Powerbook G4 hdd query

janice. · 06-07-2009, 09:11 AM

Hi guys. I have an Aluminum 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4. My hdd has apparently gone south. I was wondering if I could just hook up an external drive and skip buying another internal one. (Maybe I could use a 7200rpm drive instead of the 5400rpm drive?) It has Leopard on it.

I currently just get the picture of a power button with a message in 4 languages telling me I need to restart the computer

(It just now went to the desktop to tell me this. First time in a long time)

Otherwise I guess I'll just have to shop for another internal one.

Thanx for all the help. :)

sinclair_tm · 06-07-2009, 12:38 PM

That is a kernel panic, which means you have bad hardware, and bad hard drives most times will not give you that, but a bad motherboard, CPU, or RAM will. That Powerbook will boot from an external Firewire hard drive. But I have a feeling that if you do boot from it, you'll still get that error. I'd take it to an Apple service center to get it check out.

janice. · 06-07-2009, 07:35 PM

Hmm... thanks. Maybe I'll take another look at my memory. I added some several months ago. It worked marvelously for several months. Maybe I'll just replace both sticks.

Mmm... an external firewall drive? Would you happen to have a link to one so that I can better understand what it is I might/should be looking for? It would be good to backup my internal drive somewhere. Thanx sinclair. :)

janice. · 06-07-2009, 07:52 PM

Wow, I wonder which is better? The OWC, the Samsung or the Techworks ram?

I'm looking at this here. :/

sinclair_tm · 06-07-2009, 11:35 PM

As long as you are buying it from Macsales, and it has a lifetime warranty, it's all good. My desktop has OWC RAM in it and it works great, and I'll be getting some for my laptop. One of the sticks in my desktop did go bad and when I figured out it was the RAM and called them, they made arrangements for me to ship it back and get a new one coming right away.
As for firewire (not firewall) hard drives, Macsales has them too.

janice. · 06-08-2009, 09:13 AM

Thanks sinclair. I wonder if I could simply use my USB Universal Drive Adapter to hook up an external drive to boot from rather than going thru the expense of an external storage solution?

sinclair_tm · 06-09-2009, 12:59 AM

I don't think that Powerbook can boot from USB, but you could try it. As for the firewire drives, you can get ones that do not have a hard drive in it, and add you own, and get them cheaper at places like www.newegg.com.

06-07-2009, 09:11 AM	#1 (permalink)
janice. Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: southern usa Posts: 123 OS: XP Pro My System	Powerbook G4 hdd query Hi guys. I have an Aluminum 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4. My hdd has apparently gone south. I was wondering if I could just hook up an external drive and skip buying another internal one. (Maybe I could use a 7200rpm drive instead of the 5400rpm drive?) It has Leopard on it. I currently just get the picture of a power button with a message in 4 languages telling me I need to restart the computer (It just now went to the desktop to tell me this. First time in a long time) Otherwise I guess I'll just have to shop for another internal one. Thanx for all the help. :) __________________ ~~ The 'green revolution' is actually the 'red revolution' in disguise ... If there is no energy development, you have poverty with a view Last edited by janice.; 06-07-2009 at 09:12 AM.

06-07-2009, 07:35 PM	#3 (permalink)
janice. Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: southern usa Posts: 123 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: Powerbook G4 hdd query Hmm... thanks. Maybe I'll take another look at my memory. I added some several months ago. It worked marvelously for several months. Maybe I'll just replace both sticks. Mmm... an external firewall drive? Would you happen to have a link to one so that I can better understand what it is I might/should be looking for? It would be good to backup my internal drive somewhere. Thanx sinclair. :) __________________ ~~ The 'green revolution' is actually the 'red revolution' in disguise ... If there is no energy development, you have poverty with a view

06-07-2009, 07:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
janice. Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: southern usa Posts: 123 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: Powerbook G4 hdd query Wow, I wonder which is better? The OWC, the Samsung or the Techworks ram? I'm looking at this here. :/ __________________ ~~ The 'green revolution' is actually the 'red revolution' in disguise ... If there is no energy development, you have poverty with a view

06-08-2009, 09:13 AM	#6 (permalink)
janice. Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: southern usa Posts: 123 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: Powerbook G4 hdd query Thanks sinclair. I wonder if I could simply use my USB Universal Drive Adapter to hook up an external drive to boot from rather than going thru the expense of an external storage solution? __________________ ~~ The 'green revolution' is actually the 'red revolution' in disguise ... If there is no energy development, you have poverty with a view