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General discussion

The Waterfall

Feb 15, 2007 9:42PM PST

With trembling hand I pen this description of my iBook G3; fearing that the logic board has begun its failure. The computer was asleep last night; striking the space bar to awaken it, the screen showed a fast moving jittery waterfall effect, not over the entire screen evenly, some places more dense than others. There were also two HD icons; right next to each other, both indistinct. I shut down immediately with the power button; the restart went well, and I performed disk repair; that seemed fine also. The actual damage now showing is that I'm unable to view dvd's. After the tray closes I get a message immediately saying; 'you have inserted a dsik with no volumes that Mac OSX can read'. This is consistent with several dvd's. The 'flag' offers only 'ignore' or 'eject'; both leading to no actions. Does this seem like a logic board issue? And what might be done to get the dvd player to work? Thanks much - Eric

Discussion is locked

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Don't think it's a logic board,
Feb 15, 2007 10:08PM PST

at least not just yet.
Are you able to play regular CD's in this drive?
Does the System profiler still show a DVD/CD player?

When you did Disk Repair, was it the Permissions you repaired or did you start from an external source and run Repair Disk?

This could be a software problem, specifically the DVD player app software.

Try the regular music or Data CD and let us know what happens

P

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Some Hope?
Feb 16, 2007 6:11AM PST

Good thoughts, P...I tried a recorded music cd; played fine. System profiler shows the DVD player. I ran Disk Repair directly from Applications.Thanks, Eric

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Disk Repair
Feb 16, 2007 9:34AM PST

You cannot repair a disk that you are booted from. You must boot from another, maybe the OS X installation disk, and then run Disk Repair from the utilities folder on the CD/DVD.

You can, however, repair Permissions on the boot drive. The two repairs are entirely different


P

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And now, Amateur Hour...
Feb 16, 2007 10:28AM PST

Not certain I understood what I should do. Here's the disks I've got:
1] iBook Mac OSX Install 1, 2, 3 disks; version 10.2.1.
2] iBook Software Restore disks 1, 2, 3.

But wouldn't this route reinstall the OS, leaving me back at 10.2.1; as opposed to 10.3.9, where I'm at now? Also, wouldn't I have to do an 'archive & install' etc...?
Wondering that if the dvd inoperability is the only issue I'm suffering, if not buying an external dvd player and running it through firewire. Would that be an option?

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and...
Feb 16, 2007 10:31AM PST

I have also: iBook Apple Hardware Test; SW version 1.2.4.....thanks

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Installation Disks
Feb 17, 2007 8:41AM PST

What OS version is on the iBook Software Restore disks?
The answer to that is almost certainly the same as, What OS did your iBook come with?

If the restore disks are 10.3 then that is what you need to be booting from.


Of course, buying an external DVD and running it through Firewire, is an option. However, the system would still need to recognize the DVD no matter what device it was trying to read it from.

What we are trying to do here is see if the DVD ROM is actually working.

If it is, then the OS is a little corrupt and will need replacing. If it is not, then a replacement would be indicated.
All you have to do is BOOT from the DVD, do NOT install anything


P

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Earlier Version...
Feb 17, 2007 9:28AM PST

then I might be off to the cyber store; the Software Restore disks I have are:
Software Restore 1,2,3: Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.2.2.....I also have a Itunes 3/ Iphoto 2/ Imovie 3/ and Idvd 3 Install disk from somewhere but it's noted for a SuperDrive; this is a combo on Panther 10.3.9. I think I do know what now will be required, and with your confirmation I'll have to get some later editions. Thanks, Eric

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If you do not have OS X (10.3)
Feb 17, 2007 10:07PM PST

on an installation disk, how did it get on your computer?

I think you are missing the point of this DVD exercise. It does NOT matter what version of OS X you have on your Cd's or DVD's.
The whole point is to see if you can BOOT the machine using one of these bootable disks. You are not going to install anything.

If you can boot, then software repair is probably required and you will need a 10.3 installation disk.
If you cannot, then it is probably a hardware problem.


P

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Did Boot...
Feb 18, 2007 3:53AM PST

It seemed to successfully boot; then I quit it upon beginning to install. And I saw at AppleRescue.com I can buy Panther install disks, so I'll be doing that soon. I do have Panther osx 10.3.2 install dasks, but they're marked eMac, and I've read that cross machine install disks are black - These are grey - So not good here? Thanks - Eric

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Good News
Feb 18, 2007 6:49AM PST

so now you know that the DVD reader is not the problem, once you get a copy of 10.3 you should be good to go.

I have doubts about using Restore disks from machines that are not the ones going to be used. It could work or it could ruin something for you.

Once you have the disks, you should do an Archive and Install. This will save all your stuff and put it back when the install is finished. It places a fresh system folder on the HD and boots from it.

Good luck, keep us posted

P

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Thanks
Feb 18, 2007 9:43AM PST

ordered the disks today...certain to be back for something - Enjoy, Eric

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iDVD Again!
Feb 22, 2007 11:27PM PST

Worked like a charm...Very quick delivery from AppleRescue; would recommend them to anyone. But like any beggar with a dream, the install process makes one wish for more options offered, such as; 'do you want IE, 147 foreign languages, and 683 never-to-be-used fonts loading your system?'.....All can be dealt with, of course...Thanks again P - Hava goodie - Eric

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Great
Feb 23, 2007 12:22AM PST

Glad to hear you are back in business.

Those little tribulations, like languages, can be dealt with.
Languages are removed with a program called Monolingual or but not installing them in the first place. (Customize)

IE goes into the trash and you will not even find it on the 10.4 install disks.

Now get back to work!

P