iBook won't boot, runs super slow

[bjackt]

hey all,
I have a 1 1/2 year old ibook that's having serious issues (516ram, 1.33ghz, 60gig hard drive, etc.).
It's having trouble booting, as in it won't most of the time (blank grey screen) but when it does it takes forever (15-20 minutes) and runs super slow (a good mintue to collapse a single window). i've tried resetting the PRAM and running utilities and whatnot, which seemed to help the first time, and it ran okay for about an hour. now it's back to being essentially frozen. The apple logo and the spinning dial have been on the screen for about fifteen minutes. I haven't tried re-booting it off the start-up disk yet, though.
There is a continuous, short, repetative clicking sort of sound coming from what i think is the processor. a death rattle? oh lord i hope not........
any thoughts?

 

[Ric]

Hi there and welcome,

Unfortunately it sounds like the hard drive is on the way out...

The processor doesn't make any sort of noise, without hearing the noise I would presume that it's the hard drive clicking...

...back up any data you need as soon as you can.

Do you have AppleCare for it ?

If you 'can' back it up, then try and reinstall from the System disks.

And see if it gets any better...

regards

Ric

 

[bjackt]

thanks ric,
I was able to back everything up, thankfully. I don't have apple care, and this machine has been through a lot (a year over seas in the former soviet union and the mid east) so i should be grateful it has lasted this long...
I'll certainly try the re-booting from a disk, though.
No way it could be a RAM issue?
b

 

[Ric]

Hi there,

to be honest it could be lots of different things...

The only things that make a noise are the Hard drive and the fans...so chances are it's the drive...most drives should last a good 5 years (most drives have 5 year warrantys !).

It could be RAM, but that wouldn't account for the noise ?

Have you tried creating a new User account and boot into that to see if the problem is in that account to ?

regards

Ric

 

[bjackt]

hey ric,
I was able to the the machine to boot and created a new user account. It's strange, it's running okay now, but still slow. The "fatal" problems don't seem to be consistent, which is what's confusing. If it simply never booted up, that'd be one thing. but I'm going to try and re-instal tiger today, so we'll see.
thanks again for you suggestions, very helpful.
B.

 

[Ric]

Hi there,

you'll have to let us know how you get on !

Probably best to keep your backups current, just in case it's the drive is on the way out !

regards

Ric

 

[Hank Freid]

You are requested to follow some steps to get your soloution.

1. restart the bios.. if the version is greater than 1.0.0.2
2. change the RAM
3. Change the VGA if external

I think it will solve your problem. :wink: