Reviving a dead ibook with a firewire HDD or ipod?

[modular]

Ok, I have scoured previous threads and not found anything quite specific enough so here goes...

I have a ibook g3 dual usb with a nuked hard drive. All lights turn on, I can boot with a CD and have run the hardware diagnostic tools and everything else checks out a-ok. I own Panther but not Tiger and dont have a DVD drive anyway.

After being quoted $400 AUD for a new hard drive I am keen to check out my options.
I presume I can do a complete install with an external firewire hard drive which seems to be the most viable option.

Has anyone done this using an ipod hooked up via FW?

Would I still be able to have to ipod retain its basic function while it is being used as a boot drive, it is it an "either or" senario. Naturally there may be some compromises.

Would partitioning the ipod help it retain it normal functions? Is this even possible? Things could get pretty complex pretty quickly.

Which generation ipods have this capability? (if any thats is

I figure why not buy an ipod now, seeing as I need an external FW drive anyway.

PS. I have been told that you cant get FW external harddrives that are bus powered (no AC adaptor needed) but I doubt this is tru. What do you guys say to this?

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Whomever told you that bus-powered FireWire drives don't exist hasn't the slightest idea of what they're talking about -- I suggest never taking advice from them about computers (or even prompting them with a computer question!):

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bus+powered+firewire+drive&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

You can use the iPod to boot a FireWire-enabled computer:

http://features.engadget.com/2004/08/17/how-to-use-an-ipod-as-a-bootable-drive/

Downside to that is that you can't use it for anything else. I want to say I heard that you can use it as both an iPod for listening and a bootable external drive. Some Googling may turn up something...

I would recommend against using the iPod to boot your machine for anything more than quick diagnostics or something similar -- the iPod was not designed to do anything other than load the hard drive for a few seconds at a time, and using it as a boot drive casually may damage the iPod. There is no heat dissipation in the iPod -- all heat is kept pretty much internally, and using the drive for extended periods would certainly degrade the life of the drive prematurely.

While replacing the hard drive in the iBook certainly is possible, it's for seriously advanced techies only. Rough count puts the number of screws to be removed at approximately 56... and most of them are different sizes, so keeping them organized would baffle even a savant... if you're brave enough to try, though, read this manual first to see what you're getting into:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/50.12.0.html

I would recommend a simple, external FireWire hard drive. You can build 'em cheaper than you can buy them already assembled, and any old Oxford 911 enclosure should work.