Help! G4 powerbook will not start up

[Arksiel]

Hello people - I found this forum through google, and I am hoping you all can help me.

Yesterday, I came back to my computer, and it would not wake from screen saver mode no mater what I did. so, I restarted the computer, and now it will not start.

When I turn it on, it makes the apple 'hurrah' type sound that it does when it is starting up. Then, it goes to the white screen with the grey apple icon.... and just doesnt go past this screen at all.

I've tried rebooting, removing the battery, unplugging every, pluging things back in, unplugging them again, holding the power button down when the battery is not in... yadda yadda.

I'd try to boot from disks, but there is a disc stuck in my drive. I've tried ejecting it by holding down the trackpad, but nada. I have the 1.33 ghz 12 inch model so I don't have that emergency eject hole. I tried to follow these instructions on the apple site: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449#faq10 however, I can't locate the keyboard latches. Am I retarded? please say that I am and that there is an easy fix for this. My local Mac repair shop (Mac Station) is run by a bunch of jerks who did nothing when I last took my powerbook in with concerns. they pretty much made fun of me. I really do not want to go back there if I can help it.

I also can't afford a new computer right now... and really want some of my data from the last 2 months (yeah... i know... havent backed up for 2 months... ugg)

please help me!

Cyn

[yellow]

Sounds like the hard drive has given up the ghost, as the white screen with the Apple and the spinning spokes is when the boot-fsck (file system check) is running. If it takes forever, then it's typically an indication of HD failure.

To get the disc out of the drive (assuming it's not completely jammed) boot the Mac and hold down Option. When you get a screen to choose the boot device, use the eject key to eject the disk.

[Arksiel]

Sounds like the hard drive has given up the ghost, as the white screen with the Apple and the spinning spokes is when the boot-fsck (file system check) is running. If it takes forever, then it's typically an indication of HD failure.

To get the disc out of the drive (assuming it's not completely jammed) boot the Mac and hold down Option. When you get a screen to choose the boot device, use the eject key to eject the disk.

thanks for your response, Im starting to think its the hard drive as well... I did manage to get the disc out of the drive, so I'm going to try and boot with the boot discs. If it is the hard drive, is there any possibility of data recovery, or no chance for that?

Cyn

[yellow]

One thing to look for when you boot from the installer and use Disk Utility is the SMART status. If it's anything but "Verified" then the HD is most likely failing.

Hopefully you're still under warranty?

Data recovery? That depends.

You can always try the "cheap" (and I mean that as a relative term) route. You can boot your laptop as a firewire device (AKA Target Mode) (by booting and holding down the T key) and hook it up to another Mac and try and use some robust disk utility software on it, such as Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior. However there's a chance that the HD won't mount.

You can also try the "cheap" (and I mean that as a relative term) route of pulling the drive out and hooking it up to an external device (or internal, assuming you have the correct adapters, as it's a 2.5" drive and desktop Macs use 3.5" drives), and trying to use data recovery software, again, assuming you can get the drive to mount.

And then there's the expensive solution, which means sending the HD to a data recovery house. The results are usually good, but it's VERY expensive. We're talking hundreds to THOUSANDS of dollars. It all depends on how critical your data is..

Which gets me to my soapbox. You need to have a backup solution. Everyone does. Without one.. well you see what happens. An easy and cheap solution with a Mac is to get an external firewire hard drive and jsut periodically clone your Mac onto a partition on the external. It's easy to do and will save your bacon. Get a backup solution.

And finally, you cannot hook this Mac up to a PC to try and fix it because PCs don't know how to read the disc format, HFS+. They can if if you buy MacDrive. I don't know what the results (good or bad) might be from trying to repair the drive from a PC.

[Arksiel]

thanks :) Im afraid Im not under warranty, so Ill be buying a new machine... it will be an expensive month. i have no clue what to go for... the new chips out there and all of the freaking out over it people are doing have entirely confused me.

my important data is backed up.... my photography. but everything else i did not think to back up (stupid stupid) so its not worth spending money on data recovery... sigh. this is stuff like music (mostly copied from cd's so its just the time that is a bugger here) but a ton of cartoons that have not been released to dvd, and were copied to digital files from old vhs tapes

i still have not found my boot disks, theyre at parents in a different city so ill have to drive there and grab them...

i wish i wasnt unemployed when my apple care ran out.... i would have gotten the extension. ill definately get it at time of purchase this time around.

thanks for the tips :)

Cyn

[yellow]

If it's a failed hard drive you REALLY don't need to buy a new computer. You can purchase a new 100GB 5400RPM Seagate hard drive for $140. Since you're out of waranty, you won't void it by replacing the HD. Or you can get someone else to do it.

Either way, replacing the HD is a lot cheaper than a new computer.

Particularly if the computer is still functional and 1-3 years old. Older than that and you might actually consider buying a new one if your job depends upon it.

[Arksiel]

I've looked into it, and it will run me about 200 bucks plus labor here to get a new hd put in. my problem is that the powerbook is almost 2 years old now, and I was planning on upgrading in ten months or so anyways... so plugging money in to an old machine Im going to replace soon is a crappy feeling!

my computer is not 9-5 job related so to speak, so I'm ok, but I was wanting to upgrade to a faster machine, so yeah... not sure what I'll do just yet.

once again I want to say thank-you for your help and responses :) you rock.

Cyn

[SkiNutz]

Ok, I have a similar issue. This is a PB Ti and it finds the HD then losses it. I booted fro CD and it infds the HD, then it can't (weird). I used another HD to see if it was the drive, but alas the results were the same. I am thinking the MB is acting up. Tech Tools Pro won't pick it up either. Kinda frustrating. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.