 

[matteo_man]

Thanks

Thanks for all your help. Luckily someone suggested installing the OS from the iMac with the iBook as a target drive. That seems to have worked as the iBook is running ok for now... Think you might be right about the harddrive though - fingers crossed it won't die again!