iBook 700mhz G3 won't start up.

Good morning,

Here is my problem in as much detail as I have at the moment:

The problem started when I was in textedit (the only app running) and it started to freeze when I attempted to open a new application. I barely got it to unfreeze (by force quitting and such) so I could save my work and restart. My ibook never started up again (which was last week).

I have tried:

Booting in safemode (holding down shift at the start) which doesn't work

I zapped the pram (holding down cmd-ctrl-p-r) which I have tried again and no longer works

I cannot boot from an os x cd only from an os 9 cd (holding c at startup) and it does not see my hard-drive when I try to use the disk repair.

I can hold down option and I get the disk select screen, but I still cannot boot from a os x cd. (The discs I have tried is a retail Tiger dvd, I have a combo drive, and the 10.2 cd that came with my ibook)

I do not get a question mark or a sad mac icon when I start up normally, it is just a grey screen sometimes with the apple logo but most times not. When I attempt to start from an os x cd or dvd I get the apple logo with the spinning loading screen but that is as far as it goes, I have left it "loading" for hours and it goes no where.

I am wondering if it is a problem with the hard drive or the logic board. Is there a way I could disconnect the hard drive and still load from a cd? (if so how?) Is there a test I could do to find out what exactly went wrong? Is there something else I can try?

The only other detail I think might be worth mentioning is that previously to this I had the ibook on over several nights on sleep mode on my desk. It didn't seem to get over heated or have any problems running the next morning until this happened.

Any help would be appreciated. Feel free to ask more questions if that helps.

Thank-you,

Tabby B

iBook Dual usb 700mhz Combo drive Mac OS X (10.4.11) I think it is running 10.4.11, it is running tiger but not sure if it is the highest version.

Hello, how about trying Single User Mode?
1. Hold down the Command-S keys down on your keyboard while you turn on your Mac. You should see a black screen with white text.
2. At the prompt type: fsck -fy
3. Press return. If you receive the message “File System was Modified,” repeat step 2 until it says “No problems were found.”
4. Type reboot and hit the return key on your keyboard.

Hello all,

I appreciate all of your assistance and advice. I actually gave up on saving my poor iBook about 2 weeks ago. Nothing I did seemed to work and my only conclusion was that the logic board was fried. As I needed some kind of replacement for school I decided to look locally for a new laptop, I found a Blueberry clamshell for $50. As I was looking for software and firmware updates for it I stumbled upon Apple Hardware Test Images. It wouldn't work for my newly purchased ibook but it did list my old ibook. I decided to burn a disc and try it out. All the hardware came up clean with no problems. I thought that was strange, but I restarted anyway thinking if there isn't any problems it should start up just fine. Well it did start up. I was shocked. I immediately put in OS X 10.2 install CDs and erased the HD while installing the operating system. It now appears to work perfectly with no signs of any problems.

The main reason I am posting this is for people to know they do not have to go and buy the Hardware Test Cds off Ebay or another source. They can simply download them at this url: http://www.info.apple.com/support/aht.html

I hope this will help someone in the future.

Thank-you again,

Tabby B