Can't get my iBook G4 to boot

T

toxictaipan

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I turned on my laptop last night and connected to the internet (dial up) and checked for updates with SoftwareUpdate. Then I logged into AOL Instant Messanger and started downloading the Newest iTunes update. Then I get a message shortly after I log into Aol Instant Messanger saying, "AOL Instant Messanger has quit unexpectedly. OS X and other Applictaions are not affected." And it gave me the options to Reopen AOL or Close the Alert Window. This has happened before once, so I just clicked Reopen like last time. I closed out AOL later...

Now, a little while later (I'm not sure how much, I fell asleep waiting for a 58MB download over dial up, can you blame me?). There is an alert waiting for me saying, "Out of Memory. Please choose any applictaions your aren't using and close them out to free more Memory." Then in little bitty text below the applications it showed said, " Deleting some files off of the Hard Drive might also free up space."

I've never seen this message before. The only 2 application running were SoftwareUpdate and Finder. Not wanting to close out either of these I decided to just ignore the Alert. I went back to sleep, and woke up the next morning to find yet another alert saying the same thing. So I ignored it again. Then SoftwareUpdate said, "The update iTunes was downloaded, but not installed. It has been moved to the trash. If you wish to try and install it again, do so in Finder."

At this point I relize me computer is acting dead slow. So I decided to reboot to see if it would fix it. Well, it took over 30 minutes just to turn off. I let it sit there for a while and then tried Booting it back up. So, we have finally reached my problem: When I hit the power button, it goes to the grey screen that has an apple on it with a spinning circle on it. This is where it gets stuck. I've let it sit here for hours and nothing. I can't figgure out what's wrong with it....

Any help would be appreciated! Also, I don't own the disk to it, I bought it second-handed from a family member. Can I buy a new disk for will I have to use the one that came with the iBook in order for it to work? I'm think about just whiping it and starting over, but you need the disk for that. That's why I'm asking this...

Thank you,
toxictaipan
 
How much space was left on that drive? Do you have an install disk that you can boot with to test out the hard drive (all OS X install disk have Disk Utility in the menu items)?
 
I'm not sure exactly how much space was free, but it has a 55.7GB Hard Drive. All I really do on it is surf the web and listen to music. I had a few pics on it. Last time I checked I thought it said 44GB free...
And no, sadly I bought it second handed and didn't receive any disk with it. And since I can't get it to boot up I can't use Disk Utility, and all those other great things that you have to be logged in to use otherwise...


I asked my friend about it and he said it sounds like I ran out of memory and that if I don't have the proper disk I'm screwed.


So, now my question is: Will any Mac OS X disk work, or will I need the one shipped with the computer? Also, will buying a new Hard Drive fix the problem if it is true it has run out of space? Obviously I need a bigger one if that's the case...:eek:
 
You can't boot from a disc that came in the box with another new Mac (usually a grey coloured disc). You can only boot from a retail copy of a disc (usually a black disc).

I don't know what software version you are running, but if it is earlier than the current Leopard 10.5 you can often pick up install discs from the aftermarket quite cheaply.
 
sgould said:
You can't boot from a disc that came in the box with another new Mac (usually a grey coloured disc). You can only boot from a retail copy of a disc (usually a black disc).

I don't know what software version you are running, but if it is earlier than the current Leopard 10.5 you can often pick up install discs from the aftermarket quite cheaply.
Click to expand...


I think it's called Panther, I'm not sure. I know it's Version 10.4.11 and I know it's the one right before Leopard for sure though.

So all I need is a new install disk, and I can format my Drive from there? This is the most important question. And probably my last. So don't be afraid to go into detail, I'm new to Macs...
 
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