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Now, what's going on with this iBook G4?

Sludgedragon

Well-known member
In the interim while I am without my main Mac, I have pulled out an iBook G4 that I haven't touched in a looooong time. I believe it has 10.4 on it. Got the forgotten password sorted out. It starts up until it gets to the screen with the swoopy blue abstract design, does not load any further than that. No desktop stuff. 

It's been so long I don't remember what I have done with it, does this sound as if I loaded a software version (either too new, or for the wrong machine) on the hard drive before I installed it in this machine? I have in my possession disks of 10.4 that are for an iMac but when I tried to start from that disk there was a message that that version would not install on that machine. Is it time to cruise eBay for Tiger?

I also found the Lombard I toted halfway around the world back in 2008, I can't believe I was hauling something that heavy around!

 
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davidg5678

Well-known member
You can also burn a DVD or USB of Tiger yourself, if you'd like. Since you already own several copies (albeit currently non-functional ones) of Tiger, I see no reason why the copies of Tiger floating around the internet should not work. In fact, it is probably less risky to do it this way, as a lot of the DVDs on eBay are machine specific and run the risk of being duds. I think there is also a way to clone the DVD you already have to another disk, and edit a plist to make it work on more computers. --edit-- I found a guide here: https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279088-how-to-patch-any-mac-os-x-restore-dvd-gray-disc-to-work-on-any-computer/

 

Sludgedragon

Well-known member
Yeah, but that's a lot of work! :)  I found a retail copt of Tiger on eBay for not too much. But do you think that's what is going on, just the "wrong" Tiger?

 

davidg5678

Well-known member
I suppose there is nothing at all wrong with buying a copy of Tiger off eBay. You just have to make sure to get a universal version for all the powerpc computers, and not a single machine/Intel version. I suggested it because I can't stand waiting for things to come in the mail. :)

 

EvilCapitalist

Well-known member
If I'm not mistaken, the iBook G4 came with Panther (10.3) so any version of Tiger, save the Intel specific one, should work just fine.  It does sound like the installation got messed up somehow.  The only time I've seen Tiger get stuck at that screen was when there was a HD problem and it couldn't finish loading the Finder.

 

quinterro

Well-known member
Later iBook G4 models came with 10.4 - primarily the 1.33ghz and 1.42ghz models from mid-2005. I have a 12" 1.33ghz model and it won't boot from 10.3.

 

Sludgedragon

Well-known member
It looks like this iBook came with 10.4.4 so I don't think a retail copy will work. I tried with an old one I found in my old disk collection and It tried but did not work. It also doesn't help that there seems to be something in the disk drive that whishes when the disk is reading...

 

Sludgedragon

Well-known member
PPC won't boot from USB, only Intel.  I have bought on eBay first Leopard retail and then a set of disks from iBook G4 with 10.4.4 with a disk of OS9 for the Classic environment. It won't boot in 9, of course, but it will run OS9 software. Now to find my old copy of KidPix Deluxe...

 

jeremywork

Well-known member
I would try starting up holding Shift, which will start it in Safe mode, skipping any third party extensions and startup items and clearing the user cache.

It seems the core operating system is loading properly but you're crashing either just before or just after login. If holding shift works, try once more without shift. It may simply be something in the user cache hanging up.

 

Sludgedragon

Well-known member
Good thing my Macbook Pro is with me again, it just needed a new power cord! 

The iBook, on the other hand, has problems. I tried installing Leopard directly from the optical drive, no luck. So I tried using my iMac (early 2008) in target disk mode and that didn't work either. It goes so far and then it gets to where it says it has like 2 hours left, it quits and says it's unable to install and there's a big list of error messages. Now I wonder if it's a bad hard drive or something else which I won't know how to replace/fix.

 
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davidg5678

Well-known member
Also, if it is the hard drive, is it hard to find one compatible?
Not at all. :) I would definitely recommend replacing it with an inexpensive and speedier SSD drive though.

Something like this adapter: https://www.amazon.com/mSATA-44pin-Notebook-Laptop-Enclosure/dp/B01GRMUQRG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ide+to+msata&qid=1609338268&sr=8-1

and this SSD: https://www.amazon.com/Zheino-120GB-Internal-Notebooks-Tablets/dp/B07F8P7VY3/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/139-7974699-0572325?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07F8P7VY3&pd_rd_r=91e61fed-9cfc-4dca-a76f-6fea1ecb5b4b&pd_rd_w=9yCis&pd_rd_wg=PIzQ8&pf_rd_p=f325d01c-4658-4593-be83-3e12ca663f0e&pf_rd_r=MJ1Y5AE5Y1AP7X1CK2YZ&refRID=MJ1Y5AE5Y1AP7X1CK2YZ&th=1

There are really good guides available here (just select the model of iBook you have, and click Hard Drive Replacement): https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iBook_G4

Make sure to use either the screw organization printout at the bottom of the linked guides, or an ice cube tray to keep track of the tiny screws.

 

Sludgedragon

Well-known member
I will look into those. What I have found so far indicates that there isn't enough room in this iBook to fit an SSD in an adapter. According to MacTracker the connection in the iBook is Ultra ATA/100 (ATA-6). 

 
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davidg5678

Well-known member
What I have found so far indicates that there isn't enough room in this iBook to fit an SSD in an adapter.
This adapter should be exactly the same size as the original hard drive, so there shouldn't be any size concerns. I think they might be referring to another kind of adapter meant for desktop PCs rather than laptops like this one. The connector is 2.5" IDE which should also be compatible with the connector inside the iBook. I think several other people on this forum have had success with these parts, so they should be able to confirm this. (I bought them for my own iBook, but never got around to installing them :) )

 
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