problem with g3 ibook after upgrade

ljpm · 09-24-2008, 07:50 AM

My ibook took a crap on me. First i thought it was the hard drive, so I decided to upgrade since I had to replace it. Turned out it wasn't the hard drive, it was that old logic board issue that affects the display. So I purchased a new Logic board. I have installed the new logic board, and the upgraded hard drive. Here is my problem.... when I went to install the OS from disc, the optical drive runs, but stops without allowing me to copy. So I tried networking to another laptop and copy the image. I thought this was successful. From the other laptop I can see all of the programs on my system, but when I boot up, it just takes me back to the blue screen with the flashing folder with the question mark.

What have I done wrong, and how can I fix it since I can not access my disk utilities via the rom drive?

sinclair_tm · 09-24-2008, 06:36 PM

Well, 1st off, did you make sure that the cable for the drive is connected correctly. Also, is the disk you are trying to use a DVD or CD, and what can the drive handle? The flashing folder icon says that the Mac can't find a bootable OS. Which OS did you use, and is it one that the Mac can run? Flashing question mark heralds back to the classic OS days, OS 9.2.2 and older.

ljpm · 09-25-2008, 06:52 AM

The cable is connected fine. When I boot up using the option key I can see the disk it there, and when selected, it will start to run, but stop right away.

I think it was loaded with OS X 10.4.... maybe I should try an older version?

Also, I read somewhere that if you upgrade with a larger hard drive that you have to be sure to load the OS onto the first partition???? Does that make any sense?

Simple fixes I can do, but this issue is lost to me.

sinclair_tm · 09-25-2008, 12:45 PM

It should load 10.4 just fine. If you have the CDs that came with the Mac when ti was new, I'd try one of those. It could also be that the motherboard is bad, not knowing where you got it from I can't tell you of their return policy, but you may want to check. As for the new drive thing, if it's a new disk, and you format it with the OS X installer before installing OS X, it will load fine. How large a hard drive did you put in it?

Hold on, I think I just realized what it is you did. How did you format the new hard drive and what program did you use to copy everything over to it with?

ljpm · 09-26-2008, 11:14 AM

My computer was in target mode and connected to another computer (MacBook Pro). I used Disk Utility to Erase the harddrive and formatted it as Mac OS Extended (journaled).Once that was done I did a restore using Disk Utility. I restored it using a 10.4 image we have from the same machine.

It doesn't have the classic system folder on it, but I can copy that over.

The CD drive doesn't seem to be reading the disk, it can see them and will start, but will not read, therefore I cannot do anything via the CD drive.

Fingers crossed you can figure this one out!

sinclair_tm · 09-26-2008, 02:26 PM

The problem seems to be that the System Folder for OS X 10.4 was not "blessed." This is a problem that can be run into when copying an OS install from one drive to another. I would download CCC and use it to copy the contents of the old hard drive to the new hard drive, and make sure it is set to "bless" the copy.

ljpm · 10-07-2008, 07:42 AM

I tried all of your suggestions so far, and still no luck. I am beginning to think that it is a master/slave problem...... I thought I reconnected everything exactly how it was prior, but now I'm thinking this may be the issue.... can you please try to simplify for me how the rom drive and hard drive should be connected? I notice that there are a couple pins on the hard drive that cannot go into the connection due to the blocked spots. Does that make any sense?

sinclair_tm · 10-07-2008, 10:16 AM

With laptop drives there shouldn't be a master/slave issue. The are two drives and each has it's own controller. I'm not even sure you can set the drives to master/slave. So you can't boot from a CD/DVD?

ljpm · 10-08-2008, 07:30 AM

No, the laptop recognized the cd, and I can hear the drive start spinning, but it then stops before it actually runs the disk.

From target mode, we can see the hard drive on my laptop, and we can see the contents which does contain the OS, but when I boot up, it still goes right to the blinking folder.

If I try to boot to the disk drive, it starts to run, but stops.

This is a brand new logic board, and a brand new hard drive. I don't get it.

seantobin5 · 10-23-2008, 04:08 PM

make sure you're above or equal to 256 mb of ram if you're gonna install tiger. otherwise, use 10.3 (panther)

09-24-2008, 07:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
ljpm Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows xp, Mac OS X	problem with g3 ibook after upgrade My ibook took a crap on me. First i thought it was the hard drive, so I decided to upgrade since I had to replace it. Turned out it wasn't the hard drive, it was that old logic board issue that affects the display. So I purchased a new Logic board. I have installed the new logic board, and the upgraded hard drive. Here is my problem.... when I went to install the OS from disc, the optical drive runs, but stops without allowing me to copy. So I tried networking to another laptop and copy the image. I thought this was successful. From the other laptop I can see all of the programs on my system, but when I boot up, it just takes me back to the blue screen with the flashing folder with the question mark. What have I done wrong, and how can I fix it since I can not access my disk utilities via the rom drive?

09-25-2008, 06:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
ljpm Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows xp, Mac OS X	Re: problem with g3 ibook after upgrade The cable is connected fine. When I boot up using the option key I can see the disk it there, and when selected, it will start to run, but stop right away. I think it was loaded with OS X 10.4.... maybe I should try an older version? Also, I read somewhere that if you upgrade with a larger hard drive that you have to be sure to load the OS onto the first partition???? Does that make any sense? Simple fixes I can do, but this issue is lost to me.

09-26-2008, 11:14 AM	#5 (permalink)
ljpm Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows xp, Mac OS X	Re: problem with g3 ibook after upgrade My computer was in target mode and connected to another computer (MacBook Pro). I used Disk Utility to Erase the harddrive and formatted it as Mac OS Extended (journaled).Once that was done I did a restore using Disk Utility. I restored it using a 10.4 image we have from the same machine. It doesn't have the classic system folder on it, but I can copy that over. The CD drive doesn't seem to be reading the disk, it can see them and will start, but will not read, therefore I cannot do anything via the CD drive. Fingers crossed you can figure this one out!

10-07-2008, 07:42 AM	#7 (permalink)
ljpm Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows xp, Mac OS X	Re: problem with g3 ibook after upgrade I tried all of your suggestions so far, and still no luck. I am beginning to think that it is a master/slave problem...... I thought I reconnected everything exactly how it was prior, but now I'm thinking this may be the issue.... can you please try to simplify for me how the rom drive and hard drive should be connected? I notice that there are a couple pins on the hard drive that cannot go into the connection due to the blocked spots. Does that make any sense?

10-08-2008, 07:30 AM	#9 (permalink)
ljpm Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows xp, Mac OS X	Re: problem with g3 ibook after upgrade No, the laptop recognized the cd, and I can hear the drive start spinning, but it then stops before it actually runs the disk. From target mode, we can see the hard drive on my laptop, and we can see the contents which does contain the OS, but when I boot up, it still goes right to the blinking folder. If I try to boot to the disk drive, it starts to run, but stops. This is a brand new logic board, and a brand new hard drive. I don't get it.

10-23-2008, 04:08 PM	#10 (permalink)
seantobin5 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 94 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows XP Home Edition SP3, Ubuntu Linux 9.04	Re: problem with g3 ibook after upgrade make sure you're above or equal to 256 mb of ram if you're gonna install tiger. otherwise, use 10.3 (panther) __________________ ~Sean T.