Member Avatar for mdvorscak

I have a g4 that stays on the white screen after turning it on. I took it to a mac shop and the guy ran disk warrior on it. I got it back and was able to boot it up once and backup everything, but now it stays on the white screen again. Do I need a new hard drive?

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Dani AI

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Short expert note: the symptom described by and the similar experience reported by point to either an early-stage software/volume problem or an intermittent hardware fault. The safest approach is a data-first, stepwise diagnosis that moves from noninvasive checks to hardware isolation so valuable files aren’t lost.

Start with these non‑destructive checks:

  • Boot in Verbose Mode (hold Command+V at startup) and copy any repeated messages; they often point to which subsystem is failing.
  • Try Safe Boot (hold Shift) and the Startup Manager (hold Option) to see if an alternate boot volume will load.
  • Use Target Disk Mode (hold T) or connect the internal storage via a USB/SATA adapter to another computer to see if the volume mounts and to run SMART/health checks from a modern utility.

If the non‑destructive steps don’t help, isolate hardware:

  • Remove nonessential cards and peripherals, and test RAM sticks one at a time in different slots.
  • Reseat cables and connectors and visually inspect the main board for leaking or bulging capacitors and any burn marks.
  • Attempt to boot from known-good external media; if that works, the failure is likely in the internal storage or boot volume rather than core firmware.

Important cautions and practical next steps:

  • If the data is important, make a sector-level image before running repairs—imaging preserves recoverable data even when the volume is flaky.
  • If imaging fails or hardware faults are evident, consider a specialist for recovery; for older desktops, replacing the internal storage with a modern SSD (plus adapter) is often a practical long-term fix if the rest of the system checks out.

This workflow complements the observations in the thread and helps narrow whether the cause is recoverable with tools and swaps or requires board-level service.

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Member Avatar for Firetree

I have a iBook g4 that was suffering from similar problems I tookit in and it had a fried hard drive. So my suggestion would be to take it in to a shop and have them run tests on it to find out whats wrong it may also be a logic board problem and that would be more expensive to fix but still fixable.

Member Avatar for mdvorscak

Thank you! I appreciate it :)

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