a1133/mid-2005 // powerbook6,7 // ibook g4 : can't open session/restore, only "minimalist" state boots up..

[lm2]

hello hello

i do have few powerpc computers
was going to give/disposal them..

but a little association proposed me to borrow them for kids, as they might need to use them for offline activities (read/write)
the thing is :
the a1054 is in very well state
the a1133 is with a big issue : i mean the hardware is good, but the software..

here it is for this last one :
* it can't bootup on cd/dvd (i tried dozen of times)
* ONLY the minimal mode (with shift maintained key from mac sound to end of mac loading) went up to the "login screen", when only one session works up well (but is enough)
* i tried several fsck in sort of rescue mode, without any effect
* i did several cmos reset with O/R at electric boot (heard 4 times the little sound, then reboot), no effect

in minimal mode :
there is no wifi (afterwhile i opened up the kb, noticed that this model looks like not having wifi builted in card)
the dock just doesnt appears. at all.
the left column of the finder is empty, even if the hdd content is well accessible
the hard drive looks like to be very busy
i found absolutely nothing to restore the os (and those powerpc are second hand, i have nothing else than computer and AC adapter)
i saw it could start in "target mode" using the minimal mode, but requires a firewire cable.. obviously i dont have any.


i even swapped it's hard disk with another powerpc, a a1054, and the macos do same effect on the other computer, where the a1054's hdd starts up well on the a1133 laptop..

how could i save the life of that computer, at least the idea to get it working/started well without requiring to handle shift key on bootup?

thank you vm!

 

[Doq]

PRAM reset is <Command><Option><P><R>, not <O><R>.

Have you checked the RAM? The add-in module may be faulty. (The onboard RAM may also be faulty; in that case the machine is cooked.)

The optical drive may also be nonfunctional, thus being unable to boot from a CD/DVD.

The hard drive may also also be cooked, based on your inability to fsck in rescue system, though it may also be OS corruption.

 

[lm2]

PRAM reset is <Command><Option><P><R>, not <O><R>.

Have you checked the RAM? The add-in module may be faulty. (The onboard RAM may also be faulty; in that case the machine is cooked.)

The optical drive may also be nonfunctional, thus being unable to boot from a CD/DVD.

The hard drive may also also be cooked, based on your inability to fsck in rescue system, though it may also be OS corruption.

hello
thank you for your reply

i tried to swap RAM between two computers, same effect

i dont know really what to do.
what surprises me most, is that it boots up "well", mean until the session/desktop, but only in minimalistic mode ; it's still "almost" usable then. I dont know really the differnces between min' and common modes, but i guess that means that something in software or services is wrong ?
how could it be checked and corrected?

 

[Doq]

i tried to swap RAM between two computers, same effect

i dont know really what to do.

Have you tried booting with no RAM in the slot? These iBooks have onboard memory so unlike their PowerBook contemporaries they won't complain about no RAM.

 

[lm2]

Have you tried booting with no RAM in the slot? These iBooks have onboard memory so unlike their PowerBook contemporaries they won't complain about no RAM.

hello
just did it, it boots, but still get stuck on empty desktop, just background/wallpaper, nothing else.

after that just keeping pressed the shift key at bootup, in minimalistic mode, i can have the interface
im wondering, is there no "system restauration" or any way to repair the system? without extracting the hard drive, and without firewire cable.. maybe a scp from macA to macB could work?

btw, in "blocked mode", where the top bar just doesnt appears, where hard drive is still busy sometimes, the sound/brightness buttons still shows the OSD.. dont know what does it means.. hope it's not the only powerpc in the world to encounter a such problem..

 

[Doq]

"System restoration" in the Mac world is just installing Mac OS on top of your existing installation.

I'm concerned that the onboard memory on your iBook has failed, which would render it effectively a brick no matter what you try.

Can you source the Apple Hardware Test for your iBook? The garden (macintoshgarden.org) likely has it or similar.

 

[lm2]

"System restoration" in the Mac world is just installing Mac OS on top of your existing installation.

I'm concerned that the onboard memory on your iBook has failed, which would render it effectively a brick no matter what you try.

Can you source the Apple Hardware Test for your iBook? The garden (macintoshgarden.org) likely has it or similar.

hello

thank you for the idea.. it brought me to this :

hello hello,

so in my quest to repair that computer :
i firstly downloaded the repair tool from macintosh garden, to run it, see what's going on
well..
so on a linux laptop i downloaded the zip, extracted a .toast of it, then renamed the .toast to .iso
then i burned it on a CD RW
with the Alt pressed key, i booted up on that disc
immediately after, i had a screen from kind of "Open Bios" blocking me at error :
invalid memory access at %SRR0: 00032ed8 %SS1: 003030

exactly the same as :

Invalid memory access - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

but this guy went up by repaired with techies in a shop, and after cleaned the laptop (as they said, as i understood), it bootsup then..
but..
i was really not motivated to open/disassemble the laptop. for me it was entirely software.
and..
i found out also that thread, from this forum :

iBook G4: Invalid Memory Access Error

...making progress don't have the original g4 disks yet, but couldn't leave it alone, so I downloaded Ubuntu 6.06 LiveCD for PowerPc and burned a bootable CD. Popped the CD in. It boots up and runs and all the devices show up, including the hard drive. Ran some sample programs - all good...

forums.macrumors.com

with the same error code... and at the end, that guy just took a tiger dvd to reinstall.

i took that idea, the #34 10.4.6 (tiger_10-4-6-ppc.iso) and burned it on a dvd rw
but
at boot even if the macos wizard installation was "working well", it blocked due to lack of disk space
so i took the terminal, i had well identified the hard drive before..
in the root of the hard drive, i just removed everything except the Users folder + Applications one (with rm -rf /foldername command)
after half an hour to get almost everything cleaned, and applications+Users directories kept safely,
i rebooted again on the disc (to get "freed space" taken in account by the software), and then the installation was possible.

it kept well the /Users and /Application data
installation took kind of an hour
and then i had a little more older macos system on that computer, but it was working well...

few things :
1. during previous days it happened i broke somthing, where before macos starts, few tiny icons where scrambling at middle of the screen for few dozen of seconds before OSX starts.
since i reinstalled OSX, it's starts immediately
2. after installation done, it asked me to which wifi network i would select.. well very surprising as i was convinced there were no wifi inside the computer, nor bluetooth, as only ethernet/wired card was detected in the previous broken installation.. and regarding the other powerbook, whom have a wifi card just under the desktop, when i swiped RAM modules : only one had a wlan wifi card just under the keyboard. But now both are operating with wifi properly
3. even after decades of life, the macosx system, wireless connected to the internet, got a software update recommendation, as 10.4.11 newer system ; took it half an hour to update/install it, but where newer macbook pro (especially 2010's intel), the "internet recovery" can't even download snow leopard (or a newer version) because of ssl or obsolete certificates... when on this system, almost a decade older, still can upgrade from 10.4.5 to 10.4.11, it's surprised me..

sorry for the long text, but at least im happy this one will not go to trash. Hope i wont have other surprises!