Hard drive failed?

[davidigor]

I have a G4 ibook, 933Mhz. I have OSX 10.4.10. I hope the following is not too much information:

I was working on a Word doc. I was connected to the internet. Word froze, and I could not force quit. I turned it off using the power button, then started up again. At startup, I got the chime and a blue screen, but no spinning wheel. I repeated the process and it stopped at the Apple logo.

I found a 10.4 install disk and tried disk repair utilities. I tried verifying and got "checking HFS plus volume, checking extents overflow file, and checking catalog file." then, in red, it said "keys out of order," and "The volume Mac HD needs to be repaired."

When I chose repair, I got the message: "Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit." I clicked repair again, and got this message: "repairing disk failed with error. Could not unmount disk.

So I decided to reinstall. When I got to "Select Destination Disk" the hard drive was listed, and it listed it as having 93 GB, with 79GB free. It had the message that "some volumes are unavailable until the installer has finished processing." It processed for over 45 minutes before allowing me to select the hard drive. I chose the hard drive and clicked install, but the install failed-I forget the message. It suggested I try again by clicking restart. I did, but it showed no disks to choose from.

I started over, attempting disk repair again. After a 30 minute wait, it listed the hard drive. I attempted repair, and it ended with these messages: the volumbe Mac HD could not be repaired. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit. 1 HFS volume checked. 1 volume could not be repaired because of an error. Repair attempted on 1 volume. 1 volume could not be repaired.

One more trip back to install, and it never offers a volume to choose to install on.

It is probably clear that I have limited diagnostic skills when it comes to this. Is this a hard-drive failure? Could it be anything else? I don't mind replacing the hard drive, if that's what it is.

Thanks for your time.

David

[Hughvane]

I have a G4 ibook, 933Mhz. I have OSX 10.4.10. I hope the following is not too much information:

No, ample info is better than too little.

You have a serious disk problem with Keys Out Of Order (and it is the third such issue posted in Mac forums this past week). The hard disk may be repairable with Disk Warrior, but at about US$100 it's an expensive exercise.

I found a 10.4 install disk and tried disk repair utilities. I tried verifying and ... When I chose repair, I got the message: "Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit." I clicked repair again, and got this message: "repairing disk failed with error. Could not unmount disk.

This is almost exactly the same message I received, although the cause of the disk damage was different. In my case it was an overload of Copy-Paste and keyboard commands.

So I decided to reinstall.

Archive & Install? That way you retain all your files other than the System.

Is this a hard-drive failure? I don't mind replacing the hard drive, if that's what it is.

A partial failure. In my case I'm going to use this exercise in sorting out the KOOO problem by upgrading to a 250 Gb disk in my eMac, rather than buy Disk Warrior. I can transfer all the other files to the new hard disk in the process.

[davidigor]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it was "archive and install," that I tried first, but at any rate it didn't work, and neither did a command for a fresh reinstall. So I'm still not sure that Disk Warrior will help; it won't if I have an actual mechanical failure, right? The issue is not so much my data as can I save the old laptop which serves my needs just fine. And oh, my does the set of ifixit.com instructions for replacing the hard drive look challenging? Yes, indeed.
Anyway, thanks so much for your time.