My iBook G3 finally died. The unit won't turn on. The Genius at the Apple Store checked it out and says the logic board has failed. My question is how can I recover the data from the hard drive without paying the Apple Store $150. Is there a way I can do it myself without too much trouble? I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
iBook G3, failed logic board, how to recover HD data?
- Thread starter edalch
- Start date
If you have a firewire cable, you could try target mode. Plug the cable between two Macs, of which this failed one is off. Power it on, and hold down t key until you see a firewire icon on the screen. The contents should now be seen as external hard drive.
Or you could take the hard drive and place it to an external USB or firewire case, and again access it as an external drive.
Or you could take the hard drive and place it to an external USB or firewire case, and again access it as an external drive.
#1 Rhapsody
Mac Guru
If the Logic Board is dead, then either the computer won't turn on period or the screen won't turn on. If the screen just won't turn on, then the O.P. could use Target Disk Mode, but he still wouldn't see the Firewire icon.
P.S. See here
My father's computer had this demise and although it looked like it didn't turn on, it would still mount as a target disk mode disk, but there was no indication of anything on the monitor. I just turned it on and immediately held down the T key for longer then it normally took to boot up and it worked to get the data from it. I hope yours works the same.
djackmac
ACMT
If it really doesn't power on, target disk mode isn't an option. But as Giaguara said you could always remove the drive and install it in an enclosure. We sell the enclosures and will either remove the drives and install them into an enclosure for the customer or create a disk image and copy it to a customers external HD. If you've never taken apart an ibook, its best just pay the price. $150 isn't too far out of range for a take apart data backup.
My fathers didn't seem like it powered on at all either, there was no chime or lights or sounds from it, but it did come on and mount as target mode. just to make sure it is off to start with, it might be a good idea to remove the batter and the power cord and then start from there to make sure it is off. chances are it would be off to start with, but just to be thorough.