PowerBook G4 won't start

[Sathos]

Hi, just a question..

I was using my family's PowerBook G4 today and starting to type in the address for gmail when it froze and went to the spinning beachball. I thought Safari had just frozen so I went to Force Quit but I couldn't click anything and eventually I couldn't even move the beachball. The whole time the computer was making odd noises. Finally I held the power button to turn it off and tried starting it. Sometimes it gets stuck on the gray apple, sometimes on the 'Starting Mac OS X' screen. I've tried holding shift while I start the computer, it just turns itself off. Holding option while I start it takes me to a blue screen with an HD icon that says 'Macintosh HD' I think, with an arrow curved into a semi-circle on the left side of it and a straight arrow that points right on the right side of it. I tried clicking the left arrow and nothing much happened, tried clicking the right arrow and it brought me to the 'Starting Mac OS X' screen again, where it got stuck. Any ideas on what I can do?

 

[epochblue]

Apple Store

...there an Apple Store nearby? I had a (somewhat) similar problem recently with my 15" PB G4. I ran it over to the Apple Store and they're currently holding onto it until they can replace the drive. It's still under warranty, so new drive for free ain't so bad. I am going through Apple withdrawl, though...

 

[elfin buddy]

Sounds like a hard drive problem...mine acted similarily for weeks until it finally bit the dust a few months ago. AppleCare patched it up nicely for me in a few days

 

[Macmaniac]

Yep sounds like a HD, get your data off if u can and get the HD repaired. Remember always back up to be ready for situations like this!