ibook g4

[krs]

But even this information may be useless to the OP if they can't get online to the internet and read or deal with the comments.

Well, the OP must be getting on the internet somehow or he wouldn't be able to post here. ;D

 

[pm-r]

Well, the OP must be getting on the internet somehow or he wouldn't be able to post here.

Quite correct.


- Patrick
======

 

[pigoo3]

i have an old ibook g4 model ID PowerBook 6.5, Power PC G4 (1.2) Boot ROM Version 4.8.7, stuck in bootloop, I have no install CD , no recovery or safe mode, need help, please

I think its a 2009 model at least thats what it says, it was running os x 10.6 and was having problems with wifi , when wifi connected, safari wouldnt search, when i tried to put it in recover, it somehow downgraded to 10.5

@davemathews,

You need to verify 100% what model computer this is so we can properly help out. The information provided in post #1 of this thread (and the first quote in this post) is way too detailed to be anything other than what you listed.

- An iBook G4 (Powerbook 6.5) is from 2004...and maximum OS version it can run is OS 10.5.8.
- In a later post in this thread you said this computer is from 2009...and was running OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

These are two completely different computers...thus you need to verify what you have so we can help properly. Without accurate model information...you're forcing Mac-Forums members to unnecessarily speculate as to the issue & possible solutions. If we do not receive accurate model information...this thread will be closed.

We want to help (that's what we do).

- Nick

 

[RamiK]

Good option to solve your problem

i have an old ibook g4 model ID PowerBook 6.5, Power PC G4 (1.2) Boot ROM Version 4.8.7, stuck in bootloop, I have no install CD , no recovery or safe mode, need help, please

Your internal HD might be not good anymore, however I suggest you to buy an external SSD. 500 GB very fast and is now not expensive. Install OS on it and boot from it. Then you can check more for your internal HD, backup your data and then format it is necessary.

 

[farina]

i have an old ibook g4 model ID PowerBook 6.5, Power PC G4 (1.2) Boot ROM Version 4.8.7, stuck in bootloop, I have no install CD , no recovery or safe mode, need help, please

Perhaps the Genius Bar would rental the OS.

 

[gerry555]

Old ibook g4

i have an old ibook g4 model ID PowerBook 6.5, Power PC G4 (1.2) Boot ROM Version 4.8.7, stuck in bootloop, I have no install CD , no recovery or safe mode, need help, please

Have you tried booting with 'extensions off' (i.e. Shift key depressed at boot-chime until the message 'extensions off' appears)? Worth a try. If that doesn't work, and even if you decide to try RamiK's solution, you may need an install CD which you currently don't have. I may be able to help you with that...

 

[MacInWin]

Your internal HD might be not good anymore, however I suggest you to buy an external SSD. 500 GB very fast and is now not expensive. Install OS on it and boot from it. Then you can check more for your internal HD, backup your data and then format it is necessary.

The interfaces available on that old machine will be dead slow, making anything from an external drive very slow as well. Even an SSD will not be fast.

 

[pm-r]

The interfaces available on that old machine will be dead slow, making anything from an external drive very slow as well. Even an SSD will not be fast.

I would suggest that "crawl" might be a better word than "slow" these days.

And forget any SSD, as I don't think one could find one that would support the Ultra ATA/100 hard drive those models used.

Even the SSD I installed in my old 2007 15" MBPro was no screaming ****, even though it only had a 1.5Gb/s BUS, but at least it made it useful and it's still working for some basic browsing and email and messaging type stuff.


- Patrick
======

 

[krs]

And forget any SSD, as I don't think one could find one that would support the Ultra ATA/100 hard drive those models used.

The suggestion was to use an external drive.
If the Mac is the model I think it is, it has a FW400 port which isn't that slow.
Certainly good enough to test things out.
But one still needs either a bootable clone with macOS 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5 or the retail install disk.

 

[davemathews39]

update: Ive done some research and figured out that i have an ibook g4 2004, model A1054, powerbook 6,5.4.8.7 fi, Power PC G4 (1.2), processor speed 1.2 GHz, number of CPU's 1, L2 cache 512 KB, memory 512 MB, Bus speed 133 MHz, according to the web it came original with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, so I bout online the Mac OS X 10.3 panther full retail install disc's which came with 3 install disc and 1 Xcode toold install disc, total of 4 disc, now the problem I'm having is when I put in disc 1 and press C at start up, I get the apple logo for a few seconds then the logo moves to the right alittle then a very tiny vertical line appears to the left of apple logo and at the top of the logo to the left a horizonal line appears which looks to be about 3 different colors its hard to tell they are so tiny, but that's it , it goes no further, just stays on that screen, any suggestions or amyone know what this means?

 

[davemathews39]

update: Ive done some research and figured out that i have an ibook g4 2004, model A1054, powerbook 6,5.4.8.7 fi, Power PC G4 (1.2), processor speed 1.2 GHz, number of CPU's 1, L2 cache 512 KB, memory 512 MB, Bus speed 133 MHz, according to the web it came original with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, so I bought online the Mac OS X 10.3 panther full retail install disc's which came with 3 install disc and 1 Xcode tool install disc, total of 4 disc, now the problem I'm having is when I put in disc 1 and press C at start up, I get the apple logo for a few seconds then the logo moves to the right alittle then a very tiny vertical line appears to the left of apple logo and at the top of the logo to the left a horizonal line appears which looks to be about 3 different colors its hard to tell they are so tiny, but that's it , it goes no further, just stays on that screen, any suggestions or anyone know what this means?....

sorry for the bad info, I was trying to go by what was on the top of single user mode, but I found the model number A1054 on the bottom, it does have removable battery, but as i mentioned i bought the Mac OS X retail full install disc , but not having much luch installing

 

[krs]

So it is a late 2004 iBook like I guessed in post #17.

I assume you are trying to use the internal drive to install the OS - I wonder if that drive is still good.
On all my MacBooks that seemed to be the first thing to go.

I haven't used an old Mac like that for a very long time - don't think I ever actually used Panther.
But from your install disk, can you not access Disk Utility to run that and check the hard drive (which is ancient as well I assume)

 

[davemathews39]

how do I access Disk Utility, I put the disc in and it show apple logo and thats it, if I start holding option it shows mac os x install disc 1 then in the right bottom corner it has an x, thats the only one to boot and when I boot that one I get a screen with a circle and a slash through it

 

[krs]

I thought there was a drop down menu after the install disk is recognized.
That drop down menu included an option for Disk Utility.

But that might only be for later macOSs - I better let someone else comment on that

You say you actually get the apple logo, but then nothing happens...

Does any of this give a hint what might be going on?
About the screens your Mac displays as it starts up - Apple Support

 

[krs]

Copying from the net:

Before installing Panther, check your startup drive for damage, and repair it if necessary. The easiest way to do this is to boot from the OS X Install CD and run Disk Utility (from the Installer menu). Click the First Aid tab, select your hard drive in the drive/volume list, and click "Repair Disk."

That of course assumes that the disk drive is working properly.

 

[davemathews39]

i get the iapple logo, no menu, no drop down, nothing, just apple logo with the little lines as i described before , no cursor , nothing, if I hold option down while booting it shows the install disc, when i click the arrow i get the logo, then the circle with slash through it , only when i boot holding c will i get the logo with the tiny lines , but no circle with slash, but it does nothing else, no options to choose, nothing

 

[davemathews39]

 

[krs]

If the Mac has more than one option to boot from, holding the "c" key down will tell it to boot from the CD, not from an internal drive if that had been an option.

But like I said - I have never used Panther and I have not installed anything using a D/DVD since the Tiger days.
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on this than me will pipe up later tonight.
Or do a bit more reading on the net.

Do you have an external CD/DVD drive you could hook up?
I'm not even sure you can boot Panther (being an old OS) that way, but again, easy to check on the net.

But once you get it booted up and it works, you should probably max out the RAM to the 1.25GB to be able to do anything with this Mac.

 

[krs]

You don't get the option for disk utility since you never booted with the install CD.

Did you try:
Shut down the Mac
Start it up and hold down the option key right away (with the CD in the drive)

That should bring up all drives that the Mac can boot from - in your case probably only the install DVD.
Select it, click on the arrow and hit "return' to see if that gets you anywhere.

 

[davemathews39]

i get the apple logo then the circle with the slash through it, is there anyway to completely wipe the system and start over from the install discs, for some reason i can no longer boot in single user mode, safe mode, recovery mode, but all the other boot options seem to work, only one i can boot into is open firmware