1.2GHZ iBook was freezing after 5 minutes of use. The genius at the Apple Store said it needed a new harddrive. I replaced the harddrive and now the IBook does not see the harddrive. Any ideas on what to try next?

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[www.bikerenews.com]

Did you start up with an installer disc and try to erase the drive with the Disk Utility?

What exactly happens when you start it up now?

Can you describe the "freezes" you were having before?

Most likely scenario by far on the G4 iBook is the broken graphic chip solder problem.
Freezes will typically happen when the 'book is moved.

Disc Utility does not see the drive. The freeze would occur whenever you use the IBook. The cursor would stop moving and the keyboard would not work. If I boot into the external drive with the old drive it would freeze. If I start up with the install CD and then boot into the external drive it will freeze just like it did with the internal drive.

Your initial post was misleading (or I'm misreading)-- you've still got the original drive inside the iBook?
Sounds like it's toxic and you're going to have no joy until it's disconnected from its bus.

No I don't have the original drive in it. It has a new drive that the iBook does not see.

OK, sorry, I think I understand now-- I mistook your description of the past freeze scenario with the current state.

I'm about 99% sure I have your answer-- there is a tiny hard drive connector that's =extremely= easy to forget to attach when buttoning up-- the good news is you can get to it by only removing the bottom case.
I'll have a resource for you in a minute.

I'm not finding a good resource, but depending on which instructions you followed you probably disconnected the orange hard drive ribbon from the hard drive while leaving the other end attached to the motherboard? If you're sure you seated it properly on the hard drive, I think it came disconnected at the motherboard end.
Find instructions for removing lower case or lower heat shield to get to the motherboard end. The terminus is a little block that presses on to a connector on the board.

You have your original drive in an external case and the new drive is installed in the iBook?

Yep. Black's got it. If you boot from an installer disc and the Disk Utility on that disc does not recognize that the new drive is present then it probably isn't connected properly.

...

What did the guy at the Apple Store say was wrong with your original drive? Is the SMART status "failing" ...?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2009 12:58PM by Doc.

I use the instructions from iFixit. If I can fix this by just removing bottom case it will be nice. Doc, I have the back up drive in the external case. The genius didn't say what's wrong he just said he think the drive was about to die. Thanks Black I,m off to open this up again hope this time is the charm.

This is getting confusing.

New hard drive is in the iBook?

Backup drive (with same trouble as old drive) is in an external case?

Old (bad?) hard drive is where?

Your backup drive contains a clone of your old internal drive? And it demonstrates the same symptoms as the old hard drive when you boot from it?

If a clone on a backup drive gives you the same trouble as the original internal drive then it implies that EITHER 1. the problem is software (bad OS files, directory damage, etc.) and could have been repaired without swapping drives or 2. the problem is hardware and NOT the drive at fault.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2009 01:27PM by Doc.

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Doc
This is getting confusing.

New hard drive is in the iBook?

Backup drive (with same trouble as old drive) is in an external case?

Old (bad?) hard drive is where?

Your backup drive contains a clone of your old internal drive? And it demonstrates the same symptoms as the old hard drive when you boot from it?

If a clone on a backup drive gives you the same trouble as the original internal drive then it implies that EITHER 1. the problem is software (bad OS files, directory damage, etc.) and could have been repaired without swapping drives or 2. the problem is hardware and NOT the drive at fault.

No, Doc, read the thread again including my clarification-- it's pretty straightforward.

The new drive is in the iBook, the external is the same as prior, and the presumed "bad" drive is out of the picture.

The scenario he was describing with the external was a description of the freezes he was having before replacing the internal. He couldn't get up and running as long as the toxic hard drive was still installed and being accessed.

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qdog
I use the instructions from iFixit. If I can fix this by just removing bottom case it will be nice. Doc, I have the back up drive in the external case. The genius didn't say what's wrong he just said he think the drive was about to die. Thanks Black I,m off to open this up again hope this time is the charm.

Fingers crossed. I've made the harness mistake myself despite explicit reminders about it in the tutorial I used . . .

Thanks Black I'm installing the OS as I type.

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qdog
Date: July 12, 2009 10:11AM
Thanks Black I,m off to open this up again hope this time is the charm.

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qdog
Date: July 12, 2009 10:41AM
Thanks Black I'm installing the OS as I type.

30 minutes to open up an iBook, reconnect a cable, and close it up is pretty good time.

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GGD

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qdog
Date: July 12, 2009 10:11AM
Thanks Black I,m off to open this up again hope this time is the charm.

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qdog
Date: July 12, 2009 10:41AM
Thanks Black I'm installing the OS as I type.

30 minutes to open up an iBook, reconnect a cable, and close it up is pretty good time.

It's about right for the bottom housing.
Mechanical aptitude and communicative parsimoniousness often seem to enjoy a positive correlation . . .

Well it's back to the drawing board the computer has frozen doing the install. Maybe I can sell the parts off this thing. My daughter don't want any more Macs.

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[www.bikerenews.com]

It probably needs a new logic board. If you weren't getting I/O errors in the console logs it probably wasn't a bad HD.