PowrBook G4 shuts down during boot up

[macarel]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday My Powerbook G4 froze and when I tried to restart it it didn't powered back up. Every time I hit the power button the screen lights up and the Apple logo (with chime) appears regularly but after few seconds it powers itself down. I have tried this so many times now with the same result. Unfortunately I do not have the original OS cd so I can't run the disk check utility, however when I restarted it holding down apple+S I got this:

Singleuser boot -- fsck not done
Root device is mounted read-only

If you want to make modifications to files:

/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /

If you wish to boot the system:
exit

I don't know what that means nor if it is relevant but any advice, suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[chscag]

If you want to make modifications to files:

/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /

If your Powerbook stays up in single user mode, go ahead and try what it has suggested. That will do a verify and repair on the hard drive.

Report back with results.

 

[macarel]

If your Powerbook stays up in single user mode, go ahead and try what it has suggested. That will do a verify and repair on the hard drive.

Report back with results.

Thanks for your reply. I've entered into single user mode and typed: /sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
exit
...but the screen turned blue (not the one of death!). So I went into single user mode again and typed/ran:

chmod -R 777 /

resulting in:
single user boot – fsck not done
Root device is mounted read-only

I typed one more time: /sbin/fsck -fy then /sbin/mount -uw / then exit and the screen went on like:

date my-name-powerbook-g4-17 kernel[0]:
date my-name-powerbook-g4-17 kernel[0]:
date my-name-powerbook-g4-17 kernel[0]:
date my-name-powerbook-g4-17 kernel[0]:
date my-name-powerbook-g4-17 kernel[0]:
disk0s3: I/O error
disk0s3: I/O error
disk0s3: I/O error

.....and so on for more than an hour!

What does that mean??! Any further advice? Many thanks.

 

[chscag]

Go back in Single User mode and just type this in: fsck -fy and press enter. Let us know what it says. Since you have no install media to do the check, that's the only way to do a verify and repair.

 

[macarel]

Go back in Single User mode and just type this in: fsck -fy and press enter. Let us know what it says. Since you have no install media to do the check, that's the only way to do a verify and repair.

I just typed fsck -fy and pressed enter and that's exactly what i got:

:/ root# fsck -fy
** /dev/rdisk0s3
** Root file system
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
Invalid sibling link
(3,52)
** Volume check failed.
/dev/rdisk0s3 (hfs) EXITED WITH SIGNAL 8

 

[chscag]

OK, thanks for posting that back. Unfortunately it's telling you your hard drive is defective. The "Invalid Sibling Link" is a fatal error. Looks like you need two things: An install DVD and a new hard drive.

 

[macarel]

OK, thanks for posting that back. Unfortunately it's telling you your hard drive is defective. The "Invalid Sibling Link" is a fatal error. Looks like you need two things: An install DVD and a new hard drive.

Thanks for letting me know. What would you recommend me to do to replace the hard drive and have access to an install dvd? Should I take the laptop to some mac technician or the apple store? How much would it cost me to repair it? Can I still hope to recover all my data?

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[chscag]

You can probably replace the hard drive yourself. I'm not familiar with the Powerbook and how difficult it is to swap out a hard drive, but you might take a look at the step by step at iFixit: The free repair manual and see if it's something you can do by yourself.

You do need an install DVD though. Without that, you're not going to be able to reinstall OS X or even prepare the new hard drive. I believe your Powerbook can run OS X Tiger (10.4.11). You should be able to find a copy on eBay, however, make sure it's a retail version not one specific for certain hardware.

As for getting your data off the dead drive, you may or may not have any luck. What I suggest is to download a trial copy of recovery software before spending any money. Data Rescue 3 is about the best out there but it's $99 for a registered copy. Download the trial first. LINK

You'll need to install it on another Mac though and then hook the other Mac to your Powerbook via Target Disk Mode. See this Apple KB article. LINK

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[macarel]

You can probably replace the hard drive yourself. I'm not familiar with the Powerbook and how difficult it is to swap out a hard drive, but you might take a look at the step by step at iFixit: The free repair manual and see if it's something you can do by yourself.

You do need an install DVD though. Without that, you're not going to be able to reinstall OS X or even prepare the new hard drive. I believe your Powerbook can run OS X Tiger (10.4.11). You should be able to find a copy on eBay, however, make sure it's a retail version not one specific for certain hardware.

As for getting your data off the dead drive, you may or may not have any luck. What I suggest is to download a trial copy of recovery software before spending any money. Data Rescue 3 is about the best out there but it's $99 for a registered copy. Download the trial first. LINK

You'll need to install it on another Mac though and then hook the other Mac to your Powerbook via Target Disk Mode. See this Apple KB article. LINK

Let us know how it turns out.

Hi, I actually don't need the powerbook as i also have a macbook pro...and I'm definitely thinking of using it in target disk mode for data rescue. However I'm not sure what firewire cable is required to connect the 2 machines...is it a 6 pin to 6 pin cable or else? is there any chance to find a crack copy of Rescue 3 online? How about Disk Warrior? Do you think is impossible to transfer data from a bad drive to the other mac without a data rescuing software?
Thanks again for your help and look forward to your reply.

 

[chscag]

You were doing fine until you mentioned wanting to do something illegal. We do not discuss any illegal activity in these forums. That's very clearly outlined in our guidelines which you can read in my signature line. And with that our discussion is over. Thread closed.