Save my Powerbook G4

May 5, 2006 4:29 PM

Help me save my Powerbook G4. It keeps freezing and I have to force quit it. It will not last more than five minutes without freezing. What can I do? Is my computer dead? Is there no hope?

I feel like there must be some way to defrag the computer or erase applications I'm not using or check to see which applications are causing trouble. I am obviously not much of a computer guy, so I would appreciate it if, when explaining things to me, you speak in slow sentences, as though I am retarded or a child. Thanks.

posted by billysumday to computers & internet (15 comments total)

What applications are running and what are you doing when it freezes? What application is it that you are force quitting? There are disk utilities that you can run, but it's best to start by controlling the circumstances leading up to the freeze.
posted by willnot at 4:38 PM on May 5, 2006

If there's any way you can get a hold of AppleJack and get it onto your system, you'd be in good shape. This just happened to me recently, and I was able to start up from the command line (pressing command-s upon startup)...and that's when AppleJack takes over. It fixes permissions, clears your caches, checks your hard drive, etc...essentially heals your machine.

If you can't get it onto your machine, on the other hand, I'll step aside and let a real pro take over.
posted by diastematic at 4:40 PM on May 5, 2006

If you can successfully force quit applications then it's probably a software issue. Is there any particular action that causes applications to freeze? Can you still switch to other applications?
posted by cillit bang at 4:52 PM on May 5, 2006

how about some environs questions: is the laptop hot when it starts acting weird? (modern laptops really want to be on a hard surface; if you're using it on carpet or a bed or something, it might be overheating.) any weird noises or anything?

do you have AppleCare? if you do, there's a CD in the box that has TechTool on it - put it in, reboot, hold down the C key and let it do its thing. if you still have the original disks that came with your computer, you can run the Apple hardware test as well. it's on the first CD. to use that, put the CD in the drive, reboot, hold down Option, and choose Apple Hardware Test or AHT when the menu comes up (it usually takes awhile). then run the Extended Test. do this while the machine is plugged in and is sitting on a hard surface. your symptoms are not really specific to anything - it could be the system software is screwed up, or some program you've got on there is screwed up, or it could be a hardware issue. (for example, bad memory tends to make Macs act Really Funky(tm).)
posted by mrg at 4:54 PM on May 5, 2006

How about the RAM coming unseated? Or perhaps just the PRAM being corrupted. (holding down cmd-opt-P-R at restart and letting it clong a few times (3-4)

Did you try to make a new user and see if you can replicate the problem
posted by KimG at 4:57 PM on May 5, 2006

Thanks for the suggestions. To clarify, I force quit the entire computer, not just applications. I can't get to any sort of task manager. The rainbow ball just spins forever so I shut down the computer by holding down the on/off button for five seconds. It is on a hard surface - the same spot it's been at for two years.

Yes, it makes a weird noise when it freezes. The little rattle-y noise it makes when it's thinking is going with a sort of two beats rattle, one beat nothing, two beats rattle, one beat nothing, so on.

I put skype on my computer last night to talk to a friend. It worked fine and we talked for an hour. Now, my computer is dying. Correlation?

I tried the holding down cmd-pot-P-R and let it clong for four times, but now it's back up and has frozen again.

I have installed Apple Jack but now what?

(FYI, I am posting on my roommate's computer). Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far.
posted by billysumday at 5:09 PM on May 5, 2006

sounds like bad RAM. I don't know what the equivalent is for Memtest86+, but you should run it. if you have removeable sticks of RAM, remove them and try running with only one at a time. take it to the "Genius" (ha) bar if you're anywhere near an Apple store.
posted by kcm at 5:11 PM on May 5, 2006

Ok, applejack is working. Let's hope that does it.
posted by billysumday at 5:13 PM on May 5, 2006

Applejack was able to perform the fix for awhile before it froze again. It was able to get to this point:

Repairing permissions
............IOATAController device blocking bus

Any ideas?
posted by billysumday at 5:33 PM on May 5, 2006

Sounds like a failing hard disk to me. After you reboot, it takes a few minutes for the system to get around to seeking to the bad area on a disk (out of pure luck), then once it hits the bad area it keeps retrying to read or write it. The sound you hear is the disk head freaking out while this is happening.

Whenever I hear "my computer is freezing" and "strange clicking sound" I immediately think dead hard disk.
posted by ldenneau at 5:39 PM on May 5, 2006

seeking to the bad area on the disk

You should of course back up anything important on that disk immediately, if possible.
posted by ldenneau at 5:43 PM on May 5, 2006

Sounds like your hard drive has gone bad. The "IOATAController" is the driver that talks to the disk interface on the Powerbook's motherboard.

If it's not under AppleCare, there are several third-party companies on the net that will fix your Powerbook. Some even do 24-hour turn-around.
posted by todbot at 5:47 PM on May 5, 2006

Repeating clickety-clack noises that happen ONLY when you're having trouble? Problem with ATA controller? Definitely sounds like a bad hard drive.

If you want more confirmation, boot up from an OS X Install disk (DO NOT go through the installation process, though), launch Disk Utility, Click on your hard drive volume on the left side, and look at the info on the bottom of the window - it will say a lot of stuff about the size/format of your disk, but if it says that your drive's S.M.A.R.T status is "Failing", than it's on the way out. If it's okay, you may want to click the First Aid tab and use Verify Disk or Repair Disk to see if it can be fixed - but it probably won't be.

I'm assuming that it's not currently covered under Applecare here -- If you care about your data and do not currently have a backup of it, call up a computer repair place that works with macs in your area to see if they can help you try to salvage some data. If you don't care so much about your data, just have them toss in a new hard drive, reinstall, and go from there.
posted by sluggo at 6:44 PM on May 5, 2006

Another vote for bad hard drive. Googling "hard drive sounds" will show you some sites where you can actually hear sample sounds of hard drives going bad.
posted by edjusted at 11:18 PM on May 5, 2006

I had this EXACT problem. Booting from the install disk and performing a repair disk (not permissions or verify) using disk utilities fixed the issue. I hope it works for you.
posted by Sagres at 10:03 AM on May 6, 2006