How to get iBook G4 to stop freezing up.
September 23, 2007 10:39 AM Subscribe
[iBook G4 filter]: My Mac keeps freezing and responds to nothing but a hard restart.
About two and a half weeks ago, my iBook started freezing randomly. The keyboard stops working totally and the only thing I can do is move the mouse pointer with the trackpad (can't highlight anything, can't get hidden dock to show). Sometimes I get a spinning beachball for a second but usually it just shows an arrow cursor. The only way I've been able to get it to work again is with a hard restart (pressing the power button).
Lately I've noticed the I can count on it freezing up when I unplug the power cord, plug in the power cord, or unplug the speakers. It still freezes at other times, but this is a guaranteed way to make it happen.
I've done extensive Googling on OS X boards to try and find help.
I have run: Disk Utility to repair permissions; started in single user mode and gotten a clean bill of health from Disk Utility, installed and run Cocktail (which seems to just clean caches), installed and run Applejack AUTO. All give me a "nothing's wrong" report at the end.
I do NOT have my Tiger disk (Grrr, misplaced) so I'm trying to avoid the "nuke and pave" option if I can attribute the freezing to a software issue/repair the hardware myself.
Vital stats: iBook G4, purchased 1/2004, running OS 10.4.10, 1GHz PowerPC, 640MB DDR SDRAM. Approximately 12 GB free on 60GB hard drive. Applecare expired. Running Tiger for a year with no problems. Most memory-intensive programs used regularly: Quicksilver, Firefox. My battery is not eligible for the replacement program.
Please help! Happy to answer any further questions if needed.
About two and a half weeks ago, my iBook started freezing randomly. The keyboard stops working totally and the only thing I can do is move the mouse pointer with the trackpad (can't highlight anything, can't get hidden dock to show). Sometimes I get a spinning beachball for a second but usually it just shows an arrow cursor. The only way I've been able to get it to work again is with a hard restart (pressing the power button).
Lately I've noticed the I can count on it freezing up when I unplug the power cord, plug in the power cord, or unplug the speakers. It still freezes at other times, but this is a guaranteed way to make it happen.
I've done extensive Googling on OS X boards to try and find help.
I have run: Disk Utility to repair permissions; started in single user mode and gotten a clean bill of health from Disk Utility, installed and run Cocktail (which seems to just clean caches), installed and run Applejack AUTO. All give me a "nothing's wrong" report at the end.
I do NOT have my Tiger disk (Grrr, misplaced) so I'm trying to avoid the "nuke and pave" option if I can attribute the freezing to a software issue/repair the hardware myself.
Vital stats: iBook G4, purchased 1/2004, running OS 10.4.10, 1GHz PowerPC, 640MB DDR SDRAM. Approximately 12 GB free on 60GB hard drive. Applecare expired. Running Tiger for a year with no problems. Most memory-intensive programs used regularly: Quicksilver, Firefox. My battery is not eligible for the replacement program.
Please help! Happy to answer any further questions if needed.
Hmmm... The bit with the power cord / speakers indicates a voltage problem. I would replace the battery and possibly the power brick/cord. If that doesn't work then I'm guessing the motherboard has died (perhaps cooked off by faulty power).
posted by TeatimeGrommit at 12:19 PM on September 23, 2007
posted by TeatimeGrommit at 12:19 PM on September 23, 2007
When you run Applications/Utilities/Console.app, do you get any clues to the times around the errors from system.log, console.log, or crash.log?
posted by ikkyu2 at 1:00 PM on September 23, 2007
posted by ikkyu2 at 1:00 PM on September 23, 2007
Try turning off the "Allow Bluetooth to wake this computer" option in the Bluetooth System Preferences. This solved a very similar problem on my MacBook Pro. It seems random and counter-intuitive, but it might work for you.
posted by L'homme armé at 1:37 PM on September 23, 2007
posted by L'homme armé at 1:37 PM on September 23, 2007
Try creating a new user; then login to this user. If this problem is user specific, and this cures it, it's something to do with your user.
Beg a friend for a Tiger Install disk (or buy from apple a set of recovery disks for your ibook.) An Archive & Reinstall might be a good idea too.
posted by filmgeek at 4:25 PM on September 23, 2007
Beg a friend for a Tiger Install disk (or buy from apple a set of recovery disks for your ibook.) An Archive & Reinstall might be a good idea too.
posted by filmgeek at 4:25 PM on September 23, 2007
"iBook G4, purchased 1/2004" = there were problems with many of those.
http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/
But it might be too late, and you might be out of luck.
I strongly suggest the "nuke & pave" option. It's really not too hard to find Tiger/10.4 media these days. See if you can find a local Mac Users Group. Some of those folks can be very helpful, and finding someone to help you do a backup/reformat/reinstall/restore data might not be too bad.
If you're in the SF Bay Area, hell, I can do it.
The power connector is attached to the logic board. So, yes, the logic board could be failing.
posted by drstein at 5:15 PM on September 23, 2007
http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/
But it might be too late, and you might be out of luck.
I strongly suggest the "nuke & pave" option. It's really not too hard to find Tiger/10.4 media these days. See if you can find a local Mac Users Group. Some of those folks can be very helpful, and finding someone to help you do a backup/reformat/reinstall/restore data might not be too bad.
If you're in the SF Bay Area, hell, I can do it.
The power connector is attached to the logic board. So, yes, the logic board could be failing.
posted by drstein at 5:15 PM on September 23, 2007
2nd-ing the idea of checking your Console logs. Note the time your next crash occurs, look for entries in console.log and system.log around this same time, then copy & paste any such error message into google.
posted by lorenzism at 7:10 PM on September 23, 2007
posted by lorenzism at 7:10 PM on September 23, 2007
Response by poster: Thanks for these ideas.
[L'homme arme] I don't have Bluetooth capability on my iBook.
[ikkyu2 et. al.]: My console log looks like garbeldy-gook to me; I'm not sure what I should be looking for.
[drstein] I'm not in SF, unfortunately, or I'd take you up on the kind offer.
I'll try the new user option, and I'll get my hands on a Tiger DVD.
posted by annabellee at 4:41 PM on September 24, 2007
[L'homme arme] I don't have Bluetooth capability on my iBook.
[ikkyu2 et. al.]: My console log looks like garbeldy-gook to me; I'm not sure what I should be looking for.
[drstein] I'm not in SF, unfortunately, or I'd take you up on the kind offer.
I'll try the new user option, and I'll get my hands on a Tiger DVD.
posted by annabellee at 4:41 PM on September 24, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scody at 11:39 AM on September 23, 2007