iBook G4 Freezes and has Invalid Sibling Link

dkuropatwa · #1 January 9th, 2008, 12:09 AM

I have an iBook G4, 1.33 GHz with 768 Mb DDR SDRAM running system 10.4.10 and I have over 44GB of free space.

It spontaneously started freezing. By freezing I mean it boots up, I get to the desktop and within a few seconds it just stops. This happens even if I do nothing on the desktop; within a few seconds of starting it just freezes. Occasionally it "gets stuck" at the blue screen.

Surfing forums I have zapped the p-ram and a host of other sorts of "restarts" including starting in safety mode. Doing a fsck gives these results:

I typed:

/sbin/fsck -fy

I got these results:

**/dev/rdisk0s3
**Root file system
**Checking HFS Plus volume.
**Checking Extents Overflow file.
**Checking catalog file.
disk0s3: I/O error
Invalid sibling link
(4, 16770)
**Volume check failed.
localhast:/ root#

Can anyone tell me what all this means? Is this a hardware problem? If not is there anything I can do to revive my mac? I'm using a PC laptop now and am REALLY missing my mac.

Thanks.

Satcomer · #2 January 9th, 2008, 12:16 AM

It looks like the hard drive is in the process of failing.

dkuropatwa · #3 January 9th, 2008, 12:19 AM

Would reinstalling the system fix this? Or is the hard disk the problem?

Satcomer · #4 January 9th, 2008, 12:20 AM

I would replace the drive.

eric2006 · #5 January 9th, 2008, 12:24 AM

If you feel up to it, you can try a possible (free) solution here:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...70204093925888

You could also invest in a third-party disk repair program.

If you have your applecare/hardware test (on the original install CDs), run that to test the HDD. It's possible that your hard drive is on its way out, not an uncommon fate for notebook drives.

dkuropatwa · #6 January 9th, 2008, 12:33 AM

Thanks! I've got the install disks at work so I'll have to try your (Eric2006) suggestion tomorrow.

I have managed to snag my files off the HD. Would reformatting the HD and doing a clean install solve this problem or do I need a new HD?

Thanks again, I really appreciate these speedy replies! ;-)

eric2006 · #7 January 9th, 2008, 01:00 AM

A reinstall may fix your problem, however, your drive is getting an I/O error, which usually happens with failing drives. It's possible that you won't notice any problems after a reinstall/fix. I would run the hardware tests after if you decide to do that, and keep regular backups (as always).

If you absolutely want to be sure that the problem is gone, install a new drive and restore.