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Best of the weekend to everyone!

This 5 year old iBook (256 MB RAM, 600 MHz CPU, OSX 10.4) has been faithfully operating until recently. It "locked up" and was allowed to shut down normally (but very slowly).

Now when attempting to start the machine, it slowly brings up the BIOS splash page (gray background). On pressing "C" on startup it shows the folder with a happy face alternating with "?". It then eventually shows a circle with a diagonal line on the screen and goes no further. I am unable to get it to access either the Tiger operating system CD or our Diskwarrior CD.

Where do I go next for troubleshooting? Do I need to open the case and inspect? I suspect hardware problems. This is like nothing I or my partner have ever seen before with Macs. We use and repair Macs, Windows and CentOS machines in our business.

Edited by SonicSpider because: n/a
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A concise diagnostic addendum to 's thread that ties together the suggestions from and and adds practical isolation steps.

The symptoms described (folder/question-mark, then the prohibitory sign) normally fall into two buckets: the firmware can’t find or use a valid startup volume, or a hardware fault is preventing a usable boot device from being exposed to firmware. The prohibitory symbol usually means the selected system is present but unusable; the alternating folder/question-mark indicates no valid startup disk was found. Both software-corruption and failed hardware (HDD, optical drive, cables or logic board) can produce those results, so isolation is the goal.

A short, ordered checklist (low-effort first):

  • Reset PRAM: hold Command+Option+P+R at power-on until the startup chime is heard twice.
  • Reset Open Firmware: hold Command+Option+O+F at power-on and run:
    reset-nvram
reset-all
  • Use Startup Manager: hold Option at boot to show available boot volumes. Try a known-good PowerPC-compatible install DVD (an Intel-only disc will not boot a PPC iBook).
  • Disconnect the internal HDD and try to boot from the CD. If the CD boots with the HDD removed, the drive is almost certainly the culprit.
  • Try FireWire Target Disk Mode (hold T at boot) and inspect the drive from another Mac with Disk Utility.
  • If a kernel loads to single-user mode (Command+S), run:
    /sbin/fsck -fy

If opening the case is acceptable, power off, remove battery and adapter, ground briefly, then reseat RAM, the hard-drive connector and the optical-drive ribbon cable; inspect for corrosion or bulging caps. Replacing the 2.5" HDD is inexpensive and commonly fixes age-related failures; preserve the original drive in an external enclosure for data recovery if needed.

Recommended next steps in order: PRAM/Open Firmware resets, confirm a PowerPC boot disc, then remove the HDD and retest. If none of that allows a boot from CD or FireWire, the fault likely lies in the optical subsystem or logic board and requires deeper hardware repair.

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Member Avatar for blud

I saw this on my wife's iBook about a year ago, and replacing the hard disk seemed to resolve the issue. If you have access to an external CD drive, you can attempt to boot from that, but hers didn't allow boot access until after the hard drive was replaced, and even then, only supported the integrated CD-Rom

Member Avatar for SonicSpider

I saw this on my wife's iBook about a year ago, and replacing the hard disk seemed to resolve the issue. If you have access to an external CD drive, you can attempt to boot from that, but hers didn't allow boot access until after the hard drive was replaced, and even then, only supported the integrated CD-Rom

I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. That is unusual but it does make sense with what I am seeing. I will try a new hard disk.

Member Avatar for gasp

mmm...interesting

Member Avatar for richardtj

trying resetting the pram and openfirmware. Both could be corrupted. Otherwise, it's the HD that's failed, but that would not explain the lack of CD support.

Member Avatar for James82

Interesting topic! I am appreciate for your sharing of the above information.

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