Can't access OS/Drive

M

mrperez

Registered
Hello,
I believe the drive on my Power Book G4 has failed. I'd like to verify my assumption before I purchase a replacement.

I've tried:
starting from CD's (G4 system disk & disk warrior)

accessing the drive from another Mac, via fire wire connection

zapping the P-Ram

& a few others...


Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
 
Do you see the drive at all with those other methods?

If not, then either the hard drive has failed, or the connection/internal drive bus has failed.
Replace the hard drive with a known-good hard drive. If that new drive is also not visible when in the PowerBook, then other parts have failed.
You might be able to access the old hard drive after installing it in an external case.
 
Thanks DeltaMac ---- If it is the internal drive bus... how can I be sure? What exactly does a failed drive bus mean? Can it be repaired or is "old trusty" doomed?
 
A failed bus would probably mean you'd need a replacement motherboard, and I'm sure there are quite a few spare parts floating around out there. But I'd imagine it'd be a bit pricey. I've been looking for a G4 laptop on eBay (US), and there are usually working and non-working Powerbooks up there.
 
Please excuse my persistence... Can anyone offer any guidance/methods on how I can determine whether the problem I have is a failed bus or simply a failed hard drive?
 
Previous poster had a suggestion:

Replace the hard drive with a known-good hard drive. If that new drive is also not visible when in the PowerBook, then other parts have failed.
 
mrperez, I hope I'm not stating the obvious, but if you're not very comfortable opening working on laptops, replacing the hard drive is probably not something you'll want to do. You'd have to have someone do it for you. Good luck.
 
Drive removal is not be too hard, it is acceptable on the Macbook, very model dependent. This link has video step by step instructions for getting mac laptops open. Is one your model? http://www.powerbookmedic.com/mac-repair.php.

Also you can try an Apple store with their geniuses. Or Best Buy "Geek Squad" could do the trouble shooting.
 
Thanks guys, -------- will do.

I've changed internal drives before but I needed some experts, like you, to help me troubleshoot the symptoms.
 
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