Data transfer between laptops (one is broken...)

Taking a G3 or G4 iBook apart to get to the hard drive is a difficult process and requires good tech skills, although I've seen step by step instructions with pictures somewhere on the web. Instead I would try to use Firewire target disk mode (instruction available on apple.com's support area or in several good books on Macs. I used this method both times when my G3 iBook 900's motherboard went bad.
And, yes, I would consider getting the iBook repaired, although it could be expensive. There are several independent businesses which might do it for much less than Apple. Or you can sell it as is, either to a repair-type business or on eBay, but then consider how sensitive the data on the hard drive is. I wonder if homeowners/renters insurance might cover it. I think I've heard that Safeware computer insurance would.
Let us know what happens.

a very good suggestion.

connect the two machines together using a Firewire cable and start the broken machine while holding down the "T" key.
Obviously you will not be able to see anything happening but, the other working machine will mount the broken machine on the desktop.
Thus you will be able to move your data to the working machine

P

Thank you to all for all your help - I managed to recover everything. With a little help from my neighbor it was even easier than I thought when I started to process:
Target-mode worked perfectly, and just as I started to transfer things, my next-door neighbor stopped by and had another idea - 2 minutes later he came back with a LCD monitor and a cable, so I just had to find the iBook adapter for the cable and the broken laptop had a working screen as well.
So, after saving everything through firewire, I restarted with the external screen, and checked everything. All seems to be fine, so at this point I am actually considering just to purchase a cheap LCD screen for the laptop to connect to, and just use it as a stationary computer. This might be a cheaper option than getting it fixed.
So, thank you again to all of you!
R.

i had my 13in screen snapped off during a show, (good night) but i was that machine to store all of my music. i have another pro that i need to transfer to music to so i can load it onto my new rugged external i tried the holding down the T during the startup, however i cant seem to make it work. music still plays out of the 13in when i hit play on the keyboard... also im in mexico and not exactly near a large area to have mac work done so i would really like to do this myself.

cheers,

C

Shut down the broken machine.
The working one does not have to be shut down.
Connect a Firewire cable between the two Macs.
Press the power button on the broken machine and immediately hold down the "T" key.
After a short while, you will see the broken machine mount on the desktop of the working machine.

Treat the mounted machine as an external hard drive and copy the music over to the good machine.

If you cannot find a Firewire cable, a length of ethernet cable will also suffice. It does not have to be a cross-over cable.

P

I spilt the tiniest bit of water on my iBook, right next to the power cable. So now the light on the cable is really dim and when I look at the bottom of the computer where those little lights are when charging, they are not flashing at all. I tried another power cable and no better result. The computer will not switch on at all. I'm not sure whether it just needs charging and I've fried everything making charge possible or whether I've broken it completely.

Either way, I want to transfer the data off a dead macs hard drive to another mac.

Is this possible using a firewire cable?

No, and before I begin, don't hijack other people's theads. It just confuses things when people, probably like yourself, use google to try and find some kind of solution to their problems.

That being said, in your case, the only hope is extracting the HDD, which is no easy task on an iBook. Go to the ifixit website and you should be able to find some take apart guides. Then you'll need to get a 2.5" PATA/IDE external enclosure. They're a bit rare, but you can still find them. Just keep in mind the fact that the iBook is a PPC system and all Macs today are x86, so for any programs to run you'd need Rosetta installed on the new Mac, and they may simply not run due to using depreciated APIs that were removed in 10.6.